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The University of Arizona’s Writing Program utilizes a system, where in each of their first five years of teaching, teachers are assigned an advisor who reviews their syllabi, makes class visits, and collects samples of graded student papers. At the end of each year (or semester for first-year teachers) the advisor (TEAD) writes up a report that includes comments and an overall rating of the teacher's effectiveness.  In my six years as a teacher in the Writing Program at the University of Arizona I have been rated "outstanding" on all of my teaching advisor (TEAD) reports and have received excellent comments and ratings on my student evaluations, consistently exceeding the mean scores of teachers across the University and in the Writing Program.

Advisor: Bill Endres
Course: English 306, Fall 2002

General comments:
"Claire is one of our most creative and dynamic instructors [....] Claire clearly understands how to relate to students, lead them into significant analysis, and inspire them to think. She is the type of instructor I wish I would have had when I took my undergraduate writing courses."

Comments on responses to student essays:
Claire's comments are rich, precise, and specific [....] In her marginal comments, Claire's explanation of sentence-level and organizational issues is particularly impressive [....] Claire's comments are impressively upbeat, offering students many encouragements and pointing out successes in even the most problematic of essays. Claire's comments are masterful."

 
Advisor: Carol Nowatny-Young
Course: Business Writing 307, Spring 2001

Comments on class visit:
"Claire created numerous exercises and informational handouts as well as clear assignment sheets for her class. When she used Power Point presentations she also provided a hard copy for her students to take home with them. In the classroom she was equally conscientious and helpful. She constructed well-organized lesson plans with clear goals, made liberal use of examples for the concepts and processes being taught, provided material in several formats to accommodate students' different learning styles, used the rather awkward space of her computer classroom well, and related well to her students. Her activities flowed smoothly from one to another and built upon each other [....] Claire's work in the classroom was excellent."

Comments on responses to student essays:
Claire's grading and commenting were also excellent. As is appropriate for business writing assignments, Claire wrote extensive marginal comments addressing all levels of the writing. She clearly identified the problems and also responded to areas she though were particularly good. Her end comments provided good summaries of the main strengths and weaknesses, offered appropriate suggestions for improvement, and clearly explained the rationale behind the grade by keeping a clear focus on the assignment criteria and expectation of the audiences. Her grades were exactly right."
 

Advisor: Patrick Baliani
Course: Honors First-Year Composition 104h, Spring 2000

Comments on class visit:
"Because I was eager to witness the onset of a computer-based English 104 class, I visited Claire's class on the fist day (as well as later). As I expected, Claire presented herself and her course with confidence, eagerness, and efficiency. I was gratified to see her initiate the semester's journey in a way that challenged and invited the students to explore and learn together. Later in the term...it was evident how much the students had benefited from the course. I wish to add that I appreciated Claire's having invited me to attend any of her class periods, without advance notice."
 

Advisor: Erec Toso
Courses: First-Year Composition 102, Spring 2000
              First-Year Composition 101, Fall 1998

Comments on class visit:
"Claire cultivates a playful, casual, but focused work atmosphere in her courses."

"Claire can focus and juggle. I found her classes to be dizzying but coherent examples of multi-tasking and varieties of activities [....] [the classes I visited] were reflections of the time Claire puts into her teaching. Her handouts, records, assignments sheets, and peer reviews are all exemplary."

Comments on responses to student essays:
"Claire's marginal comments are the most interactive I have received from a GAT."
 

Advisor: Jan Lipartito
Course: First-Year Composition 102, Spring 1999

General Comments:
"Claire is a creative, energetic teacher who frequently incorporated contemporary cultural material into her classes [....] One of the things that impressed me about Claire was her realistic self-image. In her self-assessment she accurately described one of her greatest strengths--that she learns along with her students."

Comments on class visits:
"Claire was able to guide the discussion and keep students interested without dominating the discussion herself. The class had very high energy; students seemed to be having fun and to be learning [....] I was glad to see that she was able to get students to think deeply, not by telling them her opinions, but by asking questions. It was obvious from Claire's good humor that she liked her students and what she was doing."

