Below are some samples of student feedback I received while I was a Teaching Assistant in the Department of English at McGill University (2011-2014). If you would like to see additional samples or the originals, please contact me!
Student Feedback – Winter 2014
ENGL203, Departmental Survey of English Literature, McGill University
“Amalia is a wonderful TA who is incredibly friendly and she goes above and beyond to help her students do well, while also maintaining high expectations for the quality of her students’ work (although reasonably so). She is always happy to provide all the information she has available to her to the students (that she is able to) and she goes out of her way to make herself available for individual consultation (e.g. regarding essays, exams, etc.). The powerpoint presentations that she makes for conference are very helpful. Amalia’s comments on essays are also really great (textbook examples of constructive criticism) and I’ve found her comments extremely helpful in working on my essay writing skills.”
“Most helpful and hardworking TA I’ve ever had, she really went above and beyond for us and I am really grateful!”
“Amalia is the best TA I’ve ever had. Always so encouraging and helpful. She really tries to make the conference interesting, with student presentations. She prepares a lot for the conferences, with a lot of researched material, on top of Professor Tabitha’s lectures, and she tries to present a different point of view with regards to the poems.”
“Amalia was an amazing Teaching Assistant. Her conferences were always quite interesting, and she was always really prepared with packed power points. You could tell she really loves what she does, and was very welcoming for anyone to go see her! She prepared us well for both the midterm and essay. Feeling very fortunate to have had her as my TA for this class!!”
“Amalia was really friendly and I really appreciated all the work she put in to her powerpoint slides! It was nice to have so many extra ways to make up for participation marks and I liked our conference”
“Amalia is a very sweet, very helpful person. She always answers her emails and is always available to speak with her students at any time. She helped me quite a lot with editing my essays and with good feedback. Great TA!”
“Amalia was an absolutely fantastic TA. she always encouraged participation and discussion, created excellent powerpoints that were a great resource for studying/reviewing old concepts. I thought she was also extremely approachable and kind, and her organization for the conferences were always set up in an extremely organized, well thought-out manner. It was really wonderful having Amalia as my TA and I hope to have her again at some later time.”
“Fair, yet not intimidating, I couldn’t have been luckier to get a TA like her. Strangely, not all TAs seem to sympathize with other students, maybe because they also have a lot to do, but Amalia always had time and was very supportive in every way.”
Student Feedback – Fall 2013
ENGL315, Shakespeare, McGill University
“Amalia is a great TA. She is always available to schedule appointments, she’s quick to respond to emails and questions. Her structure for conferences was amazing! Her powerpoints were so detailed and she was also great at starting great discussions of deeper themes and issues in the play. I truly feel like I got a better understanding of the play after conferences because we were able to delve in deeper into the material which can’t always be possible in lecture. Conference was always a safe environment for discussion.”
“Great job. Very prepared with detailed powerpoints and plans for conferences. Many really great insights. Good at facilitating conversation. The group exercise with the play readings was great.”
“Amalia’s visual aids and discussion prompts were well-organized, fantastic, and extremely helpful and addressing the course materials. Clearly put a lot of effort into constructing guides and multimedia presentations to follow along with in conference. Excellent TA. Friendly and engaging. Obviously cared about the students and for being a TA.”
“The thorough analysis and extra information she provided in these power points were really helpful when it came to studying and understanding the plays and their themes and characters at a deeper level. She sparked good discussion and was good at tailoring the conference to what the students wanted to focus on.”
“Amalia is amazing!!! She was always available for questions, was super helpful and approachable, and provided insights into the works. She was one of the most active and involved TA I have ever had. We can tell that she truly cares.”
“Best conference I have ever had – she put a lot of effort into preparing engaging conferences with clips and academic research, and she always kept the discussion dynamic. I liked how she had us act out a scene. Very approachable and eager to help.”
“…this was one of the few conferences in my experience where we would lose track of time and would end up staying over the hour time period without even noticing just because the discussion that was happening was so interesting.”
“I was really impressed by this TA’s job! Not only did she offer her own insight to the course material, but she fully respected the students’ opinions on all subjects. In addition, she taught us how to think for ourselves and to create connections among plays, which we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Finally, she was always available for consultation, clarification and general help, both through office hours and by email.”
Student Feedback – Winter 2012
ENGL315, Shakespeare, McGill University
“Amalia was the best TA I’ve ever had. Her discussion questions were great, and she was great at responding to people’s comments and not just facilitating discussion, but being part of it. She was extremely helpful and her slides had so much on them that I was always upset conference only lasted an hour. I also enjoyed the group work aspect.”
“She gave really interesting conferences and gave a good amount of time for students to develop their own theories and ideas. She’s very open to questions and is always open to helping students.”
“Amalia was the best TA I’ve had 🙂 Very approachable and friendly, which makes it easy to ask questions and participate in discussions.”
“Amalia was so kind and personable. I appreciated that she wasn’t intimidating and seemed to genuinely care what everyone had to say.”
“Amalia was very helpful and readily available to answer any of my questions in person and via email (and also very quick at responding). She was a great in helping me think though my term paper and its thesis.”
“Very approachable, made the conferences very interesting and comfortable. Great TA!”