Interesting.

My best idea this semester?
I made a completely anonymous TA evaluation for myself and sent it to my class.

It's both frightening and liberating to see what people REALLY think of you. My first (and favorite) question is "Describe Jessica in one word."

Responses so far (verbatim):
cheerful
help
Knowledgeable
perky
Arabic

Hmm...perky? I don't think I've ever had that said about me. It's a quality I kind of hate. Maybe it's a result of nerves. I always wanted to film myself teaching so I could see how I sound. Maybe my anxiety comes off as perkiness.

Answers to the other survey questions reveal that I apparently explain things well, grade fairly, and that I'm not annoying. 100% of all respondents replied "Extremely true" to "Jessica cared about me! and "Jessica is a nice person." :-)

Positive comments so far:
"She seemed like she knew what she was talking about/knew the material really well."
"She is always smiling and lets us know straight what we need to know."
"She was really great at giving feedback and always wrote the right answer on our quizzes."
"Very approachable and kind."

And the negative side:
"Ummm...she tends to not explain more." (What does this mean?)
"I don't even know."
"Nothing! she was great!"

And an interesting one that someone wrote for positive AND negative:
"Was seen but not heard in class."

Well, I teach lab, not lecture...
I'll keep you updated as more people take the survey. In the words of Kronk, "That's one more for exotic bird bingo. I am loving this."