So I just read my student ratings from last semester. I have been waiting for a day when I feel good, not too emotional, and like I can handle the berating from some upset students. What I decided to do, after reading reviews from my first class, was read the "Suggestions" aka "what I hated about my teacher" section first, and then read the positive remarks second. Overall, the comments were helpful, there was some good feedback, and of course, the "I hate Mrs. Clark because...comments". I find the feedback useful, but emotionally stressful, mostly because any insecurities that I have teaching (which there are) are pointed out in a straight forward, there you have it way. Truth be told, I still haven't figured out how to write a good test...any teachers out there, I will gladly take suggestions; my voice is quiet...no matter how hard I try to speak loud and clear, it just doesn't carry well (so sit in the front of the class, not the back); and sometimes I am not as confident as I should be, but I know that has improved. But, I disagree with students who think I grade too hard on papers! What...is expecting good sentence structure, clear cohesive sentences and paragraphs, and giving credit where credit is due (i.e. so I copied this out of the textbook, do I really have to give the author of the book credit?) too much to ask? People, I teach COMMUNICATIONS!! Yes, you
must be able to write well in my class, funny that a communications teacher would want clear writing! Ahh! It is interesting too how some students love the slides I provide, the video clips, the discussions, the examples, etc. etc. ...others hate it and find my classes terribly boring.
What I have learned is, I can't please every student, because each student learns in a different way. I have learned that many students find it terribly strict that I take attendance each day, but I do! And I have learned that I really enjoy teaching. I can't please them all, but I can help some of them learn and I can learn from them too. I have learned that I can provide an opportunity to get their brains thinking about subjects in a different way and get them to interact with each other.
And if all else fails, I will show them all my sweet jump in the snow from New Year's eve and challenge them to do better! Ha ha...kidding, it isn't sweet at all really, I just wanted to post a picture along with my rantings!
