Got the written comments from my teaching evaluations the other day. They are all positive. One student wants his papers back promptly. I concur. After the first month or so, and despite the fact that I liked my students, the prospect of reading their papers inspired a certain amount of dread and I would have liked nothing better than to get rid of them as fast as humanly possible. Instead I started procrastinating. Here are the comments:
"Excellent job teaching. His ability to adapt to current events helped me put things in perspective."
"No Comment. Oh I forget, he is a great teacher-I learned a lot." (No comment was underlined twice on the paper. Who knows.)
"Good instructor, very good class makes clear what Islam is and how it emerged; well equipped instructor; has all answers and encourages us to learn "
"This class was very intensive, and Professor Noble did a great job."
"Overall an outstanding instructor, was very well prepared, knowledgeable of the material, very thought provoking. In the future would like to get papers back in a timely manner but again overall an outstanding teacher. I highly recommend him to my peers!!" (The two exclamation points were really there)
So five out of the thirteen that finished the class bothered to write comments. And while the comments make me happy, it’s quite possible that the rest of them reamed me on the standardized evaluation. But of course these will go in the old teaching portfolio, should I ever bother to put one together.
By far my two favorite comments are: "well equipped instructor" that one's going on a business card pal, and "has all answers". That one sounds straight out of the gypsy booth at the carnival. TRICKGNOSIS: HAS ALL ANSWERS
