That Time of Year

I'm doing my annual review (late, as usual) which requires me to download my student evaluations and, uh, evaluate them.

The evaluation form, which I turn into the dean (and then we meet and have a friendly chat over it) has a space for me to construct a "reflective" paragraph about the evaluations. I think I'm supposed to learn from this experience.

Mostly my evaluations are really good. I'm not kidding, they are. Like one of my classes this semester, all of the students gave me all 5.00s (which has never happened). I think they must have gotten together and agreed to do it. I can't think how it would have happened otherwise.

But generally I get some sweet comments that allow me to say something to keep the dean happy. (You have to give administrators something to piss and whine about, in my experience.)

My favorite evaluation ever, for instance, was several years ago when a student accused me of "favoring the smarter" students. Um, yeah? And a couple years before that, I got a student get all righteous because I "brought my feminist issues" into the classroom.

Guess I said, "Shut up and make me a sandwich, bitch," once too often.

This time my favorite is, "I love Dr. Delagar. But I wish she would stop saying f#@! quite so often in class."

I said solemnly in my reflective paragraph that I would try saying cocksucker instead.

(NO NOT REALLY!)