Underachievers can become professors too
Professor Phoebe Gloeckner: University of Michigan – Artnever cared about her grades, cares even less about yours
View Professor Profile Your CommentsProfessor Phoebe Gloeckner: University of Michigan – Artnever cared about her grades, cares even less about yours
View Professor Profile Your Comments
April 7th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
This professor looks scary. Look at her eyes! OMG!
April 8th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Wow what a favor you have done for you students. Find a new profession girlfriend. I’d make sure my kid steered clear of your class. Take a course in video PR before you do another video.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:47 am
I like her. I don’t go to U of M but she comes accross as honest. I mean, teaching is a job. If a student thinks a prof should always want to be in class, yet the student should be free to skip whenever without guilt, then maybe that student shouldn’t be in school. Prof. Gloeckner, I like you. Please come to my school.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:59 am
I think you are brave! I agree with you (I am a professor too). Brava!
April 8th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
THP, you couldn’t be as talented as this woman if you tried. She’s a famous comic book artist, and you’re incompetent.
April 10th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
She’s so right. I like her. I wish she were at my school!
April 10th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I’m sure the Chairs, Deans, and even Provosts are reading students and profs comments, and need to rid the university of those who do not know how or want to teach.
Students are required to obtain a grade???
Get a different job if your not interested in grading work thats required.
Don’t think you could make it in the real world without that union of yours.
Your attempt at a sense of humor is blantant arrogance!
What is the definition of a professor?
Duh…ONE THAT TEACHES OR PROFESSES SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF AN ART, SPORT OR OCCUPATION REQUIRING SKILL.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Shouldn’t all you parents be moving on with your lives at this point and not getting on a website for your childrens professors to rip them apart? Or have you just not learned to let go of that control yet?
Get a life.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:58 am
First off getting a grade is not what teaching is about “Parent”. Its about what value and meaning the student can take away from the course. Especially with this professor who teaches Art. How are you going to grade creativity. It’s called subjective. Did you get an F in vocabulary? Doesn’t seem like that grading system helped you out much.
“Get a different job if your not interested in grading work” (said by “Parent”)
A blatant statement with no other knowledge of who or what this teacher is about. Sounds like ignorance to me. People who are quick to judge make the most inaccuracies.
April 11th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Art should not be graded.
April 11th, 2008 at 9:44 am
She doesn’t give a **** about her students grades because she doesn’t give a **** about herself, her own education, or the university she’s at.
Teaching is a job and you are able to do good or bad based on how much effort you put into it. Guess what, you’re a ****ty teacher and need to go somewhere else. You def don’t need to be paid to not give a ****.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I understand that art shouldn’t be graded, but grades do matter to a certain extent. I’m a community college student and in order for me to transfer, GPA counts. I mean for some people this doesn’t matter, but for some it does.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
You not caring about grades is definitely NOT something to brag about.
Sure.. you don’t care about grades and you practically flunked out of college. that’s why you teach art not science or math.. or even history.
congratulations! you have officially proved to the world that college professors are almost as dumb as police officers.
no wonder your students leave horrible comments about you on this website.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Oh my god. . .
her eyes are so huge and scary. how could she even compare parenting a child to being a college professor. she doesn’t love her students..she hates them and she hates herself for being a ****** teacher. saying that all parents hate their child at one point is wrong and it doesn’t support your argument very well.
if only you didn’t get that D average in high school. then maybe you would have gone to a good college and became a doctor. poor poor art professor.
maybe you can become famous for all of this attention and finally be able to quit your job.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Wait, I don’t get it…she has a Masters Degree but didn’t get a Bachelors Degree? What kind of school gives out Masters degrees to people who haven’t graduated from college?
April 11th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
“Wait, I don’t get it…she has a Masters Degree but didn’t get a Bachelors Degree? What kind of school gives out Masters degrees to people who haven’t graduated from college?”
University of Phoenix had a case like that once. If it’d happened somewhere else that did stuff online, I’d not be too surprised.
This woman should NOT be an educator. I was formerly an elementary school teacher and would be absolutely appalled if I had someone like her at my school. Thankfully my administrator didn’t stand for stuff like that and she’d be sent elsewhere. What a horrible attitude and certainly the wrong career path.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Okay. The only reason why this “professor” is striking back is because she does not like the comments that were given about her. If she does not like it, it’s not the student’s fault that they think like that. It is the professor who teaches bad and has basically almost no fundamental basics of teaching. Yes, she doesn’t care about grades. Neither do students, but students do care about learning, and obviously, this “professor” isn’t providing any education, or any GOOD education for that matter.
My point: the only reason why this professor made this video is because she’s uncomfortable with the comments she has recieved and wants to someway justify herself. Sorry, but thats the wrong method. Just find better ways to teach the class.
April 12th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I wonder would any hospital recruit a person who doesn’t have a medical degree ?
Would you go to a person for treatment who has a degree in human physiology or biology but do not have any training in medical practice ?
What does common sense tell ?
Two things -
The ability to teach/train is different than subject matter knowledge
The ability to apply knowledge is different from subject matter knowledge.
