How to Deal Problem Students as a TA

[CornUltimatum]

I am going to be a TA next Fall semester, and I am curious how much power a TA has to deal with problem students...

I ask because through my undergraduate there were several instances were there were loud and aggressive students in labs - and the TAs didn't seem to feel they were allowed to do anything about it. I remember in one Chem lab I heard a student called the TA a b*tch after discussing some common mistakes on a lab... Another student kept derailing and aggressively arguing with our TA over climate change and we ended up far over time in our lab. There was also a time a student was playing extremely loud music in a lab, and the TA asked them to stop to allow other people to work and they got into a huge yelling match over it.

I doubt the issue will be rampant, and perhaps it may not become an issue at all, but I am generally curious about the proceedings of this... Can you dismiss a student from the class if they call you a profanity? Or if they disrupt class too much and so forth?

Edited April 25, 2016 by CornUltimatum

[TakeruK]

I think a lot of the specifics will depend on your school's code of conduct and other policies. Although I have never had to do it myself, in general, I think a TA should be able to dismiss a student from their class if they are calling the TA a profanity (especially if there is unlawful harassment along with it) or if they are disrupting the learning environment of other students. Also, as an a TA, I think you should have the right to not deal with abusive students in your work environment (whether you are protected by labor laws will depend on whether you are treated as an employee, though). Finally, if you are responsible for students in a lab setting, I think violation of lab safety (the loud music example) is reasonable grounds to remove a student from a lab.

For the serious infractions like this, I would personally lean towards asking the student to leave and deal with whether or not I was allowed to do that / should have done that later. I would generally prefer to take immediate action that eliminates the safety risk (if one exists) and remove disruptions to other students' learning. Then, as necessary, I would go to the appropriate offices on campus after the fact to figure out what to do next, if anything needs to be done, so that the incident doesn't happen again. But the protocol for each school will vary with each school's policies! You generally learn this during orientation or some kind of TA training.

For the example of the student derailing the class discussion, or other smaller disruptions, I don't think dismissing the student is the right response. Usually, during TA training, you are taught some strategies to keep the class on task and redirecting the discussion to the relevant topic. I find that usually, a reminder that X is not the topic for discussion today and then disengaging from the conversation works well for stopping discussion on an irrelevant topic. There is a pitfall to this approach though, because depending on the course material, while the instructor might expect students to approach the topic in an unbiased manner, the truth is that we are all humans and it's not easy (or even better, necessarily) to approach everything from a disinterested view. I think it's important to create a classroom climate that encourages learning and growth. So, if a contentious topic like climate change comes up during a class and if it's somewhat relevant to the topic (even if a little tangential) then maybe a good thing to do would be to schedule a discussion on the topic for the class in the future. I'd explain that I have already prepared material for today's class but we will try to work in the climate change discussion later in the term. And then follow through on it if you can find a way to make it work with the course learning goals (usually possible and probably better to engage with an example/topic that your students care about instead of an arbitrary one that you picked). If you expect the discussion will be heated, be sure to set "ground rules" for the discussion at the start. 

[fuzzylogician]

^ In addition, in all such matters, involve the instructor of record. The professor in charge of the course should know of any issue serious enough to warrant removing a student from class (name calling would be included for me, argumentative student in discussions would not, but that is a judgment call). If it were me, in cases that don't involve safety I would do my best to ignore the bad behavior and steer the class back in a productive direction; engaging a student like that could be dangerous in that you as instructor often can't actually do much in the moment and you don't want to give the student too much power (e.g. refusing to leave and causing a scene, taking time away from class). It's a judgment call. In many cases, the right course of action would be to turn matters over to the professor and not deal with it yourself. The power differential between prof and student and the experience will usually mean it'll be easier for the prof to deal with it than for the TA. 

