Sunday, May 07, 2006

Note of Confidence

I received a note from a parent of one of my students. It is always nice to hear someone supporting your position exactly. I post it here to share it with everyone (just like I shared it with the assistant dean of my department).

May 4, 2006


Dear Dr. Camplin,

Thank you for teaching English 1302. It is one of the few classes that has challenged my daughter’s writing abilities. Although the class was difficult, Kristin learned not only to write better but also to pay attention to the words she uses.

I also want to compliment you on the effort you put into the class. Your lectures were very informative and your comments on the papers helpful. However the thing that impressed me the most was how quickly you graded the assignments. You always return the papers the next class period which I find amazing especially when marking every syllable in the iambic measure assignment.

Your teaching style also has renewed my confidence in Richland College. Last semester my daughter had a teacher who rarely lectured and never made any suggestions on her papers. Both Kristin and I felt that the class was a waste of time. This was extremely painful since as a dual credit student, the class counted as her senior year of high school as well as her freshman English. I originally thought Kristin had a poor teacher, however two of her other friends said their classes were also poor (the second teacher was good). We decided to try another English class only because Bonnie Houston stated that you were an excellent teacher and that Kristin would learn something in your class. We have not been disappointed.

I feel the community college is a bridge between high school and four year universities. It is a place where students can be prepared for higher education. If the classes are not challenging, the students will not be able to handle the upper division classes when they transfer into a university. Thank you for not watering down your class to the desires of the students, but instead raising the students to the level they need to be at to succeed in college.

Once again thank you for the time and effort in teaching my daughter. May you continue to help other student in the same way.

Sincerely,

Deborah L. S.

3 comments:

Troy Camplin said...

I forwarded it to the administration myself. But I will certainly suggest something of the sort.

Troy Camplin said...

a petition would not be a bad idea. the key woud be the wording. What, exactly, is it we want? Who is it to be addressed to? Is it to be narrow, or broadly addressed? Perhaps both -- and in that case, who, broadly, do we address?

Troy Camplin said...

Yes. Revolution. But rhetorically, people are more in favor of "reform" than they are "revolution." So while what we want, specifically, is revolution and revolutionary, we should probably tell people that it is just "reform".