Occidental Exile ([info]baculus) wrote,
@ 2007-06-18 10:34:00
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pleasing some of the people
Choicest comments from my teacher evaluation returns this spring:

Compare: "Our TA was very unprepared for lecture. At 9 AM he simply asked the class if they had any questions, and didn't have a plan for discussion."
To: "He was always well prepared for sections but sometimes it would have worked out better if he would have gone with the flow more and not tried to stick to such a rigid game plan."
(One of these must be inaccurate, or else I was Dr. Jekyll in the afternoon and Mr. Hyde in the morning.)

"I got the impression that if I did not spend my whole evening reading the course materials than Matthew wouldn't be interested in my contributions, questions, concerns."
(The student resented being expected to read assignments, apparently.)

Elsewhere, I got the response I most hoped for: "He helped immensely in getting more out of the course packet readings. They always meant a lot more to me and made much more sense after the TA session."

Most flattering: "He really knew his stuff, but was one of the strangest people I have ever seen."

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[info]daimone86
2007-06-18 05:39 pm UTC (link)
Compare: "Our TA was very unprepared for lecture. At 9 AM he simply asked the class if they had any questions, and didn't have a plan for discussion."
To: "He was always well prepared for sections but sometimes it would have worked out better if he would have gone with the flow more and not tried to stick to such a rigid game plan."

Makes you wonder sometime as to just how widely our subjective realities might differ.

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[info]baculus
2007-06-18 06:27 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, although the fact that I actually outlined my lesson plan on the board before each class makes the "didn't have a plan for discussion" claim fairly dubious. As far as the "rigid game plan" goes, some other folks held it against me that I sometimes "went with the flow," as witnessed by this comment: "He always had an answer to every question and was willing to help students whenever they needed it. The only complaint I have is that sometimes he could have managed time better during discussion section."

It really is a matter of putting twenty students in a discussion section where each has somewhat different needs, and none but the most perspicacious are sensitive to the teacher's effort to try and maximize the effect of discussion across this spectrum. As the old saw goes, "Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, no matter how much it may stink."

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[info]daimone86
2007-06-19 08:53 am UTC (link)
The fact about opinions is that everyone has a lot more opinions than they do assholes.
The other consideration is that each such evaluation is based on numerous memories of a sequence of events spread out over several months. Having undergone the same scrutiny and seen the same erroneous and contradictory results for years, I am sure the professors pay little heed to such evaluations.
So far as the guy finding you strange, I doubt it was the tie, but maybe. Perhaps you are unguarded and open; i find the more i get to know anyone at all, the higher they ascend the ranks of the strangest people I've ever met. Strange is good, up there with charm, up, down, bottom and top. let's not forget Dr. Strange. Where would any of our generation of Magi be without Dr Strange?

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