Documentation:Vantage College Curriculum/TA Training/2014-2015

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Proposed Sessions for Vantage TA Orientations 2014/2015

Number of TAs who will be participating:approx. 50

  • Physics: ~12
  • Chemistry: ~10
  • Math: ~6
  • CPSC: up to 8 - to be confirmed
  • GEOG: ~
  • POLI: ~
  • PSYC: ~

Tentative Orientation Schedule

Orientation Day One - August 28th

  • [Location: Angus 241]
  • [~40-45 TAs]
  • [Files: Attendance & Feedback Forms; Handouts//Guide – Some sent early on]
  • [Survey results // Survey from 20th to 25th & Expectations]
  • [Survey questions]
  1. What is your previous TA experience? (1; 1-3; 3-5; 5+ years)
  2. What are your expectations from the upcoming Vantage Orientation sessions? (Open ended)
  3. Is there anything the Orientation Coordinators should know about you before the sessions? (Open Ended – Examples may be provided from simple to complicated: Male/Female; Sciences/Arts; Int or Dom student; Number of Languages Known; etc… ALL answers optional)
  4. Why did you decide to work with Vantage College? (Open Ended)
  5. Is there anything else you would like say? (Open Ended)


12:00pm – 12:30pm: Introductions and Icebreaker

  1. The Facilitators will introduce themselves and the training
  2. Participants Icebreaker
    1. What is the meaning of your name (in your own language if EAL)?

12:30pm-12:40pm: Lunch and Mingling

12:40pm – 01:45pm: Vantage Program Overview & Lunch

  • Conducted by Vantage staff

01:45pm – 03:20pm: Session on Intercultural Communication

  1. Introduction (10 mins)
  2. Race, Ethnicity and Culture (25 mins)
    1. Handouts & Discussion
  3. Generalizations and Stereotypes (25 mins)
    1. Brainstorm Session
    2. Sensitization Debrief
  4. Cultural Value Orientations (35 mins)
    1. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck Taxonomy
    2. Individualism and Collectivism
    3. Masculinity and Femininity [Particular Emphasis]

3:20pm-3:30pm: Break

03:30pm – 04:30pm: Session on Instructional Skills for Canadian Academic Context

  1. Before the Class (20 mins)
    1. Planning the Lesson
    2. Setting the Stage [Emphasis on participation & engaging multilingual students]
  2. In class (40 mins)
    1. Arranging the Room
    2. Teaching in a Clear and Engaging Way
    3. Managing the Classroom
    4. Participation
    5. Maximizing your language skills

04:30pm – 05:00pm: Q&A

Homework for Day 2: Documentary – ‘What I Learned in Class Today’

  1. Watch Documentary (20mins)
  2. Questions for Day 2 (20mins)
    1. What applies to us? (Focus on previous sessions on Intercultural Communication & Projections on Cultural Sensitivity)

Orientation Day Two - September 2nd

[location: CK Choi 120

09:00am -09:15am:James Ridge – Principal, UBC Vantage College

09:15am - 09:20am: Feedback discussion

09:20am – 09:50am: Icebreaker

  1. Bingo (20 mins activity + 10 mins summary)

09:50am – 10:20am: Homework

  1. Groupwork – 6 groups of 6 (15-20 mins)
    1. How does that apply to us?
    2. What lessons on cultural sensitivity and in-class behavior can we draw from their experience?
    3. Answer with one to two sentences for each question
  2. Summary and brief discussion (10-15 mins)

10:20am - 10:30am: Break

10:30am – 11:20am: Diversity in the Classroom

  1. The Vantage Philosophy: Multiliteracies
    1. What is Multiliteracies? (15 mins)
    2. The 4 stages of Multiliteracies (12 mins)
    3. Examples (5 mins)
    4. Think-Pair-Share (15 mins)
  2. Summary (5 mins)

11:30am – 12:20pm: Vantage Classroom Situations

  1. 7 Challenges w/ groups of 5-6 (25 mins)
    1. EAL, Plagiarism, Dominant Student, Dangerous Lab xp, Persistent silence…
    2. Discussion: New Buzz-Groups formed by Group Envoys (20 mins)
    3. Discuss/Gallery Walk Solutions (20mins)
    4. Debrief (5 mins)


12:40pm - 13:00pm:

  1. Slack introduction

13:00pm - 13:30pm: Break-out

  1. (Arts TAs & Science TAs

13:30pm - 14:00pm:

  1. Lunch and Q&A

TO BE PLANNED AFTER THE ORIENTATION

Orientation Day Three - September 24th

[location: Angus 241]

Marking and giving feedback to EAL learners Sept 24, 2014 – 4:15-6:15 PM

Overall outcomes of the session By the end of the session, participants should be able to:

  • Identify tacit/implicit practices/beliefs that they employ when giving written feedback to multilingual students with respect to English usage.
  • Begin to articulate a principled approach to providing written feedback to multilingual learners based on a functional approach to language.

