Evaluations

The following are selected comments from my students. I have chosen those that best represent the majority of comments, as well as those that demonstrate my goals as a teacher and indicate areas for improvement.

Selected comments

• What I liked most about this instructor was her approachability. She is friendly and easy-going so it’s not hard to walk up and ask her a question.
• Her enthusiasm was contagious.
• I liked her enthusiasm and good, positive mood. She made everyone feel very comfortable.
• Made me want to come to class every day even at 8:00.
• This course/instructor are the reasons why I’ve decided to continue on with my French education and major in it.
• Rebecca did an excellent job making sure everyone had an equal opportunity to succeed.
• Rebecca is the consummate enthusiastic teacher. Her teaching style and commitment to excellence is solely responsible for my decision to continue with French. What sets her apart from any other instructor who has good pedagogical methods is her natural ability to energize and communicate effectively.
• Rebecca Petrush was an amazing instructor not only because of her competence in the field, but because of her willingness to go above and beyond to help students, give them extra feedback or information to further their interests.
• I loved the music before class and some of the creative ways she would help us to learn and interact with the other students.
• I liked how it involved speaking and thinking in French. Rebecca was great in keeping the discussions flowing and the class moving along.
• She made the class fun and I learned a lot from her teaching methods.
• She made me feel comfortable speaking French, and that I wasn’t going to be judged if I messed up.
• She made me more enthusiastic about French.

Areas for improvement

Students’ recurring comments about what they liked least in the course tended towards the organization of the course itself and, surprisingly, a desire for more grammar homework! They felt that more assignments to drill verb tenses or prepositions would help them keep up their grammar skills and prepare them for chapter tests; this is a good idea and one I would keep in mind if I taught this course again. The overall organization of the course is an issue that I mentioned earlier; granted, the size of the projects does give the impression of ups and downs in workload. This could be addressed both by better preparation and monitoring leading up to each project and by better encouragment and positive spin from me.