Friend, Kathleen  

This was a 7 AM Field Experience lecture class. It was terribly early, but she at least understood that kind of. She did talk about fairly informative stuff, but nothing was tested on. The best part about the class was when we WEREN'T in class, and we were at our site for field experience. Definitely nothing wrong with her teaching this basic lecture, but nothing outstanding.

Friend was a pretty good instructor. I guess I only saw her for an hour a week, unfortunately at the heinously early hour of 7 am every tuesday. 230 is a useful class. It helped me decide NOT to be a teacher. Friend is alright but I think she may have some emotional stress because one day in class she just broke down in tears and sent us all home. I think we were all a little confused... other than that she is really nice, cares a LOT about education and wears earrings that look like canoes. Also, dont worry... she is really tolerant of late work. I turned my stuff in a week late RIGHT before finals and i still got credit. Have fun... Sort of.

Dr. Friend was the most confusing professor I've ever had. She gives you the assignment sheet at the beginning of the quarter, but then constantly makes changes to it throughout the year, and does not clarify what she wants you to do. The questions she asks in the homework are ridiculous, and she didn't present the material very well. The fact that the class was at 8 in the morning made it even worse. She takes of 20 points if you are absent, but then if you are late at all, she counts it as an absence, so if you are going to be late, you might as well skip the whole class altogether. I would not recomend this class, unfourtunately it is required and Dr. Friend is the only professor to teach it.

A ridiculous amount of work, all of it busy work. About 3-5 assignments due for every class.

Dr. Friend was one of the most confusing professors I have had. One extremely useful tip is to ask a lot of questions. She is constantly changing the syllabus, assignments, and makes up alot of projects off the top of her head. She doesn't clarify very well and is very hard to contact outside of class other than via e-mail. She e-mails a ton! Constantly check your e-mail because she sends helpful hints for assignments. Get ready to do a lot of work, and do it thouroughly because her grades are very hard to follow and you don't find out till the end of the quarter what grades you earned on several assignments.

Dr. Friend's class was SO hard to understand. Assignments change quickly and often. Make sure to check your email, because undoubtedly there will ALWAYS be corrections and clarifications on every assignment that she gives. SO much busy work and pointless assignments. Shes a really nice lady, but she is very scattered and cannot explain what she wants and how she wants it done. Email her and ask questions in class though.

Wow...this has probably been my most difficult class so far. She says she is "flexible." I say she is unorganized and unclear. She is also very demanding. Be prepared to spend a lot of time doing homework for this class. You will have weekly reflection questions and seed strategy assignments (like mini lesson plans). It is a lot of busy work, but you do get really good at writing them up quickly, which will be helpful as a teacher. The class is very interactive, which I enjoyed. You just have to go into it with the right attitude - the art projects and seed strategy activities can be fun if you let them be. The bottom line: if you like art, you'll enjoy this class

Ridiculous! thats all i have to say.

Dr. Friend is really nice. She gets a little confusing because sometimes her syllabus is wrong, but just ask her EVERY class what is due the next time you meet and she will clarify. Make sure you really study for the quizzes they are a little bit tricky but if you kind of know the material you can b.s. it pretty easily. The lesson plan that you do takes forever! so start early and make sure she likes your book. Ask a lot of questions and participate in class, it helps you out alot and she will probably like you a lot more then any of the other students.

she's crazy. just kiss her ass and she'll give you an A

Dr. Friend is a very nice lady, she just doesn't really know how to teach. Yes, she's a tad bit scatter brained and confused, but DON'T FREAK OUT. You will get through the course. Her syllabus is all over the place and she is never very clear on what she wants, but if you make sure to ask questions and email her when confused, you should do fine. Get a few phone numbers of people in the class to call when you don't get an assignment. I never had any idea what was going on in the class, but I usually got good grades as long as I put effort into the assignment.

Class was enjoyable but the homework load was overwhelming. Dr. Friend assigned homework as if we were the only class she had. It was not uncommon to find myself turning in at least eight pages of typed homework per class period. Although i think she means well, her expectations are unrealistic.

