I am always looking for ways to improve my teaching and I appreciate receiving feedback from my students.  Please, don't hesitate to send me an email and let me know what you thought of the course.  I would love to hear from you.  At the end of the academic year I give my students an opportunity to write me a letter about what they learned in class.  I'm always amazed and pleased to learn what the students thought was important.  In addition, students are able to rate the class without having to give their names.  Both of these instruments provide me with a solid assessment of my teaching methods.  Every year I update my teaching because of the feedback I receive from my students.  You might be interested in what some of my students had to say about my history classes.  So...jump in the cab, sit back and enjoy the ride. 

Quotes taken from student evaluations.  More than 98% of my students each year rate me a superior teacher. 

(Student evaluations are on file.)

 "Because you give us grade sheets each term - I learned that grades are not given - they are earned." [This is a software program that I use to show students their grades - a complete listing of all tests, quizzes, homework, and projects.]

" …I was told to write many projects, many reports.  In these papers I was taught to present the facts in the paper and to form an opinion around those facts, not to form an opinion around personal thoughts and ignorance."

 "It is the most fair class I have ever been a part of."

"The most important thing is that we’ve learned - to relate the past to the present; you taught us what history is."

"You really tried to help make learning about history fun.  I also think it's great how you really care about your students." 

"The only negative thing about this class was the workload.  Sometimes it almost seemed impossible how much work I had, especially for one of my only CP classes."

"The Journals weren’t great, but the Current Events actually got me to read the papers.  Now I read it every day."

"Good projects were the term papers on a person and an event.  Those were fun things to do."

"Not only did you give us this knowledge, you showed us how to understand it and use it to better our lives."

"You’re not like other teachers, you try to have a relationship with us, to make class fun, and make us feel that we could do all the work.  You were fair…"

"I liked the grades on a sheet for us to look at."

"Too many projects!  This year in your class was very fun, and definitely one that I will remember for a long time.  There were a ton of projects this year and I usually hate doing them."

"It was a good and fun class.  We learned to take notes, set up papers, and do lots of projects.  Something I liked with you Mr. Gallagher is that you help the kids that need help and don’t come to you.  You try and go to them." 

"I hope that you stick around this school for a while because you will change lives and the way people think."

"I think the term papers were a little bit hard.  Thanks for teaching me all those things you taught me.  You didn’t only teach us history, but you also taught us about the real world."

"Nicest, fairest, most fair teacher I have ever met.  …I don’t know how you did it, but you made history fun.  Every day I couldn’t wait for G period so I could be here."

"Class was never boring.  Take it easy on those projects.  How to write a letter, construct a term paper, there’s a million so I’m going to stop here.  You always showed us respect."

"We were forced to learn new things…Too much work, but it’s worth it because we learned a lot."

"I don’t think I’m as ignorant as I was before."

"Out of all of the skills I will take with from this class, the ability to organize myself and to get my work done is one of the most important.  I now will be able to survive in college" 

"I would give this class the highest rating possible.  I have learned to organize myself and most importantly, the importance of trying my hardest in school.  At the same time I have learned these skills in a fun classroom environment, where I was comfortable to speak my mind."

"This course was an awesome adventure.  I liked that this course was fun; it wasn’t a regular history class.  I learned so much this year.  More than I did in the 8^th and 9^th grades."

"First of all I want to say that I had an awesome year and that you’re the best teacher I’ve ever had.  I think that projects and papers were very effective because they required a lot of effort therefore making information easier to absorb.  Also the projects we did on the charter schools and other related things kept us up to date on what was going on around us."

"I learned a lot of formatting stuff on the computer and I learned how to educate myself if I were ignorant."

"I don’t think some of the projects were necessary, like the Child Labor one, but the term papers and activities helped.  The only boring days were when we took notes.  I liked when you used PowerPoint.  Do away with the Journals."

"I may not have done all the work, but I know how and I will never forget what you have taught me in and out of class.  I feel you treated me with the upmost respect and I respect you even more for that."

"I think you should not have current events.  Also find more ways to give homework passes.  I don’t like how we had so many projects.  I learned how to write a letter, do a paper, debate, and really just know your stuff and be knowledgeable about it.  Yes, I had a blast this year and hope to see you next year."

"I would just suggest you to not give us as much in class and take home projects.  We have 7 other classes and it gets stressful.  I liked how everything is this course was well-planned and fun.  I liked some skills too.  How to write a paper correctly and how to study and take notes properly." 

"I learned responsibility in this class and to listen and do my work.  I was treated with respect and I like that you are friendly with everybody."

"The projects at times got to be a little much, but I still learned from them.  I can honestly say I did not know how to write a term paper or write any kind of important papers till I have came into your class.  …sometimes during lectures with the overhead got a little boring.  I liked that you can have a great personality and teach at the same time and guide students into the right direction.  I appreciate everything you have done for me and I thank you very much."

"Before I answer all your questions, I’d like to thank you.  I truly learned very little in the past two years.  Thanks to you however, I can carry on conversations about the world and actually know what I’m talking about.  Thank you."

"Thanks for teaching me how to write a term paper.  I actually wanted to learn how to make one but I was never taught how to and I didn’t want to leave the high school without knowing how to.  Not only do you teach us - but you make it fun and exciting.  I’ve actually learned more from you then any other teacher…and I actually enjoyed coming to this class and I used to hate history classes.  You know how to grab my attention."

"I also like the way you teach by asking the same question over and over, it jams the information into your mind.  You also were a part of why I enjoyed the class, you’re more than fair, you know how to teach, and just an all round great guy.  The most important skill I learned which I am very grateful for is how to write a very good research paper or report.  You taught me to use the facts."

"I am going to take with me the skill to write my thoughts, how to study, how to write a thesis and outline, how to start and write a research paper and how to be an honest person.  You’re an amazing person and of course teacher."

"Honestly I do not think you should change anything.  This course was amazing.  I wish you would teach AP US History because you would help explain this clearer.  I could never learn in history class before I had you.  I do feel that I was treated with respect by you.  In the rest of my CP classes the teachers treat me like I’m stupid but not you.  You treated everyone like they were special and I thank you for that."

"If you never told me that this was your first full year of teaching, I never would’ve assumed that you were because you always seemed prepared – knew what you were teaching.  The things I liked the most were the notes you gave and the packets on the chapter you gave because they seemed to help me a lot.  The only thing I disliked was some of the reading out of the book, but what kid would?"

"I like that you really care about your black students."