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Professor Mincey's priority is adequately preparing her students for the "real" situations they will encounter as they enter the teaching profession. She did not just lecture to us about information we read in the textbook. She worked hard to coordinate with and bring in experts and guest speakers who dealt with the topics on a daily basis so that we could question and interact with them. This was very helpful. The fact that these people are human - as is Mrs. Mincey - and that they have real lives sometimes made it impossible to adhere to our calendar and things had to be rearranged. Yes, as a student, this is frustrating because it becomes confusing to remember what assignments are due when. But, this is the essence of true teaching - flexibility. No good teacher will strictly follow a preset schedule because if he or she does, some students will be left behind and some will be bored to tears. When we are teachers, we will face interruptions and sometimes we will have to adjust our calendars and our students may become confused and we may, too. We will just have to be as flexible as Professor Mincey has been and sometimes accept late assignments from students with the realization that we might not have been clear about when it was due. Professor Mincey is extremely kind about accepting late assignments. Perhaps she is too kind because I am certain that she is stuck grading a mountain of them right now in addition to grading finals. Mrs. Mincey was not unreasonable in the number of assignments she gave. She was also very fair with her grading and she always explained her reasoning behind criticisms. I have had a geat deal of difficulty in my personal life this semester, and Mrs. Mincey was very understanding about the way that affected my academic performance. Professor Mincey is the first teacher I have had at this university who has acknowledged the fact that I will have to teach grammar in addition to literature and that I may need some instruction in how to do so. I have no further classes to take because I will be entering my professional semester in January. English 500 is the ONLY class in which I have had instruction in how to teach grammar and mechanics. I would NOT recommend replacing the professor in this course. Mrs. Mincey is one of the very few instructors that I have had who has realized that I need to learn practical application for the knowledge I have acquired. Aside from this, Mrs. Mincey provided numerous helpful resources for us, including a webpage that she maintains. To be perfectly honest, the midterm and final reflective notebooks were a pain. The requirements for them were given to us at least one week ahead of time, however, and they consisted on things we were supposed to have been doing throughout the semester. The fact that I did not keep up is not a reason for me to criticize Professor Mincey. I recall her mentioning at the beginning of the course that we needed to write reflections after we had guest speakers. It might be helpful to include the notebook requirements in the syllabus and adjust them later, if necessary. It would give students a better overall picture of how much is required for them and it may encourage them to stay more up-to-date. I must say - if anything - the professor reduced the number of assignments listed on the syllabus. I can recall two times that extra reading assignments (not listed on syllabus) were emailed. However, there was no physical product due as a result of these assignments and the professor even noted that some students may not have had a chance to read them at that late date. Any teacher will make a mistake or forget something from time to time. We would not be human if we did not. Professor Mincey is not perfect herself and she realizes that her students are not and she does not expect them to be. She is an excellent, caring teacher who treats her students like real people rather than the student-bots some professors see us as. For this reason, as well as the many others I have illustrated, I would definitely recommend Professor Mincey's course to other students.
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Multiple Choice