Earth Systems 10 Course

For the ES10 Fall 2021 Course, I was one of two Head TAs leading the team that would teach the largest class size in the program's 25 year history (350+ students!) We wrote the syllabus, organized the curriculum structure, coordinated hybrid lectures and sections, and each taught two weekly sections consisting of 20-30 students each.

Below, are samples of the work I co-created with my team as well as a copy of my teaching evaluation report from Fall of 2021.

Section Materials

Section was where some real learning happened. Each week the TAs would meet for 4-6 hours to design a section meant to act as "connective tissue" for students to better understand the lecture material throughout the week.

Here I've included a few of the slide decks from sections my team worked on during the quarter.


Environmental Justice - Section 3

Course Syllabus

Link to the Full Syllabus here*

*Must have permission to see this file...Contact me!

Please note the:

  • Point System in the Grade Breakdown

    • My Co-Head TA and I wrote this over the summer to help students "build up" to the grade they wanted rather than lose points all quarter.

  • Student Resources

    • Included + tagged with TA initials in order to destigmatize asking for help and encourage students to reach out for physical and mental health support.

  • Covid-19 Logistics

    • Specific to Stanford's 2021-2022 Fall Quarter Guidelines.



EARTHSYS 10 Syllabus AY_21-22.pdf

Exams & Evaluations

We had 2 main exams; the Mini-Midterm and the Final Exam.

Each week we asked students to reflect on how lecture and section went through Lecture Reflection Questions (LRQs) and Section Exit Tickets (SETs).

Here you'll find examples of Midterm and Final exam questions my team and I wrote as well as a sample LRQ and SET.

Homework

Each week the TAs would break into small groups and write portions of the homework. The following sample* is from week 2 where my team primarily handled oceans and atmospheric cycling.

*Must have permission to see this file...Contact me!


ES10_Aut21_HW2.pdf

Student Evaluations of My Teaching

I've included the short report generated from Stanford's course evaluation system. Students anonymously provide feedback on their instructors and this report consolidates the feedback I received for my two weekly sections.

F21-EARTHSYS-10-01INTROTOEARTHSYSTEMS_RachelPortillo.pdf