What I've found really great in my program is that the profs constantly remind us that we don't need to know everything, that it's okay to tell a student we don't know something and will either look it up - or heck, tell THEM to look it up. :)
Also, I don't know about other programs, but I'm guessing this will ring true for many programs - we aren't guaranteed TA positions for courses in our field. I lucked out this semester, but I've got a friend who TA'd a holocaust course (and he does American 20th century history). So, in a case like that, you may know NOTHING, aside from the reading you do for the course.
Oh yeah: also expect that 20 hours to include the time you spend reading for the course. :)
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Also, I don't know about other programs, but I'm guessing this will ring true for many programs - we aren't guaranteed TA positions for courses in our field. I lucked out this semester, but I've got a friend who TA'd a holocaust course (and he does American 20th century history). So, in a case like that, you may know NOTHING, aside from the reading you do for the course.
Oh yeah: also expect that 20 hours to include the time you spend reading for the course. :)