2.0
Quality4.2
Difficulty24%
Would Retake87
Reviews24%
Would Retake
87
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
87 total ratings5
10
4
6
3
8
2
23
1
40
What Students Say
“Do not take her class”
ENG101 - 1.0 rating“Doesnt make clear what she wants from you”
ENG101 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
69%
Textbook Required
46%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.18 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG90
5.0
(1)ENG092
4.0
(1)ENGL092
4.0
(1)ENGL20
4.0
(1)ENGL201
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
101
5.0
360
5.0
EXPOWRITING
5.0
ENG092
5.0
ENGL90
5.0
Reviews (86)
if you have problems with writing, this is the professor you need to take. She doesn't condemn your writing style. She works with it and uses many techniques that will enhance your writing skills. She's a very intellectual lady and really cares about her students. i liked her alot.
she is very touchy-feely.. always asking u to say what things maake you feel.. had nothing to do w/the course decription.. she's definately a "flower child"
I honestly say her teaching sucks just lecture from old literature books. She also doesn't grade your papers just comments. So, I was left wondering what the hell I was making in the course. My opinion she passes you whether she like you or not. If you're international most likely you will not pass.
Full of more crap than a christmas goose. Does not grade on ability. If you dont write like a damn sissy she will fail you. take anybody but her.
She is very hard. I usually make all A's and she gave me a C on my first paper. She gives many comments that you can't even understand. If you don't share her opinions, then you don't stand a chance. She is an extremely nervous person so she jumps around from subject to subject making it hard to follow her. AVOID HER IF YOU CAN.
This woman is very evil!! She does not have a heart , she is a cold human being!!!
she is very emotional and has no direction or clear way of teaching. She not easy to understand because youhave clue what she's talking about. this class was almost pointless. however some information will be useful in futer writing
I enjoyed her. Very fair and helpful. All I did was show up, paid attention (she's very intelligent and loves what she does) and did my assignments, which were easy. Yeah...didn't do as good as I usually do in English, but still made a 'B'. Her info is useful.
She is very hard..doesn't believe in A's. She told me so herself. I am a A student, so you can imagine. BUT, he hard grading and very perticular way of grading has made the english classes that have followed much much easier. Those teacher don't hold a candle to her.
Very good professor; cares about students. NOT for those looking for an easy grade/really don't care about academics. She is better suited for mature students. Teaches Advanced Exposition as it should be taught..as an expanding, serious exposition class. Enjoyed her class; left knowing more about the creative process of writing. I'm an avg student.
well... its not a good idea to schedule this class unless you plan to overdose on NoDOz....
OH MY GOD!!! THIS LADY NEED TO RETIRE & GO HOME AND KNIT HER GREAT GRANDSON A SWEATER!! ALL SHE SO IS NAGGG..SHE GRADE LIKE SHE IS A PERFECTIONIST...SHE DONT GIVE A's, AND SHE DONT LET YOU EARN THEM EITHER...DONT TAKE THIS NAGGIND A** WOMAN!! I'M TELLING YOU FOR YOUR OWN GOOD..
She's for mature students.. not easy, but good.
Horrible teacher, very unclear
Completely horrible! She repeats herself over and over. She talks in circles. She doesn't like A students, I have a 3.7 and I made my first ever c in her class...FOR ABSENCES. She makes attendance mandatory, but never says anything important, I could have learned the same thing from a textbook!
She is the worst teacher ever! She counts every word on the final! It has to be AT LEAST 500 words! DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!!!
This woman has teaching skills. I didn't learn a damn thing form her lectures, they were pointless. She was very rude. I dropped her class towards the end because I couldn't stand to look at her or listen to her nonsense lectures.
VERY HARD TEACHER. DO NOT TAKE HER COURSES. ANY OF THEM. SHES THE HARDEST TEACHER ON CAMPUS!
Loved her class. I am a total English head. I may be one of the few ones that actually received an A. Well more like earned an A. She is totally hard, but it I haven't come across a teacher with the claim composure like her. If you're looking for a joy ride, she's not the teacher for you. If you're interested in great paced hardwork. she's for you
Do not take her...Class if very confusing and if you miss for any reason she is no help at all...
Ms. Stears in my opinion was a little difficult. She grades pretty hard and she gives a lot of writing assignments, but her tactics will better equip you for the next English courses you have to take. The hard work paid off for me. I passed with a B despite my belief that I would fail her class.