I am amazed by the recruiting policy at universities. The professors whose main job description is “teaching” do not have any prior qualification or training in teaching (most of the times). Universities recruit professors based on a PhD which only establishes his or her competency in the subject matter, not “teaching”. A subject matter expertise has nothing to do with teaching ability. Teaching requires an idealistic passion to change, an openness to learn him/herself, a grass root level understanding about the audience, its psychology and a great skill to handle young people. The idealistic passion is the main ingredient which motivates a person to develop all the rest qualities. Openness is the next one which enables a person to mature to become a able teacher.
In schools they recruit teachers who have training in teaching, why not in universities ? Seems university policy makers need a “101 Teaching and Recruiting” course on this common sense.
Most of teachers are the ones who lack at least one of these qualities mentioned above.
The point is a good researcher doesn’t necessarily make a good teacher. I am amazed to see how universities are tolerating people who are joining academics because who have no other career options, not because they are passionate about teaching. This obviously leads to mediocre teachers and policy makers over a few years.
The customers are students are little inexperienced and inarticulate to point out the main problems, they can only vent out their frustrations thorough bad reviews. However they are intelligent enough to identify the bad teachers, there is no question about that.
Next point is in many practicing fields a practitioners is better equipped to teach the practice than a person who has no clue about the practice. Would a medical college recruit a person who has a medical degree but has never seen a patient or performed a surgery ?
How come the universities are recruiting people in practicing fields like engineering and management who have no qualification as a practitioner ?
How credible would be the methodologies of these people who have no idea about the practicing profession the pretend to teach ?
I am sure not many academic policy makers have the courage to answers these concerns.
My suggestions to parents – be more demanding. To students – be aware, go outside class to learn, don’t depend on these pretenders to teach you what you ought to know, do your own learning, give harsh reviews to those who deserve to stop them getting tenured (you will do a great favor to your juniors).
To university policy makers – be honest to acknowledge the problem (if you are courageous), upgrade your archaic views and skills so that you identify potential teachers from the lot of pretenders whose last resort is teaching. Don’t get fooled by their PhDs and long list of publications, they rarely reflect any value or substance in practical world either in academics or in practice. Look for substance, for pretenders have found out ways to game the system. And finally kindly increase the pay for teachers to attract able people who deserve it and to be fair to those who are also doing the biggest favor to the mankind.
April 12th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
By the way the lady in this video comes to me as an able and honest teacher who has survived the system and still had the motivation to become a teacher. I had to mention this explicitly just in ensure that my comments is not construed as the one against her but in support of the spirit she exudes.
April 12th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
ugh she teaches art…
April 13th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
It’s very scary to think that people who could not make it through college can TEACH college courses. If she can’t apply herself enough how can she teach future professionals to apply themselves?
Also, University of Michigan is the only school desperate enough to hire her.
Go State.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
My only comment is that as long as your folks are PAYING for your education, then they have every right to insert their input. When students begin to be self-sufficient, then you can gripe. Frankly, those of you that cried about the parents commenting on this site are very immature. Get over it……
April 14th, 2008 at 7:10 am
oh my god..she is so scary!! look at her eyes.. looks like she hates teaching…
April 14th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I am sorry, but if she has just a masters degree, she is not a real professor. those with phd degrees in nontenure track positions count as professors to some extent. Only those with tenured and tenure track jobs are actually professors. let us not bandy that word so easily; it is hard to become a professor; it is much harder than a joker with just a masters could imagine.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:42 am
E.g., Colin Powell has an MBA. Would any college or university out there like to appoint him distinguished professor of political science? Would you take a class with such an undereducated man? Al Pacino dropped out of high school (as far as I know). If he were appointed professor of dramatic arts at your university, would you be up in arms? In certain fields (art being one of them), life experience trumps schooling. How about Environmental Policy 101 with Al Gore? Should I sign you up?
April 14th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Hello Professor, with all due respect but we are not all that luck to be born with a talent as yours. WE actually have to study and revise our information. We all have different learning styles. Form a personal standing point, it is very importnat for a professor to take his students grades seriously because they are making an effort to earn a decent grade.
thank you,
vivian cal state fullerton
3rd year, psych student
April 14th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
So she doesn’t care about her students grades? Teaching any level is a profession you shouldn’t be in if you don’t care. You’re up there to teach students about a subject – and they can only do that if you also care how much they understand.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
You got to love the teachers of America. [Who cares? I don’t, even if I did I couldn’t help I just as dumb as you are, the only difference is I have a teachers manual.] This is why the world laughs at our educational systems
April 14th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
What do you expect from an Art Professor.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:04 am
Check out her flinching eye, and fluttering tone… she’s ashamed of all that.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Degrees qualification and grades are not sufficient to judge a teacher’s teaching (and student’s learning abilities and learning). This is proved when teachers with best qualifications (masters and higher ones) turns out to be just grade givers, rather than catalyst for genuine learning which is useful in practical life.
For students this is proved by the fact that many successful people could not do well in terms of grades.
Getting good grades is like operating a business, where if you do certain things well you get good profits (or good grades). Being a good samaritan (or being a good learner) may not necessarily beget good profits (or good grades). Street smart students find out ways to get good profits (and good grades), and there is nothing evil about it. If the system is focused on grades, then people will naturally adapt to that. However in such system what suffer most is learning. Its is teacher’s job to ensure learning and grades are correlated, however many don’t care to ensure that, which confuses students. And policy makers often don’t ensure teachers focus on learning or teaching, unfortunately the teaching career is made over competitive, so teachers are often forced to also adapt to the mainstream business practices (dish out grades, get good review and improves own career).
