This semester I'm doing something new and learning a lot! One of the professors in the Psychology department offered me a position as a Teaching Assistant for a class I took with her last year, Psychology Methodology. I've only had a TA for one class I took, so I was excited and a bit nervous to take this opportunity. Taking this TAship means that I attend classes along with other students, support in-class activities and answer questions, hold office hours for students to come and chat, and help the professor with grading.
So far, we've mostly been setting up for the semester and have worked on a few in-class activities. I usually pop into different breakout rooms to see if people have questions (I know this can be kinda weird on the student end, since I've had those awkward moments when professors pop up in our discussions!). It's also been fun to revisit some of the content I learned in that class, since psych methods are very relevant for my other practicum right now!
As a part of the TAship, I'll also be giving a mini-lecture later on in the semester. This mini-lecture is supposed to align with the course content for that day. I will most likely talk about the research I'm doing about pro-environmental behavior and COVID-19. It can feel scary to approach professors about working with them on research, so I hope I can offer some ideas and support for students to accomplish their goals in college if those involve research!
Being a TA is new to me and makes me a bit nervous about showing the skills I've developed and sharing knowledge with peers, but I hope I'm able to be a resource and support students learning about psych methods! This is such a cool opportunity and I'm so grateful that my professor thought of me to do this.