By far the worst teacher I have ever had. She doesn't know how to teach! DO NOT TAKE THIS WOMAN AS A TEACHER!!!!
she speaks very softly, so it's hard to understand what she is saying sometime. she seemed very scatterbrained and very unorganized. i ended up dropping the class, i was in the class for three weeks, and didn't learn a thing.
A nice woman, by all means, but does not fit into the College category at all. She acts and teaches more like a middle school teacher, and her exercises and lectures are full of useless details and life lessons. None of it helps. She tries too hard, in short.
Not very nice
she is a horrible teacher, she speaks very softly, and is super scatterbrained. most of the class, she spent preaching about little "life lessons" and about the people who wouldn't go to class. i ended up dropping the class, because by the drop date, we didnt have any grades or assignments turned in.
Garbage. Rubbish. Terrible, terrible, terrible. No class has ever made me so frustrated as much as this one. This teacher is boring, scatterbrained, and by no means fun. Her lessons are about as useful as a tank of diesel in a house fire. Save yourself, and go find an enjoyable class.
The lady stays into her own little world. She talks about things forever && travel completely off subject. This class was my first English class to make such low scores in. She isnt interested in helping you. And she would rather tell you about her life, then about your own work. DONT TAKE HER!!!
Do not even think about taking this woman. So scatterbrained and just ridiculous!
This is my CURRENT english teacher and she is ALWAYS talking; however she isnt too bad. She grades REALLY hard, but if your a good writer you shouldnt have much to worry about. But she isnt a personal favorite of miness.
She is extremely strict especially about being on time. She grades hard and you don't really know what you have in the class until the end of the semester. This is not an easy class.
Horrible teacher. 0 tolerance for anything other than her own voice. Actively will try to stick you with a bad grade
Worst English 101 teacher ever! She would comment that my papers were excellent but still give me a D. Ended up with a C and I worked my butt off...do not take!
Has the ability to make you want to drop out of college. If you can avoid taking her- do so.
Possibly the most boring and pointless class I've ever taken. She is the first professor i've ever had that can lecture for an hour without saying a single useful statement. Gives completely pointless assignments and often doesn't even grade the things you turn in.
Worst professor I have ever had. I would highly NOT recommend this teacher to anyone. Lectures are pointless, and grades extremely hard. Goodluck if you decide to take her tho. (You will need it)
Very strict teacher. If you dont give her exactly what she wants on her papers she will give a D or lower, no questions asked. She is willing to help you if need. If she see's your trying your best, she will help you out with your grade. I wouldn't recommend her though.
I could teach myself this class without even stepping a foot in it. She gives WAY too much homework & you have a quiz every Friday. The class shouldn't be this hard, but that's what she is trying to make it. If y ou are pressed for time, this isn't the class for you.
I really think this woman means well but she must also think that she is the professor of the only class you are taking. The weekly writing exercises are due for a grade and they are super time consuming, one of them took me about 4 hours to do. However, I believe it pays off in the end. You will improve as a writing. Just be cautious.
Careful with her. If you want the good grade GO TO CLASS AND DO YOUR WORK!!!! She expects nothing but the best so she will push you.
no matter how hard you work, the workload is never ending & nobody makes it out with an A OR alive. Sitting in this class is like swallowing nails. Never Again!
Class was extremely confusing, we focused more on correct grammar and seeing I'm stuck with her again in English 304 I'm glad I took her class. It helped but was very confusing, if you want an easy teacher and easy grade, dont take her.
DO NOT TAKE. She assumes that all of her student are on the same level of intelligence and experience as her. Everything that she explains is EXTREMELY vague, everyone is constantly confused. She also gives a lot of coursework, avoid at all costs.
Professor Stear appears to be a kind lady; however she runs her classroom as if it's a middle school setting. She micromanages EVERYTHING, down to where she wants her students to be seated. I did not enjoy this class in the least. She speaks in a very monotone voice, and grades very hard. She's also very scatterbrained. I would avoid at all costs!
Although Ms. Stear is a nice lady, she is super scatterbrained and I have more incomplete notes than I can count. I've never made a B in english until this class. She focuses way to heavily in my opinion on the technical issues such as comma splices rather than what you have actually written. I will never take her again nor will I recommend her.
Too many experiences in the 60's.
