CS TA Orientation Fall 2014 New Faces! Introductions  Faculty  Dr. Brent Seales, Department Chair  Dr. Mirek Truszczynski, Director Graduate Studies  Dr. Jurek Jaromczyk, Director Undergraduate Studies  Staff  Jennifer Doerge, graduate records  Dee Fuhs, payroll / finances  Paul Linton, systems manager  [email protected] TA Supervisors  Dr. Debby Keen, CS 101  Dr. Debby Keen, CS 115  Dr. Yi Pike, CS 215  Mr. Yi Pike, CS 216  Mr. Paul Piwowarski, CS 221  Dr. Manivannan, CS 275 Try to keep your balance!  You have a teaching job, classes, research and a LIFE!  How do you balance it?  TALK to your supervisor AND your advisor if you are getting overloaded  Schedules can be adjusted with some notice! Changes this semester  CS 115 will have 6 sections “flipped”  TA office hours may be in Multilab as well as RGAN 102 Class / Section assignments  Rules for changing assignments are online  Tell your supervisor what you want to change TO, not just what you want to change FROM  Write down what sections are changing and who else is involved  Both people sign the request  MUST be done before first day class meets Observations / Evaluations  Every TA is observed by a faculty member every semester (usually their supervisor)  Every TA is evaluated by their supervisor at the end of every semester  The TA gets a copy of each form and a chance to respond to it  Copies are kept by TA, Dr. Keen, DGS and Graduate School  PLEASE help us by making sure your form is filled out and signed by the end of the semester! Grad School Workshops  Every full-time TA goes to two during the semester  Make SURE you sign attendance sheet  Go to MORE if you like! They’re free! Peer Observations  Done in 115, 101  Experienced TA paired with new TA  New TA observes experienced TA before their first class/lab  Later in the semester experienced TA observes new TA  After each observation, TAs meet to give feedback  Communicate to your supervisor that the observations were done Useful Information  TA page www.cs.uky.edu/~keen/tas/tas.html PLEASE do not give this URL to anyone!! More Useful Information  TA mailboxes are in  Dr. Keen’s cell phone number is 859 576 5949  All TAs should KEEP ALL emails sent to them by students and all emails sent to students, at least until final grades are done  Make sure your University account is set up and that your supervisor has an email address for you I-9 forms for Payroll  If you are a new TA or  if you have been off the payroll (even a few days!)  See Dee Fuhs, Marksbury 102D, as soon as possible to get on payroll!! They need a new I-9 form Your Class Schedule  If you are a returning student, you should have already registered for classes – if not, then do it NOW!  If you are registered, please do not make changes unless absolutely necessary  If you make a change or have made one in the last few days, TELL Dr. Keen NOW! Last Day of the Semester  Mark your calendars now!  Last day of the semester – Monday December 22 – AFTER Finals Week!  We hope we’re finished sooner than that, but don’t make plans until after 12/22/14  Start of next Spring Semester  January 14, 2015 Wednesday is the first day of class  January 9, 2015 Friday will be CS TA orientation If you have to miss…  If you know that you are going to miss a      TA meeting Class meeting Office hours Exam proctoring Exam grading  Let your supervisor KNOW about it! Even if you have it covered, they need to know! In advance if possible but even after the fact! Food / Drink policies  PLEASE enforce in the labs!  Keep everything below desk level and in their packs unless they are actually using it  Don’t have bottles, even capped, sitting next to a keyboard! Busy this semester!  Enrollments are up in several classes  18 sections of 115, 100% full  8 sections of 215, 2 seats left 10 sections of 221, 5 seats left Community  TA common goal: the students’ learning  The TAs who work in the same class should be a community – “we know more together than we do individually”  Experienced TAs, please reach out to the new TAs – tips for grading, for dealing with students, anything can be useful when you’re new to the job! Pay attention to the poor performer!  Caring about the students and  SHOWING them that you care!  Documenting how you are communicating with them  Try to get names of people who come to office hours  People who miss classes, miss assignment deadlines  Give them a short note to ask what is wrong Grading  Biggest part in terms of time taken  Very important part! Feedback is where learning happens!  Rubrics should be provided by supervisor  If not, make your own and show to supervisor  Follow them as closely as possible  If you disagree with one, take it up with your supervisor  Keep the grading consistent across all sections Academic Alert!!  Program to alert students and advisors to 'risky' behavior of students  Missed Classes (at least 2-3 in the first weeks)  Habitually Late (more than 10 minutes on a regular basis)  Homework assignments not completed or of inconsistent quality  Poor performance on tests or quizzes  Disruptive Behavior in class  Other Academic Alerts  101 and 115 will do this this semester  The alerts are sent through the IRIS system - it automatically mails the student!  I ask the student to see their TA and to see me  Give them your personal attention!  In classes besides 101 and 115, ask your supervisor YOUR OFFICE HOURS  YOUR Office Hours - BE there!  They will be in RGAN 102 lab or , scheduled in the next week or two by Dr. Keen  Students can show up at any time, Not just the start of the hour  Try to help every student who asks, even if they are not in your section or even your class  Even if more than one TA is scheduled for a time, it is your job to be there How do you get your students to be responsible for their own learning? (see separate set of slides) (this is from 20-minute Mentor Commons, access code UKY253) What’s next?  101 TA meeting Monday 1 pm – my office  115 TA meeting Monday 10 am – RGAN 103  221 TA meeting Friday 1pm – RGAN 102  215 TA meeting – FPAT 257 after orientation  TAs assigned to other classes – contact your supervisors for instructions Ending Activities Supplies – pens, folders, textbooks Name tags – wear them first day Night TAs – laptops, syllabus Relax!  If you have time, the Kentucky State Fair is still going on until Sunday  In Louisville  $10 per person admission  See ALL of Kentucky in one place!