Month: June 2017

This week we had our first exam cram on Thursday!! Basically what happens is about a week before the students have their midterm/exam we throw an all day study session to get them ready for it. Our idea was to have a large “mock exam” filled with a bunch of questions that students can expect on their midterm. While they work on it they’re free to collaborate with other students, or ask us if they’re unclear. There’s also pizza which was awesome. We had some really good feedback from the students and overall the day went really well. The turnout was way beyond what anyone expected and we got some great feedback from our bosses which was really cool. Besides the exam cram my week was normal, starting to get a bit busier now since exams are approaching which is exciting.

I finished my first month this week which was cool and exciting. Overall this first month has been pretty relaxing. I haven’t had a hard time to get settled in, my coworkers are nice, the students are great, and I love teaching. I feel like I’m well on my way to vastly improving my communication skills as well as my OO skills which were my main goals this term. This week in general was very similar to last week. Appointments were steady, drop-ins and study groups were hit and miss, and classes were fun. Overall another solid week.

This week things starting getting busier and more exciting. The students have assignments to work on now and they are now full speed ahead on the course material. I’m getting a lot more appointments now which is great and I’ve even had several students come for drop ins. I’m getting some very good feedback from the students which is nice and I’m starting to feel more comfortable in a teaching role. Most of my appointments are obviously for Java related questions and assignments, but I have also been getting a couple students come in for web programming help. I’m not the best or the most familiar with web development but it’s nice to learn and it is refreshing to have a new topic to discuss.

In my second week things started to pick up some more. I’m starting to get more appointments which is nice, and class time is starting to become more about teaching and helping the students as the semester gets under way. We also have these weekly study sessions where any group of students can come to class run by myself and i’ll teach them material or help them with any questions they have. Apparently these die down later in the semester but this week they were very packed which was cool and exciting. Besides the appointments and class time students can also come to drop-in sessions with us for quick questions, however being the start of the semester and since they don’t have any assignments coming up, these have been very dead. Most of my work so far has been helping students get setup as well as a lot of review, but it’s been fun.

My first week at Sheridan was pretty uneventful. I had a training session last Wednesday which was pretty basic, and obviously in the first week people don’t really require that much help in the first week. My work consisted mostly of extra training here and there, as well as getting used to the new setting and the new title. Being a learning assistant is very different to my previous terms at Canadian Tire, and I do miss the regular programming, but I feel that I’m going to like teaching as well and it’s going to be great for my communication skills. The other learning assistants seem pretty cool too which is nice. I only had a couple of appointments this week and class time was spent mostly introducing myself and the learning center. Overall it was a good first week.