"[In the second class I visited] the students weren't the least bit bored with what was going on, yet despite the teasing, joking, and playfulness of the class, the session had a great deal of substance and rigor [....] I feel that Claire is doing an excellent job as a classroom teacher."

Click here to view teaching advisor reports in full.

Numerical Ratings (out of 5.0)
Writing Program considers anything above a 4.0 to be “excellent”

Comments were derived from questions that asked student to elaborate on their overall experience in the course and their overall rating of the instructor's effectiveness.  Brackets usually separate comments from one question followed by comments from another question.  
 

Honors First-Year Composition

"This course was extremely well thought-out [....] [Claire is] one of the best teachers I have come across in my entire academic career. Her passion for teaching as well [as] for students is unrivaled."

"I was very impressed by this course. The unique subject matter gave me the opportunity to explore and expand upon things that are actually intellectually stimulating [....] I got more feedback, of better value, from this instructor than any other I have ever had [....] This class was the first I've ever had that actually covered topics that interested me and that I could apply to other areas of study."

"Claire took a lot of time and put forth much more effort than most teachers when reading essays, giving feedback, and meeting with students [....] Claire explained everything thoroughly, provided examples for assignments and gave as opportunities to practice new skills [....] I loved this course! I experienced new kinds of media and my eyes were open to other forms of text. I also became a more competent writer."

‘"The class took very interesting perspective on the rhetoric within our media and the modern world around us… it challenged my perceptions of these concepts [....] I thoroughly enjoyed this composition course. It both challenged me academically and allowed me to express myself creatively. On a more personal level, it served as a path to self-discovery in a lot of ways."
 

First-Year Composition

“Claire is one of the best teachers I’ve had in my life and definitely the best I’ve had at the U of A so far.  I would recommend her to anyone who needs help in writing because her feedback on work is excellent.”

“Best class I’ve ever taken.  Best teacher I have ever had.”

 “[Claire is] awsome!  She knows what she is talking about.  She is very flexible, yet strict and a hard grader at the same time.  [She] makes you work for your grade.  She challenges you.”

“This course was a wonderful experience.  Claire was able to spark a fire in me.  Even if I wasn’t sure of myself, she was the positive reinforcement I needed.”

“Claire challenged us to reach beyond ourselves.” 

“[This course was] excellent, because [Claire] has a passion for the subject and it comes through in her teaching [….] She told us how wonderful we are, encouraged us to do our best, and expected nothing but the best from us.”

“I am amazed with how much my writing has improved! 
 

Advanced Composition (upper division)

“Claire is an exceptional teacher.  She is friendly and helpful. [….] Her use of multimedia enables all facets of students to grasp concepts in a variety of ways.”

 “I enjoyed almost every aspect of this course – assignments, discussions, conferences, readings – making it easier for me to be motivated and excited about doing my work.  Instructions and explanations were clear and thorough.  Feedback on writing was helpful and informative.” 

“Using the MOO as a forum to talk helped me to express my opinion and allowed everyone an equal chance to speak.”

“I really like Claire’s approach to instruction.  She teaches the student to think for him/herself.  She also spends a great deal of time looking over our drafts and providing suggestions for improvement. 

“I feel I’ve learned a great deal about composition that I didn’t already know.”

“I have learned an extensive amount about analysis and revising papers.  I have also learned to think more critically.  [….]  [Claire] honestly cared whether we were learning or understanding the material.  [She is] one of the best instructors I’ve had at the U of A.”
 

Business/Technical Writing (upper division)

“I will leave this class a better writer, student, and person.  The key to this class’ success was Claire Lauer.”

“Claire has brought knowledge, skill, and enthusiasm to our class meetings and office hours.  Her comments and suggestions are always insightful and relevant and applicable to the class individually and collectively.”

“Claire knows her stuff and provides useful examples: speakers, readings, and presentations.”

“[Claire] was forward, direct, listened to my concerns, and taught me things that I will use wherever I go.”

“Claire effectively tailored the course to the needs of each individual student.  She is tough but fair. 

“[Claire’s] organization and computer knowledge were great.  Claire really knows how to explain and teach so we understand.  I dread English courses – this was a refreshing change!”