You will count down the seconds in this class everyday. She grades you're papers as if you have published four books at this point in your life, and has no mercy when it comes down to simple mistakes. The worst part about her lectures is that she talks in some literary language that only she understands. Taking notes is impossible in that class.
Lectures are terribly boring, absolutely pointless. Thought I like English Until I ran into this professor. Dropped the course on the second day.
I loved writing and English until I took this course. Very judgmental and will call you out in front of the class if your work was not to her standards. Lectures were long, unnecessary and she is very scattered brained. Instructions are also very unclear on assignments but easy once you try to understand them. Try your best to avoid this professor.
Not the nicest person.
No. Just no. Do not take her class.
I LOVED this class. I'm taking her again this semester for ENG 304 because I loved her so much. If you are a good student who actually answers questions and doesn't mind going to class, she will love you. She helped me sooo much with all my papers because I actually cared. the only reason ppl don't like her is because she wants you to learn.
She is a very nice professor, but she's a bit out there. Her fashion sense confuses me, but it's apparent she loves what she teaches. Her quizzes can be rough but use them to studyfor the tests and you should be fine. Also, know what your first and last name mean, that is bonus on multiple occasions. She wasn't what I was expecting, but she's nice.
When she's telling you what to write about, she uses strange metaphors that don't relate at all to what she wants. Then her comments on your graded work are unclear, and I never knew what she wanted.
do not.. i repeat.. do NOT. take her. she will make you hate writing. you will never know what she wants form you, and she will try to make you change the way you write. she is also scatter brained and never writes comments on your essays.
Beware of this class if you have had trouble in English classes in the past. DO NOT WALK IN FRONT OF HER IF YOU COME IN LATE TO CLASS SHE WILL EXPLODE WITH RAGE. Her assignments may seem like noting but she is a harsh grader. I had a very tough English teacher in high school so i was already acclimated to the class. No tests, just in class essays.
Its just hard.. very hard
She is HORRIBLE. Don't take her! She assigns so many different assignments at once and is very unclear with them. She doesn't really explain things very well. Her class is so boring and hard to pay attention in. JUST DONT TAKE HER.
She was definitely the hardest instructor I have ever had, but I will say that I learned the most from her. I don't think I would take her again because she was overwhelming at times, but, if you're not afraid of a challenge and you love reading and writing, she is definitely for you.
In high school, I had straight A's in english. I had her as my teacher and was brutally surprised at how quirky, but difficult she was. It's easy to fall asleep during her lectures, which are about nothing and have no point, but eventually you must invest a lengthy amount of time into your portfolio and final essay to get an A. It worked for me.
If you show up to class late, be quiet and walk to the very first seat in the class. lectures are horrible bc you're never really sure what she's talking about. Gives a lot of assignments and is never clear about anything, but she thinks she is. Very hard grader, I was always an A student in english and these are the worst grades i've ever gotten.
She knows her material, she just doesn't quite know how to TEACH it. Scatterbrained, confuses you often. Don't think you can pass without studying! LOTS of quizzes, very little quality lecture time because she goes off on irrelevant items . HOWEVER, if you go to see her in office, her attitude toward you will improve.
Nice lady, but scatterbrained. She knows her stuff - she just doesn't know how to teach it where it's INTERESTING to the class. And she rambles on about NOTHING pertinent. Weekly homework AND quizzes. I dreaded her class days and I like English! Wouldn't recommend.
Dr. Stear was an AMAZING professor and cares a ton about her students. I missed the first two classes so she went over the material for both days with me during her office hours. She gives a lot of bonus so no one should do badly in her class. HIGHLY recomend her to anyone looking for a good experience in an English course.
It's a vocabulary class, so just learn vocabulary and roots, most of which you'll probably already be familiar with. Quizzes/tests are pretty straightforward. She does ask some questions about things she covers in lecture, which are boring and kind of all over the place. Lots of tedious, but simple, homework in the beginning of the semester.
The class time was pointless. All class her class was just her basically reading her syllabus over and over, we did nothing really boring.
Doesnt make clear what she wants from you
The worst English teacher I have EVER had. I had her last semester and I'm retaking English 101 currently because of how hard she grades. If there is one thing I warn to those taking her class, CHECK. MOODLE. FREQUENTLY. She puts everything on Moodle and doesn't say a word. I'm shocked people actually passed her class. Also talks WAY too much. :/
Do not take this professor unless you are seriously ready to learn, work hard, improve and do well. She grades tough because she wants you to become a better writer. You have to want it. I took her for 304 and 360. She's not that bad but you have to want to improve and do better and be willing to work hard.
