Grover, JoAnne  

She really is a nice and cool lady but JoAnn has no clue what is going on. She refuses to clarify the rules or requirments of projects and if she happens to give the students a hand, it will take all class as she is very shifty in what she wants. She just isn't a good teacher. She's always late; and that is a good thing. She moved back the time our class starts by 10 minutes yet still found a way to arrive after 9.30. Avoid Grover as a teacher unless you want at least 3 homework assiginments every night.

She just shouldn't be teaching and that's all there is to it. She uses someone else's syllabus and refuses to stray from its due dates at all, even though we had a couple days where she cancelled class or we went on a field trip. She's always late to class by at least ten minutes and after she pushed back our start time by ten minutes she would show up ten minutes late anyway. There are all sorts of little assingments due everyday, but she only checks sometimes and only certain ones. Then there's the weekly drawing and weekly project. The drawing probably takes 2-3 hours and the project even more. Add this to all the other stupid little assingments you have to do and it comes out to a lot of homework for just one class. Lastly, she's an inconsistent grader. She used one student's drawing as an example of the high quality of drawings turned in, yet he got a D on it. She doesn't know what she wants from assingments, it's a lot of guessing.

Lets see, where to begin. Well for one thing, I admit that she comes off as a nice person outside of class. But inside, what the HELLLLLLLL...LLLLLL..LL She gives us so much freakn work. Let me repeat, she gives us so much freakn work. I never had to pull so many all-nighters in her class just to get a decent grade on a project or assignment. Her grading policy is bullshit....She assigns us weekly drawings without teaching us different methods of drawing in the first place. She tries to follow everything on the syllabus and spends half the class just reading the syllabus. Don't think you'll get out of class early, she goes on and on about nothing. I put so much effort into that class and got nothing out of it except....oh wait a minute, that's right, I did get nothing out of it. Everyone in her class could agree that they could have lived without her. If you signed up for her class, I'm sorry for the dumb shit you'll go through. The END.

Grover did a very good job this quarter of adhering to student needs and having a very inclusive course load. To the contrary of prior reviews, Grover never kept us in the classroom for the full three hours, maybe not even two. She would give us our assignments, and the rest of the 2.5 hours could be used how we wished, whether we desired one on one help or just wanted to leave the lab. Overall, i think she did a very good job with teaching us design basics while not overwelming us with work.

JoAnn Grover is very nice. I though that she did not like me because I went 5 weeks without stepping a foot into her class. What happened was I was very ill and when I went back to class she understood that and helped me out as much as possible for me to pass. She allowed me to turn in most of the work late (very late) although she only accepts 4 late assignments a quarter. With her instruction and your ingenuity, your drawing skills with improve drastically from beginning to end.

I think that Grover is definitely the best arch teacher out there for freshmen. i would definitely recommend her to anybody. She is really nice, funny, and i never had to pull all-nighters or anything. Her class does have a lot of work, but what arch class doesnt? She always has good and bad to say about everyones work, and shows no favoritism. she grades really fair, and grades to your ability and doesnt really care about bell curves and that crap. but just know that she will probably change projects and deadlines a lot, she is pretty laid-back though so never stress out about it. oh and she is never less than ten to fifteen min late so dont ever be in class on time because you will just sit there for a while....

i really enjoyed going to this class. everybody raves about freeby but i don't think grover should be overlooked. they are completely different teachers. grover concentrates mostly on drawing and graphic design (which is really what drawing & design should be about). she's very helpful when giving critiques and always what's to make your design better. you won't do any computer work with photoshop, formZ, or illustrator although you are welcome to when you create projects (if you want, of course). overall i would take her again, she's interesting and helpful if you are open to what she has to say.

