A Former Student's Response

 Here is a comment left by a former student to an earlier post: Insult or Innocent Question?

I read your blog and find the evaluations you post to be almost pure fluff. I've been meaning to give you a real evaluation and now I feel it is a good time. I once asked you this "insulting" quesion and I did so because I could not believe that you seriously thought youself to be a teacher. If a mechanic or a chef worked at the level that you do, they would be unemployed. You have absolutely no commitment to excellence nor do you invest any effort in bettering yourself and your skills as a teacher. Quite frankly, you coast and you're proud of that fact. Of all of the professors I had during my college experience, you were the one I had the highest hopes for. You have great credentials on paper, however you turned out to be my biggest disappointment. You have the potential to become a great teacher, but you will never invest the time and effort. Instead, you will continue to sit in your office, and type out self-serving little ditties to convince yourself that you really are great. Any body can "teach" the few gifted elites who quite frankly, teach themselves. The mark of a true teacher, is when you can effectively teach difficult concepts to those who are struggling to understand something which does not come easy to them. In this area, you are unabashedly apathetic. I can only hope that you either leave the profession or seriously reconsider what it means to be a teacher. When you no longer hear the question which you find insulting, then you will have grown. In closing, I never wished for it to be easier, I wished to be better than I was, and unfortunately, looking to you to help with that goal, was absolutely futile. All you did, was completely take the wind out of my sails and crush my interest, and regretabbly, I wasn't the only one. I hope you consider carefully what I have said here. You could be truly great, unbelievably effective, and genuinely loved and revered by the students who come under your wing. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that you will.