I couldn't stand this class!!! She is a nice old lady but the worst teacher I have ever had. She is the first person who made me question my career choice. I felt that I worked as hard as I could and it was never adequate. Her grading is weird. You do way too many assignments and its ridiculous. I don't know that the extra credit is even worth it because it didn't help me one bit. All in all I'm sorry that she is the only professor who teaches this class

OK, WORST CLASS EVER with the WORST TEACHER EVER. Seriously, could they offer us a more discouraging and horrible professor for future teachers??? Maybe they're showing us what kind of teacher NOT TO BE. She doesn't really TEACH, she assigns, assigns, and ASSIGNS work, most of which are irrelevant and pointless. After just three weeks into class, all the assignments got really repetitive...and now reflecting on this quarter, i realized this class was the biggest waste of time b/c i didn't learn much about teaching the arts. However, what i DID learn is to B.S. about how art is great and important, nevermind that i don't know HOW or WHY. She is the most INCONSISTENT grader i've ever had...sometimes she picks on random things while she never clarifies what she wants you to do. And so when you ask her questions, she'll be vague or give an even more puzzling answer. In the beginning i put lots of effort and time into assignments and i wouldn't get good grades while my friend in the class just wrote what she thought Dr. Friend wanted to hear and did well so i started putting in less time and BSing too...what do you know, i start getting better grades...If you work and take a full course load while taking this class, well...GOOD LUCK TO YOU. You're in for a lovely quarter. Workload is ridiculous and overwhelming, which wouldn't bother me so much if i actually learned in this class but she is the most ineffective teacher. So, my recommendation for this class...SUCK UP to her, she loves that. *i was looking forward to evaluating her for the LS department but she didn't hand out those evaluation forms to our class for some reason...

This is Dr. Friend. I am very hurt by many of the comments on this site. I am fragile at my elderly age. Sometimes I cry at night over the hatred that is being spewed at me from polyratings. I know who some of you commenters are, and I would have appreciated if you voiced your concerns to me in person, rather than on this site. Kaitlin McCormick was one student I trusted this year to be honest, but I was proved wrong. Tim Costa brought these hurtful comments to my attention and it was with guests like him that I taught about the arts. I always was open to questions, and my directions were usually clear. If they were not, I e-mailed you the answers CLEARLY. I hope that you will think before you write. Future students of mine, do not be afraid. I am a successful professor who is disliked by a small minority who received grades they did not agree with.

I am actually really confused about all the negative comments about this teacher. Yes, there is a lot of work, but Dr. Friend is very open to questions and is VERY helpful during office hours. Sometimes the amount of papers could be overwhelming, but the assignments were never too unreasonable. She truly knows her art, and if you put in the effort there is a lot to be learned.

Dr. Friend was my most confusing professor at Cal Poly thus far. I never understood her grading scale, she uses checks and it's hard to tell what that means. I never went to her office hours, so maybe that would have helped. Compared to what I had heard from previous quarters, she was more organized and there was less of a workload. There is A LOT of work but the midterm and final are easy and exactly the same.

Dr. Friend is a nice lady BUT, she gives an unreasonable and ridiculous amount of homework, and I have absolutely no idea what her grading policy is, because not only did she never clarify, but she uses check marks. I don't know what they mean, and the only score we actually get to see is that of quizzes or tests. The assignments are way to long, and there are multiple assignments due almost every week. She is experienced in the arts, though I do not see how I would incorporate what we do in this class into my classroom everyday. While she attempted to let us know what to expect on the midterm, and I studied what she said and emphasized, it was not helpful. Stay on top of your production evaluations, and reflection questions, and prepare for a LOT of typing. She doesn't except things that are not typed, and it becomes gruesome, tiresome, and aggravating. The guests artists are fun though, which makes class time fun. But ready yourselves for the homework. There's a ton of it.

This class is ridiculous!!!! You have to do SO much busy work. She never makes anything clear. She wastes all two hours of class time doing pointless things and then gives you hours and hours of busy work. The bummer is that if you are a LS major then you have to take her twice!! This class makes being a liberal studies major a joke

The class itself is actually very fun and hands on. Dr. Friend is a nice woman and she tries her best to make sure that the students have fun and learn from the class activities. My only gripes are that the syllabus is very unorganized. There are not grading rubrics so you really have no idea why you got what you got, and there is WAY TOO MUCH BUSY WORK! I wish she would make creative assignments instead of the pages upon pages of generic questions that are very tedious. I didn\'t know what was going on half the time as far as assignments, but if you ask her to clarify she will be more than happy to help. Make the most of it, it is a fun class, just do your work early and you won\'t get too overwhelmed.

Dr Friend is absolutely the worst professor I have ever had to take. I love art and music, my emphasis is music, and I was excited to take the visual and performing arts until I experienced the total bullshit that is Dr Friend. You will never be sure what is do or what is expected of you, she will be rude and she will expect you to make her needs your life. Nothing about the class is hard it\'s just a lot of busy work and meaningless assignments. good luck, also you should probably try to kiss some ass if you really want a good grade, probably more effective than doing the work actually.