[rising_star]

Honestly, if a student called me a profane name to my face in class, I would do far more than just dismiss the student for the day. I'd report them to all the relevant offices (instructor of record, dept head, student conduct office, etc.) because such behavior is completely unacceptable. Think of it this way: If a student calls their boss a b****, is the boss going to ignore it? Highly unlikely. It's far more likely that they'd be immediately disciplined or possibly fired. While there are times and places for "teachable moments", I'd say that learning that such behavior isn't tolerable counts as a teachable moment too. 

It's your job as the teacher/instructor not to let the students derail the conversation. If they are, you redirect and get them back on track. There are a number of ways to do this, including those suggested above. I'll also offer to speak more about the topic after class or in office hours, though students rarely take me up on this. I don't let students cause a scene in class because I establish from day one what the acceptable behavioral norms are for my classroom. You can even decide this in collaboration with the students if you want. I highly recommend this to everyone because it helps foster good behavior and helps students keep one another in check.

[fuzzylogician]

13 minutes ago, rising_star said:

Honestly, if a student called me a profane name to my face in class, I would do far more than just dismiss the student for the day. I'd report them to all the relevant offices (instructor of record, dept head, student conduct office, etc.) because such behavior is completely unacceptable. 

Oh, absolutely, and worth repeating: you deserve to be treated with respect, and anyone who calls you a profane name should face consequences. In class I would not just let it slide, and after class I would pursue it with the appropriate authorities as well. 

[Sigaba]

15 hours ago, CornUltimatum said:

I am going to be a TA next Fall semester, and I am curious how much power a TA has to deal with problem students...

Ultimately, the amount of power you have will boil down to how far the professor for whom you work and the department offering the class want to back you up. If a situation with a student goes south, you should document everything (including what professors tell you behind closed doors), you should maintain a disinterested temperament, and you should manage your expectations. The Powers That Be may decide that their priorities are different than yours and implement a solution that surprises you. (But I'm not bitter.)

8 hours ago, TakeruK said:

I think a lot of the specifics will depend on your school's code of conduct and other policies. . . . If you expect the discussion will be heated, be sure to set "ground rules" for the discussion at the start. 

Something you could do is to include relevant passages from the relevant policies in an attachment to the section syllabus and then go over it point by point. If you go this route, make sure that your tone is neutral; explain the ground rules with no expectation one way or another that students will behave inappropriately.

You can also establish an environment in which the discussion of controversial topics is deflected in favor of what you want to cover so the students can learn the materials. This approach will require both forward thinking and quick thinking on your part.

8 hours ago, fuzzylogician said:

 [E]ngaging a student like that could be dangerous in that you as instructor often can't actually do much in the moment and you don't want to give the student too much power (e.g. refusing to leave and causing a scene, taking time away from class). It's a judgment call. In many cases, the right course of action would be to turn matters over to the professor and not deal with it yourself.

Given your expressed concern, I recommend that when you receive your training to work as a TA, and if circumstances allow (and your situational awareness will be crucial) that you ask specifically what you are supposed to do with disruptive students. I recommend that you "sandbox" in your mind's eye how you would implement the guidance in an encounter with a disruptive student. You want to have as good a sense as possible of what kinds of behaviors and comments will press the magic button and your course of action if someone presses it.

In the event something unfortunate transpires, do as you've been trained/told AND document everything AND consider initiating disciplinary action against the student as set forth in your school's code of conduct. (The Ivory Tower is taking cues from the private sector in these kinds of disputes more and more and, for better or worse, the person who complains first often "wins.")

[fuzzylogician]

17 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

Given your expressed concern, I recommend that when you receive your training to work as a TA, and if circumstances allow (and your situational awareness will be crucial) that you ask specifically what you are supposed to do with disruptive students. I recommend that you "sandbox" in your mind's eye how you would implement the guidance in an encounter with a disruptive student. You want to have as good a sense as possible of what kinds of behaviors and comments will press the magic button and your course of action if someone presses it.

In the event something unfortunate transpires, do as you've been trained/told AND document everything AND consider initiating disciplinary action against the student as set forth in your school's code of conduct. (The Ivory Tower is taking cues from the private sector in these kinds of disputes more and more and, for better or worse, the person who complains first often "wins.")

