Bruin Classes of 2018 - 2024
Freshman summer program | Math/Science Cohort
English composition course | THEME: survival
Sampling of Scored Student Feedback
INTERACTION: 8.75/9 - Students felt welcome in seeking help in or outside of the class.
INSTRUCTOR CONCERN: 8.8/9 - The instructor was concerned about student learning.
INSTRUCTOR: 8.9/9 - Your overall rating of the instructor.
ORGANIZATION: 8.8/9 - Class presentations were well prepared and organized.
COURSE: 8.9/9 - Your overall rating of the course.
VALUE: 8.8/9 - You have learned something you consider valuable.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS: 9/9 - The instructor had good communication skills.
What do my students really think?
click/hover on each class pic to read their answers.
“Please identify what you perceive to be the real strengths and weaknesses of this instructor and course.”
CLASS OF 2024: FROSH NO MORE! I hope your first year of college (during a pandemic no less) was one of “deep survival” and that you are entering sophomore year on your own terms!
Instructor Poston is a phenomenal instructor. She really wants her students to improve their writing and will help her students with any concerns they have. Her feedback and constructive criticism is excellent, and they really helps in improving writing. The course did go at a fast pace, but that is to be expected. The writing exercises were just right and were very helpful.
Instructor Poston is amazing at what she does. Her practices push students to be the best writers they can be.
The instructor is helpful and I felt that I learned something in this course. However, the instructor can be quick to judge ….The course is interesting and the workload can be overwhelming at times like the quizzes.
The instructor was able to create a safe environment for us. She was very helpful and really made me feel supported while taking her class. I would defiantly take a class with Ms. Poston again.
The instructor was strict but that helped me in my writing. The course was stressful but the professor did help me so it would not be as difficult. Also she did care if I had too many assignments due in one day then she would give me an extension. A weakness would be most of the course was focused on one book that it did not diversify until the last two weeks. [MY NOTE: This singular focus for four weeks is intentional, as English 2 students must first focus on writing improvement and then the easier task of sharing their opinions on literature, but this is an honest assessment.]
The strengths about this instructor is that she created to lessons to benefit the students in the long run. She grades hard but she shows us where we went wrong which plays a role in the students success later in college.
CLASS OF 2023: as junior year approaches, I hope you are pacing yourselves wisely, forgiving your own mistakes, and kickin’ ass in your majors, minors, and personal interests.
CLASS OF 2022 | WOW…and just like that, you’re about to be 4th years. pride doesn’t cover how i feel about you all & how well you maximized this course when you’d just arrived at ucla.
“Although she is a harsh grader, I have learned a lot from her edits. Her grading procedure made me understand my level of writing and have a foundation on how to improve my writing.”
“Ms. Poston has great charisma. She is a sophisticated instructor and makes us think. The theme of survival is something unusual but it indeed has helped me view life in a differently way.”
“Strengths: We often applied what we learned in class to our real lives. Weakness: n/a.”
“Poston is a difficult but understanding instructor. She created a clear path for the class. She also gave advance that applied to all areas of study.”
CLASS OF 2021 | congrats to those of you who graduated this year and keep the fire lit for those headed into a 5th year of study!!!!!!
"Fantastic instructor with excellent organization and effective communication skills. The instructor is very engaging and makes the class interesting. This class considerably improved my writing ability. However, there was too much homework and graded assignments at times.”
“Instructor Poston made ENGCOMP2 by far my favorite course because it was the class that has prepared me for the next four years in terms of how to survive UCLA and courses that I will take in the future. I am amazed by how engaged Poston has been with each individual student and wants students to succeed. Instructor Poston has no weaknesses.”
“Professor Poston is a great instructor. She truly prepares her students for higher English Composition lectures. Although very professional and a harsh grader, professor Poston is a very understanding and concerned about her students academic improvements and well being.”
“Strengths are Professor Poston is not easy; she actually pushes her students to do their best work and gives them the grades they deserve.”
“The instructor is very straightforward and persistent. She prepares students for efficient collegiate-level writing while providing an intimate learning environment where students feel comfortable participating.”
