Final reflections of a UTA

The two sources that influenced me most as a UTA were both from our week
on teaching revision from the fall semester. Firstly, I remember reading the
process outlined by Kirby and Liner to get students to revise their papers after they
are turned in and thinking, wow! Why isnt this always done? This method of
returning final drafts, grading them, and then assigning students to write another
graded draft of the paper seems like a fantastic way to ensure that the feedback is
truly engrained in students minds. I can speak from my own pre-college experience
when I say that my papers were almost entirely written the night before with the
goal of hitting the rubric requirements, rather than with the goal of writing well. I
submitted assignments with a sigh of relief and the click of a button, forgetting
about the essay all together after receiving a grade. Reflecting on the would have
forced me to truly consider the consequence of my words, the effectiveness of the
essays structure, and probably most everything else that English teachers would
want their students to learn to consider as they write. I thought about Kirby and
Liners suggestions enough that I actually suggested the concept to my professor:
what if you had students revise after each assignment? She was welcome to the
idea, and although she probably will not implement that structure anytime soon, it
served as a reminder to me this semester as I left comments on students essays. I
spent considerable time making sure my comments not only directed the student to
change their essay, but also conveyed why and gave a hint for how to do so. I hope
that these kinds of comments will stick with students when they write in the future.
Kirby and Liners study cites a piece by Murray on teaching writing as a process,
not product (Murray 3), which we also read during our revision week. I tried to
convey that to my students this semester, reminding them that they could go back
and add this idea or that paragraph. I also love the English departments, and
Murrays, idea of having the student choose their own topic to write aboutthere is
no better way to motivate than to inspire an inner drive to argue for something they
are passionate about. I spent a considerable amount of time in the beginning of this
semester attempting to convey this idea to my students, often providing anecdotes
of my own experience with choosing a topic and spending time with students fine-
tuning their chosen subjects for the semester during peer review days. Multiple
times, I described to students how the relationship with my chosen topic changed
through the course of my writing; as Murray puts it, this allows students to discover
their own truth (Murray, 5). Ramsden also writes about the crucialness of allowing
students to choose their own topic, saying that intrinsic interest and a sense of
ownership of the subject matter are what inspire students to write well (Ramsden,
65). I think this is an idea that should be implemented throughout higher education
whether in a project for a business class, or an experiment for a biology lab, an
intrinsic desire to learn pushes students to produce their best work.
My experience as a UTA overall further cemented my belief in the significance of
quality teaching. In my front row view of the classroom, I understood more deeply
the challenges of not only getting students to learn how to write well, but also to
inspire them to write well. As an English 101 student in my first semester in college,
I loved my English 101 professor for various reasons, but I am not sure if I can look
back and pinpoint exactly how I grew as a writer as a result of her teaching. As a
UTA, however, it all became clearer: my professor chose theories and documents to
go over in class in an attempt to get students to think in certain ways in the future.
She shows John Oliver videos not just for some comedic relief, but also to convey
the power of a strongly made argument. In her best moments, my professors ability
to capture the classs attention and inspire good writing reminded me of Roses
essay about the impact that a great writing teacher had on his own life growing up
in a poor neighborhood, which I bookmarked after reading during my first UTA
semester. In his essay, Rose describes the frustrations many students feel when
they are left behind by the school system, which as a student in an affluent public
school in an affluent neighborhood, I could still identify with. English 101 with
Professor Joshi was not hopeless and uninspiring, but challenging and motivating,
and as a UTA I saw two semesters of students undergo this same experience.
My second semester as a UTA was more meaningful than my previous semester
because felt almost comfortable in my role and because I connected more with
students. Last semester, I only tentatively reached out to students, unsure of how
my help would be received, if at all. In contrast, I came into this semester with the
goal of reaching out to students as much as possible through being an active
presence in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Although I did not speak up
as much in class as I intended to, I broke out of my shell more in the way in which I
connected with students and gave them advice: I sat with students for longer than
needed, thoroughly answering questions and providing my advice when it was not
specifically asked for. I knew this semester that my English 101 knowledge was not
only valuable for first year students, but also welcomed many students simply do
not know to ask for it. I also realized this semester that I had the valuable position
of simply having more time to edit student papers than my professor. Although I am
sure she would want to spend time giving each student very specific feedback, this
is not feasible with the number of students she has. I edited a few papers per
assignment, so I was able to give thorough comments. I realized this opportunity
only this semester and spent much more time editing papers. In consequence, I was
trusted much more with my editingI had a few students consistently give me their
papers before the due date so that I could give feedback. I am most grateful for my
time as a UTA because it helped me develop my confidence. By the end of the
second semester, I felt mostly comfortable fielding questions in the front of the
room, and ended my lesson plans with confidence rather than as if I had just given a
class presentation. I know this confidence boost will not only help me give
presentations to audiences in the future, but also help me believe in myself in
situations where I feel unqualified.