Charles Donaldson - Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA

Professor: Charles Donaldson

Department: English

College: Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGL1
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Took Donaldson for my first college level writing courses. I recall there were theater arts related assignments, reading plays, detective mysteries, reflections, Shakespeare, and journalism related topics. If you are new to English, you can rewrite your paper until you get an A. Good memories. Good person!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: JOUR101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I studied under Charlie in the 80s and he changed my life. I'm still a thriving journalist. I'm surprised at the comments here. He does go on with a lecture but it sounds like a lot of people are missing the lessons.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's not a good teacher at all he isn't organized he talks for 3 hours straight and gives homework not relating to the lecture at the end. He won't really help you. I might've ended up with an A but wouldn't recommend him to anyone.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGLI1834
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Wow. Do not take this class. Nice guy, but a bad teacher. If you want to know about the history of Los Angeles I highly recommend this class. If you want to learn English reading a Math book would be more helpful.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very boring. Gives answers for the upcoming tests and quizzes. Very hard to stay awake in his class. Rambles on about history which does not pertain to the english course.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

easy grader but there is a lot of work to do every week. majority of class consists of him rambling about history and then ten minutes at the end to explain the homework. this is not an exaggeration. it's not a hard class necessarily but boring and tough to sit through without wanting to fall asleep. do not take if you're bad at english.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENGONE
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

We read 6 or 7 novels my semester but they were all descriptive mystery novels so they were fast and easy reads. Dont take him if you dont like to read and write- there were two assignments due every week. I learned from his class and enjoyed his anecdotes. But if english is not your strong suit, the work load will frustrate you.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG1792
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

silly and nice prof, but his assignments can be unclear. he hardly ever stays on topic, and talks for three hours straight, though he does have some interesting stories. he is quite an easy grader. really nice and not strict at all! he'll give you all the answers to the tests and allow hw to come in late. overall rly chill, but bad for learning

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG1758
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Bad teacher, good guy. His lectures are boring and because he's a huge history buff, he only talks about history NOT english. If you have an opinion, he doesn't care: He's always right. Easy grader and gives the answers to all his quizzes and tests. Loves mystery so you will be reading a lot. DO NOT take him if you like teachers who make sense.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Teaches 5-10 min about the subject, rest of class is off topic, then he wants to grade your notebook (I'm wondering based on what because he hardly teaches anything about the subject), he grades your essays based stuff he had not yet taught. His rambling about history and all else is interesting but has nothing to do with english composition.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG2
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

One thing's for sure. Jessica Fletcher would have loved this guy. He likes mystery novels and loves dissecting them. Even though he gets older, his stories rejuvenate themselves with each passing day.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

took over ten years ago and took all my english classes with him. good professor for english as well as journalism.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGL1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

right now at 3 in the morning, i am writing the research paper for this class and it is not close to being done. Do not take this class if you procrastinate. i was doing fine until the research paper. wish i was in another class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

i agree w/ the person below. he doesn't teach n just let us study by ourselves. and he gave us way too much HW. dont think this is an esay A class. if u r ready to study hard that's ur choice. Eventhough i took this class n got an A i regret to take this class. acutually he should retire. i think he is over 70 seriously.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

i dun think this class is easy but maybe just because i am a ESL student, so not recommend for international students. but he is great for the English-speaker though

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENG01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's pretty easy going. Talks ALOT. And loves mystry novels. You have to write quite a few essays, and his research paper is longer than som other professors (10 pg.). This research paper (like all other papers) has to be mystery novel oriented. But, he's an easy grader.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGLISH1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

great teacher, lots of work, but not hard

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This guy is quirky, but you get used to it. He rambles, and assigns mystery/detective novels for reading. I'm not sure I agree with his philosophies on life, but once I tuned it out, I enjoyed the class and got a good grade.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG2
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you are European, especially British DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. I'm English and Prof Donaldson made my life HELL. He constantly put down English people, singled me out and RAMBLED like you wouldn't believe. He even gave the class a handout about why American's make better Shakespeare actors than the British and proceeded to give an embarassing impression of what he thought the Brits sounded like. WE WEREN'T EVEN STUDYING SHAKESPEARE! It got so bad I had to report him - He should have retired years ago.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG1
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This class is an easy A. He loves theatre and mystery/detective novels. I received extra credit for performing a scene I was working on in my acting class. He is funny and sweet and very lenient. He allowed people to turn in work late without affecting their grade.