Grover does not present the material clearly by any means, she is constantly forgetting/changing rules on assignments and is a harsh grader. She also plays favorites big time, so dont make her mad. She keeps you the ENTIRE 9 hours a week unlike Illingworth (who i highly reccomend). Grover also doesnt teach you anything, she just hands out assignments with rules she changes every two seconds. Grover shouldnt be teaching, period! Take illingworth if you can, he actually teaches you techniques and is a really cool guy. p.s. Grover is the devil

"AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" basically sums up how I feel about Grover's class. I only had her for 122, so I can't claim that I know how she is ALL the time, but I know that for 122 she is a syllabus nazi. We did EVERY 122 assignment in the syllabus and she even adds little assignments of her own throughout the quarter. Wannna leave early from class? DON'T TAKE GROVER. You are guarunteed to stay the entire three hours either doing busy work or going over the syllabus. Somewhere in the syllabus it must tell Grover how to breathe. I honestly tried to have a positive outlook on the class thinking that all the work would benefit me in the end. At about 4 weeks I felt overwhelmed and by the end of the quarter I felt utterly broken. I wanted to shoot myself in the face countless times during the quarter. If this had been my only class I still would have felt overwhelmed. The main problem I had with Grover as a teacher is that she failed to present the material clearly. I don't think she even understood what the syllabus was saying sometimes, so she never clarified how to do the assignments. If you really want a challenge and a shitload of work that she doesn't explain how to do then take Grover. Oh and if you think you may be even the slightest bit suicidal, please don't take her. You will be dead by the end of the 10 weeks.

Grover is a nice person, knows a lot about architecture and has good experience. In her class we did some fun activities, but she would always keep us for the whole 3 hours, all the time. even if it meant wasting time doing a repetivive excercise or taking a longs break or reading the syllabus. Instructions were unclear at times and for due dates there seemed to be lots of unnecessary stress. but i learned alot despite all the work.

This teacher gives way too much homework and does a bad job of explaining assignments and techniques you need to know. I hate the class I'm in so much right now that I am dropping out of Architecture

Grover was a great teacher and I learned a ton from her. sure she gives a lot of work, but it paid off. I think she's very art oriented which is why i think my skills in drawing and sketching really improved. She's really nice and understanding. We may stay for the majority of the 3 hours but we get a break in between. Atleast I'm getting my money's worth!

Grover is the nicest person you shall meet. She is so friendly its almost fake sometimes but overall she seems genuinely nice. One time I handed her a forgotten pen set from someone and she thought I was quitting architecture and gasped and tried to tell me not to. I laughed and told her they weren't mine but she really seems to care. If your drawing skills aren't perfect or you don't have time to spend on her weekly drawings be prepared to feel some sort of embarassment as the class ranks the drawings of the class from top 5 'worst' to top 5 'best'. Her projects are all from syllabus which is a plus and minus, but she has difficulty explaining what the project entails and you will have to ask her a lot of follow up questions in person after class. She dosen't really give many examples in class. Be prepared to buy a lot of art supplies as she likes colored pencils and markers (also sketch pads, art pads), as well as the folly kit supplies that you will need. If you need to improve your drawing skills and think that some class competition will help you out then she will motivate you to improve but her project descriptions can be confusing. Good luck!

Pretty much everybody gets an A in da Grova (we dont actually call her that) She is a great teacher for first year! Just about everybody who takers her likes here. People generally say its not as much work as freeby or wiley, but it still is and it's not like any of the teachers are a walk in the park. Basically the arch teachers go down like this Grover- Artsy a lot about color. Freeby/Wiley- computers, abstract, black and white, but you learn a lot about space and shapes. more like 2nd year teachers (which is not a good thing for most.) Bagnall- Grover's teacher when she was at poly. less artsy, but pretty similar. and he seems to have changed since his old poly ratings. Mueller-Least work, class rarely goes an hour. but she can be really annoying, what she tells you isnt consistent. she make you do things over and over. very wierd. MY SUGGESTION: TAKE DIFFERENT TEACHERS AND GET A STRONG BASE FIRST YEAR. then specialize latter on. I took freeby first quarter, then i took grover, now a know about space and shapes from freeby and color and drawing from grover, the freeby students havent learned anything about color. Grover make you do a whole bunch of little things like gesture drawings, journey sketches, weekly drawings and main projects. In Freeby and Wiley you have projects and weekly drawings. Grover's last project is really cool. Only problem is that she doesnt communicate what she wants you to do very well. I say take wiley/freeby then grover/bagnall, then 3rd quarter take whatever is your weakness, and if swearigen is teaching take him.

