GTA 101: Surviving the First Week

GTA 101: Surviving the First Week Classroom Management

     Get to know and communicate with your students before you actually meet them.

Look to your department for specific policies.

Find your office and make it a place students will want to go.

Make a smart syllabus. Set up your course(s) online. Technology is your friend!

   Accessible on Auburn’s home page under “Employees” View class rolls and see pictures of your students.

Email your students.

  Each department has its own policies regarding absences, assessment, behavior, office hours, etc.

Meet other grad students in your department who can help you.

   As a GTA, you are required to hold office hours and actually be in your office during those hours.

Set up your office early (NOW!) so that it’s a space in which you and your students can work.

If you share your office with other GTA’s, get to know them.

   The Biggio Center website has tips and Auburn’s requirements for syllabus creation.

Keep it simple. The more rules you create, the more you have to police.

Understand a syllabus as a contract between you and your students. On the very first day, your classroom should reflect your syllabus.

   Set up your course(s) on Canvas and explore its features. IMG can help with this. Make sure to publish them.

Using the Toolkit, send a friendly email to your students welcoming them to your class before you have your first meeting together.

Have a plan to incorporate technology in your class beforehand.

  …..is in your control!

Questions?