TA Orientation

Teaching at Stanford
Fall Quarter Orientation Topics

  • Welcome to Teaching
  • Knowing Stanford Students
  • What is Effective Teaching?
  • CTL Resources for TAs
  • Concurrent sessions on multiple interesting topics
  • The Context of Teaching at Stanford: University Policies that Impact TAs

Orientations are held quarterly. Unless your department specifies otherwise, please attend the orientation closest to the onset of your TA responsibilities.


How to Get Started
Being a Successful TA

Starting anything new is a challenge. Being successful at a new endeavor requires a combination of skills, knowledge, and the right attitude, as well as access to supportive resources. This set of handouts will arm you with some of the best tools we know of for more effective teaching. Once you’ve digested this, please take advantage of Stanford’s and CTL’s many other resources for improving your teaching: the more detailed Teaching at Stanford: An Introductory Handbook, other CTL publications and orientations, the CTL website (http://ctl.stanford.edu/), and offerings of your department.

We hope that teaching will be a rewarding and enjoyable experience for you!

  • Your Students [PDF]
  • Before the Course Begins: Preparing for TAing [PDF]
  • The First Day [PDF]
  • Conducting Successful Lab Sections [PDF]
  • Holding Office Hours, Tutoring, and Review Sessions [PDF]
  • Teaching Handouts (on leading discussion, testing and grading, how to get your students talking in class, etc.)
  • Working with Faculty (CTL Newsletter on Faculty/TA Teaching Teams) [PDF]

CTL Resources & Services


Campus-Wide Resources

Stanford Policies

Resources for Students

  • Campus-Wide Resources (includes contact information) PDF