Not for nothing but I don't TA courses at this point, I teach my own. But when I was a TA, at two different institutions, there was exactly zero TA training and no one one could officially ask about any of these things. The good instructors would tell us to come to them with problems, the not-as-good ones didn't want to know about it. Reading through the school's code of conduct is one option, asking a trusted admin person who's been around for a while is another. Unfortunately, both TAs and (increasingly) professors have less and less power to deal with problematic students, as students are perceived more and more as "clients" who receive our instructional services. One needs to very cynically weigh the costs of pursuing disciplinary action against the potential benefits. 

[Denominator]

13 hours ago, fuzzylogician said:

Not for nothing but I don't TA courses at this point, I teach my own. But when I was a TA, at two different institutions, there was exactly zero TA training and no one one could officially ask about any of these things. The good instructors would tell us to come to them with problems, the not-as-good ones didn't want to know about it. Reading through the school's code of conduct is one option, asking a trusted admin person who's been around for a while is another. Unfortunately, both TAs and (increasingly) professors have less and less power to deal with problematic students, as students are perceived more and more as "clients" who receive our instructional services. One needs to very cynically weigh the costs of pursuing disciplinary action against the potential benefits. 

I've taught community college for 3 years and have been told that as a part of the funding for my phd I'll be teaching my own course.  I've never been a TA.  

For what it's worth...know the rules/procedures/ plan of action on dealing with problem students before you encounter your first problem student. Be persistent in finding out.  I'd ask as many people as it takes to get a clear answer.  Once you know the policy, it's no longer a judgment call on your part. It's policy. Consistently, fairly enforce policy.  If any student has a problem, it's not a problem with you but a problem with the policy. You can simply point the student to the person/committee making the policy. There is enormous freedom in being able to point the blame somewhere else.  Being proactive is way, way better than trying to fix problems after the fact.  

[livenlaf]

There are students that may have invisible disabilities  i.e. autism, adhd, etc (who may or may not tell you about it) that would cause them to say or do things when they are triggered that you may find offensive. It is important for professors and TA's to be familiar with such disabilities, what kind of things may trigger it and how to deal with it and/or prevent it before it becomes a problem. This article may help you understand it better http://hechingerreport.org/students-autism-spectrum-often-smart-peers-go-college/ .  You can also speak to the disabilities office and/or psychology/personal counseling department at your school for further information, assistance, guidance, etc.  Good luck!

[dr. t]

14 hours ago, livenlaf said:

There are students that may have invisible disabilities  i.e. autism, adhd, etc (who may or may not tell you about it) that would cause them to say or do things when they are triggered that you may find offensive. It is important for professors and TA's to be familiar with such disabilities, what kind of things may trigger it and how to deal with it and/or prevent it before it becomes a problem.

Were students in a class to have such disabilities, it is also incumbent upon them to contact the appropriate university resources, who in turn have a responsibility to create a proactive plan of action with the student and help both the student and instructor to implement it. An instructor may recommend such resources to a student, but is in no way obligated to accommodate a student who fails to utilize them. In other words, disability, visible or not, may explain bad behavior, but it does not excuse it. 

[livenlaf]

12 hours ago, telkanuru said:

Were students in a class to have such disabilities, it is also incumbent upon them to contact the appropriate university resources, who in turn have a responsibility to create a proactive plan of action with the student and help both the student and instructor to implement it. An instructor may recommend such resources to a student, but is in no way obligated to accommodate a student who fails to utilize them. In other words, disability, visible or not, may explain bad behavior, but it does not excuse it. 

No one is excusing "bad" behavior but people can get triggered and react to things even if they have a plan of action set up with the professor/TA. A person with ptsd may react very strongly if a TA is rigid and acts more like a prison guard rather than a human being who shows compassion towards all students regardless of their race, ethnicity, religion, disability, etc. If you have no awareness or understanding about it then your reactions could be harmful to someone who is already struggling and that could be prevented if you have the knowledge and skills to deal with it appropriately.

