ENGL101S | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2024	she was ok. sometimes she could be passive aggressive and come off as rude at times. it's sort of annoying that she arbitrarily cancels class or moves it online last minute, but otherwise she's ok
Joshua Weiss ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2024	Dr. Weiss is a great professor - he really seems to care about his students, is honest with us, and gives feedback in time for us to use it on the next assignment. He's very well-learned and has a lot of good things to say. I put a lot of work into this class (maybe too much), but that's what you'll have to do to get an A. DO NOT procrastinate on the assignments, especially the position paper... you will regret it. He's super flexible and understanding as long as you communicate with him! He's also just really funny. Overall, I would definitely recommend taking this class with him.
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2024	Not sure how other ENL101 classes compare, but the course load wasn't horrible and her grading was fair. Often canceling or shortening classes for personal reasons which seems nice at first until its every week and you're missing out on course material. Like other reviews have said, she tries to be woke or maybe even controversial and ends up just being rude. I'd still recommend taking her for english though LOL.
Anthony Batts ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/03/2024	Dr.Batts is truly an amazing professor. You can tell that he is truly passionate about what he is teaching. He also goes into topics in great depth, that help with writing assignments. ENGL101 is a class with writing assignments, but Dr.Batts makes the class way easier to approach. As long as you put great effort into the major assignments, and engage in class, with other smaller assignments, you will be fine. If you are taking ENGL101, and get a chance, take Dr.Batts, no question about it.
Joshua Weiss ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/20/2024	Dr. Weiss is a phenomenal professor and great person, he is pretty laid back but don't take advantage of that. you have to put the work in and communicate to make the class work, honestly the word load is fair as long as you spread it out (like any other class :P). effort makes everything and if you ask him questions it WILL benefit you + going to class consistently and reading. he is very nice and will help you every inch of the way if you need it!!
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 11/12/2024	Shes good at english and very lenient. I wouldn't do English again but I would take a class with her because shes chill.
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Expecting a B+ Anonymous 06/21/2024	good prof but assigns a lot of work, was a bit hard for to manage while taking STEM classes, also lowkey passive aggressive 👽
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/04/2024	Mrs. Payne is such an interesting person and a helpful teacher. If you ask questions and engage in her class, you'll definitely finish all of the assignments easily. ENGL101 is a lot of work no matter who you take. But Mrs. Payne makes it more fun. She also is willing to give feedback and help you. She is also lenient/understanding on the due date by 1 day and will push it back if everyone is struggling/busy.
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Anonymous 04/29/2024	the workload is sometimes a lot, and grades a bit petty sometimes. Otherwise, she is fine
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2024	Very knowledgeable about rhetoric - his grading is fairly lenient and as long as you put effort into your essays and assignments you should be fine. Just make sure that you are staying on top of assignments and not falling behind on certain deadlines as the papers build on top of previous activities
Greg Deinert ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/21/2024	An overall easy-going professor. Yes, he is new to the teaching gig but tries to make every class useful to his students. However, that is where the positivity ends. He has yet to figure out the pace of the class, so everything seemed rushed to the last minute. The position paper, something that should be a major research project, was only given a week to be done. I had to pull two all-nighters just to get all of my sources and the 8-10 pages done (which in some classes only required 6 pages!). We also had to do the memo project when others just had to complete an outline. His grading was pretty harsh at the beginning, too. Every one little detail on a paper that he did not like he took off points, even if it was exactly what the rubric asked. I would constantly get Cs just because he did not like my topic, despite him approving it just a class earlier. However, I clutched up towards the end of the semester, so thankfully I didn't have a massive GPA drop in a supposedly introductory writing class. If you want to have this professor in the future, be prepared to sink at least 30-40 hours a week writing essays and going to office hours hoping that he would like whatever it is that you wrote.
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 01/08/2024	Dr. Kolakowski: Overall, he seems like a nice guy, but I found his in-class time to be used ineffectively. There was no real content he taught in class, and if there was anything important, he would make a recording on it. However, he is very lenient of grades and is flexible with submission dates. ENGL101S: I look AP English Literature and Composition in high school (scored a 2), so I found this course to be a recap. There are a lot of assignments/essay checkpoints that have required dates, but as long as you stay on top of it, this course shouldn't be too bad. However, I dread writing about topics I could care less about (I'm a STEM guy), so put off assignments and it took days of procrastination to write the essays (depending on your professor, there are about four). I think if you took a non-scholars ENES100, there would be less small assignments, but I am unsure. Overall, not a class for me (I'm glad it's over), but not a difficult one either.
Anthony Batts ENGL101S Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/04/2024	He graded a lot tougher than I thought he would, and I have always been a decent writer. However, he's chill and has a pretty easy going attitude.
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2024	A great professor! He was very accommodating. He is kind and is welcome to any feedback or questions students have. Quite an easy grader and cancelled class almost at least once a week (which did not affect my understanding or grade at all, was a positive).
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Expecting an A- ftchatch 12/24/2023	really understanding even though she still adheres to university course policies most of the time. offers really good feedback on essays to make sure you grow as a writer. appreciated her class.
Tom Hatcher ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/22/2023	Professor Hatcher is passionate about the readings he gives and does truly care about improvement in writing. His grading is pretty fair and he is an understandable person but his lectures were the worst part of his class. He would take up most of the time in class repeating the same names and information in multiple lectures which made it extremely boring and honestly just wastes time. Other than the lectures, his class is decent and Prof Hatcher is a nice person who can help you better your writing.
Aubrey Zinn ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2023	If you're in Engl101 this review will fit for you as well. She is a very chill, humble teacher. I love her she will make everything seem light even if you have essays to do and understands if you need an extension on assignments. Her pacing for the class is amazing as well from what I've noticed you'll be ahead of all the other English classes and won't be stressed by the end of the semester which was REALLY helpful when it came to studying for finals. Lastly, be mindful to check the syllabus but you one thing I love about her is the fact she doesn't fully rely on it all the time, she makes sure to stay on track for major assignments with the syllabus but small things, and she is not necessarily strict on it to lighten your load!! 10/10 would recommend !!
Kara Pleasants ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2023	I honestly loved Professor Pleasants. She's genuinely a sweet person and has a clear passion for English. My only qualm is that she sometimes doesn't give feedback on drafts until very late. However, her feedback is always very helpful and she's always willing to stay behind to answer your questions. She usually doesn't say no to giving out extensions which is always helpful. Overall, I definitely recommend taking English with her.