Dr. Friend is one of the most difficult teachers I have ever had to deal with. The class could have been a very useful one, but rather we were expected to do things that we were never taught and would never be used in an elementary school classroom. There is no syllabus for the class and the required work elements switch daily. If you are an extremely patient person, you may be okay in the class, but if you value your time or education at all, stay away.

Dr. Friend is a woman who knows and loves the field of art. She gives alot of assignments (busy work), but is very forgiving when one isn't on time with them. She also gives you the opportunity to redo them and return them to her for credit. Because her mid-term was quite lengthy, she also gave the class the opportunity to do extra credit if they didn't receive a good grade on it! She provides an enormous amount of hands-on activities that are well structured and thought out..(she carts the materials to class on a hand-cart) but, at times there is not enough time to get through all of the activities that she would like you to experience, therefore, it becomes your responsibility to create those activities that you missed and put them into your "portfolio". Overall, I thought that she was a great professor who was interesting in class, provided interesting material for the student, and walked you through the lesson plans, rubrics and concepts that one would need to know in order to provide art throughout the state standards in all content areas! She

I've heard of horrid things about Friend...and I had hoped they were rumors... yet sadly, they are not... This class was the most stressful class I've ever had. Friend is nice, but her workload is unbelievable. Things get changed daily (assignments). I don't know about you, but I like to know what's going to happen throughout the quarter beforehand. You always have more than one thing due during each meeting period. She's not very helpful when it comes to asking for more time to do the art projects. Basically, she just said deal with it..cuz she isn't going to. The whole quarter felt really rushed and I didn't learn much about art...except maybe NOT how to teach it. It would have been nice if she explains the materials that we use in class...or the processes..but we never had time to do that. Oh yeah..the books really suck... buy the assessment book..but the other art book is a waste of money..you won't ever touch it. I recommend taking the storytelling class in lieu of this class.... :)

Dr. Friend is scatterbrained. she gives way too many big projects for this class. instead of teaching us ideas we could use in the classroom she gives us projects that take a lot of time outside of class and made us do a lot of observing in classrooms and field trips, that had no purpose. She is the only one that teaches this class, but im just warning you to not wait to start projects until the end and make sure she knows your name(youll get a better grade.)

I felt Dr. Friend gave out too many long term projects through out the quarter. She kept on adding more and more projects and by the end of dead week I was through with art. Take this class expecting quizes, one big exam, and a bunch of nonsense papers. Oh and there's like a million art projects and journal reflections.

Dr. Friend's class was horrible. You think that art in the elementary classroom would be a fun class to take, but she ruined it with WORK OVERLOAD. She gave about 15 worthless handouts a day, along with tons of projects that were due almost every week. This class was extremely time consuming, like she forgot that we were college students and did have OTHER classes. The midterm was rediculous. Everything was in essay format and she did not give enough time to complete it. There were 3 projects due at the end, and I worked extremely hard on all of them (and they were darn good) and she gave me a B... Do not take this class... take the Storytelling class instead!!!!

Dr. Friend gave us a good amount of art projects during the quarter, the only problem was she didn't spread the projects out very well, sometimes we would get 4 for the weekend and none during the week. If you like art and want to teach it in your classroom the DEFINETLY TAKE THIS CLASS! Make sure not to procrastinate otherwise you will get behing(that's what most of the evaluators had problems with). I found if i did the artwork when it was assigned then I didn't get overwhelmed. COURSE: All the art projects are due at the end of the class and there is a midterm and final which consists of making a Lesson Plan, there is a Lesson Plan due in the middle of class and a final paper at the end of the class. You will for sure learn how to make a lesson plan which I found very valuable.

Dr. Friend is a really nice teacher and loves art. She really has an appreciation and a LOT of experience with it, she just has a hard time teaching it to future teachers. I am horrible at art, but I learned a lot in this class. She teaches you how to teach art and how to incorporate art into other subjects really well. She does give a lot of projects, but they are by no means difficult, they are just time consuming. If you stay on top of the projects you will do fine, just make sure that you answer every question she asks on the journal reflections, which you will do quite a lot of. You do learn a lot about planning lessons. She is a little disorganized and forgets when things are due so clarify them with her often and email her when you are confused about a project or when something is due. She always emails you back quickly- if you are having problems let her know she is really good about helping you because she genuinly cares. She's great about extra credit and late work too. Overall the class was interesting and I did learn a lot, just stay on top of the work and you'll be fine. P.S. Keep every single last art project you do, even if it is a little practice thing because she will ask for it in a portfolio at the end of the quarter and you don't want to have to redo projects like half my class had to do.

