Francesca is a TA and seminar leader for a large introductory course in the Classics department, CLAS 1P91: Greek Civilization.

As a master’s student in Classics, Francesca shares a genuine passion for the study of Classics with her students.

Francesca describes her philosophy about the role of teaching as being three fundamental steps. Those are “to establish a historical and cultural context which is clear so students can situate their knowledge properly, facilitate engagement with the material and understand how it fits into the broader historical context, and enabling the synthesis of material in order to gain an understanding of the implications of their new knowledge as it has effected the past and present.”

She successfully creates and facilitates a supportive classroom environment through creative classroom activities, from group work and discussions, to question and answer periods and quiz games, one of which is modelled on Jeopardy.

From the outset of being a TA, Francesca’s hard work, enthusiasm and dedication led her to seek ways in which she could actively contribute to the course, her students and her fellow Teaching Assistants.

Testimonials

“Francesca made a tremendous impact on my first term at Brock by making me comfortable, something I had been struggling with being new into university. She made sure that anything asked was valuable and important … Francesca always did her best to find a way to assist.”

“Her teaching methods were resourceful, enjoyable and helped to engage with the topics which could have been dry otherwise. They varied between group work, pair discussions, question and answer periods and games such as Jeopardy. Francesca also helped structuring materials from lecture and getting a sound overview while emphasizing on important parts that were worth revisiting.”

“She makes herself available to other TAs if they should need help or ideas for creating interactive lesson plans. Through these interactions, I have seen her create instructional and stimulating lessons that improve her student’s knowledge in a variety of ways. … She is passionate about teaching and encourages other TAs to have a similar attitude.”