Tom Hatcher ENGL101S Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2023	Pretty terrible professor in my opinion. The class started off super easy, but he started to grade very harshly out of nowhere. He likes to hear himself talk and his classes are really boring, but you have to attend every lecture because he cares about attendance. He is very passive-aggressive and takes points off for the weirdest reasons. I've gotten points taken off for chewing gum in class and "excessive yawning". He does give you opportunities to extend deadlines, but it doesn't matter because he grades like a grad school professor. Take another professor if you can.
Kara Pleasants ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2023	Prof Pleasants is genuinely the sweetest woman ever and is so flexible with her deadlines. Her feedback is always great too and she grades pretty leniently. If you have the opportunity to take a class with I 10/10 recommend!!!!
Aubrey Zinn ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023	Although I will end the semester with a A- instead of A+, I learned a lot in the class. Professor Zinn is EXTREMELY understanding. She also has a no-questions asked late policy for 24 hours on the first few major assignments. She takes time with grading, I do have to wait like 2-4 weeks but she really does comb through a paper and even gives pointers on what to do better. She also is understanding to those that don't understand prompts, during the break. The first day off she allowed us to schedule virtual office hours, which is honestly very helpful. She was also one of the few teachers that remembered my name and the topic of my essay. Overall she is an amazing person, you can tell that through the small personal anecdotes/conversations you have with her. But better than that she is an excellent Engl101 professor. The only reason I have anything other than a A+ was due to my papers earlier on in the semester, but my writing did improve as the semester went on.
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023	I LOVED her class. She was very helpful with feedback and cares about her students. She was amazing and I definitely do recommend her.
Michael Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2023	There was a decent amount of homework but its graded on completion so its manageable. For the major writing assessments, I don't believe he was a harsh grader. As long as you try your best and put in effort you'll do well. And if you have a question about something, go to his office hours because he recognizes the students who go above and beyond. Also, class was canceled pretty often which was nice. Overall really nice professor.
Tom Hatcher ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2023	I don't know why his reviews have been so low lately, I think Professor Hatcher is pretty decent. Half of the essays in this class are graded on participation and the discussion boards are free 10/10s. Yeah, his grading gets a little harder later in the semester, but the last major assessment you do is very short and also based mainly on if you do it or not. Professor Hatcher is a kind guy who cares about all of his students. I had a relatively good time in this class.
Kara Pleasants ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023	Professor Pleasants is genuinely the sweetest woman ever. She really wants everyone to succeed and is extremely flexible with deadlines. If you have the opportunity to take a class with her I 110% recommend it.
Kara Pleasants ENGL101S Expecting an F Anonymous 12/04/2023	She is wonderful, do not take my grade as a deterrent. I just stopped doing work - but she tried SO hard to help. She will give any extension, no questions asked, and promotes a very fun class environment. She clearly cares and is so willing to help if you accept it.
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2023	Dr. Kolakoski is great. He is very helpful and always available for questions. He is also accommodating in that he hears your opinions on due dates and often makes small changes. A lot of his classes were cancelled or asynchronous, but if you treat it as extra work/sleep time you will do very well in his class. The class has 3 major papers, a website, and a final reflection. It was manageable and did make me a better writer.
Tom Hatcher ENGL101S Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/15/2023	Not a great class. He would grade very easily to start and then out of nowhere began to grade the essay as if every student were grad students. His measures of grading are unfair and the class energy is low. Take another professor if you can.
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 05/26/2023	He is a great guy! It's clear that he is knowledgeable in the field of English and rhetoric. I like the activities that he made us do because they were individual steps in which we were able to almost "finish" the final product for each unit by the time it was introduced to us. Like what the comment below me mentioned, it was a bit odd that we had less than 10 in-person meetings, but the class moved along fine with asynchronous itineraries.
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/17/2023	The course is not challenging and Professor Kolakoski is a good professor and will give you help. Only thing is that he basically runs his class asynchronously. This semester we maybe had 4 actual classes. If you prefer an in person class than this probably is not for you.
Andrew Howard ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 05/10/2023	Love this man, Scholars kids take advantage if he has slots open
Andrew Howard ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2023	i really enjoyed his class. they were very chill, he was very accommodating, and would be very flexible.
Melvette Davis ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/11/2023	She is super friendly, outgoing, and has the energy as if she's ready to take on the world. My class was completely virtual, which was extremely beneficial and easy to attend. The only thing is she LOVES breakout rooms (noooooo) and the biggest assignment is like 10 pages long on the topic of your choice. The material is very easy and was definitely introduced to you in high school.
Mike Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 03/08/2023	He is a great professor, but some of my friends who have him found it a little strange that we're not meeting in person for class a lot of the time. Personally, I took advantage of that time and either caught up with assignments or just hung out on McKeldin Mall or in Eppley. During class and on Zoom meetings, he is a good lecturer and provides great feedback, but I found him to be a rather tough grader.
Porter Olsen ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/28/2022	Wanted to give five stars especially because he listens and has meaningful discussions with students. He also gives good feedback on written work.
Daniel Sidman ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/24/2022	Hes a good professor. Show up to class and you will pass. His comments on assignments can be not the clearest sometimes but other than that hes fine. Class can be dull and slow sometimes but it's not hard or anything and its only 50 minutes.
Tom Hatcher ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2022	Professor Hatcher truly cares about his students, he will take your feedback, listen, and follow through. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about this subject, so he prepares you very well for all the essays you write. He is a very fair grader and wants you to succeed. He is also willing to push back due dates if you need more time, or modify the assignment if it is too much. Much of his class is him talking at us and can get boring and sometimes hard to follow, but he will answer any questions you have. Additionally, there is a bunch of peer review and workshops as well as reflections on assignments in addition to 5ish main essays. Overall, a great professor who truly cares and wants everyone to do well.
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Anonymous 12/18/2022	Great professor! Reasonable grader and offers feedback on everything. Always open to help and look over your writing before submission. No complaints at all!
Daniel Sidman ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2022	He is a pretty average professor and could be monotoned sometimes, but if you do the work he grades pretty fairly. Nothing specifically negative.
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A gcnduong 12/09/2022	She is very understanding when it comes to work load and often extends the deadline. She does not give out 100s, but she will not fail you. Although her work is not entirely easy, it is doable. Much of the class is just talking about different writing techniques and peer editing each other's papers. The class is centered around a big position paper at the end of the semester. At the beginning of the semester, she would remind us on deadlines since she acknowledged that we were still struggling to transition from high school to college. Although I do not enjoy English, she made it tolerable because she understood that we had other classes to deal with. She truly cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She'll remember your topics and gives great feedback and suggestions.
Daniel Sidman ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2022	I liked him, not too difficult. He tried to make a somewhat dull class interesting.
