Class Evals

I'm going to spare you the ones that mention how unspeakably brilliant, engaging, accessible and witty I am, because if you're reading this you know that already. I'm just going to include the one by the student who gave me lousy marks.

Here goes: "Too much reading. You have to read a book a week. A book a week."

I'm not going to discuss the type of so-called mind that can produce a statement such as the above.

Instead, I would like to inform my readers that this was for a class which met once a week for three hours. We did not, in fact, read a book a week every week (in fact, some books took two weeks, and some we only partially read). I didn't assign any book longer than 250 pages for the weekly assignments, and most were less than 200. We watched three movies. Three. (To adapt the student's form of expression...)

Evidently that was too much scholarly effort for this university student.

And yet, the university is going to take this sniveling imbecile student's comments seriously in regard to the quality of my teaching.

Never mind the extensive, careful lectures and discussions I assembled so that the little dear wouldn't be too addled by the mysteries of Text or dazzled by the endless reflection of the Sign as applied to Nature. Never mind the myriad ways I sought to cushion the intellectual blow.

I would sigh, but instead I think I might just bang my head into the desk a few times.

Or maybe I'll just prepare to meet this student again one day-- most likely in a position of some substantial authority.

It's my fault, after all. I passed the kid (with a D, I think)...