Testimonials & Student Samples

Peer Review of Teaching

When I first entered Lydia’s classroom I heard the soft tones of

quiet, ambient music. I immediately felt a sense of ease with the class

atmosphere and took a seat in one of the chairs arranged in a circle.

A PowerPoint presentation is displayed on the screen, which Lydia

has set up and prepped for class before students came in.

The background music was a perfect lead up to an introductory

ice breaker-type discussion on “What musician or band means the

most to you? Why?”. This seemed to get students to freely and openly

talk about something they cared for. The activity also helped them

consider a community they might feel connected to, which set up Writing Project 2, an autoethnography of a community you belong to.

That day’s class was a part of Unit 2 of ENGL 102, and the topic was “Positionality” when conducting an interview, a required task for Writing Project 2. Lydia framed positionality as an important concept leading toward autoethnography. With the help of the PPT, Lydia began a brief breakdown of the requirements of Writing Project 2 and the topic of “How to ethically conduct research”. This contextualized and justified the exploration of the idea of positionality, which was clarified as a useful way to recognize and ensure ethical research practices. Lydia followed this up with a Britney Spears interview that that reflected these nuanced positions.

The Britney Spears interview explored the positionality of both the interviewer and the interviewee. I thought this was an excellent way to practically contextualize the idea while also getting students to think about the interview process, which was a required component of Writing Project 2. Placing positionality next to interviews also helped her students understand what questions could be helpful or mean, how to read body language and how to be sensitive to the comfort of the interviewee, highlighting the value of a well-considered ethical position. Lydia asked specific questions that related to these concerns in the discussion that followed the viewing of the video.

After the video, students were put into groups and asked to note down their thoughts in response to several questions that were pulled up on the PPT. Lydia provided instructions such as “Record any details of character/behavior (appearance, body language, spoken language)” and questions such as “Who talks more? Does that seem to work?” or “What question might have extended to another question? Why?”. The effectiveness of these leading questions was evident in the class discussion that followed.

The students engaged well with the material and were able to observe small and nuanced aspects of the interview. They identified specific gestures Britney made, such as the direction of her gaze, and noticed specific instances where discomfort was evident. They were also able to provide critiques of the socio-cultural context that caused Britney to be uncomfortable. They also did a great job of identifying the rhetorical arguments Britney made to push back on the idea that sexualizing herself was a moral problem. Lydia was able to navigate the discussion to help students recognize these subtleties and encourage students who were observant and picked up on finer details.

You can tell that Lydia has put a lot of thought and care into ensuring that students feel comfortable with their tastes and identities. For example, having the seating in a circle allows the student to not just look at the teacher, but also each other, creating a space easier for discourse and eye contact. It was noticeable in discussions in class, when the students freely debated with and questioned each other, rather than wait for Lydia to prompt them. There were other small, but quite endearing ways in which the atmosphere of the classroom is both comfortable and respectful. For example, students who want to speak at the same time play rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first.

Lydia also seemed to know her students quite well, occasionally referencing a band or movies that a student cared about. Including those things as examples helped students connect to their lessons at a more personal level. Whenever a student made a point that may have not been as clear to other students Lydia would ask a follow-up question to get the student to explain themselves and articulate their thoughts more clearly. I think this is an excellent strategy because it trains students to edit their words and consider their audience in real-time.

- Andrew Korah

Spring 2023 Performance Review

This performance review includes a review of my grading, as well as the "Flipped Perspectives" activity covered in the Teaching Materials page of this site.

PDF

Student Testimonials

These were given anonymously during end-of-course evaluations.

ENGL 101

About course projects:

"The writing projects allowed me to develop my critical thinking and writing skills in general.

The projects that we did were very interactive and I was able to choose topics that I actually wanted to write about."

Regarding my Teaching Style:

"I liked how you had a smile on your face everyday, you never discouraged the class to ask questions, you were very helpful and thorough."

"I have always hated English because I never liked the teacher, but this year was probably one of my favorites because you are the best English teacher that I have had. I feel like your positive energy and effective teaching style made me enjoy coming to class and really helped me enhance my writing. You helped me navigate through problems I was having during the writing process for some of the assignments and you are very understanding when something in our personal lives pops up."

ENGL 102

About the classroom vibes:
I have lo-fi music playing every morning as students arrive, and began at least one class a week with a "vibe check" question to get discussion rolling for the day.

"I freaking love it so much. I wish all my professors played it. I am always so exhausted when going to class, and the low-fi music always sets a good mood for me. Too many times I enter a classroom at 9 AM and everyone is just staring blankly at the wall in complete silence. It doesn't get me motivated for class. I don't like complete silence when I enter a classroom; it makes me, for lack of better words, want to leave and never come back."

On peer reviews/conferences:

"I enjoyed being able to peer review with a partner in class, especially when we were able to conference beforehand. I also liked how close we peer reviewed to the due date, so it was able to feel like I had help on some of my final choices."

From Students Who took both my ENGL 101 & ENGL 102 Courses:

"I took 102 because I think that you have a very good understanding of how to structure a classroom and you do a great job with helping your students uniquely very each individual. I felt like you took the time to get to know your students and truly cared about who we are and what we worked on. I also just enjoyed your teaching style and felt comfortable and excited to be in class. This was always a safe space for me to ask questions and get better. Thank you!"

"You boosted my confidence, helped me grow as a writer, and made me feel more confident in my decision to go into English Education. I know that when I become an English teacher, I will be using some of your teaching tactics :) Especially the vibe check thing at the beginning of the class. It's such a fun activity that no one thinks of."