Paul Cote ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022	Super easy class and professor! Minimum effort class to get an A but he still gives great feedback and is very approachable. I felt that while it was a minimum work class, I was still able to learn how to make good arguments in my writing. It would be a mistake not to take him if you can.
Daniel Sidman ENGL101S Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2022	He's fine, def take him if you need to fulfill a gen ed requirement. This class was always mandatory, when I feel like class could of been canceled or over zoom.
Kristine Morrissey ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2022	Awful teacher. Continuously perpetuated microaggressions all throughout the semester. Did not explain any of the assignments and when you asked for help, she would start to insult you. Assumed that all Asian Americans were STEM majors and confused multiple Asian American students for the other Asian American students in the classroom all throughout the semester.
Nia Crawford ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 11/10/2022	She's a very good teacher, and SUPER helpful if you ask her outside of class about any of the assignments. She even emailed me a few sources for my paper when I was struggling to find scholarly sources. She also didn't care if we did the reading or not, and even if there was reading assigned, she would just go over it in class so you didn't really need the textbook. I know a lot of people said that they thought she graded harshly, but I thought her grading was actually pretty lenient and very fair. As long as you put in some effort you'll be fine. And she even offered to look over major assignments before they were due and give feedback individually on drafts in addition to peer reviewing. She'll easily give extensions and if the class feels like they collectively can't keep up with a deadline, she'll give everyone more time.
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 06/22/2022	Absolutely wonderful teacher, happy to help and gives you the resources to succeed. This class is an easy A, but only if you put in the effort.
Joshua Weiss ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/19/2022	Dr. Weiss is a very passionate and engaging professor. He genuinely cares about his students improving on their writing skills and how engaged we are with our writing topics. That being said this is a very demanding class and he has high expectations for all of his assignments. He is a pretty tough grader so an A in this class won't be easy but he is willing to help you work for it. The comments he leaves on papers are hit or miss in terms of helping you improve and some of his comments are copy and pastes from other assignments. Overall this is a good class to improve your writing but it will be demanding in terms of work and grading.
Nicole Cuffy ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 05/05/2022	Really cares about her students super nice. Easy class
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/05/2022	This teacher was rude, unhelpful, and the worst. I did not learn anything valuable, and I have previously taken English 101 at a community college where I learned so much more and the class was much better. She never responded to my emails or concerns. She is late to class every day and walks in with some crazy excuse. She spends most of class talking about herself, then goes over examples of assignments from previous years, and tells students to gather in groups and do peer review with no guidelines. Every class felt like a waste of time. She needs to get a therapist. She also was rude and insulting. She made fun of my friends appearance once and then laughed it off. She is a bad professor and needs to get her life together.
Paul Cote ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/28/2022	Very understanding professor and wants you to succeed. Gives feedback in a timely and fair manner. Definitely would recommend taking him if you can!!
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/07/2022	She is really great, wants everyone to do well
Nia Crawford ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 03/30/2022	Professor Crawford was a good teacher, however she grades pretty harshly (most of the time, the highest grade in the class was a 95%). Also this class is a lot of work for a gen ed, but it's pretty easy if you just do your work. You don't need the textbook, you will literally never use it.
Alan Montroso ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 01/20/2022	Prof. Montroso was awesome. It is not his fault but the workload for this class is pretty heavy, but he made it bearable. He is also very lenient with due dates when you communicate well. He also grades in a very fair manner. I highly recommend taking him if you can.
Paul Cote ENGL101S Expecting an A+ britinebhnani 01/19/2022	One of the best english teachers! He actually allows you to explore your interests in writing without having to worry about your grade. Extremely understanding as well! I highly recommend!!
Nicole Cuffy ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2021	I didn't like her at first because she graded the first assignment pretty harshly in my opinion and then she took forever to grade everything else (we only had one major assignment in canvas until 2 weeks before the semester ended). But she graded the other assignments pretty easily and quickly after the 1st one. You can tell she cares a lot about English and is a very nice professor; she'll answer any questions you have and has office hours available by appointment. She's flexible with stuff like word count and page length; she told us at the beginning of the class that she doesn't care as long as you hit all the points of the assignment. Attendance is not mandatory but classes aren't recorded and you need to be there to understand what she wants for each assignment. We had readings before each class, but you'd be fine as long as you skim over them. We have one 8-10 page paper that was a pain, but it was doable. The final is a 15 minute ted talk that can be about anything (one group talked about how pineapple should be on pizza) and is not graded on presentation skills. Overall is a great teacher and makes English bearable even though I don't like it, just took a while to grade stuff. Would highly recommend (I gave her a 4/5 only because of the time she took to grade).
Paul Cote ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/04/2021	If you need to complete an academic writing requirement, PLEASE take it with Paul. You will not regret it. He genuinely cares about his students and does everything in his power to make the course as easy and stress-free as possible. 85% of the course is graded pass/fail based on completion, and the other 15% is graded based on effort, not perfection. He never expects perfection, so as long as he can see that you put effort into the assignment, you will get a 100. And due dates are not strict an there is no penalty for turning in assignments late, so you could turn in every assignment on the last day of class and still get a 100 in the class. Paul (he says we are allowed to call him by his first name) really is the sweetest man. He frequently ends class early if he thinks most students in the class are tired or stressed out, and there is very little work in his class compared to other ENGL101 classes. What's more is he spent a couple sessions talking to us about how he can make the class even easier than it already is, and he eliminated two or three papers and extended due dates. And his feedback on papers are very uplifting. In his feedback for my papers he always emphasizes that my writing and analysis was extremely impressive, and then he follows it up with constructive feedback in a very non-harsh way. And he has a great sense of humor, which makes classes very entertaining. I actually don't want the semester to end because I don't want to never see him again. I don't think there are many other professors as caring as he is.
Alan Montroso ENGL101S Anonymous 11/20/2021	Course isn't done yet but since registration is happening now I'm gonna drop a review and say that he's an amazing professor. EXTREMELY understanding of late work (don't even worry, unless youre gonna take extra weeks instead of days and not communicate). Overall very chill and grades very leniently too. The assignments are the same as any other eng101 course, so he doesnt have much leeway to change the assignments but he does make them easier where he can. TAKE HIM IF YOU CAN!
Michael Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 04/25/2021	Great professor, told you exactly what he expected on all assignments and although the curriculum restricts him, he does a great job keeping students engaged.
