Polyratings.com: Swanagon, Russell

Home Professor Search Professor List Evaluate a Professor About Us Contact Us

Swanagon, Russell

Cumulative GPA: 3.14/4.00 with 14 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 2.93
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.29

Liberal Studies Department, Cal Poly, SLO
Full Statistical Analysis
Evaluate This Professor

LS 310 Freshman Grade Earned: A Elective 10:37 pm, Mar 19, 2013 Report Evaluation		Swanagon is a great guy with a really big heart who really wants to see his students do well. Lectures can be long, but he knows this and constantly apologizes for it. He went above and beyond to make the due dates for quizzes, presentations and the final essay fair. I felt a little bad for him at some points because he's really passionate about a class that a lot of people are taking just for an easy A. Overall, I would recommend taking this class if you can get over the stigma behind taking a storytelling class in college. It's not challenging but it's fun and you'll learn some cool things (if you're open to it).

LS 260 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Elective 12:57 pm, Dec 3, 2012 Report Evaluation		On day one Swanagon seems like a happy go lucky guy, who is super interesting and into what he teaches. It is obvious he is passionate about this subject material, however he is an awful lecturer. Swanagon does not know when to shut up. He is a rambler and just goes on and on. His power point presentations are boring as hell, and do not bother taking notes, they will be of no use to you. Despite his lack of presentation skills, take this class. While I took it as an elective, it should be an easy A or B. Sit in the back so you can work on other things. Your points will come from online quizzes (you get 2 tries and they are SO easy if you have the book!). Points also come from super easy "arts and crafts" projects and a presentation you give with/without group on children's books. There is also a little write up you do on this and some journaling over the quarter from books you read. We read Holes, Secret Garden, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc. SO EASY! Do go to class because he takes attendance on random days.

LS 310 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 12:31 pm, Dec 1, 2012 Report Evaluation		So Swanagon is super nice. He really doesn't like to see his students struggle so her will be there for you! I had him for both children's literature and storytelling. Let me tell you, children's literature is so much more fun than storytelling. But of course I did not enjoy telling two stories in storytelling. The assignments? You have quizzes every week online, those questions and lecture notes, and what he says in class are what is on the midterm. During the quarter you choose two folklore stories to tell to the class. You have to make it your own through voice and body language. Some people are really good, and others are just trying to get through it. They are suppose to be 6-8 minutes long. Oh and he records you on his camera so he can look back and grade it. The big project is the folklore journal where you choose 50 folklore stories from 7 different cultures! for each culture you have to write about them. They 7 must include hispanic, african american, and native american. he likes it if you're are creative with it, like a scrapbook. Please don't hold off on this. You have all quarter but seriously just don't. I did and it was a nightmare. Haven't taken the final but not too worried. Anyway he said he was going to change up a few things for future quarters so who knows. Lectures are like pulling teeth because he rambles off and tries his hardest to use the two hours. Have fun.

LS 101 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 5:25 pm, Apr 19, 2012 Report Evaluation		So arrogant. The guy majored in storytelling so he obviously loves to hear himself talk. Okay teacher but such an annoying person.

LS 260 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Elective 10:42 pm, Dec 1, 2011 Report Evaluation		I am not an LS major, but children's lit sounded like a fun class. It turned out to be a lot more teacher oriented (like discussing how to use literature in a classroom setting), but I should not have been surprised considering this is a liberal studies class, not and English class. We read 5 chapter books, had weekly online quizzes, and did a couple projects, but none of it was too bad. I think this is good class to take as an elective if you're not an LS major cause the workload is not too bad and it's kind of fun if you don't mind sitting in a room with like 25 girls and five guys.

LS 260 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Elective 9:37 pm, Mar 13, 2010 Report Evaluation		This was an amazing class and he very clearly has a passion for literature. His experience as a teacher comes in handy for this class. Lots of reading, but you will look forward to completely the reading. He has AMAZING hair (and knows it, which is fun). Take this class.