However the spirit that motivates a teacher to inspire his/her students definitely indicate that he /she has potential and substance for a good teacher, rather than her degrees (or lack of it).
The problem is we often confuse between superficial qualifications and ability to teach. This is a general trend where showoff trumps substance. Unfortunately in real life at present context showoff is winning.
About the question whether people without qualification, but having spirit and expertise to train and inspire, will be asked to teach or not, well generally academic policy makers are not always that courageous and sensible to take that step (they often have vested interests), so we need to have our alternative learning system outside the scope of school system, while at the same time we try to get our degrees from those schools.
And about the question each type of individual has a different learning style and need customized teaching method is very true, unfortunately many teachers are not aware of that (either due to lack of training in teaching or lack of understanding about audience) or not courageous to try out new things. And in fact this alone justifies that teachers need training in teaching rather than those fancy masters and PhD degrees. And it also indicates that we need individuals in teaching who have natural talent to be sensitive to students needs and motivated enough to walk the walk, rather than having subject matter expertise and degrees. In fact we also require Collin Powels in policy making rather than archaic individuals focused on legacy of ivory towers.
But at least we retain our respect to the school systems which recruit spirited teachers who are courageous enough to take a stand and try to innovate and attempt to inspire students for genuine learning , not just get “A” and be “good students” (read one who gets “A”). Yes there are school systems , policy makers which goes for substance.
And we can either choose to interpret the substance of the message in this video (or the discussions) or go behind superficial attributes and try to figure out whether this lady in the video is being dishonest or not.
I suspect this lady is trying to convey a message of substance, and we are being over eager to kill the messenger.
I remember on teacher’s suggestion, which is as follows -
It would be good policy to dish out “A” to all students in the class and allow people not to attend classes. That way student who want to learn will only come to class and teachers who have substance can cut the chase and concentrate on genuine teaching. This will also allow those teachers who confuse teaching with evaluation (giving grades), to reduce their effort and stress arising out of giving grades. Moreover with liberal “A”s such teacher can easily get good student reviews and thus improve their chances in tenureship or career advancement (if any at all).
This will enable every body to be happy.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
If you ARE interested in getting good grades, check out our new book “Professors’ Guide to Getting Good Grades in College” http://www.professorsguide.com
We went to Michigan, too, but we think getting good grades is important. And we’ll show you how.
April 17th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Hey, all…
Teaching and grading are two different activities. You can love one and hate the other, they aren’t magically related. Grading is an artificial system, designed to encourage learning. That said, you’d rather have your surgery done by the A+ surgeon, not the D- surgeon. Just hope that the surgeon’s grades were given out for skill, not sucking-up.
As for grades in highschool, pfft. Evidently they didn’t teach art in her highschool.
April 18th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
YES! i admire her ideas that we should not put too much of emphasis on grades, what we learn is about knowledge ; not grades.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Grades aren’t magical numbers. They describe how well you learned material in comparison to those around you – theoretically. I agree that there is definitely things that much change, but this is the bottom line.
First of all, it all depends on how the professor/teacher writes and marks exams. Secondly, it also depends on the norm/curve that is required for the class. Take for example, the teacher is fantastic and the class learns everything and the teacher makes tests that reflect the knowledge required to pass the class. Class does well, and the department won’t accept an 89% class average and curves down the class. There goes your scholarship. It’s not the prof’s fault, blame the department.
Secondly, sometimes you get an overall terrible prof. AKA all mathematics profs at the University of Saskatchewan. Prof. Brooks manages to keep about 60% of his students FAILING going into the final exam, all of whom fail even worse, then curve up and pass the class, barely. I should’ve failed his math class during my bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, but they curved me up and I just passed. Then guess what? The next year a mechanical engineering professor Alan Dolovich taught our class that entire math class’s material in only 2 days, and we understood it. Go figure.
It’s all about the knowledge and subject matter, but when you want a scholarship, you need the numbers to keep you in the green. (literally)
April 20th, 2008 at 7:08 am
@Darsey
If another prof taught your class an entire math course in 2 days, then that math course was not a real math course. I call ******** on you.
April 20th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Unlike you professor, most students have to eventually leave the fantasy land of higher education and compete out there in the “real world.” I suppose if most of your students are going to be comic book artists, then maybe their grades don’t matter. But I’m betting that isn’t the case. Just because you have an amazing/unusal story of a person (you) who almost flunked out and still succeeded, does NOT mean you should ENCOURAGE that behavior. Instead, you should let your students know your story and how hard you must have made things on yourself as a result–so they can learn something VALUABLE from your mistakes.
April 20th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
GPA Nazi
April 20th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Lol. Was that directed at me? I’ll take it. XD
April 20th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
This was pretty funny.. but would not want her as my college Art teacher.. I took a college Art class once and it was pretty difficult.. she’ kill me
April 26th, 2008 at 12:05 am
I taught Studio Art and Art History for 18 years. Students often felt if they showed up for an class with a pencil and paper they automatically deserve an “A”. I feel Art is often sceen as a subject to get an easy grade. Students did not take it serious. They missed out big time. I am more enriched for it all. The understanding of growth and development. Critical thinking! Who cares about grades it is more inportant to learn a subject and get as much from the instructor as you can. I am with you. I did poorly in HS. In college I graduated with a 3.8 average. This was because I was so dedicated to Art. Grades took care of themselves when I became more concerned about Art and Art History.