You should definitely take Grover sometime during your freshman year. Yeah, you'll hear everyone raving about the cool and abstract work that people do in Wiley's or Freeby's class but Grover offers a lot that those two do not. You'll get a lot from doing architectural lettering,drawings, and other exercises from the Design Drawing book you're required to buy. By the way, Grover is the only teacher who actually uses that book. She focuses a lot on color theory during second quarter, so if anything, appreciate her for that because she's the only teacher who will teach you a thing or two about color. Sadly, you won't get much from her critiques. My advice is that you should really take advantage of peer critiques and bust people's balls for shitty work. It's the only way they'll improve since Grover will say it's "lovely" anyway.

Grover, like any teacher has her good and bad points. She's easy and hard in her own ways. Mostly, shes pretty easy because she always lets you know exactly what she wants. The only reason shes really hard is because she sticks very much to the syllabus, which results in a lot of busy work sometimes. She really cares about her students, and you csan learn a lot from her if youre willing to ask some questions. I have never known anyone to not get an A in her class if you just do your work.

Simply the best teacher I had for freshman year. I don't see why her ratings are so low... She is a good listner and gives you personal attention and great advice on improving your work. Highly recommend giving her a try your first year.

Ms. Grover was the best teacher in drawing i ever had. If you actally enjoy drawing and architecture her classes are the best. She knows exactly what shes talking about and goes by the sylabus so there is no confusion. She grades fairly and gives good critiques to help you improve no matter how good you work is. And she is always fun to talk to and helps you out whenever you need help! SHES THE TEACHer and really cares about her students!

First off --you have absolutely no idea what your grade is in any studio class. Do not expect to get a high grade if you don't work hard. JoAnn is a very fun, easygoing, and a forgiving teacher that almost ALWAYS arrives late to class and emails us very early in the morning about what to bring each day. For that, I couldn't rank her perfectly. However, she relays information quite well, tells you what you need to do in order to improve your work, and encourages you! She isn't a bad teacher at all, but get on her good side right away. Show up to class, get involved, and do your work and you will be surprised at how helpful she can be. She's a little "out there" sometimes, but for the most part she always puts her students first and does her very best to help you succeed. I write this before my final grades are released, and I expect nothing lower than a B. From what I hear, JoAnn hands out a lot of A's and B's as long as your do the work well and on time. Definitely nicer to you during critiques than other studio professors, and not so harsh when it comes to giving you advice. A lot of side work is assigned --if you don't get around to it, stay in the shadows since she probably will not notice (it is not graded). Overall, I would definitely recommend this professor for first-year students. She eases you into the whole idea of working your butt off, and transitions you well for what is coming up later in the long years of college.

Joann is such an outstanding teacher! She was able to answer all my questions very clearly, advised me throughout the whole quarter, and devoted her time to her students. I would definitely recommend taking her. Just communicate with her frequently on the progress of your projects and she will help you as much as she can. The environment of her studio was very comfortable and it made it easier to work and focus. She is almost the "mother" of the studio. Don't expect to not work hard in this class because she assigns work with every prompt. Be prepared to spend hours on one prompt but it will definitely help you to finish your projects. Ask her as many questions to see what she wants or else you will not receive a grade you think you are going to get.

JoAnne is a very nice woman. I generally like her as a person. She isn't a terribly hard grader either. However, she never comes prepared to class. She wastes the entire classes time while she tries to figure out how to use the equipment. Every assignment changed three or four times before she even finished telling us what it was. It drove me nuts. I would tune her out until she finished figuring out what she was assigning, then ask a fellow student what she had said. What would take her 30-60 minutes to explain(this is no exageration at all) could be recapitulated by another student in only one minute.

This is the first C I have recieved in my entire life. I hope that says something to all of you out there watching their GPA. Do not take him--this class was a nightmare!