“Jessica is one of those people that comes across your life and doesn’t leave it without making an impact for the better. She has been more than just a TA for me, she’s been a mentor who continues to educate and advise long after her role in the classroom for me has ended.”

“One of the best (or the best) GSIs I’ve every had. Great discussion facilitation, fantastic participation encouragement and variety of activities. Really wonderful. I learned so much, I’d call it a personal paradigm shift.”

“Jessica is the best TA I have had in my entire academic career. I honestly wish she had given the course herself. She is very knowledgeable, very approachable, provides amazing feedback and genuinely engages with the students. The few classes she has given were much more informative and clear than any of the other ones. Thank you Jessica!”

“This was by far my favorite discussion section at Cal. Jessica created a respectful and safe classroom environment and made students comfortable participating. I only with the class period was longer each week.”

“I felt confident in Jess as our TA and found that she was both aptly qualified for the position and enthusiastic about the subject. Her lectures were great and it was nice to have a change up from the professor every once in a while - it kept things interesting and offered an alternative perspective in lecture.”

“Jess really made the most of our sections. I always left feeling like I had a better understand of the material. We got really in-depth within an hour, which is very different from many of my other sections where we seem to barely graze the surface.”

“Overall an amazing instructor, one of my favorite GSIs out of 4 years at UC Berkeley. Not only is she knowledgeable, but also very passionate and conveys understanding of the material in a way that is easy to understand but also inspires. She made this class much more enjoyable. great activities planned!”

“I have been fortunate in my career at CU to have had some incredible professors; teachers who have challenged me, inspired me, and opened my eyes to a bigger world than I ever dreamed of. But among them all Jessica stands out. I enrolled in her Global Public Health class with little knowledge of the subject, but during the first recitation not only did she make a previously unknown topic seem accessible she made me so excited for the semester to come. Every week when we would discuss a case study Jessica gave space for students to discuss their take aways and questions openly; while that may seem simple I think it can be difficult for teachers to guide a discussion without being heavy handed or simply impressing their own thoughts and answers. And at the same time she kept us on topic and whenever someone had a question she met it without criticism and with thoughtful honesty. Having Jessica as a TA was more than just being a part of a great recitation, I felt like I had the support of someone important behind me all semester and that extension of kindness and knowledge was felt by all the students in our class. Jessica is a fantastic educator; she is intelligent and experienced, and her investment in the course makes it easy for students to understand and get excited about coming to class.”

“I think Jessica was one of the best GSIs I’ve had in my time as a student at UC Berkeley. I’ll be honest and say that overall the class lectures were not captivating for me, but going to discussion with her help me understand what I should get out of the course and discussion was also really fun. I hope she GSIs for this course again because I would definitely recommend her to prospective students.”

“One of the best GSIs I’ve ever had at Cal. Jessica explains material clearly, goes above and beyond what is expected, is truly knowledgeable in the subject and genuinely cares about her students. Thank you!!”

“She is one of the most passionate GSIs that I’ve ever had. I appreciate how she tried to bring in new formats to each section, and keeps it interesting. She is caring and empathetic to students’ needs, and I always felt like I could go to her if I needed help. Overall, she is a wonderful GSI and I hope she continues teaching.”

“She is absolutely fabulous! This was honestly the most well-run and most stimulating discussion section I’ve has in my first two years at Cal. And I’ve had some great discussion in geography classes.”

“Jessica was an incredibly helpful and knowledgeable TA. She graded assignments quickly and thoroughly and was always available to talk or answer questions. I would love to take a class that she is the main teacher for!”

“Jessica was a rockstar this semester. She was always available to discuss course material and she helped everyone understand her main points. You see the sincerity in her teaching and it’s refreshing to see.”

“Jessica has been awesome this semester. I always look forward to coming to discussion. She wholeheartedly encourages students to express their ideas and share experiences. She helped increase my understanding of certain material and was always eager to try to help more.”

“She was always willing to accomodate and really let us know that she was there to help us. She helped me on a one-on-one level. She was available for office hours and was also available to meet outside of that. Very clear teaching and instruction, and also passionate.”

“I really loved having Jessica as a GSI. She made every discussion engaging and pushed us to think about difficult ideas.”

“The only thing I would change about class would be to have more time!”

“Jessica is an exceptional teaching assistant in her pedagogical skills, interpersonal skills with students, professors and other TAs, and in her desire to continually improve her craft in teaching. Since the beginning of the semester, the students in the course have been raving about Jessica and that has not waned as the semester has gone on. She will undoubtedly make an excellent instructor as a faculty member in the future.”

“Jessica has a great command of the room, is organized and inviting.”

“[Jessica] arrived with an excellent pedagogical toolkit from Berkeley that she has built upon this year at the University of Colorado Boulder and will continue to build upon in the next few years. One of Jessica’s greatest strengths at a teacher is her ability to foster dialog among students in her recitation sections, as I have witnessed in the three times I have observed her recitation sections this spring. When I have sat in on her recitation sections, she has shown that she has a clear plan for the main points that she wants students to gain from the discussion, but she helps the students get there on their own. Rather than lecturing to them, she prepares questions about the reading ahead of time that she poses to the students and allows them to discuss and figure out the themes from the reading themselves. She showed skill in guiding the discussion back on track when it veered off course to ensure that each of her sections covered the main topics that they were responsible for in the exams, but also allowed the students time to share their own thoughts and insights from the reading. She set a tone of respect and support that the students clearly internalized – not just that she respected their thoughts but that they should also respect each other’s thoughts.”