TA Training: A Short Welcome Video

One challenge in many classes – regardless of whether the classes are online or in-person – is teacher-student rapport and TA-student rapport. As a TA, it is useful to take extra steps to introduce yourself to students. One way of doing this at the start of classes is a short welcome video.

A welcome video serves a number of purposes.

  • It introduces you to the students. 
     
  • It humanizes you for the students. Students are more likely to feel a connection to the class, participate in office hours, etc. if they know something about who you are.
     
  • It gives you a chance to talk briefly about why the class is important, why you like TAing it, etc.


A welcome video should not take long to create. The video itself should be short (about 5 minutes, maybe less). It should be of reasonable quality, but does not need to be of professional quality. It could be made using Zoom or any other suitable recording tool. However, if at all possible, make a video rather than a podcast or written document so students can see who you are. (However, if you are uncomfortable with a video, then a podcast plus picture or written document plus picture can be a good alternative.)

The items in the previous section suggest possible things to include in a welcome video:

  • Include a general welcome.
     
  • Introduce yourself.
     
  • Say a little about your background.
     
  • If you feel comfortable doing so, say something about hobbies, fun facts about yourself, or other items that let the students know more about who you are.
     
  • Say something about why you like TAing the class.
     
  • Say something about why the class is important and interesting.
     
  • Include anything else you think might be relevant and useful in a welcome video.

 

For more background, view the short video under the “Welcome Students” section of the ACUE Online Teaching Toolkit. This video — while not a welcome video itself — discusses and demonstrates many characteristics of a welcome video. Three explanatory comments: (i) This video itself was made for the transition to online teaching in Spring 2020, but much of what it says can also be useful for in-person classes. (ii) This video is more focused on teachers than TAs, but still many things it says are relevant to TAs. (iii) The video at that website also discusses an online orientation video. This is a different video than the welcome video. (If your class doesn’t have an organizational video, feel free to volunteer to make one if you feel comfortable doing so.) 

Your Task

Create a welcome video (or podcast or poster) and post it to your class website before or at the start of the semester.

 

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