Comments from my students...

Here are some of the comments made by the students in the classes where I student taught in Fall 2005 in response to a request to write a letter about their experience, including any improvements they might recommend. Any identifying information other than grade level has been excised and some letters have been edited for length.

To check out the  results of the evaluation I asked my 9th graders to complete at the end of the 2006-2007 school year, click HERE.

You are an easy going teacher which made it easier to learn. I liked how we didn't have to write so many essays. I also liked how you wrote back in the journals. It showed how you really cared about the students. You were actually interested unlike some teachers who aren't. One suggestion I would give was to learn names better. Thank you for teaching us.

Ms. D. gives very insightful statements and always has facts about the stories or poems we read. I think you will make a good teacher and do well at teaching.

I think that you will make a good teacher. Having you as a student teacher has been a good experience. I learned a lot during these past few weeks. In the future when you become a teacher I believe you will be very successful and your students will learn a lot from you. You have a wonderful personality and a great sense of understanding and those qualities make you not only a good teacher but an outstanding person. On the flip side, I would say that in order to change something to improve I would say don't do so many rewrites of things because it can be boring and most students don't see any point in rewriting a story that was already written. I would like to thank you for al your wisdom and kindness you have given me and all my classmates.

You are very special and cool. You are a very unique person as well as a teacher. I thank God for you. I am always excited to come to your class everyday because you teach very well. You are a awesome reader, keep using that talent. The worst thing I can say about yo uis that you always have a fake bug on your back, it's boring. Other than that, you're cool with me.

First off I would like to say, you did a good job as a student teacher. There isn't much I can say besides you really shouldn't hover over us as much. It's OK to ask [a] question every now and then while we're working, just not every five seconds. There are many excellent things you do, like you keep the class alive.

Ms. D. has taught most of the time I have been in this class. She taught me more about poetry and has improved my grammar skills.

I think you're a very good student teacher. I like how you ask the students opinions and how we all talk about our POV's instead of just boring teaching. I think it is very important to have open discussion like that and it keeps us involved more and keeps our attention. You seem like an optimist and I think that's a very good characteristic to have when teaching others and it helps to put the rest of the class in a better mood. One improvement that could be done is maybe doing assignments more in class rather than having them finish it at home. A lot of students have too many things going on like work or dance or something else, and really just don't have the time if they want to have a good night's sleep. But I wish the best of luck to you.

Something positive about you being a student teacher is how you read every story out loud while all the students got to follow along. I have a problem with really understanding pieces of literature without reading them two or three times so that's something that really helped. A suggestion for improvement would be not to let anybody tell you you aren't a great teacher. I really have nothing to tell you to improve on honestly. You're supportive and really explain everything thoroughly.

Having you as a student teacher was a great experience. I think you did a really good job. Honestly, if you never said you were a student teacher from the beginning, I would've believed you were a real teacher. I liked reading the short stories with you and the class. I also liked how you wrote comments on all of our work. Usually teachers just skim or don't even read kid's work. They just put a letter grade based on the length. Yet it seemed as if you read most of our journals, because of the comments. I liked that a lot. I think you did a really good job overall. Hopefullly soon you'll be a regular teacher. Good luck!

I think you're a good student teacher. For the short time I had you; I never thought you were a student teacher. I looked at you as a teacher. You're doing a wonderful job, and good luck in the future.

Ms. D is one of the best student teachers I have had. She is very sweet and patient. I like her so. She teaches like a real teacher, [I] never knew she was a student teacher until she told us. She read to our understanding, she takes her teaching very seriously, and jokes around when it's time to joke. We will miss you Ms. D.

I think that you were a very good student teacher. Most of the time [you] took over the class as if there was no Mrs. Reiter to be found. I wasn't particularly fond of how you would pick students wh didn't have their hand raised, this being the reason why most students gave an answer of "I have nothing" or "Same as his/hers." There was also too much H.W., but I don't know that was your fault. I also liked how you wrote a little comment after every assignment.

It's been a wonderful experience to have you teach me as well as my fellow classmates. I really did think you were going to be here for the rest of the year. You're a very down to earth and also a very reasonable person. I hope and pray that you come back to see how all of the students are doing. I don't think that I have anything to say about your teaching skills because you do a good job at it. Please try to become a teacher on the Island so hopefully I can come and visit you and show you some of my poetry. I wish you a lot of luck and hope you do become a teacher.

It was a pleasure having you. I think most of the students were not pleased with your deeds and actio. i on the other hand was very pleased to have you. You helped me with writing and you were very nice to me. I think that you taught just fine but students like [name] tend to set off the fuse. I hope you are successful in teaching and hopefully in the future we can teach together.

I'm sad to see you leave. I've had a fun and good educational experience. I like reading the stories and poems. You're the only teacher I had that showed me a story or poem written differently. I'm sorry I couldn't have been here more often. You are the most enthusiastic teacher I ever met. It shows how much you love your job. There was nothing really bad, just that the class needed to participate more. Also you showed me a new way to write poetry. The way we break down stories is good to understanding them. Every story we read here was interesting. You'll be a great teacher. Good luck and best wishes to you.

My experience with Ms. D was a short but sweet one. She helped me a lot with my writing and she also comprehended my writing and the way I feel. I thank Ms. D for connecting with the students in the class, always making us laugh. Keep up with your teaching Miss, we will miss you.

I appreciated having you as a student teacher in my class. You have such a glowing personality and such a postive attitude. I knew that if I was starting to have a bad day, I could at least come into the positive atmosphere of Ms. D and Mrs. Reiter and you two always would put the smile back on my face. I don't believe I have anything negative to say about you Ms. D. As far as your teaching skills, you always catch my attention! I love it when you read a story and you're so expressive with every sentence. I hope the children in the Junior High School will appreciate you and treat you as well as my class and I did. Good luck. I know you will be successful.

We will all miss you!! We had a great experience having you in our English class. Good luck on your road to becoming a teacher!

I think you are a good teacher but you should make better connections with the students so they listen and like you more. Also, you should give more time to students when giving them tests. Hope everything goes well for you.

You are a wonderful teacher and very understanding. My advice would be to be more patient when students do not understand. Other than that you are a good teacher. I am going to miss you.

I think that you are a good teacher, and good luck getting a permanent position. I liked a lot of the ways that you taught, but sometimes I felt like we didn't have enought time to do things [like quizzes]. I did like the class and the way you taught... I liked the videos [Grammar Rock].