Post 12: Nostalgia Much? Facing the End of the Term.

As final projects for my class are coming in, I can't help but feel a very sharp sense of nostalgia - the semester seemed to finish up quickly, and it's a relief that perhaps I have been feeling more than my students, who still have a week of classes left, and other reports and final projects due, too.

In the last few weeks of the semester, my role has very much shifted from bringing prepared materials to class, organizing the nature walk for each tutorial, and in general, coming with announcements and other prepared materials (though the announcements, as they were relevant for the class, continued), I had to relax and let go of that sense of needing to run the tutorial. Reality was, I was shifting from leading the tutorials to offering the tutorials as a space for group work time; the restoration design projects the students were working on are not small projects, and the tutorial was a scheduled time during the week where the groups could meet, with all members in attendance (otherwise they couldn't have signed up for the tutorial). So, I wanted to respect that time, and moved between the groups, answering questions, offering advice, and providing suggestions as the conversations arose.

                             Pixie cups, found on a pleasant wander in the Sooke Hills...

Now that the assignments are coming in, it is very much a delight to see how polished the final documents are, and I'm excited to start reading them, but this also makes me realize that I won't see the students together again, and will not be meeting with them, checking in on them, and in general, getting ready for tutorial with them again. Sad Tuesday.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I didn't realize I was as attached to, and invested in their learning experience as I was, and now that it's done, I can look over the last few months, reflect, think about what worked well and what I would do differently for next time, and remember funny times or great moments in class. Two in particular come to mind: the name game that I played with each of the tutorials, and the laughter of having different students make extremely fun noises to go with their actions in the game ('merp' 'honk' 'boop' 'bing'); and another time, when I was trying to be accommodating with the different interests students had for their group projects: I was trying not to simply say, Student X, you need to change groups because Group P is short one person, but I was sort of told of by a quip that "That's what you're supposed to do," implying that I was trying to be too accommodating. Point taken, I suppose, although it worked out by opening the option to the tutorial as well. I suppose the solution would be to frame it differently in the future, by saying something along the lines of, "If no one wants to move voluntarily, then I will select one person myself."
We also had nature walks during all of the tutorials, and the spring time can be a tricky time of year as the trees don't have leaves on them (for some, the most helpful identifying feature) and the bushes, too, or in some cases flowers hadn't yet bloomed, so I realized in the weeks afterwards that I'd misnamed 2 plants! That was fun. But I felt a bit better about the big caveat I always give, which is to 'never trust a biologist' (advice I was given myself in a field school a few years ago).

Anyways. Students. So fun. Teaching is a really heartwarming, encouraging activity, and it was a pleasure to work with the students I had this year.

Post 11: Preparing for End of Term Marking

As a graduate student done class-work, the realization that my schedule does not align with the experience of undergraduate students comes quickly. While my timeline hasn't really stopped clicking along since last spring when I finished my courses, the pattern of assignment, assignment, deadlines, assignment, midterm, presentation, final exam that undergraduate students typically go through (or some variation thereof) has only been on my radar because of TAing and my proximity to those students.

And - it is that time of year where I'm starting to face a few days away from being landed with a giant pile of end-of-term final project marking.

Let me be clear - I am very much looking forward to seeing how my students' final projects came together. It's been a semester of reminding them and checking on on them, and encouraging them, and asking questions about different components, and offer feedback; it'll be really great to see how everything's taken shape. This year the professor I'm working with decided to make a final presentation mandatory for all the students in class, and I think it's a wonderful way of allowing them to share with each other the work they've been doing in tutorials.

So, where am I going with this? Well, it's mostly to say that if you know you have a giant pile of marking coming up, work hard up to it, and then be prepared to clear some space in your schedule so you can dedicate the time needed to give good feedback and consideration to all of the projects. There's nothing worse than being so stressed out of your mind with your own work, that students' feedback on their projects suffers (as may their marks, without the reviewer's patience to go through the projects).

                               Restoring desire-lines? One of the options for a restoration project.
                               Watch out for that mud! (On campus at UVic.)

The final projects I've got coming my way are going to be long reports drawn up by groups of about 4-6 students. In the past the projects have typically been between 40-70 pages. That is a lot of legwork for the eyes.

It will be several, several days of marking, which is also where it's good to know what's in the Collective Agreement for being a Teaching Assistant, so you know what a reasonable time frame for getting the marking done is, and so you don't unnecessarily slave away in the process. At UVic, TAs are part of CUPE 4163, Component 1. The Collective Agreement is the binding contract that governs how TAs and others in the union are to be treated as workers. It's great that we have this, as it grants us some protection from being completely taken advantage of. At the beginning of the semester the union holds orientation sessions with all of the new grad students to let them know about the union, and that it's there for them should something happen. There are still a number of issues that TAs face all the time. Unpaid extra work (especially attending regularly scheduled class) is one of them.

Anyhow. That's an aside that could use a whole blog post to itself. Fair working conditions as a TA mostly also means that you need to know what that entails. I've had the pleasure of working with a professor who is very open-minded and easy to communicate with. At the beginning of the semester we filled out the form sent to all TAs, discussing my work contract, how the hours would be used, and I've been keeping track of those hours as the semester progressed, too. I'm happy to say I'm right on budget for those hours.

So, pacing is a big part of knowing when and where your hours will be spent. I knew for months already, that I would have a big whack of marking due, and have been able to (try, at least!) prepare for what'll fall in my lap on Monday.

In a way, I am already a little sad about the semester having passed so quickly. I've heard from a few people that working at a university is like working at an Airport—so many people pass through so quickly, and indeed, my time here has been lengthened because of my choice to return for a master's degree, and that will be short enough as is. My students have been great. I will miss them. I look forward to Monday's in-class presentations.