“Zach is the most intentional, hardworking, and intelligent professor I have had. This course was planned to fully inform and interest the students. Zach has inspired my research and future studies by sharing his passion for English and linguistics. Every reading was valuable, every piece of writing was graded with thoughtful comments and returned within 48 hours, and every discussion was valuable, kind, and challenging. Zach is the type of professor that can attract undergrads and graduate students to study.”

“I had enrolled in English 254 twice previously, but ended up dropping it both times. Zach’s class absolutely blew those other sections out of the water. Zach’s course should be used as a model for the structure, relevance, diversity, approachability, and focus it takes to teach a great 254 class. From this course, I walk away with a genuine appreciation for analyzing online discourse, as it’s extremely pertinent in our lives. ”

“We NEED teachers like Zach, the kind who demand that we cease being satisfied with the role of ‘passive consumer’ and take up an AGENCY, an active participation in the field, in the work, to engage the texts which surround us. This, I feel, is invaluable now more than ever. ”

“This is going to sound weird, but I just appreciated how natural everything felt in the class. Everything from discussions to lectures never felt awkward or forced, and I always felt the atmosphere was calm and inviting. I really appreciated the efforts made by Zach to make everyone feel welcomed and that their opinions mattered. ”

“The ease with which Zach leads and directs discussions by posing questions to us and helping us develop our ideas is impressive. The discussions forced us to submit our ideas to scrutiny in a situation where they could be analyzed and discussed, helping us to improve and modify our ideas.”

“When we had class discussions, I was able to voice my opinion and not feel afraid of getting backlash or stupid looks. I’ve not felt this comfortable in a college class before, and I credit that to Zach. He always had a topic ready to talk about and truly cared what we wanted to discuss.”

“I loved the exciting learning atmosphere of the course and Zach’s clear vision and generous attitude. What felt perhaps greatest of all was that Zach didn’t feel like a teacher “watching over us.” Instead, it was a genuine mutual exchange of ideas. I am not sure I’ve ever had that in a class before, where it felt SO great to be a part of the conversation.”

“Usually I dread going to class, but I was excited to come to this one for the discussions. I learned about different ways that humans communicate and how different messages can be conveyed through different media.”

“Zach’s comments and critiques of rough drafts were the most comprehensive I have seen in any class during my academic career [...] He really challenged me and gave me confidence to write well. [...] He seems to genuinely care. It seems like he really loves his job, and what he does. Zach definitely shelled out more than his fair share of effort compared to every other instructor I have seen in 3 years of university.”

“Zach’s comments helped me to be able to “unpack” ideas more clearly and add details to help the reader understand my point of view. I leave this class being able to breakdown my thoughts better. [...] Being asked difficult questions made me look deeper into the texts and issues that I was examining. ”

“Zach’s feedback helped me to effectively report the findings of my own primary research and to synthesize those findings with existing research in the field. His comments helped me look at ordinary subjects as topics worthy of researching/writing about.”

“The amount of thought that Zach put into feedback on all of our thinking work and papers was amazing. I felt so valued and that he is an instructor who actually cares that his students are learning something and growing.”

“Zach made this online class fun. He treated us like professionals and really pushed us. When we had online discussion board conversations, he would ask follow up questions to really challenge the student. This made for great debate in the class and it required me to really focus on the text and real life experiences.”

“Professor Beare is an amazing teacher, and I loved his course. He did a great job of being available for his students and reminding his students of classwork. I know in other online classes (and sometimes regular classes) that this is not the case, so I really appreciated that. It is really hard for professors to be personal with their students in online classes, but Professor Beare did a great job.”

“Zach was very accommodating to all our needs as online students. During online introductions, he systematically went through to learn about all of us and get an idea of what we wanted out of the class. This is also one of the only classes where the online discussion board has felt like a real conversation.”

“Zach handled this class like a professional. Blackboard organization was GRADE A. Everything was easy to find and in the right place. Emails were consistent from Zach, and responses from him were near instantaneous. Work returned within 24 hours is mind-boggling. I honestly don’t know how he did it.”