I have found it helpful both for me and my TAs to create a contract that outlines my expectations for them and the apprximate time commitment for each task during the semester as well as a grading schedule that lists when assignments are due, how long I expect the grading to take, and when I need things graded by. At our first meeting of the semester, the TAs divy up the tasks so that they are all doing the same total number of hours but can choose when they want to be doing their grading or if they want to do more instruction/office hours or more grading. Based on my feedback from my TAs they appreciate the clarity and the flexibility this system offers.
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