DOC TA/NST Questions & Feedback by Nikole

nikkifm95 — 2024-09-19 16:34:49 UTC

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Is there any way we can approach intersectionality with less reliance on Crenshaw? In my opinion, her other and more recent political commitments go against the spirit of DOC and Lumumba Zapata

2024-09-19 23:39:24 UTC

Lecture seating charts

2024-09-21 19:26:11 UTC

I would like clarification on the assigned seating for lectures. Will there be lots of extra seats in assigned areas for each section group? Are TAs required to sit with their students in the assigned seating areas for each section? What is the department's plan for maintaining health and safety of TAs and students who are at greater health risk amidst the ongoing spread of COVID? I'm asking these questions because in the past, I've handled my concerns about COVID safety in lecture halls by sitting in the front row where I can typically have a bit more space from coughing and non-masking students. The assigned seating has very strong potential for undermining opportunities for students and TAs alike to practice their own personal safety measures.

Technology use during lecture

2024-09-23 16:52:32 UTC

Just looking for clarification on the technology use policy during lectures: are TAs able to use their laptops during lecture? Or do we fall under the same policy as the students?

Opportunities for growth

2024-09-23 17:49:24 UTC

What opportunities for growth does DOC offer its graduate TAs/Instructors? Things like associate-ins, lectureships, etc?

Students

2024-09-23 19:13:13 UTC

How do you navigate students feelings specially those that come from a place of affront/defensiveness?

UCSD Guidelines for the use of meeting capture tools (including AI assistants) in educational settings

2024-09-24 06:10:45 UTC

Because this is a long-time professional specialization for me, I have been poring over these guidelines for capturing meetings (including class meetings) that the Privacy office (and others) just published over the summer. I'm not sure if you've had a chance to take a look, but given our concern with recordings, I wanted to point these out just in case. Of particular concern, I would think, is the use of the Zoom AI Assistant features, which can allow not only capture but summarization of both meeting content and chat, even when the student isn't present. So I'm wondering if we should address this a bit during training.

To be frank, I'm disappointed by the university's framing of AI assistants as an access issue, but that may just be the nature of this particular policy. Have you encountered issues with Zoom AI assistants and AI capture tools so far? How should we handle requests for their use, especially as an accommodation?

Green smoothie recipe

2024-09-24 17:07:33 UTC

This is not urgent or related to DOC lol but some folks just asked me to post my smoothie recipe to the padlet. Usually I use spinach instead of kale. It's delicious!

2024-09-25 00:27:16 UTC

I walked away very upset after having to read the interview with Evan Goldstein titled, "The Idea of Fueling the Student Protest Movement: Are Colleges Facing - and facilitating - an intellectural crisis?" . While I understand the impulse is to inform us of the wide circulation of materials like this one, I think it fails to consider that our main role as folx interested in examining issues on social justice should be to ask "whose voice is centered by this text" and why should it be allowed central stage in our orientation and how we navigate our first experiences teaching for this program.

Is there a reason why return TA's have to attend the two day, 8hr orientations? I think our time would could be better used helping elsewhere and that like the lecturers, we could still join for the lunch. Our space at McGill is small too, which makes it harder for in-coming TA's to have space to ask questions. I want to put this out there.

2024-09-30 17:25:55 UTC

Why is the syllabus done on Canva? It isn't accessible. The syllabus is long enough and already hard to navigate but the extra design noise makes it really hard to know what information to prioritize. If it is about creating a visual identity for the program, could a designer be recruited to help mitigate some of the visual accessibility needs?

2024-09-30 17:29:17 UTC

Lecture Questions/Support for TAs

2024-10-11 19:20:26 UTC

I’ve already told my students but can lecturers give a reminder that students should come to office hours or email us if they have questions. Because I am sitting with them, they try to ask me questions before, during, or after lecture and I’m not sure if other TAs are also having that happen.

How do you all recommend navigating a student who consistently uses their phone in lecture despite having told them not to? Do we just start deducting points on LEQ submissions or pass their names over to the lecturers?

Grading and Assignments

2024-10-12 03:44:57 UTC

After this first round of grading reflections I am concerned that the number of assignments this quarter and the grading it entails will put us TA's way above our hours. It feels like the number of assignments is excessive. Can you please offer us some quick and thorough recommendations for how to streamline the grading process? Thanks

Modeling Difficult Conversations

2024-10-15 22:09:28 UTC

During one of the TA meetings or so, would it be possible for the lecturers, Amanda, and Karen to facilitate somewhat of a panel on how to navigate difficult or uncomfortable conversations in the classroom? I feel like we get some vague tips on bringing in current events or keeping conversations on track, but I would like more concrete examples and strategies for facilitating these conversations. Some of us are teaching for the first time, and while a bunch of strategies are learned on the job, I would be grateful for an honest and realistic discussion from those with years worth of experience on how they would engage with students about current events if they were in our position. What do you do if a student says something ignorant? What do you do if students talk in small groups but not the big group? How do you get a conversation back on track? What are actual questions you would pose to the class (we can even use a reading from one week as a starting point and then you all model the questions you would include)? TAs need waaaay more guidance on how to have these conversations, and much more time together dedicated to talking through these strategies by people who have been in our shoes

Could we explicitly tell the students that the word "savage" is a slur towards Indigenous people that should never ever be used today? It keeps coming up in lecture/texts and every time I hear it I wince. I know it's historically important for understanding the texts and attitudes of racists of the era, and I hope most students have probably caught on to the fact that it's beyond offensive, but I think it would be good to make a point of saying so.

2024-10-25 01:09:45 UTC

Can someone please answer the questions from the agenda? I understand everyone is busy, but there are some questions there that are really important for grading. Thank you!

2024-10-30 15:58:41 UTC

A student sent me this over email (see below). I'm assuming students have access to the ribbon for edits like we do when we grade in order to annotate their peers drafts, if so that should answer the first question; as to the second, I'm not sure what they mean. Can someone please clarify?

jayalacandia — 2024-12-02 18:44:36 UTC

"When the assignment says to use 'commenting tools in Canvas to leave in-text annotations', does that mean I comment directly on Canvas? I am confused when it says in-text annotations because I'm not sure how I can annotate directly on the assignment if it's on Canvas. Do I just note on Canvas where there may be APA errors in certain places of the assignment? Also, when it says to 'Paste this letter as a text comment at the end of their writing' , does that mean I add the peer review to the end of their document? I'm not exactly sure how to do that."

was a little surprised to hear one of the lecturers use the word "powwow" instead of "meeting" recently... might be a good idea to retire that expression unless talking about an actual powwow

gewright2 — 2025-02-28 22:22:01 UTC