Your Department, CSU, Chico
Teaching Internships
Prior to entering the teaching Associateships program students are required to complete an internship in the classroom of their selected field of study. Typical classes for this internship are 200 level course in Academic Writing, Introduction to Literature, or Beginning Creative Writing. You will want to contact instructors in your projected area of interest regarding this internship early in order to offer yourself the best opportunity for a TA position. Signing up for an internship requires that you first locate and consult a faculty member teaching said course and confirm this availability with them. Second, it requires that you fill out and submit the INDEPENDENT/INTERNSHIP/MASTER'S STUDY FORM. This form can be downloaded by clicking on the above link or you can find a hard copy in the English department office.
Teaching Associateships
The Mission Statement of our MA Program states, “Through internships and seminars in pedagogy, our Teaching Associateship Program provides teacher training and helps our students develop their teaching philosophies and hone their professional skills.”
The following is a compilation of useful information you'll want to consider when approaching a teaching associateship.
Hiring Guidelines
The Department of English and the Graduate Coordinator have compiled and produced a set of guidelines for students interested in a teaching associateship to read over. This document covers the hiring guidelines for all Teaching Associates and Tutors applying for such positions.
Hiring Guidelines for Teaching Associates
Suggested Preparation for TA Interviews
The EGSC has developed a list of suggested preparatory considerations to make in approaching your interview for TA. These are the recommendations of graduate students who have successfully interviewed for a TA position in the department.
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Use what you know. There's no sense trying to re-invent the wheel here so filling your syllabus with familiar material and/or material you you have experienced in your internships is not a bad thing. Most professors even encourage you to interview with a variation of their own syllabus. The important thing is that you can speak to every aspect of the syllabus you submit when it comes time to interview, so know what is on it and why it is there.
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Meet with your mentor, or Grad Coordinator. Whether you interview with a tried and true syllabus or come up with a completely new course outline, you'll be much more prepared if you sit down and discuss your syllabus with the Graduate Coordinator or your Internship Supervisor prior to interviewing. In fact, it probably wouldn't hurt to do this a few times before the interview. There you'll discover how comfortable you are answering questions about your decisions regarding the class.
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Be professional with your presentation. As part of the department's goal to generate experienced teachers in a professional setting it is important that you take your application seriously. Give instructors ample time to write you solid letters of recommendation (at least 2 weeks notice), prepare an Academic CV and include useful information which speaks towards your ability to lead a classroom, and see to it that your application is free of grammatical and technical errors. This sort of attention is the most characteristic of a successful interview.
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Relax. Ultimately everyone involved with this interview wants to see you succeed, so just relax and think of the interview as an opportunity to talk to colleagues about what you love to talk about anyway. Staying calm through discussing your decisions is an indication you will be comfortable leading a classroom discussion on the subject and excellent opportunity for you to successfully complete the teaching associate ship gauntlet.
TA Application
Here is a link to the TA Application for you to print.