robot_hamster

I have tried to use the comment function on Blackboard, but I didn't like it. The one at my school only allowed so many characters and it just lumped everything together instead of allowing line spaces. Very annoying. I like actually adding notes to the Word document because that way the student can see exactly what you are referring to. Maybe this applies more to the sciences, I'm not sure.

At the moment, I'm thinking that is probably normal. But only because I'm having so much trouble getting my thesis up off the ground. You have posted on here before about grad school not being a good experience for you. Have you talked to anyone about it yet? It might help.

Wow, that's interesting. I suppose it would be nice to have teaching experience sort of built in like that.

Oh, I see what you're saying. Hmm, I don't know. I guess I've never seen anyone do that before. It is something I can look into though.

Eigen - No I haven't specifically said to my adviser that I would like more teaching experience. I'm not a TA for my adviser though, either. He currently only teaches one class that requires a TA and that position is filled by a PhD student. I have actually been going through a coordinator to secure TA positions. I will be talking to the professor I am TAing for this semester before school starts, so I can always ask them about it. That does sound like a good idea. Maybe they will at least give me the opportunity to fill in if they need to miss class. I don't know, I'll have to see.

Thank you for your input. I'm feeling a little less afraid. Especially if I word things like Teacher4PhD suggested.

I thought it was important because if the students were interested in improving their grade next time, they would know what they need to do.

runonsentence - That makes sense. These jobs don't involve teaching in a classroom, so maybe that is why they are being ambiguous with the requirements. I would hope that they are just making sure you can communicate with people effectively since the job involves educating the public. Teacher4Phd - Thanks for clarifying. I still think I'm on the right track based on what you said though. The jobs I was looking at weren't teaching jobs, they just want applicants to have teaching experience (presumably) because they would be working with the public and educating them on things.

runonsentence - I don't think it was all that tedious. I mean, I had to download the word documents anyway since that it how the students submitted stuff. As I read the assignments, I would use the notes option to add notes/comments. The rubric was broken down into sections, so at the bottom of the document I would type in some comments for each section explaining why they got the score they did for each one. Since I had to do all of that anyway, it wasn't a big deal to then upload the altered documents on Blackboard for the students to see.

Thanks for answering! So I'm thinking that if the experience you described was enough for you to get a teaching job, then my experience should be enough to get me the sort of jobs I have been looking at. Most of them have involved working with the public, educating people, etc. I hate when they are ambiguous about qualifications. "Teaching experience" doesn't really tell you much.

Nobody?

Most professors at my school like to enter grades on Blackboard, so when I was grading stuff that it where the grades went. There was a place to enter comments, but I would usually enter comments in the word documents they would hand in (the professor had them submit them on Blackboard) and then attach the file to their grade in Blackboard's grade book.

I was limited to where I could apply. I actually started a thread about it, asking if anyone would ever consider leaving their spouse behind. The reason I was asking was because my current school is not a good fit for me. It was the only place available to me to apply. But if I want to continue on after this to get a PhD, I will definitely have to apply to other places.

I was looking at some job advertisements. I'm not looking yet, but I like to get an idea of what sorts of jobs are other there. I have seen positions that involve working with the public or older school-aged children (middle and high school). The minimum requirements include having a Masters degree and "teaching experience". I am curious as to what is generally considered teaching experience. Would my TAing be sufficient? My school doesn't usually allow MS students to teach their own courses, that is generally reserved for PhD students. As a TA, I have supervised lab activities and graded stuff for the professor teaching the course. I do talk to the students and try to answer their questions. I wasn't required to hold office hours, but students could easily contact me through email or come find me. I will be TAing another class this coming semester and I am hoping I will be allowed to be even more involved. As a side thing, I also participate in a mentoring program for high school students interested in research. Each mentor is paired with a student and they help them with a project. I met with my student (this last year) every week at her high school. I guess what I am asking is, does this count as teaching experience? If not, what can I do now to make myself more marketable in the future?

