What Some People Say About Learning with Bob Broad

For fun and for your information, I present below selected (by me) statements from colleagues, students, and workshop participants about their experiences learning with me. With a few exceptions, these statements are either:

quoted anonymously with each writer's permission from portfolio prefaces, letters of recommendation, e-mail messages, or other writings
or
quoted without permission from anonymous end-of-course or end-of-workshop evaluations.

At the beginning of the semester, the idea of creating a portfolio that would include so many documents and so much documentation of those documents was a bit daunting. And in many ways, creating this portfolio was a daunting process. But now that I hold the finished product, I can say that it was also an immensely rewarding process. I am confident that I am a better teacher of composition because of the thinking, writing, reading, and reflecting that went into the creation of this portfolio. I will teach first-year composition on my own next semester after co-teaching this semester. As I stand at the beginning of my life as a composition teacher, it is comforting, encouraging, and challenging to have this body of work to support my teaching and scholarship. (Student in Eng. 402, "Teaching Composition," fall 2007)
I would call your [way of responding to students] "encouraging and positive and constructive." You put it quite clearly why you agree when a student makes a comment, and again, quite clearly why you disagree when you disagree with them. And it is quite clear you always reserve the right to disagree... Moreover, I would say that you sometimes very clearly challenge the student in terms of clarifying and explaining his/her argument, after which you again state clearly whether you agree or disagree. You are trying to engage in the student's argument in a truly constructive manner rather than saying something positive or negative for the sake of saying it. Even more, you freely and quite rightly and justly use the "privileges of being the boss" in class, i.e. matters of time limit in class sessions:)) This is also related to the clear focus and orientation you have for each class. (Student in Eng. 402, "Teaching Composition," fall 2007)
Dr. Broad is an exceptional and passionate teacher, he got me excited about an area of English that used to terrify me. (Student in Eng. 246, "Advanced Exposition," spring 2007)
I am really enjoying your class and hope to grow as a writer because of it. I am seriously considering writing a book about my experiences and have you to thank for the boost in my confidence as a writer. (Student in Eng. 246, "Advanced Exposition," spring 2007)
[This course was] one of the most significant educational experiences I have had since becoming a teacher. . . . I truly believe that this [research project proposal] is the first piece of research writing I have done since starting college back in 1986 as a newly graduated high school student that actually has a purpose. . . . I can honestly say that I have worked harder and learned more from this class than I have from any other class in my career thus far. . . . I have gone into my classroom with new ideas concerning assessment, and I have already seen positive results through the response of my students and from the quality of the work that they turn in. The relationships I have created in this class have been a complete joy. I now not only have a network of colleagues to share ideas with, but I have an extended teacher family that I cherish as if they have been life-long friends. . . . Thank you for making me a better writer. Thank you for being genuinely interested in what I had to say. Most of all, thank you for providing me with the opportunity to grow as a teacher.
(Student in Eng. 409.03, "Writing Assessment for Middle and High School Teachers," spring 2006)
It was not until this semester that I really grasped onto the writing process as a whole, that it is not just draft after draft that you write. It includes input from peers and professors. It involves experiences you have while writing. The process includes just about every stimulus and response in your environment, whether it is before or during the actual writing.
(Student in Eng. 100, "Introduction to English Studies," spring 2005)
I put a lot of thought into all the writing I did for this class, choosing topics that really struck me and were important to me and finding the best way to express all the ideas I had about it. If I can provide the same writing world for my students that was provided in this class, I can only imagine what success they will have.
(Student in Eng. 297, "The Teaching of Writing," fall 2004)
. . . I was not expecting to become so passionate about the topic [of my main research project]. I found myself really caring about whether my audience believed me--I wanted them to agree with me and I wanted them to decide to start praising their students. . . I was very concerned my arguments would not be compelling enough to elicit change in my readers. Most importantly, though, this piece of writing helped me see, maybe for the first time, what a passionate writer can produce. I wanted it to be great, so I was willing to put in the time and thought I felt that took. I never expected to learn such an important lesson for my classroom as this: If you help your students find something they really care about, you will not have to push, prod, and beg them to write. Passionate students will write on their own, be excited to revise, and be proud of their final copy.
