Graduate Educational Development Fellows
CAT’s Graduate Educational Development Fellows are experienced graduate student instructors who have extensive expertise in their area of focus. The Educational Development Fellows support the graduate student community campus-wide to enhance their pedagogical development as teaching assistants and instructors. In addition to facilitating CAT’s TA Training workshops and developing pedagogical resources and tools for TAs on a variety of topics related to teaching and learning, the Educational Development Fellows are also available to meet with graduate students 1:1 during their office hours, support you in implementing discipline or course-specific pedagogy in your role as a TA, help troubleshoot any issues you’re having with your TA position, and/or support departmental 495 courses.
Please see below for contact information and bios of our 22-23 Educational Development Fellows and please feel free to reach out to them directly with any questions you may have!
Sonya Brooks
Inclusive & Anti-Bias Teaching
(she/her)
Ph.D. student in Education & MPH student in Community Health Sciences
Email: brooks@g.ucla.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Ask me about:
- Ways to decolonize your syllabus
- How to create non-traditional environments to maximize student learning
- Identifying how knowledge is created in unconventional ways
- How to determine student learning by incorporating alternative systems of measurements
Favorite way to destress or practice self-care: To distress or practice self-care, I dance, roller skate, and chillax on the beach (preferably in exotic countries). I love massages, sound bathing, praying, inwardly chanting self-affirming affirmations throughout the day, and playing with my children (but not in that order). Ha!
Dyese Elliott-Newton
Inclusive Teaching
(she/her)
Ph.D. Student in English; Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy
Email: delliott-newton@teaching.ucla.edu
Office Hours: 10:30am-12pm PT on Mondays and by appointment via Zoom (Passcode: ibelong)
Ask me about:
- How to curate a familial atmosphere in your classrooms
- How to design your syllabi to proactively create safe learning environments
- Specific resources that one can use to practice and model inclusive and equitable teaching
- Ways to practice care and interrupt bias in class discussions
Favorite way to destress or practice self-care: My ways of practicing self-care vary, but generally I love to go for long walks, get my nails done, cook and host dinner parties for close friends, pray, journal, mediate, and watch crime dramas.
Emma Ridder
Writing Pedagogy (Humanities)
(she/her)
Ph.D. Candidate in English; Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy
Email: eridder@teaching.ucla.edu
Office Hours: 12pm – 2pm PT on Thursdays and by appointment via Zoom (Passcode: 878766)
Ask me about:
- Leading active and accessible discussion sections, especially in humanities and writing-centered courses
- Providing actionable feedback on writing assignments
- Constructing engaging and creative writing prompts in order to meet your learning objectives
- Using metacognitive and/or reflective exercises writing to enrich student learning experiences
- Using technology – from polling tools to BruinLearn – effectively in your classrooms (I’m also part of UCLA’s LMS Transformation Team!)
Favorite way to destress or practice self-care: Outside of the classroom, I destress by gardening, traveling, and watching movies.
Sammy Solis
Graduate Educational Development
(they/them)
PhD Candidate, English Department
Email: ssolis95@g.ucla.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Ask me about:
- Strategies for lesson planning
- Incorporating multimodal composition assignments into your course
- Responding to student writing
- Building community with students
Favorite way to destress or practice self-care: watching Love Island UK, cooking a big meal, reading for fun
Elaine Jessica Tamargo
Graduate Professional Development
(she/her)
Ph.D. Candidate in Higher Education & Organizational Change
Email: etamargo@g.ucla.edu
Office Hours: Book an appointment with me on Calendly
Ask me about:
- Opportunities to continue building your teaching skillset
- Maximizing your teaching experience in your job search
- Updating your CV, resume, and LinkedIn profile
- Crafting your teaching statement and other academic job documents
- Preparing for interviews, networking and conferences
Favorite way to destress or practice self-care: Moving my body at ballet class, tending to the plants in my garden, playing with my dog Chelsea, and trying different ice cream shops/flavors!