 Quite frankly, most TA's are not even qualified to teach, they are just forced to teach because of their stipend requirements. Seriously, did anyone evaluate your teaching abilities before you were offered you a TA position? Sure you have a good GPA, GRE score, and research experience which is why you got accepted to the program but that does not equate to having the skills or ability to teach. Students are paying thousands of dollars to get an education, why should they not have the opportunity to be taught by a competent professor who is an expert in the field and actually wants to teach, instead of a TA who has no teaching skills and is now letting his/her insecurities get in the way of students success by acting like a prison guard instead of a human being teaching adults who are paying good money to get an education? Some TA's (not to mention professors) are incompetent and have no business "teaching" and should not be forced to "teach" at the expense of students who are paying a fortune to support these TA's. But if you are being forced to teach, then learn some techniques that good professors use to "deal" with "problems"  (it's interesting that none of my good professor ever had any problems with students, I wonder why that is?) Some of the techniques that may help you with classroom management are-- getting to know your students-learn their names and what is important to them, offer assistance, learn how to be flexible, let go of things that may bother you but is actually harmless(because you are dealing with a lot of different personalities so you can't take everything personally, its usually not about you anyway), develop a sense of humor and use it to deflect any offensive or insensitive comments (this is subjective and could be cultural so don'y take it personally either), get a good mentor who will be able to help you develop thick skin which will enable you to not take everything personally and remember to live and let live, etc.

Oh and most importantly, don't forget to take care of yourself as well-- breathe deeply, eat, sleep, take a bubble bath, do yoga, visit friends and family, or do whatever makes you happy and brings serenity into your life because you will be extremely busy teaching, taking classes, studying, doing research, etc so you don't want to fall apart and/or let your frustrations out on your students. Find a balance between your school obligations and your personal life and don't let one get in the way of the other as that is the key to having long and successful career without experiencing burnout. Good luck!

[dr. t]

On 4/30/2016 at 2:09 PM, livenlaf said:

No one is excusing "bad" behavior but people can get triggered and react to things even if they have a plan of action set up with the professor/TA.

I understand I'm a bit more sensitive than most to the nuances of language for professional reasons, but when you say that someone has an issue "that would cause them to say or do things when they are triggered that you may find offensive," your word choice, deliberately or not, exculpates the person whose behavior is in question. If you did not intend this, you should have said that certain actions "may act as triggers and cause them to behave offensively." Swearing at your TA (the example given above) is offensive, regardless or originating circumstances. And to put the discussion in this thread as you have, where there is no real indication that any of the factors you raise are in play, is similarly questionable.

I'm not going to deal with each point you bring up, both for reasons of time and because most of them don't seem particularly relevant to any of the things being discussed here. But your example, that of a TA acting like a little fascist, is a useful point. If a person cannot, for whatever reason, handle someone with no real authority being overbearing and bossy without physical or verbal violence, they should never have been put in the classroom to begin with. They are not ready for it. And, as adults, it is their responsibility to make sure they are.

Triggers and the psychological conditions that underlie their activation are incredibly serious things, and every TA and professor should treat those subject to them with respect, understanding, and kindness, but your posts here trivialize the concept while simultaneously infantilizing those so afflicted.  

Edited May 1, 2016 by telkanuru

[TakeruK]

On 4/30/2016 at 11:09 AM, livenlaf said:

No one is excusing "bad" behavior but people can get triggered and react to things even if they have a plan of action set up with the professor/TA.

I am not as sensitive to specific word choices as telkanuru but I do agree with their reaction. Even if a TA makes a mistake and triggers a student, and the student reacts badly to it, the student is still responsible for their actions. But I think livenlaf did include this in the statement I quoted here---livenlaf says that "no one is excusing" the behaviour, and I agree, it's not an excuse. So I think both telkanuru's and livenlaf's points can be complementary. 

