Rebecca Ritzel

This professor has taught: ENGL393, ENGL398A

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Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting a c- kellie0509 12/18/2015	shes not a good professor...as an adjunct she works in the day and at night came in to class...sometimes late...i had her last year in the fall and i see that nothing has changed (in the reviews below)..i recieved a c- for no reason at all...she would use my work as examples and yet i got this grade, she just doesn't care and UMD should honestly fire her.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting a C- Anonymous 08/28/2015	Worst professor i had. She had a high expectation and she didn't even show half of the professionalism she asked. She's always late to class yet wants the students to be in their seats with the books open. For the summer, she easily could have just scanned the book page and upload it on the elms so that we can just print or save it on the tablet for the class. The incompetence just made us buy the book without notifying us beforehand. With 11 weeks of the first session, we had to buy the books which we barely used. She is also a horrible teacher with horrendous chicken scratch on the board. I didn't learn anything. Overall she's just so painful and the waste of time and money. Don't ever take her.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Anonymous 08/25/2014	☆☆☆☆☆ 0/5 I put 1 star because that's the minimum requirement to leave the review. She is terrible. She nearly always came late, and was unapologetic. From the first day, it seemed as though she expected a lot from the student and that she'd show same kind of professionalism. Her excuse was, "It takes at least 50 minutes to get to the school". For a few times, she came late and just walked out of the class to get something. Her teaching style is so awkward as well. She uses a board when it's better taught by other method. She types things when it's better taught by other method, etc. You'll have a difficult time deciphering her chicken scratch on board and on your graded paper. She boasts that she is a tough grader, but is never fair. When i asked her why i lost points, she couldn't justify them (which i never got any point back). Every time i'd ask, she had the attitude of 'Oh i don't wanna deal with this'. One time i asked what grade i received (because she rarely updates on Myelms). She said, "I can tell you that you didn't follow the basic requirement, which was clearly stated in the instruction". She's so arrogant and insulting that even when i asked where it was stated in the instruction, she just ignored. She returned the papers few weeks into the semester, when we already handed in quite a few, so you do not get to find out until it's too late how her style is. She is so late in updating (or uploading the grades). Also, i followed the rules and turned my phone off, never had a side conversation, was never late. She gave me a C- for participation grade for not answering a few times. I asked her, and she said "There are many others who got that grade. Just be glad that you got some credit". She seems to favor those who just talk a lot (and not helpfully contribute to the class). Additionally, she occasionally sparks up a side conversation that is totally unrelated to the class material. So, for the participation grade, just disregard your classmates and talk a lot. Many times she'd say "Guys, i'm an adjunct, so i'll be busy writing for the Washington Post, so don't send me an email about the assignment". She also requires the textbook that she rarely uses. Lastly, she cancelled the class because she had a silly accident in the building, and told us to come on "reading day". On that day, she said, "Well, i hope you had a good extra time to work on your final paper. I hope no one complains about the extended day". Needless to say, she never even apologize. On that day, she barely came on time and said "Yay~ i'm not late!". I wouldn't dislike her so much if she showed a little bit of respect, but she has none. She doesn't take this job seriously at all. Without a doubt, she's the most horrendous professor i have ever had. She shouldn't be teaching.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2012	- Sit in the front - Participate - Do a good job on the light/fair amount of work that is given (it is fun work too since she will let you be creative. No papers either, just sweet projects) - Come to all the classes on time (she is lenient if you miss one or two) - Turn off your phone Doing all of that will lead to a good grade in the class. It is also a lot of fun for an English class. In my four years at UMD this is the only class in which I have never missed a day, and not because of the attendance policy, but it was because I actually wanted to go! I wish I could take this class all over again. Highly recommended.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting an A UMCPStudent 12/26/2011	I feel like the reviews for Ritzel are extremely mixed, which made it hard for me to choose her as a professor. From my experience, she is not biased towards women (I have no idea where that came from) and while she is consistently late for class and assignments take weeks to be returned, she grades fairly and tries her best to make class bearable. If you put effort into the class (and actually attend class), you will understand assignments and do well.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/10/2011	Worst Professor I have ever had at UMD. She doesn't grade fairly at all. When you ask her what you do wrong, she can't even tell you what is wrong with the paper. She just makes up excuses. When working in groups and the group had to pick the better example of the assignment, mine would be chosen and she would give me the lowest grade. I felt like I was back in high school with all of the presenting we did in front of the class. Points deducted for having your phone on your desk. Overall, she's just not a fair grader and definitely has her favorites in the class.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Anonymous 05/04/2011	STAY AWAY!!! My worst professor at UMD. She doesn't describe what she wants for her assignments but is a tough grader. If she was debating to give you a 89 or a 90, she will give you the 89 without a doubt. She was constantly late coming to class and returning assignments. She was bad in retuning emails. She has a poor teaching style. She is not helpful when providing feedback and anything I learned from this class was from the book. She is just the worst! STAY AWAY!
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Anonymous 04/27/2011	I'm not usually critical of professors; I do the work and get the A and I'm happy. But Ritzel's kind of a *****. It's not a dealbreaker if you need to take her section to fit your schedule but if you have a choice I'd recommend picking a different instructor. To give you an idea of what I mean, she actually deducts points for showing your phone in class or coming in late. Various such zero tolerance policies are frostily written all throughout her syllabus. This is really tedious in my senior year and makes me feel like a freshman. Attendance is absolutely mandatory, which is ridiculous since the useful content of 393 is stretched pretty thin- unlike technical classes the X on the attendance sheet is the only thing you'll miss if you skip, but there's still a grade tied to it. Every week or so there's some little thing you need to present to the class or your group. Like high school there's not really a grade attached to it; you just get an annoyed clucking and a careful Nurse Ratched scratch in the gradebook.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2010	Ritzel was an amazing professor. Her comments were critical, but very fair. The same can be said about the grading for assignments. As long as decent work was produced, fair grades resulted. With music and an occasional joke, she made the class very captivating and worth attending. She does drill certain grammar items, but only to improve writing. Overall, one of my favorite professors.
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/17/2010	Ritzel was a great professor! She's a lot of fun and is really laid back. She tries to make the class fun with candy, videos, etc. There's not a lot of work to the class, and we always peer review each others work when there are assignments. If you want, she'll look over all of your work before you submit it so that you do well. Pretty much as long as you show up, you'll do well. Take her!
Rebecca Ritzel ENGL393 Expecting an A bencbruno 12/12/2010	I didn't have the same experience as the other reviewer that says she is sexist. I am a male too, and felt no such vibe from her. She is a great teacher, and I learned a lot from her. As a Mech E. major, i generally don't like English at all, but this class was my favorite class this semester, even though it was in Tawes. It was worth, the walk, and i looked forward to class each day. She brings many interesting aspects to the course to keep your attention, and she makes the class fun, to the point it doesn't seem like class, yet you still learn. Great teach, my favorite at UMD yet.