I recently
found out about a web site called “ratemyprofessor.com”. To my delight, I
found many pleasant comments about me as an instructor of Armenian. However,
there were a couple of negative ones stating that my class was hard. At first, I felt sad thinking that if my students
weren’t happy then I was not doing a good job.
But on the second thought, was I really there to please everyone? Does a good teacher always have to make everyone
happy?
I think it is impossible to make everyone in class happy, especially since there are so many different types of students and learning styles. I think "ratemyprofessor.com" is a good site for students to share information with each other. I also think it's a good place for instructors to check-in and see what is being said about them. When I am teaching, I check this site at the end of every quarter. I take some of the comments with a "grain of salt" (because like you said you can't please everyone), but I do think they give a good indication of how student experienced the class.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a teacher is not supposed to become an entertainer. The purpose of teaching is to provide knowledge. I tried being a funny teacher myself, and unfortunately, that particular class ended up learning less than other classes, although they seemed to like me and had a good time.
ReplyDelete