For example, let's say I had told my class that their homework will be graded by date X, and then I had a personal situation come up and was unable to meet this deadline. I made a mistake and I would apologize for the delay. However, if a student who may be stressed out about a lot of other things (which I don't know about at the moment) reacts badly to this and swears at me, then the student is still responsible for their action. Even if I made a mistake, I don't deserve to be cursed at. 

But I think part of being a good instructor is understanding that your students may be struggling with other issues that you don't see or don't know about it. This doesn't mean that if a student swears at me during class that I just ignore it and let them "off the hook". Instead, it means that I will likely have to decide what action to take immediately, if necessary. Depending on how it goes, I might ask the student to leave the class immediately, or as fuzzy wrote above, maybe a different action is more appropriate (i.e. let the student know the behaviour was inappropriate but if I don't actually have the power to remove the student, trying to do so might disrupt the class even more). 

After the class, I would certainly follow up with the student and/or the Dean's office (or whatever appropriate office). Maybe during this stage I would find out that there are other issues that I don't know about. At my school, this would be the policy because usually the student will confide in the Dean and the Dean might just let me know that the student is getting help and that they have been made aware that their actions were not appropriate. To me, this what it means to be aware of the impact of your own actions and this is how I hope to run my classroom. In short, I think what livenlaf wrote at the end of the paragraph is what really matters and summarizes how one ought to approach these issues:

On 4/30/2016 at 11:09 AM, livenlaf said:

If you have no awareness or understanding about it then your reactions could be harmful to someone who is already struggling and that could be prevented if you have the knowledge and skills to deal with it appropriately.

That is, my understanding of this is that we, as TAs, should be aware of the fact that we don't know the full story of our students. This means that bad actions by them should still have appropriate consequences, but that we take action in the best interest of the class and of the students where possible. (i.e. I wouldn't "punish" a student just for the sake of punishing them, but to make sure they seek help and learn from their inappropriate action).

On 4/30/2016 at 11:09 AM, livenlaf said:

Quite frankly, most TA's are not even qualified to teach, they are just forced to teach because of their stipend requirements. Seriously, did anyone evaluate your teaching abilities before you were offered you a TA position? Sure you have a good GPA, GRE score, and research experience which is why you got accepted to the program but that does not equate to having the skills or ability to teach. Students are paying thousands of dollars to get an education, why should they not have the opportunity to be taught by a competent professor who is an expert in the field and actually wants to teach, instead of a TA who has no teaching skills and is now letting his/her insecurities get in the way of students success by acting like a prison guard instead of a human being teaching adults who are paying good money to get an education? Some TA's (not to mention professors) are incompetent and have no business "teaching" and should not be forced to "teach" at the expense of students who are paying a fortune to support these TA's. But if you are being forced to teach, then learn some techniques that good professors use to "deal" with "problems"  (it's interesting that none of my good professor ever had any problems with students, I wonder why that is?) Some of the techniques that may help you with classroom management are-- getting to know your students-learn their names and what is important to them, offer assistance, learn how to be flexible, let go of things that may bother you but is actually harmless(because you are dealing with a lot of different personalities so you can't take everything personally, its usually not about you anyway), develop a sense of humor and use it to deflect any offensive or insensitive comments (this is subjective and could be cultural so don'y take it personally either), get a good mentor who will be able to help you develop thick skin which will enable you to not take everything personally and remember to live and let live, etc.

I don't really agree with most of the sentiments in this paragraph. I think this paragraph reads very "transactionally" and I don't think this applies evenly to all universities in the United States. Post-secondary education is not always a transaction where students fork over money and educators provide training. Students are not customers and (research) universities are not in the business of training people. As you wrote here, most professors are not interested in teaching and in fact, they are not hired by the University to teach. Similarly, TAs are not even trained to teach at all. In most programs in my field, your TA work is considered paid on-the-job training for your graduate education. At research universities, the model is that the University hires professors and graduate students to perform research. The graduate students learn via mentorship from the professors and they also learn by working as TAs. In my program, TAs are not always assigned based on what they are experts in, but sometimes TAs are assigned to a class in an area that the TA is weak in, so that they can also learn the material and improve themselves. The undergraduates pay tuition to be a part of the same community and to take classes, but they are not paying for dedicated instructors and TAs that are here to ensure that they learn. It's the student's job to figure out how to learn.