“This is a great course for incoming Freshmen whose writing skills are not very well developed yet. Although it is English Comp 2 I would recommend freshmen who are placed in it to take it seriously because in the end you will benefit from the extra help.”
CLASS OF 2020 | most of you have already moved on and i appreciate those who’ve let me know of your post-undergrad adventures. what a time to be a recent college grad. do what you need to get where you want to be!!
“Ms. Poston is an amazing professor and I recommend her to anyone. She deeply cares for every one of her students and wants them to succeed in all areas of life. However, her class does contain a heavy workload, but due to the enjoyment in the class it is capable of completing.”
“Ms. Poston is the best English Teacher I have ever had. She improved my writing vastly, and was always willing to go out of her way to address any of my concerns. I would recommend this teacher to everybody.”
“Strengths were: mastery of teaching the concepts of the class, positive and critical feedback on our work Weaknesses: none.”
'“The strength would consist of her grading in detail to ensure the students fix their mistakes that were not fixed in high school. She really wants the students to be prepared for college level writing.”
“One of the strengths was Ms. Poston's ability to understand and work to push the class to grow academically. She cared about every mistake we made and took the time to point it out so that we can learn from it. There are no weaknesses available. She is an amazing instructor, and I definitely recommend her as an instructor for incoming students.”
CLASS OF 2019 | CONGRATS THOSE NOW IN GRAD SCHOOL and/or working!
“Ms. Poston's greatest strength was how concerned and helpful she was in teaching the students a valuable lesson. She significantly cared about the well being of the students, both academically and sometimes physically.”
“Poston makes the class very interactive and her humor is very helpful in staying focused. The workload is intense but definitely not overwhelming. Her lecture skills are great and she cares a lot about the students grade. Office hours is the best time to speak with her about anything going on in class and she is very understanding. Overall, she is a great instructor and is able to articulate herself very well.”
“Professor Poston is an outstanding professor for multiple reasons. She really cares about what she does and how the students are learning. She creates a comfortable environment where I feel very open to discussions. She has introduced me to appreciate writing and she allows me to strive to be not only a better student, but a better writer. I really enjoy her style of teaching and her class.”
“The instructor was always very engaging. She had a unique sense of teaching and getting the material through. Her way of grading and criticizing was tough but very helpful I know that it was for the best of me and to help me prepare for higher English classes. She is a very approachable professor as long as one seeks the help. The topic of the course was very engaging and that made the course more interesting.”
Class of 2018 | Congrats those now in grad school and/or working!
“The course was very interesting. The instructor was considerate enough to incorporate science into the theme of the class because all her students were science majors. Her lesson plans are interesting and well thought out.”
“Strength of course: was more of a writing course to enhance writing skills, focused on one book and one theme of survival. Reading quizzes challenged me to work better under pressure [and] writing assignments allowed me to connect concepts from reading to outside topics. Weakness of course: None.”
“Strengths: She definitely challenged me to push my limits in my writing. This course was very difficult for me, but I feel that I improved as a writer. Ms. Poston was very concerned in study learning. I was able to utilize my office hours and asked for guidance during the many essays that I had to write. She was super organized. She always prepared powerpoint presentations that highlighted the schedule of class each day, and would let the class ahead of time if there were any changes in the previous plan. She gave assignments, graded them at a constant pace, and handed them back to us. She had great communication skills, she would explain concepts from the reading very succinctly. I valued her class despite the amount of struggle I had during reading quizzes and essays. She throughly read my writing and gave me critical feedback that I took positively. I definitely loved that one time in class when we critiqued each others' theses. Weaknesses: In the way she taught the class, there was never guidance on what the ‘perfect’ A essay was.”
(Side Note: I am quite comfortable with this “weakness”, as it is a high school way of thinking. A’s are quite possible, but perfection in writing is not.)
IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING
Do I ever receive any criticism? Yes - though it’s lessened over the years! Complaints from students are primarily related to being an exacting grader, assigning work at a rapid pace, and being direct. I take these comments into consideration and the course has improved due to my awareness of these concerns and their impact on students. While I value my students and always learn from them, my mission is to be effective and empower them to enhance their skills. This doesn’t go down smoothly for everyone!