Tiffany Belka - Miami University

Professor: Tiffany Belka

Department: Languages

College: Miami University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: SPN102
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This is my second spanish class with Tiffany and I am so sad I can't take SPN201 with her. She is such a great language teacher and is clearly passionate about language and linguistics. She encourages a lot of active participation and partner work. I was really bad at languages in high school but that changed! Take her class if you can!!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SPN101
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

SPN is no joke and she has to stick to department policies for grades. Despite how challenging language classes always are Tiffany is an excellent prof and tries her hardest to help everyone succeed. She is flexible with her classroom and will modify based on how she sees students progressing. Will be taking her for SPN102. Very clear about rubric.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: SPN101
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

As long as you show up to class, spend time on your homework, and participate you will be fine in the class. Tiffany is an amazing professor who really gets to know her students and does everything she can to help them succeed. She does research on how students in our age group best learn languages and enacts the methods into her teaching.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: 102
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Huge stickler on participation, as in, you cannot text or even open another notebook during class. very strict on class behavior. what i imagine boot camp to be like. tests are hard but there are a lot of grade opportunities to bring your grade back up, but overall would not recommend bc of classroom procedure.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: SPN101
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

SPN 101 was a shock to me coming into the university. It was a lot harder than I expected it was going to be. Tiffany's class was very boring at times and sometimes tries way to hard, and fails. The grading rubrics for the spanishs classes is ridiculous so that is unavoidable. She is crazy with participation points. Takes them from no reason.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: SPN101
• 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:

First and foremost, the grading is out of her control- Spanish professors have to adhere very strictly to a set of rubrics. That being said, there's no one to equip you better for that A than Belka. She is TRULY passionate about teaching and so very approachable and forgiving when it comes to oral interviews/evaluations. Best choice for SPN 101

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: SPN102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you actually want to get something out of a lower level Spanish course, she's who you want. She's a fantastic teacher and really knows her stuff. I feel very well prepared for the upper level courses now, but be warned-she assigns a lot of busy work, attendance is mandatory, and getting an A is an uphill battle....I ended up with an 89

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: SPN101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She has high expectations from her students but her grading is pretty reasonable. She does not really teach in class but rather expects you to have learned the material (grammar and vocab) from reading the book and doing the online homework. She is big on attendance and checks if you do your homework regularly.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: SPN101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Really nice teacher and understanding. However, there is SO much busy work since all the learning is done outside of class: For each class, there are at least four hw assignments due (about two to three of those online). And she takes attendance through hw completion. Be prepared to do a lot of work!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: SPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Well, homework is heavy and annoying. She collects it daily and grades it, which can be annoying. She is a good teacher, explaining things very well. Takes attendance every day, only three misses allowed. Tests are very hard, STRAIGHT from the book. Even the cultural sections, which is annoying. Overall, a good class, but it's tough

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: SPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She wants her students to do well, and tries to practice things that people are having trouble with. A lot of homework, and the chapter tests are hard but other than that, not so bad, especially if you don't like spanish.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SPN341
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

good teacher, knows her stuff but only studied in Spain so her knowledge of certain culture things in Latin America is limited although she does have a lot of Latin American friends that she learns stuff from. she has a Spanish accent (with the lisp), but is not at all hard to understand...it only takes a couple classes to get used to it. :-)

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: SPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She is an okay professor, the class went fast and the tests were sometimes confusing. She doesn't seem to be a very enthusiastic teacher but is nice nonetheless. There is quite a bit of homework, mostly short workbook assignments. I had a hard time using her methods of memorization for certain concepts/tenses.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: SPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: SPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

good teacher, speaks w/ a spanish lisp which is supposed to be that way (in spain)

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: SPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Can be very helpful when you need it, sometimes gives a lot of homework, and is strict with policies such as attendance/late work, etc.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SPN202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Although she speaks in Spanish for most of the class, she is easy to understand and very helpful if you ask questions.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SPN201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I only had her for half of the semester, but when I went to her for help in the beginning she told me there was nothing she could do. She assigns a lot of assignments that never get checked, and if you don't raise your hand at the right time you also get docked in participation.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Down to earth; very pleasant and reasonable

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SPN111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No Comments