I'm usually willing to tolerate most any teacher style, but Friend managed to just about ruin a full quarter with her assignments. She waited until the end of the quarter to assign a NUMBER of big projects, all of which required an "in-depth reflection." Since you're rushing just to get it all done in time, you don't really take that much from the projects (or, at least those in my class didn't). If at all possible, avoid taking her; she's out of touch with how much work a student can successfully complete. She's unwilling to address questions (she gets defensive), which I think is an awful quality for someone teaching future teachers! Questions tend to be unavoidable, however, as she's not clear on her assignments or the requirements.

GOOD THINGS: I sincerely believe that Dr Friend cares about her students and their education, and I know she is really passionate about art. She's really understanding if you have questions or problems with an assignment. I e-mailed her a lot when I was confused (which was quite often) but she always got back to me really quick. BAD THINGS: Unfortunately, she assigns a COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE amount of work. Be prepared for some long nights. She is terribly unorganized. Don't forget to check your e-mail multiple times every day - you're sure to have a couple from her about changes to the syllabus, extra assignments she forgot to give you, etc. She definitely plays favorites, so it really helps to kiss up a little - show that you're interested in art and she'll love you. You can expect fun, in-class projects; countless assignments/lesson plans; super-long midterm (don't know if anyone finished it...); big presentation at the end of the quarter (start early!); massive portfolio due at the end of the quarter (SAVE EVERY LITTLE THING YOU DO so you don't have to make it again for your portfolio); and a really easy take-home final.

This class is pretty much the same as ls 270. She seems to just throw a grade on your work without really explaining why you don't get the A. There is a lot of work to do at home, but none of it is that difficult but it adds up so try not to get behind. She obviously really enjoys the subject but the class can seem fairly repetitive of 270.

Really, Dr. Friend is not an awful teacher, or awful person. We are lucky to be taught by someone who has so much passion for art. There is a lot of work to get an A in the class, but just because it's an LS class doesn't mean you should get an A handed to you on a silver platter by Dr. Friend. Take this opportunity to learn about art, and have fun making projects for almost the entirety of the quarter and make some super fun LS friends. Let's be honest, there are some ways to help get that A, because it's no secret that she is a VERY arbitrary grader. 1- Sit in the front of the class, offer to pass out materials, even if she clearly doesn't need your help. 2- When there is a project. CLEAN up your table. Do a little extra cleaning work. She does notice and appreciate it. 3- Go on the required field trip. It's not that bad. Most people don't show up, and it really bothers her. 4- Don't try to get too creative with your project and final. Throw in the stuff she is passionate about (recycling) and give a real application. YOU know you won't ever use it in your classroom, but have some fun doing it, if you think its fun and worthwhile--guess what FRIEND WILL LOVE IT! She's what we have got. She a nice person. She tries her hardest to make the quarter fun. Observe her as a teacher, you might have students that feel that way about you if you don't learn from her mistakes. No one is perfect, and really, that includes Friend. Give her a break. Don't dread the class, enjoy it, and guess what...it gets WAY easier and WAY more fun when you do :)

Dr. Friend is a nice person, but that doesn't make her a good professor. She has an INSANE amount of busy work that you absolutely need to keep up with or you'll drown in it. She is extremely picky about insignificant typos, spelling, and grammatical errors, to the point where she'll give you a B- on an assignment for a few. Definitely proof-read EVERYTHING you turn in, but it's a little ironic because about 99% of the handouts she makes are riddled with errors. Make sure you speak up in class and agree with her. Try to get on her good side because her grading is really subjective. She'll give one student a B for the same amount of work that an another student did to get an A, it's ridiculous. Also, make sure you keep up on the portfolio from the beginning. Write your student reflections as they go, don't wait until the night before like I did because I ended up staying up til 5 am! If you take notes on absolutely everything, you'll manage on the midterm and the final. Overall, this class is bearable if you just keep up on all the mundane busy work. Good luck!

