Student Evaluations?

Question

Up to now I have been having anxiety attacks about the evaluations I receive from students. I am an American and lecture in a women's university in Seoul, Korea.

Thsi semester I am teaching 2 oral communication classes (10 students and 11 students) A Public speaking class (20 students) and a reading and writing class (18 students). For midterm evaluation my students gave me the following scores:

Communication Class (90) Good score
Communication Class (74) Not Good
Public Speaking (97.1) Excellent
Reading and Writing (97.1) Excellent

Overall score 89.16 so so


I received very good, uplifting comments in 3 of the classes, but in the one communication class had 5 negative comments and one in particular hurt. "Robert is very, very strange, I do not know why you hired him, he is not qualified to be a teacher." Ooooouch!!!!!!! These evals are done anonymously.

I spent hours focused on that painful statement.

Now we are finishing and the end of semester evaluations will be coming out. I know I will do well again in my big classes, but I am not sure about the 2 smaller classes.

On our evaluation reports the University shows the average score and your own score. I was a bit below average before.

I love teaching and amongst the Native Speakers am the most qualified in experience and in having an MA TESOL.


How do I not get apprehensive, nor negatively affected by these things?

In the first eval they had not seen their grades yet.


Also, this has been a 6 week Intensive. We work morning, noon and night, we do activities with the students and take care of our homeroom. My homeroom is my Reading and Writing Class. I


The system is very competitive and if you do too bad they give you a Letter of Warning and then a dismissal. Currently, I am one of the longest teachers here (Just signed my 4th year contract) I have never received such a letter, others have. But I
love my students and some of these comments can be so hurtful.


Also, I am 3, one of the oldest teachers and it is a Women's University and students have told me that they like the younger teachers. In fact, the administration has told me that.

How do I make my mind right in this situation??

My goal is to consistently get evaluations with a 95 overall.

I do love this University as it has good standards and more motivated students than in other universities I have heard of.

Thank you for reading this

At the end of the semester my University makes us give grades and the students do their evaluation of us after the fact.

Answer 1

So, one class gave you a low score? Take a look at the other three scores. All good. Very good. There are a few things that you need to remember...

#1, you CANNOT and never will be able to please everybody. That means that at times, no matter what you do, your students will be angry with you, sometimes without a justifiable reason, you just happen to be the recipient of their bottled up anger, and it may have nothing to do with you, they've just had a bad day.

#2, because of the other two scores, I think that you must be a very likeable, knowledgeable teacher. Always think on the positive side.

#3, you can not let what students say get you down. Be confident. Be assured. You're a GREAT teacher.

Keep on doing what you love, and keep on doing it passionately. There will always be those out there trying to pull you down, but keep your chin up and keep on doing what you love to the best of your ability! And bless you for caring so much for the students that you really care what they think...even if they are just being mean. That means you really are a great teacher. A teacher who cares. The world needs a few more like you and me.

Answer 2

If I'm reading correctly, the one class that gave you a low score is the class who saw their grades before they evaluated you?
If that's correct, don't do it that way again. Let them evaluate you first, then you issue grades before reading the evaluation comments. That's more fair both ways.

You had two small classes - one was fine - the other was the one where they saw the grades first. This indicates to me that you are doing well. Whomever does your yearly eval will see that the problem was only in one class.

Also, don't take what the students say so personally. You're not there to please them or make them like you. You're the teacher. And, it sounds to me like you're a dang good teacher who loves what he does and should simply focus on doing it instead of worrying about that yearly eval.

Answer 3

Idealistically, specific it can be a solid concept. the scholars take a seat in a instructor's classification day in and outing. They comprehend what the score is. they have been at school for some years and a minimum of comprehend the thank you to ascertain the teachers they have encountered. They comprehend who's on the ball and who isn't. additionally they comprehend the teachers with the easy grading curves too, or those which could be persuaded. A one classification assessment by an administrator can't and should no longer be a variety of lots of something different than possibly that the instructor confirmed up that day. just about speaking however, no, the scholars should have no enter via a real assessment. they are too immature and ought to be subject to the whim of their temper that day or begrudge the instructor their grade from their final attempt or report card. the suitable "student" assessment could in all probability be from a former student who has had time to income perspective and adulthood. they are able to take excitement in greater advantageous what their former instructors did for them and how it impacted their lives.

Answer 4

I believe that, as a teacher, you can't please everyone. You can drive yourself crazy trying to do so. However, one thing stuck out to me. You said your evals are better in your larger classes and your smaller ones tend to be more nit picky. Could it be that in your larger classes there is less opportunity to become familiar with the students and in your smaller classes they expect it and feel you are a little distant? With smaller classes, you have a wonderful opportunity to really cater to the individual needs of your students rather than the masses at large. They MIGHT be expecting this of you. Although, without knowing the Korean culture, I could be totally off base.

It really sounds like you LOVE what you do. Make sure that that enthusiasm and passion comes through in your teaching and the rest will take care of itself!

Good luck!