Lori Lewin
April 26th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Teachers must always remember that students have a wide variety of interests. I cannot even draw a heart to save my life. It doesn’t interest me and I do not have any talent for Art, therefore, I’m not going to find it interesting. But, perhaps it’s a required course in my curriculum.
I realize that teachers in their specialized fields (usually what they’re teaching) are gung-ho about what they’re teaching, and that’s their special passion or love in their life. But just remember, students have to take courses in a wide variety of subjects these days, and students have no choice in the matter if they want to successfully earn a degree. Keep that in mind, teachers.
April 26th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I think this Teacher is hot. Is she single?
April 27th, 2008 at 2:30 am
I LOVE THIS PROFESSOR! THANK YOU FOR YOUR HONESTY!
April 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Please don’t ignore this comment, I’m posting this in a very respectful manner. The responsibilities between a student and teacher are not a one way street. The students have responsibilities, (doing the work, coming to class, approaching the instructor for extra help etc.) But the professors need to recognize their responsibilities too.
Professor, you may not like grading, but it is your responsibility to take time and care into evaluating your students fairly. If you give them all F’s, they flunk and have a big dent in their GPA and a hard time being successful in the future (and I would hope you don’t want that…) If you give them all A’s, they have nothing to learn from their mistakes. Grades aren’t fun (believe me, I’ve had my fair share of dissapointments) but it has to be done and for the sake of the students, it needs to be done fairly.
I guess I’m just trying to say is that you need to care about grading if you hope to be a good professor.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Phoebe Gloeckner is an amazing, respected, published artist and a prolific medical illustrator. I would kill to take a class taught by her.
All you over-privileged babies crying about grades should grow up and enjoy what this woman could teach you. THAT’S what you get out of a class, not just a little letter printed out on a sheet of paper.
Speaking as a grown-up, I can tell you: grades DON’T matter. When interviewing for jobs, not once have I (or anyone else I’ve ever known) been asked for GPA!
Relax–if you have a class with Gloeckner, you’re lucky.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Ya you probly should throw everything down and get out of there
April 29th, 2008 at 4:01 am
Uh, Maggie, get real. Grades DO matter. In the professional fields, the HR department requires official transcripts for your file to document the fact that they verified your credentials. When I applied to a master’s program, they needed my undergrad transcript. When I went to a doctoral program, they needed both prior transcripts. But I suppose an employee who routinely handles someone’s health or their life savings is subject to more scrutiny than a sandwich artist.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Wow, how classist.
I actually am a financial consultant. Nice try, though.
April 29th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Financial consultant–n. essentially an unemployed adult who has completed between 15 and 97 credits towards the BBA degree in accountancy and who has been on the job market for more than 18 months. Usually these people rely on their significant others to provide a health plan and what is loosely termed “income.” See: financial planner, investment advisor, budgeting assistant, asset manager, personal portfolio analyst, tax preparer, etc. See also: tarot card reader.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
She’s on crack. Why the hell did she want to be a professor if she doesnt give two f***s about students. She just proved why she’s so bad.
Bad job UM.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I don’t think art should be graded either! We are nursing students at a great University in Ohio and we have to take art. I understand the whole well rounded concept, but our Art Professor has made the course so freaking hard that it makes physiology look easy! And art is generally free to look at thanks to the internet, so WHY do we need a book that cost $120????
April 30th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Has Gloeckner been drinking?
May 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Two words: Art Professor.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:13 am
Grades are subjective for art and as such grading shouldn’t be an issue. What she considers a C might be an A for another prof and vice versa. If you want a grade, consider taking math.
I’ve had some pretty sh***y profs with teaching certificates and degrees, so what does that matter? It’s hit and miss. It seems like the more accreditation one has, the less life experience, and the more prone they are to bullsh***ing when they don’t know the answer.
I like her honesty. If everyone left their job who didn’t want to be there on any particular day most people wouldn’t work. Does that mean students should quit when they don’t want to be in cl*** on any particular day? No. And that’s probably why she wants to see an effort. Too many students putting in a half-*** job.
Thank you ratemyprofessors.com to give a heads up about my teachers enabelling me plan my course schedule.
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:38 am
I know this is going to be a shock to some of you, but grading (like teaching and testing) is subjective in all situations. That’s why a science/math class with one prof is not exactly like the same class with another. Did you ever wonder how the curve is determined? Did you ever get the lowest A- in the class? The highest B+? How do professors determine those cutoff? How do they decide to give partial credit sometimes and not other times? I would advise you never to tick-off an instructor. You don’t have to be a suckup. Just play ball, and try not to complain.
The fact of the matter of grading is this: If you can go through your college career taking classes with 40 different professors (give or take) and get a 3.5 GPA, then you’ve been successful no matter what the curve, no matter how crazy or hateful your professors seem to have been. If you’re treading on that 2.0-1.9 line after 39 classes, I would say you really don’t cut it.
In college, as in life, you just have to fool most of the people most of the time.