But I agree that not all schools work like this. I think that if you are writing about a school whose main purpose is to train the students that pay to come to the school, then what you wrote here applies. It would be fraud if a school presented itself as providing dedicated instruction but then hire faculty with the primary goal of having them do research and teaching is just a chore.

I want to be clear: I'm not disagreeing that faculty and TAs need better training as instructors. I wish I could get more training than the limited amount I have access to. And I'm not saying that I think teaching is unimportant---I enjoy teaching more than research! I agree with almost all of the ideas behind what you wrote here---it shouldn't be teaching vs. research, why can't we aim for a program that is strong in both? But, I don't agree with you that just because students pay a ton of money in tuition that they automatically deserve an education experience catered to them or that they deserve well trained and dedicated instructors. I think that schools should be more honest and upfront about the University's priorities and the actual education that students will receive. Students should know what they are paying for and they should know that at many schools, they are not paying to become "customers" and they are not going to always receive qualified instruction. 

[dr. t]

54 minutes ago, TakeruK said:

So I think both telkanuru's and livenlaf's points can be complementary. 

I agree; I think I am reacting much more towards a tone - someone purporting to represent my interests in a patronizing fashion - than I am towards content or the general principle.. 

[senperfect]

Look :  my first quarter as a TA I had not explicitly written out instructions on re-grading, and would have students arguing for fractions of points. I’d end up giving back points that I didn’t think they had earned. I had a great professor in college that required us to write a paragraph on why we thought we should get a higher grade, and submit that paragraph with the original work for an entire re-grade. This meant that we could get a lower grade overall, but it also reduced the number of re-grades, and any face-to-face arguments that you might regret later. I adopted this policy, and had no problems later on.

[ThousandsHardships]

The one trick I've learned (mostly through analyzing why I respect some professors despite being subject to their scathing criticism) is to be honest and confident and deal with the behavior like a boss, but to never judge or make assumptions about the student's personality, motivation, or abilities.

Instructors who get the best results:

• Might tell the student that his/her behavior comes off as [insert negative thing here], but will never say that the student is A or B or that they think the student is A or B.
• Might say why they took points off and where the problems are in a certain paper or assignment, but will never generalize the performance on that single assignment to make negative assumptions about the student's performance overall or question the student's effort or abilities.
• Keep personal feelings out of it.
• Treat each situation as something separate - once a conversation is over, let it be over. Don't let your attitude cloud your other interactions with said student or with other students. If they don't bring up the topic of a past unpleasant interaction with you, you don't bring it up first. You smile and treat it as if nothing happened after the fact.

Also, it's okay to clue in the instructor of record if it gets too absurd.

As a TA, one of the worst interactions I've had with a student involved that student being aggravated by a not-so-great grade on her essay and was trying to get points that I couldn't give her. She yelled at me during office hours, refusing to believe that her answers weren't correct and telling me that she didn't think I understood how much money and effort she put into her education, that I didn't care because I wasn't paying nearly as much as her, and that I wasn't qualified to teach and probably didn't even read the textbook.

I ignored any attacks on me. I told her first of all that I didn't question her ability or effort - there were specific things we were looking for and she didn't have it; it didn't mean she was a bad student or that I graded on a whim. I also explained the answers to the questions and the reasons her answers didn't express them adequately. I then told her that she was welcome to go to the instructor for a second opinion (which she was going to do anyway). After she left, I followed up with an email recapping what I'd said, BCC'ing the instructor, and I met with the instructor later that day to talk more about the incident. When the student sent in the essay for that second opinion, the instructor and I went through it together, and the fact that the instructor was on my side about the grading helped the student come to terms with her grade, and she ended up apologizing for her attitude.

