In order to promote professionalism and transform novice teaching assistants into capable instructors, the University of New Mexico has established a required course in "Teaching Composition." The course attempts to define institutional and departmental goals, and explore such issues in class management as organization, discipline, motivation, and plagarism. Other basics in the training of TAs include the orientation toward professional publishing, survey of major topic areas in the language arts, and the study of research on teaching methods, composition, and literature. Additionally, a section on dialects explores the implications of language diversity. Feedback for TAs is provided by direct classroom observation by an independent expert and anonymous evaluations by students. Self-evaluation by the assistants is also stressed, and an attempt is made to provide an environment within the department that encourages and acknowledges their efforts. (KS)