Web Resources for International Graduate Assistants
Web resources for improving English skills
Pronunciation
Praat Language Lab – Software to improve spoken English.
Pronouncing individual sounds – This website lets you see videos of people pronouncing individual sounds that may be difficult for you to pronounce.
English Central – This website lets you see videos of people pronouncing individual sounds that may be difficult for you to pronounce.
Listening
Common Student Questions –These listening materials are designed to help you become better acquainted with a variety of typical student questions, common idioms used within them, and fast, reduced speech, a manner of speaking often used by American students. Most of the questions in these materials are generic questions; they could be heard in nearly any class or lab.
General Listening Practice –This websites include resources for listening practice as well as cultural information.
Audio dictionary – This English dictionary has sound files. You can hear and practice saying words.
Academic Vocabulary
Academic Vocabulary – This is a collection of the most commonly written words in academic English as researched by A. Cox at Massey University, New Zealand. It includes numerous vocabulary-building exercises.
Discipline-Specific Vocabulary – Generate discipline-specific word lists. Discipline-specific definitions, synonyms, collocations, and example sentences from discipline-specific texts are available by clicking on any word in the list.
Videos about teaching
Example Lectures
Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars.
Webcasts of UC Berkley lectures from various disciplines
Culture and Expectations in the US Classroom
ITAs and undergraduate students talk about what makes an ITA effective
Teaching in America: A Guide for International Faculty
Culture Shock: International Students in the United States
Leading Discussions
Toolkit for Leading Discussions
Leading a Student-Centered Discussion
Interactive Teaching
From Questions to Concepts: Interactive Teaching in Physics
How to speak: Lecture Tips from Patrick Winston
Four Teaching Styles at Undergraduate Universities
Perils of the teacher-centered classroom
Classroom Assessment Techniques
Teaching Lab Sections
I Do- I understand – Engineering Lab at CU Boulder
For first year teachers: What NOT to do in the computer lab
Classroom Management
Power of Nonverbal Communication
The Unexpected Student Question
Understanding American School Culture
International Teaching Assistant Tutorials—Various Issues
Language Concerns
What If My Students Can’t Understand Me?
Web Resources for Improving Teaching Skills
Websites related to improving university teaching from Faculty Development Associates
University of Connecticut TA Guidebook
Language and Teaching Resources for International GSIs University of California Berkley
Teaching Tips Index – University of Hawaii
A Vision of University Students Today
Manual for Teaching Assistants (see checklist of questions to ask your supervisor on p. 8-9)
Professors discuss their goals for the first class day in 5 different disciplines
Strategies for avoiding and dealing with problem student behaviors
Characteristics of the undergraduate classroom