The results are in

I received my student evaluation results from the photo class I taught. I'm taking solace in the words of Student # 7: "She has had to supply nearly all the motivation and has been patient, understanding, + composed with a challenging environment."

On the whole, the criticism the students gave me was helpful. I need to be more specific with them, spelling out exactly what I'm looking for on each assignment, and I need to show more examples of the type of work I'm talking about in class.

But there's not much I can do with some of the other stuff they wrote. For example, in response to the question, "What do you believe your instructor has done especially well in teaching this course?" Student #2 wrote, "Not a whole lot, she is confusing and doesn't explain herslf well at all." (sic)

Here's my problem with that: I know I have a tendency to ramble on at times and lose my train of thought, and so I always tried to explain technical things in a couple of different ways, stopping every now and then to ask if everyone was following me and were there any questions. Invariably, I was answered with blank stares. So I would say, "Does this make sense to you?" and one or two people would nod or say yes and I would move on. In addition, I was always available before and after class to talk to students one-on-one about any problems they were having. Two or three students approached me with questions on a regular basis. I'm betting Student # 2 was not one of them.

A couple of people also said I should have done a better job teaching the camera basics, this being a Basic Camera class. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a disconnect between the way the class was described in the course catalogue and the way it was described to me by the department chair. This was a 20-hour basic level course in the fine art department. I was told that many non-majors would be taking this class, and it might be the only exposure to art education they'd be getting, so I needed to teach them the basics of good composition and design as well as the language they would need to discuss it. On top of that, most of my students were using digital point-and-shoot cameras with no manual capabilities, so I didn't spend a whole lot of time talking about aperture and shutter speed. For me, it was an odd way to teach a photography class, but by the end at least a couple students had learned to see the world with a more artistic eye, and that, I think, was worthwhile.

I did get a good review from the department chair, who gave me high marks all around after sitting in on one of my classes. Still, I can't help feeling the true measure comes from the students; it's them I'm there for, right? I was looking forward to teaching the class again this quarter. Knowing I'd have the opportunity to correct my mistakes made me feel better about everything. Unfortunately, enrollment was low and a real professor had to take over my section because his didn't fill. Alas. Maybe I'll have another shot at it in the fall.