First Day to Final Grade: A Graduate Student's Guide to Teaching

by Anne Curzan, Lisa Damour

Many universities are concerned about improving the pedagogy used by their graduate students in the classroom. Yet few universities provide adequate training or support. As a result, most new graduate student teachers feel overwhelmed by the demands of being both a teacher and a student.
Written from the perspective of both professors who have been in the classroom for many years and inexperienced teachers of the "I wish someone had told me" variety, First Day to Final Grade should be every graduate student's first step in teaching. The guiding principle of this book is that, while theoretical wisdom about teaching is important, graduate students need specific, practical answers to questions that arise during the semester.
The text is written to function as a quick reference tool, but is equally effective when read from start to finish in preparation for teaching. It focuses on the "how tos" of teaching, such as setting up a lesson plan, running a discussion, and grading, as well as issues specific to the teaching assistant's unique role as both student and teacher, such as working effectively with the course professor and balancing teaching with graduate studies.
While some of the text addresses only first-time teachers, experienced teaching assistants can learn new teaching strategies from the material and use the specific lesson plans provided to vary their pedagogical approach. In addition, sections addressing the needs of international teaching assistants, questions of authority, diversity in the classroom, and various learning styles will also prove helpful to many.

Genres: Teaching, Nonfiction, Education

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2000

About the author

Anne Curzan is the Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature, Linguistics, and Education and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan, where she also currently serves as the dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Reviews

[Hafsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview for new graduate student instructors--easy and simple read, including how to lead effective discussions, grading and managing teaching with other responsibilities.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful for graduate students who may receive little to no guidance in their teaching assistantships. As with most books of this nature, some topics address issues that are out of the graduate student's control, but will nevertheless be helpful for the future. Chapters cover a wide range of topics from designing a syllabus, weekly preparation, and running a discussion, to office hours and balancing student/teaching life.

[Mills College Library]

378.125 C983 2011