May 3rd, 2008 at 11:47 pm
This is why ratemyprofessors.com is so important. So we can choose to take classes with a professor who cares about grades, or dont.
May 4th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Thank GOD I elected to go to a real college. Eastern Michigan University. And who ever said that only Ph.D’s are professors is correct. The rest are instructors. Some are wonderful, but to think it is about $500 per credit, or $1500 to have this CRAZY woman teach you at U of M. Dear God if you are an ART major go to an ART school. Leave U of M to engineering, and medicine. Art college should be hippie like and free flowing, and U of M should not be teaching it. Yes Ann Arbor is hippie like, but so was my bedroom when i was 16. Along with the wild times I had. But now at over 30, and a teacher of special needs students I can say. GROW up, and SHUT up. Sometimes telling kids you almost flunked out of HIGH SCHOOL is the STUPIDIEST thing you can do. Dang I wonder if her kid did that would she be happy. And by the way… the drugs have real been bad to you……. or use make-up
May 4th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I’ll agree with her that it’s frustrating to deal with those students who don’t care about learning the material; all they care about is the grade. It’s maddening to be in the middle of teaching when someone in the back calls out, “Is this going to be on the test?” You want the students to realize that if they focus on learning the material for its own sake, the grade will follow. They might even enjoy it and take something away from the course.
Having said that, professors need to realize that grades are important to students. It’s only fair to make expectations and grading policies clear. I find that if I empathize with students’ concerns and make that grading contract so that they know how to keep up their end of the bargain, students have less anxiety. When they have less anxiety, the class is a more pleasant experience for us all.
May 4th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Wow, an honest professor. I sit in class and think, I don’t want to be here, with these students. I can imagine the **** that some professors are going through. She is obviously very talented with a body of work that supported her position at the University.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I guess this woman comes off a tad out there, but i couldn’t agree with her more. Grades really don’t mean anything, it’s just nice to know that you got a decent grade on something and if you know you tried your best, well, that’s all anybody can do. Everyone is always putting an emphasis on GPA’s….GPA’S MEAN ****. Ok yes, in order to graduate it should be whatever the university wants or higher….but that’s not hard to maintain, again, just do your best. I started back in school two years ago and i have about one more year to go…it’s been a rough road and still is, but i’ll be getting there slowly but surely. I am SO NOT a student of academia nor studious. But i’m older now, more mature, and certainly more focused than i used to be 5 years ago. I want to obtain a degree to get a decent job making a lot more money than i ever did and to know that i accomplished that, will be a great feeling one day. However, i am certainly not going to over do myself/overacheive and kill myself for a printed “A” on that piece of paper. I also hate the education system and what college makes you go through….it’s all about making money and a degree is only a simple piece of paper that says “hey look, this one has a degree, we’ll hire her” that’s it. Get real people…this world is nuts and all about making money. Also, just because someone went to college, has a degree, even a phd, DOES NOT mean they are intelligent people. Most people that i’ve met so far who have phd’s have the personality of my shoe. It’s either book smarts or common sense, that’s it.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:55 am
She sounds awesome. I wish she taught at my University.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:19 pm
well you got a D in high school but youre referring to COLLEGE. Big diff, lady!
May 30th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
You know its funny, people say they want other people around them to be honest but then when they meet an honest person they call her everything but what she truly is HONEST as a student i sometimes hate school but i love learning….. are people going to call me names now?….
June 11th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Wow… I am pretty surprised by all this blatant bs from people who criticize someone who is honest and talented. First of all, grading is not the point of any education. You go to college to learn, but I haven’t seen one thing that shows she wouldn’t have the ability or desire to help you learn. She doesn’t want to give homework or grades, that shouldn’t be looked upon as a huge stigma. Good grades don’t indicate how much you know or have learned. Grades only show that you learned as much as you would be tested on. Equating one individual’s progress compared to another’s in Art isn’t exactly as easy as a math or science course. If someone told me to go off and grade a Monet and I were to give it a C or a D… does that show I have different taste in Art or does it show that I don’t understand how Art should be graded? If I had to grade stuff like that, then I would hate going to work on some days too.
And not wanting to come to show up some days to teach doesn’t show a lack of dedication. Next time you don’t want to go to work, lets fire you for lack of desire or passion…thats the solution.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
SHE NEEDS TO GET LAID BAAADLLLY. And hopefully NEVER HAVE KIDS. For all We know She’ll be the Next ANDREA YATES!!!!!
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I taught community college in economics for the past 7 years. Grades are not that important–lessons are. I rather have a “C” student who is smart, wise and charismatic than an “A” student who knows how to take a test and then forget everything after the semester is over. And, if you’re an “A” student who is with great qualities, then kudos to you. I’m with this professor. I was on academic probation nearly 7 times back in college and had a 2.1 GPA in economics. Today, I teach economics and they fired the Ph.D. economics teacher cause he can’t explain it to the students. You’re not in high school anymore…this is real life. Learn something.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:23 pm
The problem with college and with us professors is that we are too prone to train all students to be college professors. In other words, we encourage thinking and behavior that reflects our own. The principal difficulty with this is that we tend not to recognize the talents of our “C” students. We structure our courses to engender clones. This is a shame. W not withstanding, there are many remarkable “C” students in our classes who will go on to do much good in the world.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:48 am
I don’t know about you guys, but damn I would bang this teacher! She looks hot and sexy!!
