Western Kentucky University / K / Jackson Kesler

I definitely recommend taking this as a night course. We get out at least 45 minutes early every time. He also gives about a 10 minute break in the middle. This class was pretty easy. His tone is a little flat and can get a little boring, but he has a dry sense of humor that I appreciated. His opinions about modern film are a little askew, but whatever. He gives you notes handouts to follow along and jot down anything additional. As long as you study the note handouts you should do well on the test. He also curves the test. There are three tests and at the end he will average them together and you can decide if you want to take the final. You also have to go to two plays or performances (of his choice) but I only spent about $18 and that's way better than paying $50 for a textbook. Attendence is important; he takes it at the END of class. He doesn't excuse any absences (unless it's for the university, aka football team or something) but if you are at every class, he adds 10 points to your final grade. This class was so easy (although somewhat boring). All you have to do is study his notes and go to every class.

DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR! When the semester started out I thought that I was going to like this class, because it seemed like his stories were interesting. Later on in the semester he would go off on tangents about his life and all the "famous" people he's met, which would cut into class time. It being a night class I was ready to get out. He can give "jokes", but he can't recieve them. He's not willing to talk things out with you. I missed the first class, but none afterwards, he put me down as missing 3 classes, because i was one seat over from my assigned seat. He's an uptight, prude, old man, that needs to retire.

Dr. Kesler definitely expects a lot from his students. There are not tests, only papers. He's tough on grammar and form, but if you go talk to him, he's a really nice guy. I got a C on my first paper, talked to him for 5 minutes about what I could do to improve my grade, did it, and got an A in the class. He makes you see a lot of shows, but if you're in the department, you should be seeing them anyway, so shame on you.

You definitely wouldn't think Theatre Appreciation would be a difficult class, but think again. Prof Kesler is a great man, but not a very good teacher. He gets off on tangents about his life, family, plays that he has seen, etc. -which isn't all that bad-but when it takes up a good hour of your night class, and when you'd rather take a test over his personal life than the theatre material because you think you'd get a better grade, then it IS BAD. After the first two tests, the entire class walked out thinking they failed. 75% of the material we didn't even know about........and we don't have a book..so it comes STRAIGHT from him. And, you can only miss one class...PERIOD. On a good note...there is extra credit, which I took full advantage of.

Mr.Kesler is a very unique man, I took this class at night which I would highly recommend. It's only once a week and you get out fairly early. You are required to see 2 plays, other than that anything else you see is bonus. I probably would have had a C in the class but he offers so much bonus that it's nearly impossible to get lower than a B. You watch a lot of movies and take several notes...but its really not that bad. I would much rather be there once a week than 3 times. He's really funny too! I WOULD RECOMMEND HIM TO ANYONE.

I had Dr. Kesler for "Teaching in the Schools" Theatre. He was very helpful to everyone in the classroom, even the students that wouldn't ask him for it. I admire him for the job that he did training my class to be responsible for something besides an exam paper. He taught us to look more deeply into theatre and the work that it requires. Our final wasn't an exam. It was a prompt book that taught us more than any exam would have.

Dr. Kesler is very straitforward with his expectations in class. You will be required to see a decent number of plays throughout the semester and write reviews on them. Most of these reviews are a simple worksheet, and easy to complete. The others are formal reviews but are not too difficult. The workload is moderate and class usually involves notes and discussion. It is a fun class, a decent amount of work, and I highly recommend it.

We had to see about 10 plays over the course of the semester outside of class and write reviews about each one. There were lots of papers to write, and a lot of people made terrible grades on those papers. For the final, we had to write a play, but there are no actual tests. Dr. Kesler is nice, but he requires too much.