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• Frequently Asked Questions
• Pre-Semester Preparation
  • Introduction
  • Communicate with Faculty, GSIs, Staff
  • Checklist for Getting Started as a GSI (pdf)
  • Section Syllabus / Information Sheet
  • Locate Classroom and Office
  • Classroom Equipment
  • Consider Your Tone with Students
  • Plan the First Day
  • Office Hours
  • Time Management Strategies
  • Essential Policies for GSIs
• Teaching Sections
  • Introduction
  • Creating Discussion Guidelines
  • Active Learning Techniques
  • Group Work
  • Encouraging Participation
  • Discussing Traumatic Events
  • Additional Resources
• Facilitating Labs
  • Introduction
  • Pre-Lab Assignments
  • Pre-Lab Introduction
  • During and After the Lab
  • Lab Period Dos and Don'ts
  • Asking Effective Questions
  • Managing Lab Partners and Groups
• Teaching Reading and Composition
  • Introduction
  • What Is R&C About?
  • Course Design for R&C
  • The R&C Syllabus
  • Engaged Reading
  • Leading Discussions
  • Teaching Composition
    • Composition Pedagogy
    • Writing in a Genre
    • Assignment Design and Sequencing
    • Review and Revision
    • Typical Writing Problems and GSI Strategies
    • Responding to Student Writing
  • Handbooks and Guides
  • Additional Resources
• Evaluating and Improving Your Teaching
  • Introduction
  • Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching
  • Conducting a Midterm Evaluation
    • Introduction
    • Survey Form, Numeric (rtf)
    • Survey Form, Paragraph (rtf)
    • Survey Form, Short Answer (rtf)
• Working With Student Writing
  • Introduction
  • Creating Writing Assignments
    • A Sense of Scale
    • Articulating Objectives
    • Taxonomy of Objectives
  • Writing in Technical Fields
    • Introduction
    • Helping Students Organize Essays
    • Strategy for Evaluation
    • Sample Semester-Long Assignment
  • Guiding Research Papers
    • Preparing the Project
    • Beginning the Project
    • Search Strategy
    • Evaluating Written Sources
    • Assessing an Argument
    • Evaluating Websites
    • Managing Information
    • Working Sources Into the Paper
  • Drafts, Edits, Revisions
    • Introduction
    • Peer Review Worksheets (rtf)
    • Checklist for Biology Assignments (pdf)
  • Grading Essays
  • Time Management Suggestions
  • Additional Resources
• Teaching Critical Reading
  • Introduction
  • Guiding and Motivating Students
  • Critical Reading in the Social Sciences
  • Critical Reading in the Humanities
  • Critical Reading in the Natural Sciences
  • A Reading Heuristic
  • Creative Approaches
• Grading Student Work
  • Introduction
  • Before You Grade
    • Grading Policies
    • Assignment Design
    • Statement of Grading Criteria
  • Grading Rubrics
    • Introduction
    • Steps in the Process
    • Examples of Rubric Creation
    • Practice Creating a Rubric
    • Practice Using a Rubric
  • Grading Efficiently
  • Calculating Grades
  • Communicating with Students
    • Writing Comments
    • Practice Commenting
    • Returning Student Work
    • Helping Students Understand
  • Additional Resources
• Preventing Academic Misconduct
  • Introduction
  • Definitions
  • Contributing Factors
  • Cheating
    • Introduction
    • Exam Preparation
    • Proctoring Exams
    • Cheating on Exams: Other Forms
  • Plagiarism
    • Introduction
    • Preventing Plagiarism
    • The Art of Paraphrasing
    • Paraphrasing Exercise
    • Dectecting and Addressing Plagiarism
  • If You Encounter Academic Misconduct
  • References and Resources
• Using Instructional Technology
  • Introduction
  • Communication
  • Tools for the Classroom
  • Homework, Study, Collaboration
  • Assignments, Grades, Record-Keeping
  • GSI Examples
    • bSpace Resources
    • bSpace Forums
    • bSpace Gradebook
    • Townsend Humanities Lab
  • Deciding What to Use
  • Third-Party / Cloud Computing
  • Web Resources and How-To Guides
• Theories of Learning
  • Introduction
  • Overview
  • Behaviorism
  • Cognitive Constructivism
  • Jean Piaget
  • William G. Perry
  • Social Constructivism
  • Other Theorists Referenced
• Professional Development
  • Introduction
  • From GSI to Professor
    • Introduction
    • Identify Needed Competencies
    • Resources for Professionalization
    • Steps You Can Take as a Grad Student
    • Make Your Plan
  • Writing Letters of Recommendation
    • Introduction
    • Paragraph by Paragraph
    • Dos and Don'ts
    • Sample Letter
    • Additional Resources
• Resource Information
  • Introduction
  • General Resources
  • Selected Campus Policies and Procedures
  • Course-Related Resources
  • Instructional Technology Resources
  • Libraries and Museums
  • Undergraduate Advising and Student Life
  • Conflict Resolution and Legal Services
  • Supporting Student Diversity
  • Health and Safety

Letters of Recommendation:
Dos and Don’ts

When working on a letter of recommendation for a student, bear in mind both practices that are helpful and ones that are unhelpful.

Do:

• Do be specific. Mention examples of the student’s work, projects completed, activities, and so forth. If your memory is not clear, either ask the student to give you some work samples or suggest the student ask someone else who knows him or her better to write the letter.
• Do be objective. Report examples, events, and so forth, as much as possible. If you want to attest to a student’s interpersonal skills, discuss how you observed the student’s interactions with others, rather than merely state what a “nice person” she or he is.
• Do be both honest and positive. If you have negative things to say, ask the student to find another letter writer. Obviously, saying negative things about a student’s performance will have serious consequences on the student’s chances at the job, scholarship, or acceptance being sought. Remember that your experience with the student may not be typical, so the student should find only someone who can say positive things. In addition, writing negative things can potentially affect you as well, if there is ever any doubt about the reliability of your judgment with respect to the student.
• Do be neat, type the letter, and check spelling and grammar. A letter that contains spelling or grammatical errors, or is sloppily presented, may not carry as much weight as one that is professionally presented and well written.
• Do sign the letter in ink (if applicable).
• Do supply contact information such as your name, title, institution, mailing address, email address, and telephone number.
• Do be aware of potential ambiguities and words with negative connotations. Also, be aware that what you omit to mention may be seen as just as important as what you do mention.

Don’t:

• Don’t use bland words such as nice, fairly, satisfactory, good. If you cannot honestly recommend the student more strongly, suggest that she or he ask someone else to write the letter.
• Don’t refer to characteristics such as race or nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, appearance, disability, marital status, etc., which could be construed as discriminatory. For example, don’t say things such as, “John did very well in my class despite his obvious disabilities….”