June 28th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Wow! A stoner dominatrix!
I like her imitation of all the pathetic boot-licking grade-obsessives.
July 13th, 2008 at 4:46 am
Wait a minute! on her second video Did she just curse infront of the camera? She said “I don’t give a Fxxx” wow, I’m amazed! I just gotto say that that was very professional! Shame on you!
July 16th, 2008 at 12:47 am
I would love to have her as a teacher.
Honest and Funny.
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
She has tenure, if she did not she would never make statements like this.
She is being flippant and comes across as a bit arrogant, so what.
I teach art and I grade as well, and I hate having to do it. I would rather give a pass or fail.
You get the ideas or you don’t. If I am teaching about proportions for a life drawing class and I hand out a sheet on the subject the number of students who look at it is about 2%.
This means that when we meet next I have to start all over explaining it. This in some cases has gone on for weeks.
Most students who take art classes and this is the majors, do not have clue what they are doing. They think they want to be “artist” without any idea of how hard it really is.
I once gave this assignment out which was for fun, no grades involved. The idea was to buy a small cheap sketch pad and draw from a TV sporting event. This was to work on drawing action poses and gesture. Not one student did it except me.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Her eyes are sorta crazy, but I think she’s actually pretty sexy.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
She’s an artist, not a math teacher.
July 31st, 2008 at 3:53 pm
wow… obviously most of the people who are criticizing this woman have never taken an art class… If you had, you would realize that the best art teachers are often the ones that seem a bit “off”… also, grading art is difficult because it is subjective and I, for one, wish there was a different system. Besides, isn’t the point of school to learn and not to brag about getting a gold star or an A+++…. Art is also difficult because in most of the lower level classes, there are a lot of students who are there because they think “man, I don’t want to have to study or take tests… I will take an art class!” What they don’t realize is that studio art classes art often very rigorous and require a lot of out of class time.
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I love to learn but i hate school because of the grading system it sucks i got a B in Algebra and to be honest i suck at math meanwhile i got a D in History and i already have a masters in world history if u ask me the grading system and GPA bull Shi* can kiss my tanned brown ***, so more power to this prof.and all you other nutty, crazy ,goofy, freaky, nerdy ,silly funny, and wierd prof out there.
p.s. the smartest teacher i ever had was always high and really knew what he was talking about , so to all u up tight profs. out there in this crszy world take a puff puff from the magic dragon and chill the out. it might help
August 13th, 2008 at 8:10 am
God, I love this woman.
I want her as my teacher.
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Gloekner is not only a great artist; her work is accessible to anyone who reads. “A Child’s Life” and “Diary of a Teenage Girl” were great reads for my daughters when they were going throught the misery of middle school and high school…..truly heroic tales. These books are still availale, and I hope they always will be.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:58 am
definitely type of lady I want around me. smart, free thinker and funny. and yes I’d probably date her too.
It’s obviously a lot of you have a serious deficiency in humor. People like that bore me.
Furthermore, grading is not synonymous with professing or teaching. It is just a system that’s consistent with competition. in a pure environment, a simple pass or fail, competent or not is all that’s necessary in a learning environment. It use to be that learning a profession meant work for someone in that profession. while there’s a drop off in overall education, mainly pertaining to humanities, it’s a more effective means of learning a profession. After all practical knowledge is the overwhelming goal of most student. I suppose in an ideal world, college would only be for those with capacity and interest in theory and innovation and humanities would be addressed in high school.
August 25th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
this lady is cool…two of my best teachers that i learned the most from also didn’t give a **** about grades. grade obsessors are feeble intellects. they fixate on numbers and letters to prove the lie they want to project…that they have something relevant to offer.
they ruin the world.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
This woman is awesome! She sees far beyond the ritualistic BS that grades and degrees represent.
An individual can be brilliant and an inspirational teacher without having gone through or believing in the traditional machinery that higher education deludes people into thinking represents achievement and intelligence. Grades tend to be arbitrary. Professors are pressured into making their students fall along a bell curve in terms of grades – a notion that is ultimately flawed and geared toward reproducing an exploitive class system.
People who believe there is only one proper way of teaching and organizing a classroom tend not to be in the top 2% in intelligence. They fail to understand the bigger picture in life, and remain stuck in a box that limits their understanding of people and the world.
More power to Professor Phoebe Gloeckner!
September 6th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
http://www.cheez-it.com/
September 8th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Wow…you people here and on her comments are really something. I do not know how she got a MA but not a BFA, but that was the call of her school. If you guys actually bothered to look up her credentials, you would see she did do undergrad work in Europe.
Did you even read her comments? Some d!psh!t complained “she made us spend $100 in supplies. Guess what whiney boy…thats common. I easily spent that when I was an art student … in the early 1990s. It seems like her students at U of M don’t want to do work or buy supplies. Wow…art students having to buy art supplies. didnt see that one coming! What’s next, English students having to buy…books???