Honestly, I have to really thank this student. She gave me a killer answer to a really common and hard-to-answer interview question! 

[rheya19]

My husband had a similar problem as the OP in a class he was TAing, and he finally asked the guy to leave. When the kid wouldn't, my husband threatened to call security and he finally left. He was worried he went too far, but his adviser (the professor for the course as well) told him, "Good. You're not doing him any favors by letting him act like that." They're not in high school anymore. They choose (and pay) to attend college classes, so the onus is on them to make good use of their time. 

You also have a responsibility to the rest of the class. They shouldn't have to suffer because of that kind of behavior. After my husband kicked that student out, he looked around the room and saw relief written on everyone's faces. And he was able to continue with the class more efficiently as well. 

[Bumblebea]

On 6/25/2017 at 9:44 AM, rheya19 said:

My husband had a similar problem as the OP in a class he was TAing, and he finally asked the guy to leave. When the kid wouldn't, my husband threatened to call security and he finally left. He was worried he went too far, but his adviser (the professor for the course as well) told him, "Good. You're not doing him any favors by letting him act like that." They're not in high school anymore. They choose (and pay) to attend college classes, so the onus is on them to make good use of their time. 

You also have a responsibility to the rest of the class. They shouldn't have to suffer because of that kind of behavior. After my husband kicked that student out, he looked around the room and saw relief written on everyone's faces. And he was able to continue with the class more efficiently as well. 

During my first year as a TA, I had a student who, upon learning that he would fail my class due to absences (he'd missed several weeks and all the assignments that were to be turned in during those several weeks for no apparent reason) parked himself inside my office and refused to leave. He also screamed at me, called me a bitch, blocked the door so that I couldn't leave, and engaged in other menacing behavior. I was terrified.

I didn't know what to do, and no one in my program had any training for these situations. When I went to tell my department (crying and really upset), they didn't seem to care all that much and just told me to put everything in writing and write an email telling him to withdraw from the class. He withdrew with absolutely no mark on his record. He was able to retake the class to replace the "W" with another grade.

I now know that what my department advised was totally, utterly, and completely wrong and devastatingly irresponsible. This student harassed me and violated several aspects of the Student Code of Conduct. He should have been written up and censured (and probably suspended if not expelled), and I wished I'd had the number of the campus police programmed into my phone so that I could have called them immediately when he refused to leave my office. 

So that's what I would advise all TAs to do (and what I do even now as a professor):

1) Familiarize yourself with the Student Code of Conduct to know how it governs things like student behavior on campus (and most codes of conduct are VERY strict when it comes to students behaving badly toward professors and TAs); and

2) Program the number for the university police into your cell phone. 

 

What saddens me the most, to be honest, is that I've occasionally googled this student throughout the years (he had a very distinctive name) to see that his behavior with me was far from isolated. Since "withdrawing" from my class, he's been arrested several times. In 2010 he was arrested for passing bad checks and forging signatures; since then, he's been arrested for assault (he put someone in the hospital) and for leading the cops on a high-speed chase where luckily no one was killed. He was actually from a very wealthy family, and he's not currently in prison. But knowing that his behavior with me was part of a larger pattern that continues to this day really drives home for me how serious it is when students behave this way on campus, and how egregious it is to make TAs (especially female TAs) feel like they are blowing things out of proportion when students act out. 

[fuzzylogician]

1 hour ago, Bumblebea said:

So that's what I would advise all TAs to do (and what I do even now as a professor):

1) Familiarize yourself with the Student Code of Conduct to know how it governs things like student behavior on campus (and most codes of conduct are VERY strict when it comes to students behaving badly toward professors and TAs); and

2) Program the number for the university police into your cell phone. 

This. Also, if it's not the same, the number for emergency/medical services on campus. I once had a student faint in class and the last thing you want to do is stand there and be confused and not know who to call. 