Michael Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/26/2020	I'm not sure how he is in-person but I felt like I didn't learn much from his class online. However, this may just be the strict ENGL 101 curriculum and not his fault. There are a lot of busy work participation assignments and then a few major writing assignments which make up the majority of your grade. He is an extremely generous grader so long as you follow his assignment sheet closely and pay attention to the rubric. He is very lenient on due dates and offered extensions to anyone who needed it on almost every major assignment. Unfortunately, he's a bit of a slow grader and it'll take a few weeks for you to receive your grades on the first few major assignments. Overall, not the best teacher in my opinion but a really nice guy who cares about his students. If you put in even a bit of effort, you'll do fine in his class.
Alexandra Calloway ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2020	First off, she is a super nice lady and really cares about her students. The reason I could not give her a 5 is because she was extremely disorganized. She'd have an essay and rough draft for another essay due at the same time. Sometimes she wouldn't comment on our rough drafts till after we submitted the final exam
Stephanie Allen ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2020	Ms. Allen is a very kind and thoughtful teacher who is willing to assist any students in need. Personally I struggle with writing, but Ms. Allen helps guide students in the class format and is happy to answer any question thrown at her and guide her students on the right course. Highly recommend for any students taking this course.
Carol Cron ENGL101S Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/10/2020	If you want an easy A and a chill class for English this is your teacher. Not saying there is not work, but she grades super easily and is just a good professor overall
Nabila Hijazi ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2020	very sweet and helpful however participation is a big factor (Covid times review)
Katherine Joshi ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2020	Prof. Joshi is one of the best professors I've had at UMD. I had her in Spring 2020, and she handled the move to virtual classes so well. You can tell she genuinely cares about her students and wants them to do well. Going to her office hours was actually so enjoyable, she made me less scared of office hours in general. Also, unlike some professors, she doesn't give more assignments because it's a scholars/honors section which was nice.
Gail Upchurch ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 08/22/2020	Very helpful! If you're in scholars and are looking to take English 101 goes with Upchurch if she's teaching. She really cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She gives valuable feedback and I feel like she made me a better writer. Also, she isn't to strict with grading.
Katherine Joshi ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 08/05/2020	Prof Joshi is the best! Not a hard grader and answers emails super quickly. You do need the textbook for her class, but the reading isn't ridiculous. I'm a STEM major and her class made me strongly consider an English minor. She really appreciates when you use her comments from old papers on the next ones, and she's happy to answer questions. One of the best profs I've had at UMD.
Gail Upchurch ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 06/10/2020	Very Helpful and Knowledgable! Overall enjoyed my time in this class. Prof Upchurch really helps her students succeed by giving valuable feeback and isn't too harsh with grading and deadlines either.
Grace Kwon ENGL101S Expecting a P Anonymous 05/15/2020	WORST TEACHER EVER DO NOT TAKE. I made the mistake of not looking at these reviews before I signed up for the class, and I got stuck with this terrible teacher. I am a straight A student and have always gotten A’s in English. On the first assignment For this class I got a 69%!
Grace Kwon ENGL101S Anonymous 03/26/2020	Classes always seemed very rushed. Also didn't help that basically every class she would always complain about "having so much homework" in grad school. Very unprofessional to complain to your students. I understand trying to relate to them, but when you're already a terrible teacher it just makes you look even worse. Even if you did everything that was required for the assignment, you would receive a C because you didn't "wow" her. The fast pace of the course also made it incredibly difficult to have proper time to improve my writing, as each assignment built on the previous one and grades normally weren't given until after the new assignment was already due, so you wouldn't even understand what you did wrong until after you already had to fix it (I understand this is more so because of UMD's design of the course, but alas). I strongly recommend to anyone that needs to take engl101 to especially stay away from Kwon and sign up for other professors instead.
Grace Kwon ENGL101S Anonymous 12/02/2019	Class is a huge challenge to keep up in. This isn't the fault of Kwon herself, but instead the fault of UMD's english 101 system. That said, it's very challenging and stressful when this is combined with her unforgiving grading style. I spent many long nights writing, checking over, and editing my papers, just to be sure that I could get a passing grade. Class itself isn't terrible, but often seems rushed due to there being "very little time", as she puts it. As a result, very few individual concerns are addressed in class. Kwon's office hours are useful, but ultimately, her class is very stressful and time-consuming.
Grace Kwon ENGL101S Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/22/2019	This professor is an incredibly hard grader. Also, she treats her students like they are a distraction from writing her dissertation. She is unprofessional since she is always complaining about the amount of homework she needs to do for her graduate school classes. Furthermore, she is biased towards the one English major in the class and does not view the other students as favorably.
Lara Payne ENGL101S Expecting an A Leopardnose 11/20/2019	One of my favourite professors so far! She always initiated interesting (though sometimes off topic) conversations with the class about current events or the English readings. For the essays she would give clear instructions and could answer any question you had about the topic or material. Deadlines that were reasonable in my opinion and we would often have workshops to peer review with other students. Prof Payne graded fairly and I'm overall pleased with how the class went. I wasn't even required to take an AW, but I'm glad I did because this was very informative and enjoyable with her as a professor.
Catherine Bayly ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 07/19/2019	CB (as she likes to be called) cares for her students more than most professors. My class was mostly stem majors who cared about more of their classes more than english. She recognized this and sought out to make the course reasonable and interesting. Her light sarcasm made me actually listen to her and enjoy sitting in class and the workload was extremely light for an english course. We only had one long essay and we got multiple weeks to perfect it. If you bring her your writing she will tell you exactly what she is looking for so you know you will be getting a decent grade. She also makes the homeworks a large part of the grade and since they are just for completion, it is a great boost. The only reason I did not get an A in the class is because I was lazy and missed a few homeworks and got screwed over on one of the group projects.
Nancy Vera ENGL101S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2018	Do not take her class unless she is the only option
Nancy Vera ENGL101S Anonymous 12/18/2018	Avoid if you can, you don't learn anything. Her entire class could be done online and she grades arbitrarily. She is nice and doesn't make the classroom experience awful but it just doesn't feel necessary.
Jeffrey Griswold ENGL101S Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/17/2018	Griswold is a very structured and professional teacher and genuinely remembers each student's responses, which is impressive. However, he does grade quite difficult when compared with other ENGL101 teachers
Michael Kolakoski ENGL101S Expecting an A- Anonymous 06/14/2018	He was a pretty good professor. He made his expectations clear and was always available to his students. Make sure to go to lectures regularly because he does give pop quizzes on the readings. Also, make it a point to go to the writing center. He can see which students have gone and he takes that into consideration when grading assignments sometimes! Overall, great professor and pretty funny!
Justin Lohr ENGL101S Anonymous 01/10/2016	Professor Lohr is great!!!!!!! Honestly I didn't know he had that many bad reviews on here. He is very relaxed but he knows exactly what he is talking about. He is very passionate about what he teaches and its obvious. I think that's a GREAT quality for an english teacher to have especially for a Freshman Writing Class. I would definitely recommend him. Professor Lohr is so helpful he is blunt which helps. He alway gives great feedback and he writes nice letters on the comments sheet when he grades your paper. I love professor Lohr and trust me I do not like writing. God blessed me with Professor Lohr! I love him I would certainly recommend him.

