Last year, I was a  TA for the second time, and in a new course. I had to read a whole bunch of new articles for the conferences (discussions in little groups) and I attended almost all the lectures since I didn’t know the material.

I learned a lot, I worked a lot.

This year, YES!, I am TA for the same professor, in the same course. I thought this would be a piece of cake. It is. More or less.

Of course, there is work to do. I have to read all of the material again just to be sure. I don’t want to be caught by surprise with a tricky question. I have to make links with the material seen in the lectures. I have to adapt my questions and activities to my groups. And I will have many of papers to grade.

But, still, there is less stress. I still have the notes I took last year, so I don’t attend the lectures as often. Almost all the articles are the same, and, again, I have my old notes to refer to. I already have some questions to animate the discussions. I feel more confident.

All in all, it is a little bit more relaxed. I understand why I kept all my notes and articles and books somewhere in my house for a year, and I am soooooo happy that I did a great job with that last year!

Do you prefer to be TA in a new course or not?

Banner photo by @kipunsam.daily // @gradlifemcgill