AGSEM Teaching Assistant Training

Note: this part of the training is unpaid

Whether you're a new or returning TA, join representatives of AGSEM, the Office of the Dean of Students, and Teaching and Learning Services for a panel discussion about being a TA at McGill, with particular emphasis on the remote delivery context.

This workshop offers practical tips for increasing accessibility in teaching that TAs can implement in the courses they support. The session is designed to increase participants’ awareness of barriers that students with disabilities experience in the classroom, and show how TAs can facilitate and promote equitable access to learning. Participants will also learn from the Accessibility Advisor about the resources available to them, as employees, to manage their own access needs in their work.

By attending this workshop, TAs will be able to:

• Identify barriers that students with disabilities experience in various instructional settings (e.g. lectures, conference, discussions, exams)
• Analyze sample case studies, and identify opportunities to enhance accessibility
• Locate available tools and resources to support accessibility at McGill.

In this online workshop, we will discuss the importance of student assessment in higher education. Participants will dissect and analyze rubrics and provide constructive feedback to students in collaborative scenarios. Participants will also discuss how academic integrity will be challenged in the remote learning setting.

In this interactive webinar, new and experienced teaching assistants alike will become familiar with how they can use Zoom, the web conferencing tool used for remote teaching at McGill. We will review how to use Zoom’s various features as a teaching assistant and focus on interactive strategies to create engaging remote learning environments.

Participants will be able to apply learning-centered principles when designing and delivering both online and in-person lecture or tutorial. Additionally, they will learn a range of teaching strategies for improved remote learning experience and they will plan how to use some of these strategies. Zoom will be taken as an exemplary platform for the exercises in this workshop.

In this online workshop we will discuss the role of the TA in complex remote lab scenarios. Participants will learn how to meet the conceptual and procedural challenges of remote labs, and will understand how to create equitable and interactive student-centered environments that promote deep learning.

With this session participants will improve their facilitation of groups discussions, leadership, presentations and communication skills. Successfully learning to lead and guide student discussions requires a range of fairly sophisticated communication skills; many people employ strategies using trial and error as they have never been trained to facilitate discussions. Facilitation allows everyone to express themselves, keeps discussions moving and maintains a safe, respectful group environment. It also gives a practical insight into the hidden curriculum of class or group dynamics.

In this interactive webinar, participants will learn about the role of assessment in courses, the importance of feedback for student learning, how to develop criteria and standards for assessing written assignments, and strategies for dealing with plagiarism.

By participating in this interactive session, teaching assistants will cultivate a greater understanding of anti-oppression, anti-racism and how these systems operate within learning institutions. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their relationships with positionality and power and how they may leverage these in service of removing barriers to equitable classroom participation. Teaching Assistants will also practice bias interventions and engage in action planning to make their remote classroom environments and the campus, more inclusive.

Microaggressions hurt student and instructor welfare and negatively impact classroom learning. Using role play and other creative methods, educators will learn how to attune to common power dynamics and intense emotions resulting from microaggressions in their classrooms.

By attending this workshop, TAs will be able to:

• To understand different forms of microaggression
• To identify important tensions present post-microaggression
• To begin developing frameworks that support addressing microaggressions