LS 310 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 4:23 pm, Feb 22, 2010 Report Evaluation		Russel Swanagon is a teacher who is really passionate about the subject of storytelling and he likes teaching. The assignments are mostly readings, the fairytales and fables are most important, not the textbooks. He is very friendly and very willing to help you with your presentation or any other questions that you may have. Don\'t stress about the presentations too much, they were actually very fun. He does tend to ramble on a bit too much, but he\'s just trying to impart some wisdom on us before we go out to teach on our own. Have fun with the class, I don\'t know why other people are complaining about the class. Easy is good. It is also a pretty fun class.



LS 310 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 8:37 pm, Dec 25, 2009 Report Evaluation		I understand the class is storytelling but that does not mean that every student wishes to listen to the ramblings of Russell Swanagon. First of all, do not buy the books. They are a waste of money and can only be sold back for about $2. Everything you need to know on his poorly written tests can be found on blackboard where you will find a confusing jumble of worksheets and broken links. I took decent notes in the beginning of the quarter and then realized that as the weeks went on, Swanagon started diverting more and more from any topic related to storytelling or its purpose. Each student presents two stories and these are easily done if you spend even one day memorizing a folktale. There is a journal that comprises of 50 stories from 7 different cultures that I recommend each student taking this class start on right away. It is not hard but boring and time consuming. All in all this was an easy class material wise but mind numbing to sit through.

LS 310 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 11:47 pm, Mar 24, 2009 Report Evaluation		Dr. Swanagon is SUCH a nice man and his class is relatively easy. You'll have to present two stories to the class, but everyone has to do it so its not that bad. You have to collect 50 stories from 7 different cultures and write a description about each culture's tradition. As long as you start early in the quarter, it's not that difficult. The only thing that's really annoying is that there really isn't THAT much material to cover, but he drags it out for the entire class time. He actually looks at the clock and thinks for a while before rambling on and on. It's not that big of a deal, but my notes just turned into a bunch of doodling! Take this class, its fun and easy :)

LS 310 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 3:11 pm, Mar 18, 2008 Report Evaluation		I can't believe this is a required class! He is a very nice guy, but this class is a joke. Do all the homework and study and you should be fine. He really likes his job, and it shows, but it still didn't help me to find any interest in the subject.

LS 310 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 12:17 pm, Mar 15, 2008 Report Evaluation		Russell is a good teacher. He likes to talk about how bad the public school system is (which is frustrating, since almost everyone in the class wants to be a public school teacher) he also says his time being a teacher was the best in his life--kind of makes me wonder why he isn't still a teacher? The class is fun, he is a VERY easy grader. The nightly reading is a bit repetitive, but it really cushions your grade if you happen to not be the best public speaker/storyteller. The class is fun, I never dreaded going. It's a fun, easy class and a good GPA booster if you know you have a particularly hard quarter.

LS 310 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 8:49 pm, May 18, 2006 Report Evaluation		Great guy. Isn't at all worried about grading harshly. If its for storytelling, you'll have fun.

LS 310 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 3:08 pm, Mar 29, 2006 Report Evaluation		This guy is awesome and you should all consider taking this class. This is the only evaluation I have given on this thing because I feel like he deserves credit. This class is so much fun to attend and he puts so much into his lessons that you feel like you came out of the class with a better understanding of how stories really are a part of our lives. TAKE THIS CLASS!



LS 310 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 9:28 am, Mar 15, 2005 Report Evaluation		Professor Swanagon was a very fun and "real" professor. This was his first quarter ever teaching at Cal Poly. He is actually an elementary school teacher who agreed to help out our department and teach about storytelling. This is a subject that he knows a great deal about and is so happy to spread the good word of storytelling to us! To all those future teachers out there- can you think of all the times that you've thought "the people teaching our classes on teaching can't even teach..." Well, he is out in the field actually applying what he lectures on- I can respect that for sure. Anyway, this was a great class that changed some of my teaching philosophies and I'm sure the next time around he will be a bit more polished. Maybe not though, and that would be just as much fun :) Definitly take LS 310 with Swanagon, it will be painless and you'll have a lot of laughs.

	Home Go Back Professor List Professor Search