As the semester is coming to a close, summer and finals are approaching, but also one of the worst things ever: spot evaluations. These pesky annoyances blow up your email, it is all professors can talk about and every time you open Canvas, it immediately pops up to remind you to do them. Let's just sit down and have a conversation about spot evaluations.
First off, professors plead every student to do them because they want to learn how to better improve the class. I highly doubt professors go through every single evaluation to read all the comments when there are 100+ people per course. And do professors actually change their entire course after one comment made by a student? It is a little hard to believe.
Second, I understand it is the end of the semester, I do know spot evaluations exist and I do know they are open. I do not need to be notified through every connection that "HEY THE SPOT EVALUATIONS ARE OPEN, COME DO THEM!" If I want to do them, I will do them because sometimes I do want to let the professor know how they are doing, whether that is a fantastic job and I loved the class to how I didn't learn anything. I do not need to be pestered especially when I get countless emails a day, I don't need an email about this.
Third, every lab that has a spot evaluation don't actually have the TA's name but the coordinator of the lab, which at first is super confusing because when it is your first time doing these, all the comments say, "Oh I don't know this person, they never showed up." Spot evaluations need to be adjusted to your actual TA rather than whoever is in charge, it would just make life simpler if I am doing these.
Lastly, the best feeling is when you actually do the spot evaluations and all the notifications go away. It is like crossing off the last thing on your list to do and you will not have to hear from it again, well for at least a semester. When professors talk about it, you can now tune it out and carry on with whatever you're doing. Also, if you are lucky, professors will give extra credit for completing their spot evaluation.
Spot evaluations are meant to help the course and university improve but man — are they the most annoying pest to exist. But luckily it means you are days until the break and you can forget about school and sleep to your heart's content.
