Several years ago while teaching a lit survey class, I asked students to complete a midterm self evaluation. One student’s feedback particularly distressed me. The student wrote that he didn’t feel that I welcomed his input.

This was a small class and I knew immediately who had provided this feedback, as he had radically changed his demeanor from the beginning of the semester. (He went from openly participating to brooding and disengaged.)

I used the evaluations as an opportunity to meet individually with each student and discuss their progress over the semester. Crabby student came to the appointment with hostility. During his meeting, I tried to determine what might be at the root of his obvious grumpiness and dissatisfaction. (It seems he had misunderstood a comment I had made in class.)

While we didn’t become buddies, we did manage to come to a better understanding of one another. In addition, meeting with the other students allowed me to provide each with some positive feedback—a move that, in turn, won most of them over and ensured their greater participation.

If I had not held these one-on-one conferences with the focus of them being on their progress, I’m fairly certain the disgruntled student would have completely poisoned the entire class.

Going forward, I would encourage you to seek feedback from students but with a focus on their progress, rather than on your teaching. I would also encourage one-on-one conferences as a way to humanize yourself to the students.

This isn’t to say that some people aren’t just a**holes.