UGA WIP Faculty Guide: Working with a WIP Teaching Assistant

Working with a WIP Teaching Assistant

"I think the writing coach led them

to do a more conscientious job from the start."

- WIP Faculty response, Fall 1999

WIP teaching assistants help faculty to provide the enhancements that a writing intensive course offers. In general, the Writing Intensive Program selects teaching assistants who believe that writing is important, who demonstrate effective communication skills, who have a more sophisticated than usual understanding of the writing process, who show promise in working with others and leadership in problem solving. Though it is not always possible to do so, we make special efforts to assign discipline-specific teaching assistants.

Extensive training for WIP assistants
WIP teaching assistants receive extensive training in writing in the disciplines skills. Each August, those selected for the program attend a pre-seminar designed to introduce writing intensive pedagogy and the logistics of supporting writing intensive courses. During Fall semester, WIP TAs meet weekly for ENGL 6910, a graduate course in writing in the disciplines.

In addition to analyzing and applying writing in the disciplines theory and research, the course specifically addresses issues that come up in writing intensive courses. As part of their requirements for ENGL 6910, teaching assistants write four field reports analyzing their experiences in WIP courses, provide a profile of the course to assist future TAs, and present teaching strategies to their colleagues. During Spring semester, WIP TAs meet bi-weekly with the program director. They continue to submit field reports and course profiles, as well as provide a brief case study on a writing intensive issue in the courses they're supporting.

Different ways of working with WIP assistants
WIP faculty incorporate teaching assistants into their courses in different ways. Some give the teaching assistant class time to teach the writing process; others rely on their TAs for workshops, conferences, or providing written feedback. Some introduce their WIP TA as a "writing coach" whose role is to provide extra help with writing assignments and feedback; some offer no special introduction, yet make clear the assistant's role in helping to provide more expert feedback than possible in a non-writing intensive course. Some faculty give responsibility for a great percentage of grading to the WIP TA; some ask TAs to provide feedback and make grading suggestions, while making grading decisions themselves. What we have found is this: those making grading decisions should have considerable input into students' writing process. Some general guides for working with a WIP teaching assistant:

_____Give teaching assistants opportunities to be involved in students' overall writing process, rather than only serving as graders of finished products.

_____Encourage/require students to meet individually or in groups with teaching assistants. This means adapting some form of conferencing to your course situation.

_____Provide for your teaching assistant, as for your students, clear guidelines for effective writing and grading standards in your course. Criteria may be spelled out in a rubric that can be adapted for reviewing drafts and grading. A brief norming session may be useful when WIP assistants help with grading.

_____Talk about the time and logistics involved in getting work back to students promptly, as well as how feedback strategies will be communicated to students. They need to know how and why their work is responded to as it is.

_____Be clear about what you expect from your WIP teaching assistant's nine-hour commitment. Identify the TA's role, responsibilities, and authority.

_____Make sure students know the TA's purpose and role and how they are to work with the TA, for example, whether meeting with the TA is required to get back drafts or papers.

_____Establish whether class attendance is necessary.

_____Take advantage of WIP assistants' skills by calling on them to explain writing assignments, to provide feedback, and to support faculty and student efforts. Keep in mind that WIP assistants are valuable resources in making the most of teaching as it intersects with writing.