Successful Communication with Your Students Depends on Understanding Your Responsibilities and Your Faculty Member’s Plans What are your TA responsibilities for this semester? Here are some typical responsibilities. Grading Grading and meeting with students individually Leading review sessions Explaining assignments Lecturing Explaining a procedure to individuals or group Being in charge of a lab

Will you be meeting with students individually? In a group? How large a group? How often? If you will be doing any grading, does the professor have a set of written guidelines? Do the students have a copy of those guidelines? Do you have a copy of the assignments and understand what is expected of the students? Do you know what accommodations your professor will make for students with disabilities?

Convey Confidence

LOOK confident Stand up straight. Maintain eye contact with all the students. Speak loudly, clearly (pronounce those final consonants!), and slowly. Nearly every audience is multicultural now. Speak so that the person in the last row can hear you. Have your name and all key words in writing. Vary your speaking pattern to avoid monotony. Use natural gestures (keep your hands out of your pockets; don’t cross your arms).

BE confident Review the material so that you know it well. If you have questions, ask the professor before you meet with the students. Try to anticipate what questions the students will have. Remember what it was like when YOU didn’t know this material; you’ll be more likely then to explain it completely and clearly. To relax, breathe slowly and deeply for a few minutes before class begins. Look directly at the student, and be welcoming: Smile!

PREPARE to Handle Questions As you review the material, think about what questions the students may have; then think about how you can give clear answers. LISTEN carefully to the question so that you know what is really being asked. Listen to the complete question before you begin answering it. Repeat the question or rephrase it for the whole group before answering. Check with the asker to make certain you understood the question. Then answer it for the entire group. If you focus on the single student, you’ll lose everybody else. Don’t evaluate the question; just answer it. (Don’t say “That was a good question.”) Speak loudly enough that everyone in the room can hear the repeated question and your answer. If the situation is one-on-one, walk to where the student is. Smile and either sit down or bend over to defuse power issues. Be aware of cultural and gender issues: don’t touch; don’t stand or sit too close. If you don’t know the answer, don’t bluff. Just say that you don’t know the answer, but will find out. Be sensitive to your body language and that of the students: no crossed arms, no answers to the ceiling, no movements that make you look impatient. Try to look confident rather than nervous. Watch closely to see if your answer satisfied the person who asked the question. If it didn’t, rephrase the answer. Try to determine at what point the student became confused: “Where am I losing you?” Draw pictures; use an analogy. Ask if another student can explain the matter. If none of that works, tell the questioner that you will discuss it further with him/her after class.