(Student in Eng. 297, "The Teaching of Writing," fall 2004)
He didn’t come to lay the truth on us. He helped us discover.
(Participant in workshop on "What We Really Value: Teaching and Assessing Writing in the Princeville Schools," January 2001.)
You seem more interested in typing than listening and giving thoughts . . . . I know no more than when I arrived.
(Participant in workshop on "What We Really Value: Teaching and Assessing Writing in the Princeville Schools," January 2001.)
. . . English 510 has encouraged me to reconsider my teaching practices. I am especially challenged and intrigued by the idea that has been so central to this course that teaching and learning needs to be transformative, that what we do in the classroom should have a real and positive effect on the larger world outside of the academy. As the semester progressed I found myself introducing this idea in my own classrooms and prompting my students to think and talk about how they will use what they are learning in my class in other aspects of their lives. I also find that I am paying more and more attention in my own teaching to the idea that teaching and learning can be a whole experience that nourishes the spirit as well as the intellect. At the beginning of this semester I don't think that I would have included ideas about nurturing the spirit in my definition of effective teaching; now I can't imagine a teaching philosophy that doesn't address these issues.
(Student in English 510, "Professional Seminar in Teaching English," fall 2000)
Having read [Kate Ronald and Hephzibah Roskelly's] Reason to Believe [: Romanticism, Pragmatism, and the Possibility of Teaching] at the beginning of the semester was more useful than I thought at the time. I began reading the book with the sense that it was too wishy-washy to ever be considered serious thought for a real teaching situation. I am flabbergasted at how wrong I was about Reason to Believe. I recognize that assigning it as one of the first readings was a way to get us to walk through the semester with the voices of spirituality and dedication as our guardian angels, so to speak.
. . . . .
I feel like I have permission to be unsure of my pedagogical strategies to the point where I can admit to myself and to others that revision needs to take place. I feel like there is a space in my life where I can take better care of myself so that I can be more caring toward my students. I feel like I can talk about how I feel in my classroom and still be respected as a teacher who really wants the best for students. None of these feelings existed before August of 2000. Thank you for reminding me of the things that I have been conditioned to ignore.
(Student in English 510, "Professional Seminar in Teaching English," fall 2000)
Bob models for me the kind of colleague and teacher I strive to be: supportive and attentive, with just enough opposition to keep me productively on edge.
. . .
He listened to me so carefully, and he so clearly valued my insights, my expertise, that it was impossible for me not to feel like a good teacher, a respected scholar. In this way Bob's reciprocity inspires: his trust in me makes me want to work hard to earn it.
(Memo from a colleague to the English Department Chair at ISU, summer 2000)
I realized that this class was exactly what I was hoping it would be just by looking at the goal of the course: "Literacy and Democracy." How could a class with a goal of democracy be bad? Then Professor Broad read the story [Leo Leonni's Frederick] to us and asked us what we thought. Not what HE thought, but what WE thought. What was this? Was he joking with us? I never expected to be entering into debates about the meaning behind a children's story. But the discussion was more than interesting; it made me want to come to the class. Never in my life have I enjoyed going to a class more than I enjoyed coming to this one.
. . .
Another thing that I learned this semester is that people still read poetry. I was a bit worried for a while that I was the last of a dying breed . . . . honestly, I have not seen much poetry flying around at parties on this campus . . . . I had given up, until I heard we would be doing poetry presentations . . . . I noticed that other people [doing their poetry presentations] were bringing in poems that were more than just song lyrics or commonly known works. I was thrilled with this . . . . To sum it up, I loved this class.
(Student in English 100, "Introduction to English Studies," fall 1998)
Before taking this class, I had not been asked to explore the motivations for and implications of writing assessment. Dr. Broad facilitated just such reflection not only by genuinely listening to and affirming students' ideas, but also by challenging and problematizing them.
(Student in English 495, "Writing Assessment as Human Inquiry," fall 1997)

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