As a UTA for this spring.

This semester has been really stressful. There were once about 30 people during my UTA session and sometimes I had none. Stuff didn't workout quite well and everything was in total chaos. I'm glad it is over... But however, it was fun teaching enthusiastic students who needed help.

Thank god this semester is over.

Last Week of Semester

Unfortunately, I did not have any students come into my office hours for the last week. Throughout this semester, I had an extremely enlightening experience as a TA. I felt that I learned a lot through this experience, and hopefully I passed on a lot of knowledge to the people that came into my office hours.

Last UTA meeting of the semester

Final UTA session of the semester was bittersweet. I unfortunately did not have any students show up to my hours. Thus, I was unable to go over any hints and tricks for them to ace the final. However, this experience overall has been absolutely awesome. I love helping students tackle physics!

Only one week left.

The last two weeks yielded less-than-expected numbers of students. In total, seven students arrived for a fun exploration into physics 2. Even despite these numbers, hopefully the sessions this week will be utilized in order to prepare for the final.

Some circuitry was covered, but induction and magnetic phenomena seem to be where most students have some difficulty. We will see how optics treats the students this week.

Additionally, I look forward to the cupcakes later today.

Last Week------12th

Can't believe that time goes by so quickly...I had my last tutoring session this week for the whole semester, and four students spent the last two hours with me on Friday. I feel happy to have this opportunity to be the UTA this semester. I thought I would say a lasting farewell to Physics after I finished my last Physics exam four years ago. But I got to take Physics I last semester for my major requirement, and I realized that I did not forget it and could use what I know to help other students. Physics is fascinating, and I want more people to understand it. Michael Faraday said, " Nothing is wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature." I wish everyone good luck on the finals and had a wonderful summer.

The Final Hour(s)!

Hello all~

So today was my last set of office hours, and I have to say, I am going to miss UTA-ing for this course. All the students that I've worked with have been great, and getting to relearn and actually teach (to a degree) this material has been incredibly beneficial to me in more ways that I'd expected.

On that note, good luck with finals everyone~

-Natalie

Final Session

Today I had my final session, and it went well. My numbers have dropped off significantly since spring break, but I had 4 of my regulars come in today, and they stayed for about an hour and a half, so that was nice. I helped them with the WebAssign and then they thanked me for all my help throughout the semester as they left, which made me feel good. Overall I really enjoyed being a UTA this semester, and I can't wait to do it again next semester. I learned a lot in my first structured experience as a tutor, and I'm eager to help more students get through the struggles of Physics 1 in the Fall!

-Mike

Final Session

I'm sad that this is my final set of office hours today! It's been a really great experience and I hope to have another opportunity like this in the future!

Cupcakes Went Early...

Hi guys,

For those of you who may have dropped by after 6:30pm, I am sorry we ran out of cupcakes and I was not there to greet you!

For those of you who ate all those cupcakes, thanks for checking in and I am glad we got to talk.

For everyone regardless, don't forget to email me your letter for future UTAs and make sure everything is right as (less gray and snowy) rain with your credits.

Have a great day,
Hannah Sweetser

Last Session

Hey everyone,

Well, I officially had my last office hours today, and not one person showed up! Everyone seems just about done actually trying anymore. Oh well, I would say the semester as a whole was pretty successful.

Best of luck to everyone; finish strong!
Jessica

Disappointing office hours

Unfortunately, I had no visitors at my office hours today. Even less fortunately, I had 27 people (yes, I kept track) come in and give themselves self-guided nationality room tours. Hopefully on Wednesday, my last day, I'll get a few more physics students and fewer tourists!

Cupcakes Today!

Get 'em in 321 Allen Hall starting at 5:00pm today!

Best,
Hannah

Reflection: Weeks of March 31 and April 7th

During these last two weeks, I've only had the same student come into my office hours twice. I feel like attendance is dwindling very rapidly, so I spend a lot of time by myself in my office nowadays. This upcoming week may yield a higher attendance rate, as finals week is coming up but I won't know until the end of this week.

No Students..again

Last week (4/7) I had no students for the 4th straight week. This is kind of depressing since I love helping others succeed in Physics, but I guess the time is coming to an end. Finals are right around the corner so I hope my last week of TA'ing will show some optimism and have a few students appear at my office hours

Week 11----Same Old

It makes sense to me why few students showed up in the last couple of weeks, a LOT of people get As or Bs in the last exam. Apparently, the knowledge of these chapters is not too hard for students to deal with themselves. But since the final is coming around and it is cumulative, I expect more students to stop by to make up for what they did not know well. 

Journal for the Week of April 7

No students came into office hours this week. Just did some Physics work.