I picked my husband up off the street, literally. We have been together for a long time (~12 years, married for 5), so I can't provide much advice when it comes to dating. I do agree that getting involved in activities outside of school would help you meet people outside the world of academia. You might also want to make friends with people at school. If you attend their social events then you could potentially meet other people at those events that share similar interests. Even if it is just a backyard BBQ they are hosting. You never know, they might have some nice neighbors.

Sometimes seemingly irrelevant classes are really not that irrelevant. You may know how to "read and write", but many incoming college students do not know how to write professionally or how to cite sources correctly. In most areas of study, it is important to know how to write professionally. You never know when you'll be out in the real world and are asked to write a proposal or whatever. I think English courses are important for all majors and that is probably why they have remained a core requirement.

I see, that might be where the difference is. This was a large class I was a TA for. It had both undergrad and graduate students though. I graded everyone's stuff.

This really must be a program thing. I was a TA for a class last semester and I assigned grades to MS students. I didn't actually teach the class though, I graded papers and supervised the lab activities. The grade I gave for the papers was the grade that they got though. But are you talking about a TA actually teaching the class? I haven't ever seen a TA teaching a class by themselves that was a graduate-level course. I wonder if this is where some of the confusion is coming from between all the different posters in this thread. How is everyone defining a TA?

Amazon and Half.com. I signed up for the student account with Amazon and I get free 2 days shipping on school-related purchases. It also comes with a free year of Amazon Prime.

My experience has been that Masters and PhD students are on the same level. At my school, MS and PhD are mixed together. They share lab space, they take the same classes, etc. I have taken classes with MS and PhD students. Two classes in particular (that I took) had both an undergraduate and graduate component. There were undergrad, MS, and PhD students all in the same class. There was a TA for the class as well and they had authority over everyone. When it comes to socializing, everyone is just seen as graduate students regardless of whether they are MS or PhD. They seem to intermingle just fine. When I talk to people outside of class, it doesn't bother me what "level" they are at. I am working on my MS, but I don't think it would be any different for me if it was the other way around.

Considering the amount of work I have done for my husband's classes, I would almost think we have actually taken classes together! LOL Hmm, I'm not sure if he would like the two of us taking a class together. Although I think it would be fun because that way I could flirt with a cute boy in class. Hehe.. I am in a relationship with someone who is a student, but not a grad student. My husband is still working on his BA. I'll admit that it has been somewhat difficult, but that doesn't mean that we weren't able to make things work. If two people are committed to each other, then grad school should be just like any other challenge a couple might face and are able to get through together.

I think a cat is a little bit easier than a dog if you are the only person there. They are more independent and usually don't require a lot of training. Typically they already know what a litter box is and how to use it, so there isn't a lot of effort that needs to go into house breaking. Don't get me wrong, I love my dog. It would have been hard to take care of her by myself though. If you have the time and patience to train a dog, then they are definitely worth the commitment. Oh yes, make sure to have an emergency fund set up. Nothing like unexpected vet bills to put a strain on an already tight budget.

Yeah, they wanted me to do that my first semester. I never got around to it for some reason. I suppose it is appropriate to start one ASAP. It would be nice if you knew what your research will be, but I don't think it is necessary. Remember you can always update things as they change. You can include your degree information, research interests, and any publications that you have. My school suggested having business cards printed with the web address on them. That way you can hand them out at conferences, presentations, etc. I would think it would be helpful if things are hectic and you want to get your name/info out to potential contacts.

I couldn't do 5 classes. I have hard enough time keeping up with TA stuff and having 2 classes. This fall I will have 3 classes and I think I'm gonna be crying.

I have a question about other tablets that have been coming out. How to they compare to the iPad? I am really wanting something to read PDF files with. There are a couple of apps for the iPad that allow you to highlight and save notes on PDF files and I really want to be able to do that. Does anyone have any experience with any of the competing (cheaper) tablets? Are you able to get apps for them to read PDFs, highlight and take notes?