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/20/2024

she was ok. sometimes she could be passive aggressive and come off as rude at times. it's sort of annoying that she arbitrarily cancels class or moves it online last minute, but otherwise she's ok

Joshua Weiss
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2024

Dr. Weiss is a great professor - he really seems to care about his students, is honest with us, and gives feedback in time for us to use it on the next assignment. He's very well-learned and has a lot of good things to say. I put a lot of work into this class (maybe too much), but that's what you'll have to do to get an A. DO NOT procrastinate on the assignments, especially the position paper... you will regret it. He's super flexible and understanding as long as you communicate with him! He's also just really funny. Overall, I would definitely recommend taking this class with him.

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2024

Not sure how other ENL101 classes compare, but the course load wasn't horrible and her grading was fair. Often canceling or shortening classes for personal reasons which seems nice at first until its every week and you're missing out on course material. Like other reviews have said, she tries to be woke or maybe even controversial and ends up just being rude. I'd still recommend taking her for english though LOL.

Anthony Batts
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/03/2024

Dr.Batts is truly an amazing professor. You can tell that he is truly passionate about what he is teaching. He also goes into topics in great depth, that help with writing assignments. ENGL101 is a class with writing assignments, but Dr.Batts makes the class way easier to approach. As long as you put great effort into the major assignments, and engage in class, with other smaller assignments, you will be fine. If you are taking ENGL101, and get a chance, take Dr.Batts, no question about it.

Joshua Weiss
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/20/2024

Dr. Weiss is a phenomenal professor and great person, he is pretty laid back but don't take advantage of that. you have to put the work in and communicate to make the class work, honestly the word load is fair as long as you spread it out (like any other class :P). effort makes everything and if you ask him questions it WILL benefit you + going to class consistently and reading. he is very nice and will help you every inch of the way if you need it!!

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/12/2024

Shes good at english and very lenient. I wouldn't do English again but I would take a class with her because shes chill.

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
06/21/2024

good prof but assigns a lot of work, was a bit hard for to manage while taking STEM classes, also lowkey passive aggressive 👽

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/04/2024

Mrs. Payne is such an interesting person and a helpful teacher. If you ask questions and engage in her class, you'll definitely finish all of the assignments easily. ENGL101 is a lot of work no matter who you take. But Mrs. Payne makes it more fun. She also is willing to give feedback and help you. She is also lenient/understanding on the due date by 1 day and will push it back if everyone is struggling/busy.

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Anonymous
04/29/2024

the workload is sometimes a lot, and grades a bit petty sometimes. Otherwise, she is fine

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/24/2024

Very knowledgeable about rhetoric - his grading is fairly lenient and as long as you put effort into your essays and assignments you should be fine. Just make sure that you are staying on top of assignments and not falling behind on certain deadlines as the papers build on top of previous activities

Greg Deinert
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/21/2024

An overall easy-going professor. Yes, he is new to the teaching gig but tries to make every class useful to his students. However, that is where the positivity ends. He has yet to figure out the pace of the class, so everything seemed rushed to the last minute. The position paper, something that should be a major research project, was only given a week to be done. I had to pull two all-nighters just to get all of my sources and the 8-10 pages done (which in some classes only required 6 pages!). We also had to do the memo project when others just had to complete an outline. His grading was pretty harsh at the beginning, too. Every one little detail on a paper that he did not like he took off points, even if it was exactly what the rubric asked. I would constantly get Cs just because he did not like my topic, despite him approving it just a class earlier. However, I clutched up towards the end of the semester, so thankfully I didn't have a massive GPA drop in a supposedly introductory writing class. If you want to have this professor in the future, be prepared to sink at least 30-40 hours a week writing essays and going to office hours hoping that he would like whatever it is that you wrote.

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/08/2024

Dr. Kolakowski: Overall, he seems like a nice guy, but I found his in-class time to be used ineffectively. There was no real content he taught in class, and if there was anything important, he would make a recording on it. However, he is very lenient of grades and is flexible with submission dates. ENGL101S: I look AP English Literature and Composition in high school (scored a 2), so I found this course to be a recap. There are a lot of assignments/essay checkpoints that have required dates, but as long as you stay on top of it, this course shouldn't be too bad. However, I dread writing about topics I could care less about (I'm a STEM guy), so put off assignments and it took days of procrastination to write the essays (depending on your professor, there are about four). I think if you took a non-scholars ENES100, there would be less small assignments, but I am unsure. Overall, not a class for me (I'm glad it's over), but not a difficult one either.

Anthony Batts
ENGL101S

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
01/04/2024

He graded a lot tougher than I thought he would, and I have always been a decent writer. However, he's chill and has a pretty easy going attitude.

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/04/2024

A great professor! He was very accommodating. He is kind and is welcome to any feedback or questions students have. Quite an easy grader and cancelled class almost at least once a week (which did not affect my understanding or grade at all, was a positive).

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
ftchatch
12/24/2023

really understanding even though she still adheres to university course policies most of the time. offers really good feedback on essays to make sure you grow as a writer. appreciated her class.

Tom Hatcher
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/22/2023

Professor Hatcher is passionate about the readings he gives and does truly care about improvement in writing. His grading is pretty fair and he is an understandable person but his lectures were the worst part of his class. He would take up most of the time in class repeating the same names and information in multiple lectures which made it extremely boring and honestly just wastes time. Other than the lectures, his class is decent and Prof Hatcher is a nice person who can help you better your writing.

Aubrey Zinn
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2023

If you're in Engl101 this review will fit for you as well. She is a very chill, humble teacher. I love her she will make everything seem light even if you have essays to do and understands if you need an extension on assignments. Her pacing for the class is amazing as well from what I've noticed you'll be ahead of all the other English classes and won't be stressed by the end of the semester which was REALLY helpful when it came to studying for finals. Lastly, be mindful to check the syllabus but you one thing I love about her is the fact she doesn't fully rely on it all the time, she makes sure to stay on track for major assignments with the syllabus but small things, and she is not necessarily strict on it to lighten your load!! 10/10 would recommend !!

Kara Pleasants
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2023

I honestly loved Professor Pleasants. She's genuinely a sweet person and has a clear passion for English. My only qualm is that she sometimes doesn't give feedback on drafts until very late. However, her feedback is always very helpful and she's always willing to stay behind to answer your questions. She usually doesn't say no to giving out extensions which is always helpful. Overall, I definitely recommend taking English with her.

Tom Hatcher
ENGL101S

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Pretty terrible professor in my opinion. The class started off super easy, but he started to grade very harshly out of nowhere. He likes to hear himself talk and his classes are really boring, but you have to attend every lecture because he cares about attendance. He is very passive-aggressive and takes points off for the weirdest reasons. I've gotten points taken off for chewing gum in class and "excessive yawning". He does give you opportunities to extend deadlines, but it doesn't matter because he grades like a grad school professor. Take another professor if you can.

