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CAT TA Training Program

Spring TA Training Workshops

All Spring Quarter TA Training workshops will be held online until further notice. Please register as usual, and your confirmation email will contain the zoom links.

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching TA Training Program is excited to announce our workshops for Spring Quarter. Whether you are currently TAing or would like to TA in the future, please join us to learn new strategies and skills for the classroom in our small-group, hands-on workshops. Check back throughout the quarter for more additions. We look forward to working with you!

Please read the workshop descriptions below and select all those you plan to attend to reserve your spot today!

Questions? Contact us at tatp@teaching.ucla.edu

Workshop Schedule

Week 4

Tuesday, 4/21 (4:00–5:30 PM): Assessment & Grading: Measuring Student Achievement in the Classroom*
Thursday, 4/23 (10:00–11:30 AM): Creating Inclusive Classrooms*
Friday, 4/24 (10:30 AM–12:00 PM): The Nuts and Bolts of Lesson Planning*

*Our Foundations workshops are designed with the novice teacher in mind. Each provides an introduction to key concepts and strategies for developing an evidence-based teaching practice. All first-time teachers are encouraged to attend this series.

Foundations: Active Learning Strategies for STEM Discussion Sections
As facilitators of discussion sections, STEM TAs are frequently concerned that they will spend sections solving problems at the board for passive students. This workshop will go over the principles of active learning and how to implement active learning strategies in STEM classrooms. You will learn strategies for asking effective questions, engaging students in problem solving, encouraging deductive reasoning, and eliciting participation from reluctant students.

Foundations: Assessment & Grading: Measuring Student Achievement in the Classroom
How is assessment different from grading? Do you know when students have learned the knowledge and skills required to introduce new material? Is it possible to gauge your own effectiveness as an instructor prior to formal evaluations? In this workshop, you will discuss the difference between assessment and grading, the importance of incorporating assessment into your approach to instruction, and various assessment techniques to gauge student learning. You will learn to identify appropriate ways to evaluate student growth, develop a system for measuring your effectiveness in the classroom, and learn ways to more fairly grade your students.

Foundations: Creating Inclusive Classrooms
In this workshop, you will learn strategies to proactively set norms supportive of an inclusive classroom. Through self-reflection, you will develop an understanding of your own identities and how these identities appear in the classroom. You will practice using active listening techniques to troubleshoot difficult moments in and outside of the classroom. This workshop focuses on proactive strategies rather than on confronting bias. You will practice inclusive strategies to apply in your own classrooms.

Foundations: How Students Learn
This workshop will offer an overview of how students learn and teaching techniques that will help your students achieve their goals. You will examine why material you’ve learned has stuck with you and the best ways to help your students hold onto the content you teach. Through activities and discussion, you will learn how to build on students’ prior knowledge, help students organize new knowledge, tap into students’ drives to learn, and use activities to encourage students to set goals. Our focus will be on the practical application of student-centered instruction.

Foundations: The Nuts & Bolts of Lesson Planning
This workshop will serve as a model for effective lesson planning, focusing on formulating measurable learning objectives and aligning teaching strategies to them. With guidance, you will break down the process of creating effective lesson plans into manageable steps and tailor these steps to the needs of your discipline. You will practice creating a sample lesson plan and receive constructive feedback on it from your peers.

Arts-Integrated Pedagogy for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Arts, Humanities, and Social Science TAs are often expected to foster dynamic conversations and cover an enormous amount of material in a short amount of time. Yet, many uncontrollable issues that hinder TAs from quickly catalyzing discussions—often students are uncomfortable speaking, have not prepared fully for class, or have difficulty with the material. This workshop will discuss how to use art to ameliorate those situations and augment classroom discussions. Participants will learn strategies for promoting inductive reasoning, developing critical observation, and eliciting participation through arts-integrated pedagogy.

Interrupting Bias to Cultivate Inclusivity
This workshop builds on concepts and strategies learned in Creating Inclusive Classrooms to help you develop knowledge and skills for interrupting bias and managing hot moments in the classroom. In this workshop, you will engage in and practice vulnerability, active listening, recognizing intent versus impact, and strategies for confronting bias. You will walk away with a deeper understanding of the impact of bias from the perspectives of both students and instructors, as well as concrete tools for troubleshooting friction in the classroom.

Please note: It is strongly recommended that you take our Creating Inclusive Classrooms workshop first.

2020 Spring TA Training Workshop Registration

Select Your Workshops

CAT TA Training Program

Spring TA Training Workshops