Yes, she is a tough grader if you cannot complete 4 sentences (grammatically correct) every week. This class should be a piece-of-cake to most students if you know how to use a dictionary and listen to her in class; she gives the class most of the answers for the quizes scheduled every week.
She is terrible. No clear instructions, no help given on assignments. You have weekly sentences 25+ words that you are graded on and you have to improve throughout the semester. I am an A student that barley received a C in her class. Don't take it!
Avoid at all costs. I have never finished one of my sentences while speaking to this professor. Her directions are vague and students are left not knowing what Ms. Stear wants. She's very hard to please, which is disheartening when you followed her directions to the best of your ability. Any question directed at her will be treated like a bother.
Imagine being assigned to write a classic obituary, basing it off of the example she provided, and being deducted points for, "avoid imitating a typical obituary," when the assignment was to write an obituary... The class was full of unfair deductions that had zero logic. My best subject is English and I received a B for illogical marks like that.
Wasn't granted seeing my grades until the last week of class. If you ask about your grade, she basically makes it seem like you have no right to know and tells you you have the "wrong mindset if you are focusing on a letter grade." She does not agree with grades, just pass or fail. Why does that not give us the right to know our grade? Not sure.
This is the worst professor I've ever taken in my entire life. YOU WON'T LEARN ANYTHING but attitude and she talks about the syllabus everyday. Don't take her!!!!!!
I love Ms. Stear. Her class is interesting if you attend the lectures. She is a very caring person, though slightly intimidating when you first meet her. She is extremely passionate about vocabulary.
She is a very nice person but I would not recommend her. All she talks about is the syllabus and she is never clear of what the assignments are. Shes also a tough grader.
Ms. Stear is one of those professors who will make you work for your grade but will ultimately leave you with a great sense of understanding. Yes, she can be a bit intimidating at first, but I also think she's misunderstood. I think she is very passionate about her craft and that shows. However, grades were unclear until the last week of class.
Her mellow toned voice will put you STRAIGHT TO SLEEP during those lectures and she can talk you to your grave !!!
Listen, avoid this teacher at all cost!! She contradicts her grading methods and is unclear. She is rude when talking to students, doesn't make an environment where ideas?ions can be exchanged. Gives excessive amount of work that doesn't seem to benefit us in anyway. Also doesn't post grades and doesn't believe in letter grades. Do NOT take.
Do NOT take this teacher!! not worth the hike to griffin. Extremely rude to students. Doesn't prepare y'all for the exams. Excessive work that she doesn't not give a clear grading scale on. I promise, you don't want to take this teacher. You don't want to get on her bad side because you won't do well on the assignments. Take another teacher.
This class was ridiculous. There is no point for a vocabulary development class to be this hard... I was shocked at the grades I made. I never made a D and this was my first D ever. The method of lecturing was not engaging. Just not efficient way of teaching vocab.
Horrible professor. Do not recommend anyone to ever take her class. Hard to get in touch with, hardly responds to emails, her Moodle page is all over the place so it gets confusing and overwhelming when trying to figure out what assignments need to be completed for the week.
From first meeting her she seems a bit snobby, but I think she genuinely cares about her students. I wish the discussion criteria was clearer because there were many times I had no idea what she was expecting/wanted us to write about.
She wasnt my favorite professor and it was very easy to fail her class if you didnt do what was given but the portfolio will save your grade if you do it well! Dont get on your phone she will kick you out and dont miss class. I will say you will learn what a coma splice is and never make that mistake again! Tough love.
I personally liked Joan Stear. During class, she would get off topic a lot. She would show videos and different things to try and relate to other things that we needed to know for English. She did not wanna get vaccinated so our class had to go via moodle at half of the semester. Will call you a boring writer LMAO. Knows a lot about writing.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
69%
Textbook Required
46%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.18 avg changeRatings by Course
ENG90
5.0
(1)ENG092
4.0
(1)ENGL092
4.0
(1)ENGL20
4.0
(1)ENGL201
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
101
5.0
360
5.0
EXPOWRITING
5.0
ENG092
5.0
ENGL90
5.0