Oh and “AB” you are a particular moron. If you even bothered to do at least an ounce of research, you would find that a MASTERS is indeed a “terminal degree” in the studio arts. But no..you come on this page and act like an “expert”. Now you need to apologize to Professor Gloeckner and this board for being an ignorant ***. And if you don’t belive me, look at ANY art program or school…all have Masters degree profs in tenure track.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Well…I don’t study art…and I don’t go to the University of Michigan. I do Neuroscience at an other uinversity. I gotta say tho…all of her comments seem well justified to me. And as for some of you who keep saying she doesn’t care about her students because she doesn’t want to grade them…I gotta ask…what are you talking about? She’s sharing her knowledge and experience with them…seems like she’s doing her job just fine to me. And if your a concerned parent whining about her saying “sometimes” she doesn’t wan to be there in that classroom…then I gotta say you must be blind deaf and dumb…cause she clearly said…she “generally enjoys teaching”. So please if your gonna comment…watch her whole video…and think about it for more than 30 seconds…and if you still think this is a professor who doesn’t care…I really wish you could meet some of mine…who im sure would never even consider posting a comment or reply to what their students think about them. Lastly…I gotta say…i have never had any talent for arts whatsoever…but if this professor was teaching at my university…I’d gladly take an elective course with her…
September 10th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
How come the Mona Lisa doesn’t have eyebrows?
September 10th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I partially agree with this professor…(except with the grade thing). And I do appreciate her honesty, which is somewhat just as well…
September 12th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Rob Says:
September 10th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
How come the Mona Lisa doesn’t have eyebrows?
———————————————————————————————–
Maybe she needs more cheese!
http://www.cheez-it.com/
September 12th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Cheese man: woulda, should, gouda?
September 13th, 2008 at 1:43 am
biswasamitava,
I am not sure where to start with your rambling diatribes. First of all, this lady is not a professor and seems a tad unstable.
Anyone who earns a Phd will have at least 2-4 years of teaching experience before they get their first job.
A college classroom is not the place to individualize learning for each student. Not only is it impossible even with a small class, if you aren’t a self motivated user who can’t do anything but regurgitate what was spoon-fed to you, you simple do not belong there.
In most cases, those with education degrees teaching at the HS level or below simply do not have the background required of a Phd. I am a masters student who teaches classes from the junior level and below and I find it endlessly amusing that I could never be hired in the local HS and those teaching the subject in HS, in most cases, aren’t qualified to teach my classes.
That may seem wrong from an outsiders perspective but it is not. A HS teacher is a mentor, babysitter and utterer of loosely related facts. A college teacher is a mentor and teacher of his subject.
September 13th, 2008 at 2:44 am
EH? You really don’t know what you are talking about with all this talk about “HP asking for transcripts.” Unlike you, I have worked in art related fields sine 1994. Not once, outside of academic jobs, did I ever have any prospective employer ask for transcripts.
Not once. This includes a lot of jobs applied for in several states.
Yes, applying for grad school is a different matter. But you need to stop acting like an expert on this when you were so clearly wrong.
I also expect the same from the people who said “you can’t be a professor without a PhD” since that was wrong in regards to studio arts. You all need to fess up for being wrong since you made such a Jihad out of this.
September 15th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
This lady is so gorgeous, if I proposed to her and she turned me down, I’d propose to her underwear.
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Too many people worship at the altar of the almighty grade.
It is what you learn that you should focus on, and the grade will follow. I have gotten A’s and learned next to nothing, basically because the class was a joke and was dead simple. Oddly, or probably not oddly, many people struggled in these brain dead classes. I have got B’s in classes where I learned tons. I can’t say if I learned or not with a C, since I don’t get those.
Focus on learning as much as you can and work on your ability to relate what you learned to other concepts and you will never have to worry about your grades.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Too many students learn how to take tests better than they do the subject matter itself. For example, multiple choice and true/false test items rely more upon recognition of the correct answers, while short-answer and essay items rely more upon recall and comprehension. More courses than not rely upon multiple choice testing. Students learn how to recognize the best fitting items with this type of test, but those same students might not fare as well if they were to be tested in essay form. In essay, students are required not only to know the right answer, but to explain the hows, whys, etc, of the material.
Whenever possible, I always studied by learning first the structure and then the function of the subject. After that, everything fell into place. Good grades are great, but grades don’t necessarily express mastery of the material.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Professors should give more essay tests, depending upon the subject. Essays are better at ascertaining the student’s mastery of the material, but they are a real b*tch to grade -time consuming as all h#ll.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Wow,
Who cares about your disdain for high school teachers? And congrats on becoming only the 14,000,000th person in borth america to attain your masters. We’re proud of you.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Borth: above the xouth. I’ve been in grad school too long…
October 4th, 2008 at 6:36 am
this videos made me laugh literally.. her average high school grade was a “D”.. What a dumb ****ing b****…
Enough said.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
She has the eyes of the my psycho ex-wife. She must be a great artist, since so many artists are nutjobs. If I were a student at UofM, I would probably take her, just for the fun of it.
October 12th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
tony,
Grow up. It isn’t scary to be an adult.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Someone way up there complained about art supplies being $100. Like Otis said, it’s common. I spent a little over $200 in one class. Of course though. You NEED the materials to do the work. Gosh. Think before typing.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:47 am
teachers rebbuttal or stupid comment session?