Let me start off by saying that she really is a nice woman, but be prepared to let your other classes suffer if you\'re taking Dr. Friend, because the work load is unbelievable for an Elementary Arts class!! Save all of your artwork! At the end of the quarter you need to put together a portfolio that requires you to put all the artwork in that you did in class. The portfolio will take you a couple of all nighters and is only worth 10% of your grade! She grades hard on your lesson plan at the end of the quarter so do a good job on it. All I can say is, stay on top of it.

if you hated ls 270 just get ready for it to get worse. This class is bullshit. Friend means well but she is outdated for this class. in the class you dont do anything but color and paint random things then you get home and have HOURS and HOURS of homework. not to mention you have to go to LA on a saturday to go to a museum. anyways she grades so difficultly and even though its supposed to be a visual arts class she grades on how well you write a lesson plan. if she wants to do that and only care about the lesson plans then make a class for that "how to write a lesson plan 101". anyways everything is basically the same from 270 but its only visual arts which is better but still the class is a joke. The work load is ridiculous, if you can wait to take it with someone else i would. i dread going to this class and since its my first class of the day on tuesdays and thursdays my day is ruined when i leave.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH DR. FRIEND. I went into it thinking it wouldn't be that terrible since I experienced LS 270, boy was I wrong. This class made me hate art and doubt my desire to teach. Dr. Friend treats this class like it is the only class her students have. Each 3 HOUR class period there are at least 3 assignments due that you wont get better than a B or a "check mark" on because she is impossible to please. If you fall behind on anything you are seriously screwed. The final presentation isn't terrible but making sure you turn in all the right stuff is IMPOSSIBLE. I never knew what was due because her emails, documents on PolyLearn, announcements in class, NEVER say the same thing. The portfolio is ridiculous, 24 reflections on each presentation, plus reflections for each art technique. I spent countless hours pulling it together and still got a A-. Overall this class is just busy work on top of busy work, outdated material, led by a crazy lady who tests you on things you never learned. I do not know any person who enjoyed having her as a teacher.

just horrible. I've never gotten a D in a single class at Poly and this was the one. I got extremely sick for 3 days and missed 2 days of class and immediately, I fell behind and she was not too helpful. I went in office hours, but this favoritism people talk about that she plays? extremely true. she just hated me and didnt think I was sick after all. I had about two quizzes she took many points off of on "accident" and she gave me a D on the porfolio I spent a week working on. I had to take it to Dr. Berber to get it re graded and she and Dr. Friend gave me a B- together. I still received a D in the class. She is absolutely horrible.

So I haven't taken the final yet but this class was, interesting. Dr. Friend can be really nice when she wants to be, but she can talk down to you. Even if you're on her good side, she will talk down to at least once. She does pick favorites and it is obvious who she doesn't like. Every class you have about two or three things due. Don't miss class or you will get behind, trust me. During the three hour class she will keep you busy. Don't really pay attention to polylearn, go with whatever she says in class, they don't match. Write everything on the board, EVERYTHING, even the agenda. It's helpful to keep track what is going on in that class. So what happens in this course? You have a powerpoint presentation at the beginning of the year on an artist she picks for you, you go on a field trip on a saturday from 7am-8pm (we went to the santa monica and getty) it was rough but it was kind of worth it in a way, you go to an elementary school as a class one morning, you have to visit two artist at an elementary school on your own time, theres a bunch of little assignments I won't name off because theres too many, huge portfolio of everything you've done that is turned in during dead week, and final presentation is an art lesson to class (pick artist early in the quarter or you'll get stuck with some crappy artist, name and date everything you do!, two long quizzes which consist of short answer and some mc, midterm mostly writing that takes almost 3 hours, and final which is mostly mc and short answer. Last comment, you will bond with the people in your class because you are all suffering together. good luck :)

LS 311 should have been a fun and creative class, but due to Dr. Friend's teaching style the class was a nightmare. She did not make assignments clear and even when we asked for clarification, it was still confusing. The assignment load was ridiculous and much of it was busy work. Her grading was very subjective and she graded very harshly. She never gave me an A on any assignment. The midterm was literally three hours of complete writing and we had to come up with everything. There were no choices or word banks. Half the time Dr. Friend was not in a pleasant mood in class. She often would raise her voice or become frustrated when a student asked a question or did something wrong. She often put people down in class. If you can take this class or LS 270 with a different professor, do it. It is not worth it to have such a negative experience. She needs to retire.

Senior Project was a seminar class, meaning there is no real senior project or paper. Instead, you write a shit load of small papers and research a number of educational fields. Because you have to take this class, there really is no reason to complain. Just deal with it and show up to class. Oh yeah, you have to write a couple of lesson plans too. The topics are very interesting though. The information in the books is a waste of time but the research and presentations are nice. Have fun!

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...