[rheya19]

2 hours ago, Bumblebea said:

During my first year as a TA, I had a student who, upon learning that he would fail my class due to absences (he'd missed several weeks and all the assignments that were to be turned in during those several weeks for no apparent reason) parked himself inside my office and refused to leave. He also screamed at me, called me a bitch, blocked the door so that I couldn't leave, and engaged in other menacing behavior. I was terrified.

I didn't know what to do, and no one in my program had any training for these situations. When I went to tell my department (crying and really upset), they didn't seem to care all that much and just told me to put everything in writing and write an email telling him to withdraw from the class. He withdrew with absolutely no mark on his record. He was able to retake the class to replace the "W" with another grade.

I now know that what my department advised was totally, utterly, and completely wrong and devastatingly irresponsible. This student harassed me and violated several aspects of the Student Code of Conduct. He should have been written up and censured (and probably suspended if not expelled), and I wished I'd had the number of the campus police programmed into my phone so that I could have called them immediately when he refused to leave my office. 

So that's what I would advise all TAs to do (and what I do even now as a professor):

1) Familiarize yourself with the Student Code of Conduct to know how it governs things like student behavior on campus (and most codes of conduct are VERY strict when it comes to students behaving badly toward professors and TAs); and

2) Program the number for the university police into your cell phone. 

 

What saddens me the most, to be honest, is that I've occasionally googled this student throughout the years (he had a very distinctive name) to see that his behavior with me was far from isolated. Since "withdrawing" from my class, he's been arrested several times. In 2010 he was arrested for passing bad checks and forging signatures; since then, he's been arrested for assault (he put someone in the hospital) and for leading the cops on a high-speed chase where luckily no one was killed. He was actually from a very wealthy family, and he's not currently in prison. But knowing that his behavior with me was part of a larger pattern that continues to this day really drives home for me how serious it is when students behave this way on campus, and how egregious it is to make TAs (especially female TAs) feel like they are blowing things out of proportion when students act out. 

That is shocking, though I suppose it shouldn't be. University administrations need to be more responsible in documenting violent or criminal behaviors (or potentially criminal behaviors) and also enabling the faculty, students, academic advisers, and mental health facilities to form interventions. 

[dr. t]

1 hour ago, rheya19 said:

That is shocking, though I suppose it shouldn't be. University administrations need to be more responsible in documenting violent or criminal behaviors (or potentially criminal behaviors) and also enabling the faculty, students, academic advisers, and mental health facilities to form interventions. 

That there are few behaviors in which a student can engage which concern an administrator more than the loss of their potential alumni donations is an unerring truth of the neoliberal university.

[ProfDag]

I don't have a horror story to contribute but I can tell you one thing that has made a huge difference for me:

Find out how much the lead instructor in the course you're TA'ing has your back. This may not be helpful once a problem escalates to the level of aggression or violence but it is a good way to know how much authority you can reasonably exercise. 

The first professor I worked under really emphasized that even if we made a mistake, she would stand behind us and our word on the situation would be the final word. Any disagreements she had or corrections to be made would be between just her and the TA. If your professor is well known for throwing TA's under the bus when things get rough, you definitely need a plan to stay firm and justified in any tense situations with students. Sometimes it's ok to defer to the lead instructor if you don't feel you have the authority or experience to handle the problem; You're a TA after all, and shouldn't have to deal with further abuse and demoralization from your students. You have your stipend which demoralizes you enough >< 

I've been pretty lucky but during one of the more tense moments in my career (so far) I was grateful that the lead instructor hung back while I was talking to my upset student. He stood near the door and didn't comment to show he respected my authority but also to show if things got ugly he was there. Afterwards, he came up to me and told me I handled the situation well. This feedback helped me handle similar situations later on. So definitely look to your lead instructor in tough spots. When possible, gauge their level of support for your authority going into the course.

[AlexaBarret]

There are a few my own secrets...First of all, they have to understand you aren`t the one who they can walk over! It`s difficult but it`s a masterwork you have to acquire. More true grit! Don`t show them you can be convinced in an easy way! The second one is that they have to understand that you respect them. You are like them but not better! Don`t show them that they are worse. You are equal!