Kara Pleasants
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2023

Prof Pleasants is genuinely the sweetest woman ever and is so flexible with her deadlines. Her feedback is always great too and she grades pretty leniently. If you have the opportunity to take a class with I 10/10 recommend!!!!

Aubrey Zinn
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/12/2023

Although I will end the semester with a A- instead of A+, I learned a lot in the class. Professor Zinn is EXTREMELY understanding. She also has a no-questions asked late policy for 24 hours on the first few major assignments. She takes time with grading, I do have to wait like 2-4 weeks but she really does comb through a paper and even gives pointers on what to do better. She also is understanding to those that don't understand prompts, during the break. The first day off she allowed us to schedule virtual office hours, which is honestly very helpful. She was also one of the few teachers that remembered my name and the topic of my essay. Overall she is an amazing person, you can tell that through the small personal anecdotes/conversations you have with her. But better than that she is an excellent Engl101 professor. The only reason I have anything other than a A+ was due to my papers earlier on in the semester, but my writing did improve as the semester went on.

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2023

I LOVED her class. She was very helpful with feedback and cares about her students. She was amazing and I definitely do recommend her.

Michael Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/11/2023

There was a decent amount of homework but its graded on completion so its manageable. For the major writing assessments, I don't believe he was a harsh grader. As long as you try your best and put in effort you'll do well. And if you have a question about something, go to his office hours because he recognizes the students who go above and beyond. Also, class was canceled pretty often which was nice. Overall really nice professor.

Tom Hatcher
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/08/2023

I don't know why his reviews have been so low lately, I think Professor Hatcher is pretty decent. Half of the essays in this class are graded on participation and the discussion boards are free 10/10s. Yeah, his grading gets a little harder later in the semester, but the last major assessment you do is very short and also based mainly on if you do it or not. Professor Hatcher is a kind guy who cares about all of his students. I had a relatively good time in this class.

Kara Pleasants
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2023

Professor Pleasants is genuinely the sweetest woman ever. She really wants everyone to succeed and is extremely flexible with deadlines. If you have the opportunity to take a class with her I 110% recommend it.

Kara Pleasants
ENGL101S

Expecting an F
Anonymous
12/04/2023

She is wonderful, do not take my grade as a deterrent. I just stopped doing work - but she tried SO hard to help. She will give any extension, no questions asked, and promotes a very fun class environment. She clearly cares and is so willing to help if you accept it.

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2023

Dr. Kolakoski is great. He is very helpful and always available for questions. He is also accommodating in that he hears your opinions on due dates and often makes small changes. A lot of his classes were cancelled or asynchronous, but if you treat it as extra work/sleep time you will do very well in his class. The class has 3 major papers, a website, and a final reflection. It was manageable and did make me a better writer.

Tom Hatcher
ENGL101S

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
11/15/2023

Not a great class. He would grade very easily to start and then out of nowhere began to grade the essay as if every student were grad students. His measures of grading are unfair and the class energy is low. Take another professor if you can.

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/26/2023

He is a great guy! It's clear that he is knowledgeable in the field of English and rhetoric. I like the activities that he made us do because they were individual steps in which we were able to almost "finish" the final product for each unit by the time it was introduced to us. Like what the comment below me mentioned, it was a bit odd that we had less than 10 in-person meetings, but the class moved along fine with asynchronous itineraries.

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/17/2023

The course is not challenging and Professor Kolakoski is a good professor and will give you help. Only thing is that he basically runs his class asynchronously. This semester we maybe had 4 actual classes. If you prefer an in person class than this probably is not for you.

Andrew Howard
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/10/2023

Love this man, Scholars kids take advantage if he has slots open

Andrew Howard
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/09/2023

i really enjoyed his class. they were very chill, he was very accommodating, and would be very flexible.

Melvette Davis
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/11/2023

She is super friendly, outgoing, and has the energy as if she's ready to take on the world. My class was completely virtual, which was extremely beneficial and easy to attend. The only thing is she LOVES breakout rooms (noooooo) and the biggest assignment is like 10 pages long on the topic of your choice. The material is very easy and was definitely introduced to you in high school.

Mike Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/08/2023

He is a great professor, but some of my friends who have him found it a little strange that we're not meeting in person for class a lot of the time. Personally, I took advantage of that time and either caught up with assignments or just hung out on McKeldin Mall or in Eppley. During class and on Zoom meetings, he is a good lecturer and provides great feedback, but I found him to be a rather tough grader.

Porter Olsen
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/28/2022

Wanted to give five stars especially because he listens and has meaningful discussions with students. He also gives good feedback on written work.

Daniel Sidman
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/24/2022

Hes a good professor. Show up to class and you will pass. His comments on assignments can be not the clearest sometimes but other than that hes fine. Class can be dull and slow sometimes but it's not hard or anything and its only 50 minutes.

Tom Hatcher
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/20/2022

Professor Hatcher truly cares about his students, he will take your feedback, listen, and follow through. He is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about this subject, so he prepares you very well for all the essays you write. He is a very fair grader and wants you to succeed. He is also willing to push back due dates if you need more time, or modify the assignment if it is too much. Much of his class is him talking at us and can get boring and sometimes hard to follow, but he will answer any questions you have. Additionally, there is a bunch of peer review and workshops as well as reflections on assignments in addition to 5ish main essays. Overall, a great professor who truly cares and wants everyone to do well.

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Anonymous
12/18/2022

Great professor! Reasonable grader and offers feedback on everything. Always open to help and look over your writing before submission. No complaints at all!

Daniel Sidman
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2022

He is a pretty average professor and could be monotoned sometimes, but if you do the work he grades pretty fairly. Nothing specifically negative.

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
gcnduong
12/09/2022

She is very understanding when it comes to work load and often extends the deadline. She does not give out 100s, but she will not fail you. Although her work is not entirely easy, it is doable. Much of the class is just talking about different writing techniques and peer editing each other's papers. The class is centered around a big position paper at the end of the semester. At the beginning of the semester, she would remind us on deadlines since she acknowledged that we were still struggling to transition from high school to college. Although I do not enjoy English, she made it tolerable because she understood that we had other classes to deal with. She truly cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She'll remember your topics and gives great feedback and suggestions.

Daniel Sidman
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/08/2022

I liked him, not too difficult. He tried to make a somewhat dull class interesting.

Paul Cote
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/08/2022

Super easy class and professor! Minimum effort class to get an A but he still gives great feedback and is very approachable. I felt that while it was a minimum work class, I was still able to learn how to make good arguments in my writing. It would be a mistake not to take him if you can.

