English Department Teacher's Assistant
Department of English, Brigham Young University-Idaho, Spring 2009-Spring 2010
Professor Bob Worrell, April 2009-April 2010
Working with Professor Worrell felt like working with Tolkien or Lewis. His dry wit and helpful manner encouraged me to take pride and my work, which consisted of grading 10-page FDENG 101 (Writing and Reasoning Foundations) research papers, completing housekeeping projects (building note sheets, editing midterm and final tests, etc.), and occasionally subbing class.
I subbed for several classes, including Writing and Reasoning Foundations (FDENG 101), Art and Propaganda (HUM 103), and Poetry (ENG 352). My favorite lessons included discussing Imagism and T.S. Eliot, Edna Millay, John Crowe Ransom, and Archibald Macleish in ENG 352 (Poetry) and grading student presentations in which they connected propaganda with a 20th-century 'ism' (i.e. surrealism, communism, environmentalism, etc.) in HUM 103 (Art and Propaganda). Professor Worrell also taught me about the publication process. We composed and sent out query letters for his novel, The Search for the Golden Section, for a month before his retirement in April 2010. Though I didn't witness the results of these queries, I learned how to use writer's resources like Writer's Market and www.pw.org. |
Highlights
|
Professor Anne Papworth, January 2010-April 2010
Professor Papworth trusted me to grade assignments from all three of her classes (ENG 314, 201, & 326). These assignments included student essays and critical analyses, PTICs (a critical summary of scholarly articles), and professional memos.
What I most appreciated about Professor Papworth was her respect for both education and for her students. She wholly endorsed brushing up on literary theories like Psychoanalytical, Reader-Response, and Marxist critical lenses so that I could better assist the students when they came in for their conferences. In spite of her emphasis on literary theory and application, however, her number one priority was always the students and the quality of education they received under her instruction. I met with half of Professor Papworth's twenty-five Advanced Research and Literary Analysis (314) students on alternating weeks. Thus, after two weeks, I'd visited with every student, critiqued and reviewed their work. One student, due to registration difficulties, couldn't attend the standard class time. Professor Papworth assigned me as the student's peer mentor; we met at an alternate time and covered the class materials so this student could maintain enrollment in ENG 314. I also had the opportunity to substitute for Professor Papworth's Advanced Writing and Critical Reading (201) class. We went over requirements for a research paper due the following week and summarized the difference between authentic (valid) arguments and pseudo (fact) arguments. |
Highlights
|
Suzette Gee, April 2009-July 2009
Working with Professor Gee explored a new area of the English field: professional communication. Professor Gee's courses required students to produce memos, advertisements, and professional book reviews -- mediums previously unfamiliar to me. Learning how English applied to real-life projects taught me how to combine both professional and creative standards to produce a cumulative whole. My favorite project in Professor Gee's COMM 201* classes (since removed from the BYU-Idaho Course Catalog) was the book review. Students evaluated a book of their choice according to professional standards. They not only critically analyzed content, but also watched for tone, audience awareness, and Kairos (timing).
Professor Gee also required me to use grading rubrics -- a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the assignment parameters were always clear; a curse because not all assignments fit into neat categories. In other words, Professor Gee and I believed that a rubric is a set of guidelines, not a definitive judgment. Other assignments included evaluating student responses to Crucial Conversations, the required class text; grading midterm and final test answers; and assessing student presentations. |
Highlights
|
Jasmine Leemhuis, July 2009-December 2009
Under Professor Leemhuis' mentorship, I learned how to better use Blackboard, an online grade center and course manager. My duties were simple: enter quiz, grammar, and analysis scores. However, I was generally responsible for 30-60 student assignments at a time and never lost one or dropped a score.
Entering the assignment grades showed how the courses were structured. Some assignments "weighed" more than others, and the heavier assignments reflected the course goals. I became very familiar with the I Think textbook (required for FDENG 101 classes), which came in handy when my editing team recompiled the anthology. Professor Leemhuis also gave me the opportunity to substitute class. We analyzed George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant" and discussed personal narrative essays. |
Highlights
|