Maureen Fitzgerald

Maureen is such a sweet instructor though it's hard to get A in her class. She is really helpful and always willing to give me her hand. You definitely can reach her very easily just by sending email and she usually replys to it very soon. I like her class mainly because she not only handles her lecture and in-class discussion very well but encourages me to explore and organize my thoughts profoundly and thoroughly. It's more than a composition class. If u really wanna learn something, take her. Even if it's tough to get a good grade, so what? The learning process itself is worthy enough.

This is a very nice teacher. She did a lot to help all the students in the class all semester. She helped us find our research articles, and let us email her any time for feedback on our work (many teachers don't let students do this). She encouraged students to come to her office for feedback any time, and even offered to give students extra help on weekends! She let students who didn't do well on the essays revise them, and when we needed to turn work in late she said "no problem." She respects and cares about students and wants them to do well. You will work hard in her class, but you will get the help you ask for.

She is a good teacher who organizes her class very well. In the beginning of this semester to the middle of this semester, we complete 3 notebook entries which are helping us develop our ideas. There are three take home essays and before each take home essay, we do one or two notebook entries in order to get some ideas. Besides that, we have two in class essays. The midterm is worth 5% that means it's a practice in class essay. The other in class essay is the final exam. Her teaching style is very good and discusses her class materials very clear. For example, we have read 2~ 3 articles for each take home essay and she discusses these articles very clear during class so everyone is able to get the main idea for each article. However, I want to point out her weakness which is her conference. During her conference, first of all, she reads her student's essay and then the student is supposed to ask her questions regarding to his or her essay. The point that i want to make here is that when she gives her student feedback, she doesn't write it down. I believe that writing down feedback is very helpful for students but she doesn't do that. Therefore, if you are in her class, you need to remember to write down what she says during her conference;otherwise, you will forget her feedback. This is her weakness. By the way, if you want to get an A in her class, it is very hard because she is a hard grader. She is very strict on both content and grammar. But if you want to get a B, it's not that hard. You just need to work hard a little bit.

After getting back my first take home essay, she says that some students are in her list which shows the students who might need to retake Eng212 again. Therefore, grammar is kinda important in her class.But the most important thing is the content.

she looks nice, she always smiles, nothing seems wrong with her. It is hurting your grade if it's hard to approach her with questions because she doesn't seem to be helpful. When it comes to conference day, students are able to ask her questions, but I don't feel that she is being that helpful with the feedback I get from her. She doesn't like to write down things to improve my papers, she only quickly reads my paper then tell some parts that need to be changed. Helloooo, I take this class so I can get as much feedback as I can to improve my writing skill. students also have these problems but majority of the class seem to like her => why???? In addition, her fake smile does not help me writing an excellent paper. If you want to expect an "A" in this class, don't take her!!!!!! You need to work hard while at the same time if you have problems with your paper, don't expect much help from her!!!!!

Maureen is a really nice teacher who would extend the deadline, but don't take advantage of this. She speaks very clearly and would answer students questions. Her syllabus is clear what to expect and her assignments are really clear. She even assign tutors or TAs if she feels you need one. Don't expect her to give good grades. The bad part is she is pretty strict on grammar and content of the essay. She wants you to prepare ENG 310, so you will be challenged. This is not the class for slackers. Overall, I would recommend any ESL students to take this teacher.

Update:(12/27/2003) I got a B.

She was ok but it seemed to be very hard to get a good grade in her class because she was so picky. She smiled too much so that it was hard to know her true feeling. If you want to get a good grade(like A), don't take her class because she tended not to give students higher grades.

Wow, it was the semester I was waiting for. In my final english class for my major I got the one of the best teacher. She is a lot helpful if you want or need help. Quick email replies and extra time in here office hours are the tools that I recommend to those students who really want to improve their English. At the end of the semester I noticed I got patient of reading more books, english literatures, and more. For sure I am going to miss her and I would like to recommend this teacher to all especially foreign students like me.

Comments On The Grading:

Exams: The in class essays were pretty easy if you review your notes and do a practice notebook entry.

Though I am leaving here next year, she will be the only one who I am going to miss in this boring school. As a teacher, she knows what she is doing. As a friend, she has a lots understandings. Though I didn't get good grades in her 310 and 411, she is still the best.

I think she is a new teacher in this department, but she is really better than the others. Whenever my classmates have English questions, she is big welcome to solve our problems. Meanwhile, she is really really nice. You don't have to write a lot of pages, only about 250 words except the final exam of 300 words. See ~~ This is much easier than some other English 208 classes, but we still can learn a lot of grammar skills. When I takes her class, I just feel free to talk and study with her. You have to complete 5-6 short papers(the last one is optional);4 exams(1,2,3=15% each and 4=20%); other homeworks, papers, quizzes, participation & attendance 10%. This is the sememster you have to finish. Each exam is not hard because she will give us the topic in advance. You just go back home,prepare the whole detail and memorize some points. Don't make serious 2 grammar mistakes, then you will get at least A-. On the other hand, you will get B or B- if you make over 4-6 serious grammar errors. Enjoy English study with this teacher. You will have fun.