Faculty Teaching Observations:  Select Comments

 

 

First ever observation of teaching:  "I imagine Mr Grogan could make just about any syllabus work in terms of getting students to think, write and talk in class.  He seems to be a natural in the classroom, or maybe he's just had enough experience to appear comfortable in the classroom.  But he clearly enjoys interacting with students, and he employs his intelligence to good effect.  He is a fine teaching assistant who shows promise of becoming an excellent English professor."

 --Ruth Ray

 

Most  recent observation of teaching: "Mr. Grogan had thoughts about each student's work that he shared with them individually and during the group activity.  His comments to each student were highly personalized.  This was also true of his written comments on two papers I read (one A and ond C paper).  I was especially impressed by the directive yet clearly supportive nature of his comments on the weaker paper.  I suspect that this student did not feel discouraged, despite the low grade.  This is a tribute to Mr. Grogan's skill in working with weaker students.

 

Mr Grogan had a wonderfully rich and dense lesson plan.  As I mentioned to him on the day of the observation, I especially like the tension in his lesson plan between constraint and creativity.  The students were given a lot of structure in the writing assignment, so they knew exactly what they were supposed to do, where to start, and how to proceed.  But at the same time, they could write whatever they want within these constraints.  I also appreciated the fact that he got them talking about the value of their own education in the process of working on this assignment.  The conversations I overheard were thoughtful and honest.  It made me wonder if this might have been the first time some of them had seriously reflected on their experiences as college students."

--Martha Ratliff

 

Student Feedback:  Select Comments

 

"I am a very quiet person, but Jared provieds a very spirited environment.  I felt very comfortable around him which allowed me te be more involved -- so I thank him for that.  He will forever be one of my favorite professors."  Fall, 2013

 

"I love this class for four reasons: the feedback Jared gives us (which is very helpful), the organization of assignments and texts (which are amazing), the way he makes learning fun and fascinating, and the way he makes sure all your questions will be answered" Fall, 2013

 

"Jared helped me out a great deal with targeting key moves in writing to create stronger arguments and more structured papers.  The organization of this class is great due to his timely updates of the wiki pages.  Jared always greeted everyone with a smile and kept motivation high while lecturing." Winter, 2012

 

"Thank you for making me understand my writing assignments...we seem to have everything right in front of us for clarity.  Your enthusiasm made class fun and had me paying attention, workshopping, and peer editing. ... Everything in this class was perfect" -- Winter, 2012

 

"Overall, I think that you were an awesome teacher.  You were very easy to get in contact with and always answering questions asked.  Your enthusiasm about this class makes me want to actually learn and retain everything."  -Fall, 2012

 

"Honestly I loved the environment of the class and how it was taught.  It was comforting when you have a thousand questions and he always gives great feedback".  -Fall, 2012