ou ee A Teacher Evaluation Plan Background i Thirty-three years ago in a comparative anatomy class at St. Lawrence University, Robert Crowell asked me to create an animal that would survive the rigors of change and evolve by learning to swim in the sea. I felt energized by his challenge. My mood in the classroom changed from apathy to the excitement and joy associ- ated with active learning. The heavy feeling I had so often experienced as I walked to school lifted as I discovered that learning can be fun, something to celebrate rather than something to dread. I begana colorful journey back to the sea. I began creating a unique animal—me. Doug Michell teaches classes in death and dying, the psychology of aging, and love and the human condition at California State University, Sacramento. He believes that he does not teach his students anything, that students teach themselves, and that students learn more under certain kinds of conditions. He provides a caring and supportive environment in which to learn, and his students are asked to be responsible for their own learning. At the beginning of each semester, Doug asks each student to make his/her own learning plan. He offers suggestions and provides information—such as, reading lists, kinds of community projects, and group discussions; however, almost anything related to the course subject that has the potential of benefitting the student or society is acceptable. | learned more and probably did more work in Doug’s classes than I did in classes where I had been given specific assignments, because I had the opportunity to choose projects in which I had a strong interest. At the end of the semes- ter, Doug asks each student to evaluate what he/she has learned during the semester and to assign himself / herself a theoretical grade. Dean Moore is head of the mathematics department at Lee Junior High School and teaches evening and summer session mathematics and statistics at Yuba College in Woodland, California. He is also involved in Ph.D. studies in mathematics at the University of @