Dr. Plaskon teaches this class online, which makes the class even easier than it already is. It was a short lecture video once a week with a few assignments. Many of the assignments are elementary school level. They take just minutes to complete. The bigger assignments are also based on completion. You will get full credit on everything as long as you commit yourself and put a decent effort into it. On top of these assignments, you must tutor a student at a local school for an hour per week (usually virtual). You also need to interview a student in grade school along with an educator. These are also completion grades. On the syllabus, it states that you must get all of the points to get a solid A in the course, but it is all based on completion. He has given solid A's to all of the students that have taken this course. In the rare scenario that you do not get full credit (I do not know of anyone that this has happened to), you can simply redo the assignment. This is one of the easiest courses that I have taken at UVA.

I loved this class so much! Fall 2020 was online asynchronous and Professor Plaskon did everything he could to make class more enjoyable. It was a light course load and he grades pretty easily, basically on completion. His lectures and activities were enjoyable and the most work I ever did was three 3-page papers at the end of the semester instead of a final exam.

This class was so fun and a super easy A. Prof Plaskon is the best!!!

Super easy over the summer with stephen! He said there is no way to subjectively grade our papers and reports so it was all completion grades- I got a 100 along with everyone else. He also brought the 6 of us drinks, cookies, and fruit every day and usually ended more than an hour early.

Plaskon is the sweetest professor you will encounter anywhere during your time at UVA. He is super friendly and helpful. You basically learn about issues in American education and do a field experience. The workload is less than 30 minutes per week. The grading is done super easily: if you hand in the work, its an A. Plaskon appreciates everyones creativity. Great class with the best professor. Definitely recommend this class.

This class was amazing. I went into this class looking to fill a slot in my schedule, but Mr. Plaskon made this one of my favorite classes. He fosters great discussion and is very enthusiastic about teaching. This class covers topics ranging from increasing teacher pay to changing classroom learning structures with a different topic every week. I came out of this class every week feeling refreshed, despite the fact that the course was 2.5 hours long. It honestly, doesn't feel that long at all. Regardless of your field, teaching will come into play at some point in your life. Whether it is in regards to your kid's education, your profession as a teacher, or your profession in some other field. Lawyers have to teach their clients how to respond to questions that will be asked in court, managers have to teach their employees certain skills, etc. Take this class with Mr. Plaskon. You will not regret it.

Plaskon is one of the kindest professors I have met; this class was a great introduction into American education. You get out what you put in to this class - you can complete the course having learned almost nothing and still do quite well, but if you want to actually learn you need to motivate yourself to do so.

Professor Plaskon brings a lot of enthusiasm and is very willing to help. Overall he gives a great overview on the history of teaching and things to expect if you choose to teach in the future. He provides a lot of resources and is always there for his students.

Plaskon is a great teacher, very quirky. You learn about the current condition of K-12 schools in the US and the hardships and dilemmas teachers face everyday.

Designed to help ppl who are considering applying to Curry decide if they actually want to do so... No midterms or tests at all really. One partner presentation, a couple writing assignments, and a final 5pg paper and/or presentation. It's almost 3 hours long which could be so painful at times, but since you're never really tested on what he talks about in class it doesn't matter if you zone out.. Really your grade is based on whether you show up, say something in discussion every now and then, and turn in decently written hw assignments. I thought the subject was pretty interesting, and Plaskon gives a well rounded account of education in America. He's also super nice and enthusiastic and he brought us cupcakes.