Daniel Sidman
ENGL101S

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/07/2022

He's fine, def take him if you need to fulfill a gen ed requirement. This class was always mandatory, when I feel like class could of been canceled or over zoom.

Kristine Morrissey
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2022

Awful teacher. Continuously perpetuated microaggressions all throughout the semester. Did not explain any of the assignments and when you asked for help, she would start to insult you. Assumed that all Asian Americans were STEM majors and confused multiple Asian American students for the other Asian American students in the classroom all throughout the semester.

Nia Crawford
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/10/2022

She's a very good teacher, and SUPER helpful if you ask her outside of class about any of the assignments. She even emailed me a few sources for my paper when I was struggling to find scholarly sources. She also didn't care if we did the reading or not, and even if there was reading assigned, she would just go over it in class so you didn't really need the textbook. I know a lot of people said that they thought she graded harshly, but I thought her grading was actually pretty lenient and very fair. As long as you put in some effort you'll be fine. And she even offered to look over major assignments before they were due and give feedback individually on drafts in addition to peer reviewing. She'll easily give extensions and if the class feels like they collectively can't keep up with a deadline, she'll give everyone more time.

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/22/2022

Absolutely wonderful teacher, happy to help and gives you the resources to succeed. This class is an easy A, but only if you put in the effort.

Joshua Weiss
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/19/2022

Dr. Weiss is a very passionate and engaging professor. He genuinely cares about his students improving on their writing skills and how engaged we are with our writing topics. That being said this is a very demanding class and he has high expectations for all of his assignments. He is a pretty tough grader so an A in this class won't be easy but he is willing to help you work for it. The comments he leaves on papers are hit or miss in terms of helping you improve and some of his comments are copy and pastes from other assignments. Overall this is a good class to improve your writing but it will be demanding in terms of work and grading.

Nicole Cuffy
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/05/2022

Really cares about her students super nice. Easy class

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/05/2022

This teacher was rude, unhelpful, and the worst. I did not learn anything valuable, and I have previously taken English 101 at a community college where I learned so much more and the class was much better. She never responded to my emails or concerns. She is late to class every day and walks in with some crazy excuse. She spends most of class talking about herself, then goes over examples of assignments from previous years, and tells students to gather in groups and do peer review with no guidelines. Every class felt like a waste of time. She needs to get a therapist. She also was rude and insulting. She made fun of my friends appearance once and then laughed it off. She is a bad professor and needs to get her life together.

Paul Cote
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/28/2022

Very understanding professor and wants you to succeed. Gives feedback in a timely and fair manner. Definitely would recommend taking him if you can!!

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/07/2022

She is really great, wants everyone to do well

Nia Crawford
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/30/2022

Professor Crawford was a good teacher, however she grades pretty harshly (most of the time, the highest grade in the class was a 95%). Also this class is a lot of work for a gen ed, but it's pretty easy if you just do your work. You don't need the textbook, you will literally never use it.

Alan Montroso
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/20/2022

Prof. Montroso was awesome. It is not his fault but the workload for this class is pretty heavy, but he made it bearable. He is also very lenient with due dates when you communicate well. He also grades in a very fair manner. I highly recommend taking him if you can.

Paul Cote
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
britinebhnani
01/19/2022

One of the best english teachers! He actually allows you to explore your interests in writing without having to worry about your grade. Extremely understanding as well! I highly recommend!!

Nicole Cuffy
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/09/2021

I didn't like her at first because she graded the first assignment pretty harshly in my opinion and then she took forever to grade everything else (we only had one major assignment in canvas until 2 weeks before the semester ended). But she graded the other assignments pretty easily and quickly after the 1st one. You can tell she cares a lot about English and is a very nice professor; she'll answer any questions you have and has office hours available by appointment. She's flexible with stuff like word count and page length; she told us at the beginning of the class that she doesn't care as long as you hit all the points of the assignment. Attendance is not mandatory but classes aren't recorded and you need to be there to understand what she wants for each assignment. We had readings before each class, but you'd be fine as long as you skim over them. We have one 8-10 page paper that was a pain, but it was doable. The final is a 15 minute ted talk that can be about anything (one group talked about how pineapple should be on pizza) and is not graded on presentation skills. Overall is a great teacher and makes English bearable even though I don't like it, just took a while to grade stuff. Would highly recommend (I gave her a 4/5 only because of the time she took to grade).

Paul Cote
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/04/2021

If you need to complete an academic writing requirement, PLEASE take it with Paul. You will not regret it. He genuinely cares about his students and does everything in his power to make the course as easy and stress-free as possible. 85% of the course is graded pass/fail based on completion, and the other 15% is graded based on effort, not perfection. He never expects perfection, so as long as he can see that you put effort into the assignment, you will get a 100. And due dates are not strict an there is no penalty for turning in assignments late, so you could turn in every assignment on the last day of class and still get a 100 in the class. Paul (he says we are allowed to call him by his first name) really is the sweetest man. He frequently ends class early if he thinks most students in the class are tired or stressed out, and there is very little work in his class compared to other ENGL101 classes. What's more is he spent a couple sessions talking to us about how he can make the class even easier than it already is, and he eliminated two or three papers and extended due dates. And his feedback on papers are very uplifting. In his feedback for my papers he always emphasizes that my writing and analysis was extremely impressive, and then he follows it up with constructive feedback in a very non-harsh way. And he has a great sense of humor, which makes classes very entertaining. I actually don't want the semester to end because I don't want to never see him again. I don't think there are many other professors as caring as he is.

Alan Montroso
ENGL101S

Anonymous
11/20/2021

Course isn't done yet but since registration is happening now I'm gonna drop a review and say that he's an amazing professor. EXTREMELY understanding of late work (don't even worry, unless youre gonna take extra weeks instead of days and not communicate). Overall very chill and grades very leniently too. The assignments are the same as any other eng101 course, so he doesnt have much leeway to change the assignments but he does make them easier where he can. TAKE HIM IF YOU CAN!

Michael Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/25/2021

Great professor, told you exactly what he expected on all assignments and although the curriculum restricts him, he does a great job keeping students engaged.

Michael Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/26/2020

I'm not sure how he is in-person but I felt like I didn't learn much from his class online. However, this may just be the strict ENGL 101 curriculum and not his fault. There are a lot of busy work participation assignments and then a few major writing assignments which make up the majority of your grade. He is an extremely generous grader so long as you follow his assignment sheet closely and pay attention to the rubric. He is very lenient on due dates and offered extensions to anyone who needed it on almost every major assignment. Unfortunately, he's a bit of a slow grader and it'll take a few weeks for you to receive your grades on the first few major assignments. Overall, not the best teacher in my opinion but a really nice guy who cares about his students. If you put in even a bit of effort, you'll do fine in his class.