1.Welcome and warm up: 4:15-4:30

Objective:

  • Identify examples of current approaches/techniques participants use to provide written feedback about language usage.
  1. Welcome participants
  2. Review agenda and objectives
  3. Language in context: Jabberwocky

2. Student samples: 4:30-5:00

Objective:

  • Give participants some hands-on practice with authentic text and to explore more fully the challenges/opportunities of EAL learners.

General set up: think-pair-share [A,B >> AA,BB >> AABB].

  1. Individually, participants are given a sample of the diagnostic task and asked to provide feedback; Sample[A or B] (10 minutes)
  2. In pairs, discuss what sort of feedback is appropriate for the student sample and provide example comments/annotations. [AA and BB] (10 minutes)
  3. Identify aspects that you may have found challenging to comment on, or difficult to make suggestions about. Why was this so?
  4. In groups of 4, discuss the 2 samples and the feedback provided. [AABB]. Consider the following: (10 minutes)

3.A Functional Approach to Language: 5:00-5:30

Objectives:

  • Help participants understand the Vantage College approach in order to move away from a rule-based approach to language assessment.
  • Provide participants with a framework for applying functional linguistics to written feedback: i.e. What should TAs look for in student writing (What is SFL? How does it work?)
  1. Provide brief overview of the functional approach used by Vantage College. (20 minutes)
  2. Introduce the rubric for the diagnostic sample. (5 minutes)
  3. Provide an overview of the assessment guide. (5 minutes)

4. Applying the Functional Approach: 5:30-6:05

Objective: Demonstrate the use of the functional approach to language to improve the overall quality of written feedback given to students.

  • In pairs [AA,BB], use information from talk on Functional Linguistics, the marking rubric and the ‘Providing Assessment’ guide to refine the feedback given previously on the diagnostic samples. Revise at least 2 comments. (10 minutes)
  1. Exchange your feedback with someone who marked a different sample [AB,AB] (10 minutes)
    1. How did your feedback change?
    2. What are some of the challenges you experienced? How can they be addressed?
  2. Debrief/Reporting: Groups report back to large group. (10 minutes)
    1. What are some of the best practices/principles?
    2. How can this be applied to your own discipline?
    3. Go over some sample comments given by AEP instructors.
    4. Final reflections: Revisit some of the questions recorded in section 1? (5 minutes)

5. Wrap up: 6:05-6:15

Orientation Day Four – October 29th

[location: Angus 241]

4:15 pm – 6:15 pm: Addressing Challenging Situations – Part 2, Revisit

Prior to session, TAs will be encouraged to attend another TA's class (not necessarily same discipline) to explore challenging situations TAs are experiencing (critical incidents). These challenging situations will be forwarded to the facilitators and will serve as case studies for the session.

1. Welcome and warm-up: 4:15-4:30

2. Case studies based on feedback on challenging situations instructors & TAs are encountering: 4:30-5:00

3. Brainstorming strategies and solutions:5:00-5:30

4. Faculty input: 5:30-5:50

5. Debrief and wrap-up: 5:50-6:15

Orientation Day Five – November 26th

[location: Angus 241]

4:15 pm – 6:15 pm: End of term reflections

1. Welcome and thank you: 4:15-4:30

2. Faculty/TA mixer: 4:30-5:15

  • Sharing classroom experiences in the Vantage program so far (small groups, inter-disciplinary, Instructor+TA(s),rotating).
    • a) What was your greatest 'a-ha' moment? b)Your most surprising/shocking moment?
  • Celebrating successes and identifying promising practices: i.e. what do we need to think about for next time?

3. Structured Feedback, Analysis & Strategies: 5:15-6:15 - facilitated by Roselynn & Serbulent

  • Gathering feedback from the TAs on their experience as a TA in Vantage; their experience in the TA training program; and their experience with larger Vantage College structures, policies, procedures, etc.
  • A brief needs analysis for WT2
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