Today was TA orientation for the History Department. It was definitely worth the while. Of course, we learned about our resources and who we should contact about whatever issue . . .

“And don’t forget to fill out those purple forms so that you can see your roster on MyUCLA. Talk to Hubert about any computer hardware things. Did we mention the purple forms? We’re going to get some sample syllabi on the grad student intranet for you. By the way, we have these purple forms that are really important. You will find the purple forms in your TA mailbox.”

But we also discussed strategies for creating syllabuses and lesson plans and the sort of demeanor you should offer in your first day of classes. The person teaching us suggested that she had to compensate for assumptions people made about her because of her size (she’s not tall). So, she had to assert her authority in a dramatic way from the get-go. I have been talking to a lot of people about that first day strategy lately. For me, I will certainly make myself clear about consequences, but I would like to emphasize the importance for discussion (it is a discussion section, after all). I’m trying to come up with as many methods as possible to get the conversation flowing.

In the orientation session, we held a little microteaching session with four volunteers. They were to do the first five minutes of their classroom. I found that really helpful, but in deciding what might be best for me and what I don’t want to do. One gentleman did very well, except that I found him quite threatening. As in, he started right off the bat about rule breaking, he waved his pointer finger around while talking sternly, and even held a body stance that said to me, “If you disobey me, I will cut you — after I knock your head off.”

Another person announced his “no electronics” policy, but offered a friendly “because those aren’t why we are here after all.” A little misdirection, like magic! One volunteer was fabulous with humor, but could have taken the speed of speech and gestures down a notch.

I’m leaning on my experiences preaching and leading small group discussions over the years to bring me home this quarter. If I’m honest, I do feel some jitters, but when I think about my lesson plan (we’re going to warm things up with the vision of Perpetua!) I get excited about teaching. This should be fun. Stay tuned.