For those of you who aren't aware, I taught Public Speaking at the University of Illinois during my two years of grad school and for a year at Triton College right after I finished my MA. In total it was 14 never-boring sections of very diverse students. I LOVE teaching. It’s challenging and really time consuming but also very rewarding and always equips you with an unending supply of ridiculous stories.
Like that time one of my freshman managed to tip his entire desk over and go crashing to the floor in the middle of lecture. I’ve never seen anyone’s face turn redder. Or the time a student’s mom called me to explain why her college-aged son wasn’t able to complete his homework on time. Or like the time my student came to class without any shoes on. Apparently the night before he had been through a little hazing at the frat he just joined and couldn’t find his shoes in the morning. But he did not want to miss my class so he walked to campus without his shoes. I made him give an impromptu speech about why he didn’t have shoes ...it actually turned out to be a pretty inspiring speech.
Unfortunately I’m not currently teaching because there are very few full-time positions available and adjunct positions pay next to nothing with no insurance/benefits. At least I’ve found other positions in higher ed where I still get to work with students. But I definitely don’t get to bond as much with the students and don’t come away with a new crazy story every single day (just every other day J).
As you probably all remember, at the end of the semester students fill out evaluations of the instructor and the course. I’m happy to report that overall I’ve received sincere, flattering, and encouraging evals from my students. I appeared on U of I’s “Teachers Ranked As Excellent By Their Students” all 4 semesters teaching there. Yeah, maybe I’m bragging a little ...but I put a lot of effort into my teaching and it’s good to know it pays off. Which brings me to the main point of this post: I’ve saved the best and funniest of my teacher evaluations. I figure it’s a good idea to save the really good ones if I ever apply for a teaching position again. Here’s an example of a standard eval I’ve received:
But then I have a handful of hilarious ones I've saved because they make me laugh every time I read them. Here's one that really highlights the strenghts and weaknesses of my teaching:
Maybe I can use this at my next job interview.
Interviewer: What would you say is one of your weaknesses?
Me: Well, I am just too darn nice. It's been a challenge going through life being too nice but I've managed to overcome this weakness by throwing in some bitchyness every once in a while.
Did I mention that the Course Director reviews all the evals before they are passed along to the instructor? Keep in mind that the Course Director is an incredibly sweet woman in her 70s. My evals can't even be the most inappropriate and I just imagine the look on her face while reading comments like "she DOMINATES."
I think this next student may have liked me just a little.
Finally, I'll leave you with my all-time favorite eval which really just says it all when it comes to Public Speaking.
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