Thursday, December 3, 2009

English 111 Course Evaluation (Gaspero)

Being in Mr. Gaspero's class this year taught me that I needed to get into the college mindset as quick as possible. Enforcing our transition into independence, he placed everything that we needed on blackboard. Blackboard made it our responsibility to pass the class. There were no excuses to be made in terms of due dates. Anything that we needed help on, he would be more than happy to oblige. He is very patient in terms of dealing with issues that students may confront during the assignment processes. Mr. Gaspero made the class intriguing from the very start. Interesting subject matters were brought forth which required us to think beyond what we would normally associate ourselves with. There were times when he was light-hearted and provided a cheerful atmosphere. However, when he was serious, he conveyed the importance of what he knew we needed to be diligent about. He made it clear that it was our responsibility to get the grade. Sometimes, the directions for assignments were unclear to me. The fact that I didn’t utilize the blackboard postings might have had something to do it. I did not particularly enjoy the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos. I acknowledge that these three traits of the argumentative essay were a necessity. However, these were a little less than interesting. We also viewed a motion picture about the artist Bruce Springstein. The message of the video was clearly understood, and Mr. Gaspero's intention for showing the video was explicit. Nevertheless, the video did not capture my interest as much as I would have liked it to. Towards the end of the course we had to compose an argument essay. Though the criteria for the assignment were evident, the 1500 word minimum was a tad perplexing. I can usually relay informative information in relatively fewer words. The 1500 word minimum was indeed to expand our ability to provide a significant amount of detail. It is my opinion that if you can convey a message efficiently then there is no need for the excess. What I learned about myself is that I need to pay attention. Procrastination was a main reason why i did not achieve my highest capabilities in the class. Upon entering the class, i had hoped for a plethora of controversial topics. I wanted to talk about the issues the world faces in the modern day. I had anticipated a debate class to be honest. I did note that during some of the topics we discussed, students were becoming verbally hostile. This was not swearing or insulting. It was people who disagreed and did not want to succumb to the fact that they were indeed wrong. This made the class very interesting at times. An interesting subject that, in my opinion, took up more time in the classroom than it should have was the health industry crises. Albeit, to know the information that was presented would be beneficiary, I would have liked to study more diverse topics. He taught the class professionally. He moved around and used gestures to keep us engaged. I did not have a problem staying awake in that class. I have had stationary teacher before and i would immediately fall asleep after the first 15 minutes. He'd frequently ask questions to the entire class. He rarely called anyone out unless they were blatantly being ignorant. Overall, the class was what a college course should have been. I believe if you have strong work ethic, and you are an opinionated individual you would do just fine and you'll enjoy the class. If not this course may not be for you.

1 comment:

  1. Writing to a student writer, or writing student, you may want to spell check important names. "Ahem."

    As for the rhetorical tools, I would think you'd take more interest in those given that it seems you want to be a person of influence t those around you. Those are three tools you should want to know even more about and probably will after you're done with English 112.

    Do you think more controversy would make for more engaging class discussions? What types of topics and what view points on these topics?

    Definitely consider public speaking courses. I'm not sure if we have any debate courses at TCC, but check the catalog. Also, choose your 112 instructor wisely. I hear some of my colleagues are heavily into controversial topics being the mainstay of the course from day one through the final meeting. Start reading ratemyprofessor now and email those instructors with high ratings.

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