Alexandra Calloway
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/23/2020

First off, she is a super nice lady and really cares about her students. The reason I could not give her a 5 is because she was extremely disorganized. She'd have an essay and rough draft for another essay due at the same time. Sometimes she wouldn't comment on our rough drafts till after we submitted the final exam

Stephanie Allen
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2020

Ms. Allen is a very kind and thoughtful teacher who is willing to assist any students in need. Personally I struggle with writing, but Ms. Allen helps guide students in the class format and is happy to answer any question thrown at her and guide her students on the right course. Highly recommend for any students taking this course.

Carol Cron
ENGL101S

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/10/2020

If you want an easy A and a chill class for English this is your teacher. Not saying there is not work, but she grades super easily and is just a good professor overall

Nabila Hijazi
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/08/2020

very sweet and helpful however participation is a big factor (Covid times review)

Katherine Joshi
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/20/2020

Prof. Joshi is one of the best professors I've had at UMD. I had her in Spring 2020, and she handled the move to virtual classes so well. You can tell she genuinely cares about her students and wants them to do well. Going to her office hours was actually so enjoyable, she made me less scared of office hours in general. Also, unlike some professors, she doesn't give more assignments because it's a scholars/honors section which was nice.

Gail Upchurch
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/22/2020

Very helpful! If you're in scholars and are looking to take English 101 goes with Upchurch if she's teaching. She really cares about her students and wants them to succeed. She gives valuable feedback and I feel like she made me a better writer. Also, she isn't to strict with grading.

Katherine Joshi
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/05/2020

Prof Joshi is the best! Not a hard grader and answers emails super quickly. You do need the textbook for her class, but the reading isn't ridiculous. I'm a STEM major and her class made me strongly consider an English minor. She really appreciates when you use her comments from old papers on the next ones, and she's happy to answer questions. One of the best profs I've had at UMD.

Gail Upchurch
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/10/2020

Very Helpful and Knowledgable! Overall enjoyed my time in this class. Prof Upchurch really helps her students succeed by giving valuable feeback and isn't too harsh with grading and deadlines either.

Grace Kwon
ENGL101S

Expecting a P
Anonymous
05/15/2020

WORST TEACHER EVER DO NOT TAKE. I made the mistake of not looking at these reviews before I signed up for the class, and I got stuck with this terrible teacher. I am a straight A student and have always gotten A’s in English. On the first assignment For this class I got a 69%!

Grace Kwon
ENGL101S

Anonymous
03/26/2020

Classes always seemed very rushed. Also didn't help that basically every class she would always complain about "having so much homework" in grad school. Very unprofessional to complain to your students. I understand trying to relate to them, but when you're already a terrible teacher it just makes you look even worse. Even if you did everything that was required for the assignment, you would receive a C because you didn't "wow" her. The fast pace of the course also made it incredibly difficult to have proper time to improve my writing, as each assignment built on the previous one and grades normally weren't given until after the new assignment was already due, so you wouldn't even understand what you did wrong until after you already had to fix it (I understand this is more so because of UMD's design of the course, but alas). I strongly recommend to anyone that needs to take engl101 to especially stay away from Kwon and sign up for other professors instead.

Grace Kwon
ENGL101S

Anonymous
12/02/2019

Class is a huge challenge to keep up in. This isn't the fault of Kwon herself, but instead the fault of UMD's english 101 system. That said, it's very challenging and stressful when this is combined with her unforgiving grading style. I spent many long nights writing, checking over, and editing my papers, just to be sure that I could get a passing grade. Class itself isn't terrible, but often seems rushed due to there being "very little time", as she puts it. As a result, very few individual concerns are addressed in class. Kwon's office hours are useful, but ultimately, her class is very stressful and time-consuming.

Grace Kwon
ENGL101S

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
11/22/2019

This professor is an incredibly hard grader. Also, she treats her students like they are a distraction from writing her dissertation. She is unprofessional since she is always complaining about the amount of homework she needs to do for her graduate school classes. Furthermore, she is biased towards the one English major in the class and does not view the other students as favorably.

Lara Payne
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Leopardnose
11/20/2019

One of my favourite professors so far! She always initiated interesting (though sometimes off topic) conversations with the class about current events or the English readings. For the essays she would give clear instructions and could answer any question you had about the topic or material. Deadlines that were reasonable in my opinion and we would often have workshops to peer review with other students. Prof Payne graded fairly and I'm overall pleased with how the class went. I wasn't even required to take an AW, but I'm glad I did because this was very informative and enjoyable with her as a professor.

Catherine Bayly
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
07/19/2019

CB (as she likes to be called) cares for her students more than most professors. My class was mostly stem majors who cared about more of their classes more than english. She recognized this and sought out to make the course reasonable and interesting. Her light sarcasm made me actually listen to her and enjoy sitting in class and the workload was extremely light for an english course. We only had one long essay and we got multiple weeks to perfect it. If you bring her your writing she will tell you exactly what she is looking for so you know you will be getting a decent grade. She also makes the homeworks a large part of the grade and since they are just for completion, it is a great boost. The only reason I did not get an A in the class is because I was lazy and missed a few homeworks and got screwed over on one of the group projects.

Nancy Vera
ENGL101S

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2018

Do not take her class unless she is the only option

Nancy Vera
ENGL101S

Anonymous
12/18/2018

Avoid if you can, you don't learn anything. Her entire class could be done online and she grades arbitrarily. She is nice and doesn't make the classroom experience awful but it just doesn't feel necessary.

Jeffrey Griswold
ENGL101S

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/17/2018

Griswold is a very structured and professional teacher and genuinely remembers each student's responses, which is impressive. However, he does grade quite difficult when compared with other ENGL101 teachers

Michael Kolakoski
ENGL101S

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
06/14/2018

He was a pretty good professor. He made his expectations clear and was always available to his students. Make sure to go to lectures regularly because he does give pop quizzes on the readings. Also, make it a point to go to the writing center. He can see which students have gone and he takes that into consideration when grading assignments sometimes! Overall, great professor and pretty funny!

Justin Lohr
ENGL101S

Anonymous
01/10/2016

Professor Lohr is great!!!!!!! Honestly I didn't know he had that many bad reviews on here. He is very relaxed but he knows exactly what he is talking about. He is very passionate about what he teaches and its obvious. I think that's a GREAT quality for an english teacher to have especially for a Freshman Writing Class. I would definitely recommend him. Professor Lohr is so helpful he is blunt which helps. He alway gives great feedback and he writes nice letters on the comments sheet when he grades your paper. I love professor Lohr and trust me I do not like writing. God blessed me with Professor Lohr! I love him I would certainly recommend him.

Reviews for ENGL101S