December 9th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Okay, whoever says grades don’t matter didn’t have to pay for their own school otherwise they would know what it takes to get grants and scholarships, good grades. It’s obvious that the students don’t respect this teacher because she outright says that she doesn’t care about the entire reason they are there. I suppose if she gives everyone in her class an A then grades truly won’t matter. I doubt this is the case. I definitely feel that if I met this professor I would have a few words to say to her. I am thankful that I go to WMU now. BTW, how do you get a masters w/o a bachelors?
January 6th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
I wonder if she could get fired for this video on the website. I love an interesting teacher. Someone commented that she or he would have their kid steer clear, ummm.. let the kid worry about that!! Not you. Geez, parents get too involved when it comes to their children’s COLLEGE education, that is why more than half drop out the first year.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Wow. How impressive. Someone who doesn’t care about grades and education teaching. Wake up, genius, students care about grades because they need them for scholarship qualification or for credit to go to a better school or to get into a certain program. Some students also like to know so they can better allocate their time when studying. How did you ever get into teaching anyway? Was it because you have no talent as an artist and/or not even guts to tough it out before you made a name for yourself, so you decided to “settle” for teaching? Get fired now please.
January 15th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Listen, I listened to her comments then I read through everyone elses reply and thought, what the **** is wrong with you people. Your listening to an artist. Grades do not matter when you are working with art, it is about the art.
Id kill to have her as a teacher.
She gave off the impression that she didnt want to be there? Probably because the ******* that walked into her class were not talented AT ALL and were probably there to get credit for being there.
My art teacher in HS was the same as this one, and she changed my life. Your lucky to have her.
And for the ******* that wrote “Would you want a Health care person, who isnt educated to be your healthcare person” Implying that this woman has no idea what she is doing? No College class can teach you talent, it is there to develop your talent.
Health care people are talented in their own right, and need to be educated entirely. Artists on the other hand are not the same.
Jim Leveland needs to relax, im positive she isnt going to run around giving people F’s because she doesnt care about grades. If you try your presious little scholarship will be fine. “Get fired now please” Yeah… Thats mature. Im guessing you got your scholarship through basketball… which should be illegal.
You people need to wake up. Artist are a different breed of people, she has obvious talent.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:26 am
are you for real?
August 7th, 2009 at 6:17 am
She's very funny. I wish she taught at my school!
August 20th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I can see how it would be tough to teach the UM art school (no offense to those who are talented and attend, but you have to admit it's the worst famed program in the entire university). i'm definitely going to try and take a class with her.
i think it's tough to break out of the system of thought that grades are important when people are generally going to college to earn a diploma and make money off it. it's also tough to decide where to set the bar for your students when you have to balance encouraging the smart ones to think forward without keeping the dumbasses who don't give a shit back. i can see nothing more frustrating for a professor than educating a bunch of money- and grade-driven drones when you truly love something like she does. glad she's trying something different.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:58 am
She's a ditz.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:45 pm
I like her!
October 5th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Seems like a true honest Wack job really Her bulb glows a little dim lol
October 5th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
She just proves what I have been saying for many years there should be no grades for art. In fact it should not even be in College. Art school should be just that a school that teaches art like any other trade school. Plumbers auto body electrician they are all just another form of art but that is too insulting to artist. Some times reality hurts. Sorry, but art class does not belong in College. And this Prof. proves that in spades LOL
October 31st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I am a student, but I have to agree to this professor saying she is being honest. Additionally, she seems genius. Artist are often have strong character and beyond being an ordinary person.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:23 pm
I do agree with your respond to this parent. However, she has a valuable point as well.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:20 am
Art should not belong in college? You should be slapped for such a comment!
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Before industrialization in the early 19th century, education was not about grades, it was about your passion, your interest and your intellect. You have to be interested in your profession that you have chosen.
It's a shame that after industrialization, what matters now is how many degrees you have, what courses you've taken, and your grade in a particular subject.
I agree, grades don't matter! However, the education system that we currently have thinks otherwise that it does.
It doesn't matter if you get 100% (if that's even possible) in all your subjects at a major university. It doesn't guarantee anything, it doesn't guarantee you'll have a job. You still have to pass that interview, which by the way, isn't graded.
It doesn't matter if something is marked or not. Why does it even matter how much weight or how many marks is a particular task?
By the way, she is an Art teacher. For anyone that's been passionate about art and music, you should know already that you don't need grades to appreciate it. I think she does think like that.
For those that say, OMG I can't believe she's teaching when she barely made it through college?
Key thing, she just said highschool that she had a D average. MBA's have specific pre-requisites and I'm pretty sure it's more than a D.
If you really care about grades, then wouldn't you work hard regardless if a task is graded or not? If you work hard when something is graded, and don't work hard when it's not, then you my friend, ARE LAZY and I say, F***YOU!
I don't care about grades, but it doesn't mean that I don't work hard and I'm in university. I hate people obsessed with grades. You should be more interested in studying and obsessed with your career goal.
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:28 am
wow,,,, there are some dumb mother fuckers out there…
"Parent"- U of M kind of hired her you dumb ass? Her being there has nothing to do with her union, and your definition of a professor? DUMB ASS! good job using someone elses opinion of what a professor should be why dont you shut the fuck up if you cant even think for yourself.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:30 am
She is brutally honest and I give her props about it!
December 16th, 2009 at 8:21 am
hey f***face where are your teachers on here