No News is Good News?

I only had one person show up last week.  I find this particular unit we're in a little easier though, so I'm hoping that means the students are understanding it better :)

Final Exam Coming Up

Hey everyone,

Several people came into my office hours this week to better understand some concepts that were going to be tested on the final. I think I was able to help clarify a few things for them, and they seemed generally more at ease when they left. There is only one week left this semester, it went by quickly.

Thanks,

Nik

So Close!

The year is almost over! Any tips to help prepare students for the final?

Another Slow Week

Hey eveyone,

Finished this week's office hours not too long ago. This was a slow week at my office hours. I didn't have a single student show up at my office hours this week. Just spent a lot of time doing homework this week. With finals not too far off, I'm somewhat surprised about the lack of activity, but perhaps it will pick up next week.

Have a good week everyone!
Logan Case

2nd to Last

Hey everyone,

I'm a few days behind, my office hours were on Monday but I kind of forget until right now.

Anyway, I had two students come in on Monday to ask a couple questions about specific webassign problems, as usual. No one is really interested in actually learning the concepts, just getting the homework done. But I guess that is kind of expected. Almost done, yay!

Jessica

April 9, 2014

I only had three people come in and ask me questions about the webassign. I expected more considering the final is in two weeks, but I guess everyone is stressed about last-minute tests and homework. I am planning on having an extra review session during finals week due to the lack of people I had come in last night.

On the bright side, I had a few people come to me and tell me they did really well on the last test, which I am very happy about.

Journal for the Week of March 31

I had no students come into my office hours this week so I got future physics work done as well as my own personal work.

CAKE DAY!!!

Cake Day will be next Monday, April 14, 2014, beginning at 5:00pm. We will meet in front of the Main Office in Allen Hall at that time and I will lead you to the celebration in 321 Allen Hall. There will be signs for those who cannot come earlier.

The event will end at 7:00pm, so you may drop in, grab a bite, and flee if that is all your schedule allows.

On the menu:
Yellow cake with chocolate icing
Red velvet cake with white icing
Gluten free chocolate chip
cookies
Ice cream (with syrups)

Have a great week, everyone!

Best,

Hannah Sweetser

It Is The Tenth Week

Time flies, we had the last exam before the final on this Friday. Zero student stopped by my one hour session on Tuesday, but I had one student during the session after the exam. I really look forward to the overall performance of this exam tomorrow in class. 

Slow Week

Hey everyone,

Because of the recent exam last week, this week has been incredibly slow in terms of office hours. Everything else has been going great however, and I expect things to pick up as the final is just around the corner.

Thanks,

Nik Uppaluri

Almost Over

1. How on earth do we only have 2 weeks of classes left?!?!

2. Absolutely no one showed up this week.  But that's ok; I had a lot of homework to do anyway :)

3. Party time!  In response to Hannah's post....
       -Favorite cake: depending on my mood... probably either chocolate or red velvet.
       -Date: Don't plan around me.  I commute from home via bus (transferring downtown so I have to be                leaving campus by 5:30 at the latest so as to get through downtown before it clears out and becomes a          bit sketchy), I work weekends, and I have 3 of my classes have very time consuming final projects                instead of exams.  But if it's a Thursday, late afternoon/early evening it's possible I'd make it because I         have a commitment at 8:30 PM on Thursdays that I stay on campus for.

Happy studying!

Tourists are annoying

They walk into the room and get amazed by it every week.

Today's Session

Today's session went well. My class has an exam tomorrow, so the students were pretty stressed, but we covered a lot in the thermodynamics chapter, which was definitely the most confusing one for them. I think I had six students come in today, so it wasn't too hectic. However, when the session started, I was kicked out of my room in the Hillman, because it wasn't reserved, but we were able to find a free room nearby to use.

-Mike

Silent Week...Again

So this is I believe the 4th straight week where I had no one show up at my office hours. I know there is an upcoming exam next Monday so I was optimistic that there would be some more people, but there was unfortunately no one. Hopefully the tide will turn around next week and people will show up again like they did in the beginning of the semester.

Strategies for teaching fluids

Much of my physics knowledge comes from what I learned in high school. Since I didn't learn any of the remaining units while in high school, I was a bit nervous about teaching them. I have tried to compare current units to previous units (ex. teaching Bernoulli's equation as I would teach conservation of energy), and it seems to be benefiting the students who have visited me. I will try to use the same strategy with following units, but I think I may run into some challenges with various forms of thermodynamics.

Another lonely UTA session

For the 2nd straight week in a row no one has shown up to my office hours. Hopefully this week will be different and I will have my usual students come back and ask insightful questions once again.