Summer 2026: TA Mentor
Mentorship, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Mathematics, 2026
After the success of the first summer TA Mentoring, our School of Arts & Sciences approved funding the TA Mentor position in our department for a second summer. This summer, I improved my workflow, using and updating the observation checklist that was developed in the spring, and structuring the TA Seminar more deliberately.
TA Seminar Topics (meets weekly on Fridays from 1-2pm in Thackeray 624):
- May 11 (Monday): Course Design and setup questions for 6-week-1 folks
- May 15: More course design and setup questions, including educational technology
- May 22: Assignment design
- May 29: Assignment design, continued
- June 5: Pacing, on a course-wide and individual-class level
- June 12: No agenda, open discussion
- June 19: Scheduled holiday; 6-week-2 prep day if desired
- June 26: The Teaching Philosophy Statement
- July 3: Scheduled holiday; no TA Seminar
- July 10: Applying to Academic Jobs
- July 17: Lesson-Planning
- July 24: Co-working Session for Elizabeth Baranger Teaching Award Applications
- July 31: Improving TA training in Pitt’s math department
- August 7: Final Exam co-grading session; debrief
- August 14: Intro to TAing in Pitt’s math department (for incoming first-years)