The Best of the Best on RateMyProfessor.com

Broadside Correspondent Donald O'Mahony

On RateMyProfessor.com, English Professor Kim Cirka holds the second highest overall ranking from her students. You will not be able to find any students taking class with her this semester, but she can expect a large waitlist of students when she comes back to teach at George Mason University next semester.

“A student let me know about [ratemyprofessor.com],” said Cirka, who teaches English 302. “It was flattering.”

Cirka believes that there is one characteristic that is common among all great professors. “Students pick up on instructors that are passionate,” Cirka said. “If you are not passionate about what you teach, you should not be an instructor, period.”

English 302 is an advanced composition course that is offered in different concentrations. As an adjunct professor, Cirka teaches the sections that the English Department needs her to. And while she knows writing can be intimidating, Cirka tries to make it fun and relate it to students’ everyday lives.

“I am interested in technology and pop culture,” Cirka said. “I try to use different types of media to make class more interesting.”

Many of Cirka’s students enjoy her class because they realize that she knows what it was like to be in college and tries to make her lessons meaningful.

“She is the best at what she does because she incorporates real life stories and lets the students be interactive in her class,” said Rida Naeem, a junior marketing major. “She has a way of including everyone in a discussion and is open to individuality.”

Cirka believes the reason that her students rate her so highly could be that she is very open to different ideas.

“I think it’s because I have many different interests,” Cirka said. “I try to let my students pick topics that interest them. That way, I can learn things, too.”

Many of the students that admire Cirka appreciate the fact that she allows them to revise their papers to get better grades.

“She gives very good feedback on papers and allows you to fix them until you are able to get full credit on every single paper she requires,” said Chelsea Kropp, a senior biology major. “A lot of work goes into the class, but you learn a lot about your own writing.”

Cirka feels the revision process is important because some students use writing samples from class for job interviews. She wants to make sure the writing samples are as good as possible.

“I am a tough grader, but I try to help students individually,” Cirka said. “Each student is at a different level.”

Cirka is taking a break from teaching this semester to work a novel and an article about learning disabilities in the classroom. While in college, she was diagnosed with a learning disability and wants to use her experiences to help others who might have similar problems.

“The reason the article is important to me is because people think there is something wrong with people that have learning disabilities,” Cirka said. “The article is aimed at helping people deal with that.”

Students appreciate the fact that they can always turn to Cirka for help, even after they have moved on from her class.

Senior tourism and events management major Stephanie Doege is one of many students that has benefited from Cirka’s helpfulness outside of the classroom. Doage said Cirka once looked over a paper that she was writing for a different class.

“One of the best things about Professor Cirka is that she told us from the first class that she is our professor forever,” Naeem said. “The student-professor relationship we have does not end with the semester. She encourages us to use her as a reference.”