Visit Rate My Professor.com, without leaving this site!

Once a year or so, I look at my entries on Rate My Professor.com. It is not an activity for the emotionally delicate, which very well may be why I so infrequently check them. If you’ve never gone, there are symbols; a smiley face indicates good quality and a chili pepper indicates hot. Then there are rankings: easiness, helpfulness, clarity, and rater interest (I think that’s interest in the subject or the class).

 

I used to tell myself that I didn’t care and that these ratings meant nothing, but then stopped lying to myself: “Face it,” I told myself, “you’re a Leo.” Frankly, I have to know what people are saying about me. And it’s fascinating; I can see when I was having a rough time. I looked recently because one of my students told me after class that one of the reasons he chose my class was because of my ratings.

 

There are only 25 entries here, and I don’t think I could estimate (without a calculator) the number of MSOE students I’ve had. Based on this limited sample, only students who are passionate about their experience in a class bother with Rate My Professor. This wouldn’t be surprising to me five years ago, but I find it odd that it’s still that way. I mean, with all the time everyone spends on Facebook, etc., you’d think they’d venture over and fill out a five-question survey. But, no. While Rate My Professor has successfully tapped into the disgruntled and the horny student set, it has failed to attract the bored.

 

Most students fly through the teacher evaluations as quickly as possible without reading closely and without writing anything in the optional comments section, which kind of makes me sad because I Really Would Like to Know What They Think. That’s why I require students answer certain questions (for credit) about the course; I like to make them suggest one assignment or activity I should keep and one I should ditch the next time I teach the course.

 

So, stroll with me, if you will, through some of the fascinating comments pasted directly out of the site:

 

3/08

–The way all porfessors should be. Great instructor

 

–Excellent instructor. Makes the class time go by fast. Lets students be themselves and express their opinions. Highly recommend. Too bad MSOE does not hire her full time.

 

–Her personality is amazing. Makes a useless class interesting. Very easy on the eyes. Visit her during office hours just to chat and hang out, she is nice.

 

2/08

A+B=C she is a teacher that will help you out when your stuck on anything!!! Shes always there when or if you have any problems.

 

(Awww. After almost 10 years, it looks like I’m becoming a pretty good teacher. But keep reading).

 

04/07

–She does an excellent job teaching the material. While she doesn’t require you to understand everything, she gives you the material nescessary to understand the main points of the course. Her finals are simple and are to the point. She is liberal, however, she has an easy going character, so she can get along with just about anyone.

 

(Hmm. Well, I clearly taught him or her nothing about spelling, And is this student implying that most liberals aren’t easy going? Or should I just take the compliment and read it that I don’t have to agree with people politically to treat them with respect and kindness? I guess I’ll go with that).

 

03/07

–Great prof. Fun. I never thought a speech class could be fun, but she proved me wrong. Except for the day I was too hungover to lift up my head. Oh yeah it was 3 in the afternoon. That was bad.

 

(This is too vague for me to even begin to figure out who this might be. I love how he turned a comment that was supposed to be about me into a remark on his own problem).

 

–A breath of fresh air! Take for EN 131 and 132!

 

–Definetely recommended for any class that she teaches. Classes were never boring, and the class had minimal homework. Cool person and extremely laid back.

 

–Did not use the book too much. Understood that we are engineers not English majors. Very laid back and has fun in class. If you get her (and you should try) make sure to use the word moist as much as possible

 

(Okay . . . as one of the “get to know ya” exercises, I used to have everyone say what their favorite and least favorite words are. My version of the James Lipton thing. So I told them that I loathe the word “moist.” And they do use it. And by the way, I am trying to use the book more. I mean, they had to buy it).

 

Now it gets ugly . . .

 

11/06

–If you want a REALLY easy class, take Duvernay. If you want an easy A, not if you want to learn something. Swears a profuse amount in class.

 

–Worst excuse for a teacher . . . she should be fired!

10/06

Take DuVernay for every class she teachers (Comp, Tech Comp, Speech, and Humanities). Very laid back and easy teacher. Minimal homework – just the required papers. All we did in HU100 was watch movies and discuss them. I wish she taught more classes past the freshman level!

 

05/06

She’s so easy!!! I only did half the homework and then the project we had instead of havin a final and i got an AB in the class. Take her for an class you can.

 

(I would like to suggest that the student who recommends I be fired put too much stock in the previous comments but discovered that I was indeed not the easiest teacher who ever lived. I’m just sayin’).

 

So, that’s a big chunk, without edits. I’m happy with them overall on a personal level, but I would like future comments to say not that I made a “useless class interesting” but that I made them realize that a class they thought was useless was actually super great and useful! And I don’t think I swear profusely. I swear, sure, they are in college. They should be able to handle it.