From my students in my Recitation Section for German 281: The German Idea of War at UNC (remote), Spring 2021:
“Made the class very comfortable and encouraged participation..”
“I found the recitation sections to be extremely beneficial to my learning. ”
” Christoph was amazing and very helpful both during and outside of class.”
“He was generous with feedback and really cares about making sure everyone does really well in his class.”
From my students in my Intermediate German I class at UNC, Fall 2020 (remote):
“He gave very detailed feedback on assignments I turned in and was always available to answer any questions I had about concepts in class.”
“Mr. Schmitz was a very good online teacher, and he understood and worked with us when we encountered problems online that hindered our attendance also liked the structure of the course.”
“Cristoph is an excellent and engaging instructor, with a gift for teaching and plenty of patience for his students. He excelled in engaging the students, and we greatly appreciate his efforts.”
“This was the only class this semester that I enjoyed being in and overall felt good about learning in which is in large part due to Christoph being a great instructor […].”
From my students in my Intermediate German II class at UNC, Spring 2020:
“Christoph was incredibly approachable, helpful, and encouraging throughout the course.”
“The course is extremely interactive and the subject matter goes beyond simply acquisition of language skills.”
About the transition to online learning due to the pandemic:
“The transition was the best out of any of my other courses. Almost seamless!”
“I felt that the overall class experience was very good and did not change much. I like that we had breakout rooms and a google doc each class and followed the same class structure.”
“[When] we switched from in–person to synch, Christoph worked really hard to find alternative exercises to replace those we had normally, and tried to keep the course fun and engaging.”
From my students in my Intermediate German I class at UNC, Fall 2019:
“Effective teacher and good at getting the material across, especially with it being in a foreign language.”
“He is very passionate in teaching German and is very helpful when it comes to learning the language. He is open to change and that is a great quality.”
“He is a very good teacher who pushes students to think in German and understand it instead of just memorizing the subject matter.”
“Christoph is absolutely one of the most caring, considerate, and understanding instructors in the German department.”
From Students in my Beginner’s German II class at UNC, Spring 2019:
“I can honestly say that I have learned more in this class than I have in any of my other classes. This was a difficult class, but that was to be expected. I enjoyed the material and look forward to the next level of German.”
“He is passionate about the class and teaching German.”
“Professor very clear. Helpful whenever we needed, a nice guy as well.”
“Very good! Enjoyed the class.”
From my students in my Beginner’s German I class:
“Great Course. Wish there was a student accessible answer key to the textbook to check my grammar for the sentences we had to write. Christoph was a fantastic teacher. Very approachable and knowledgeable on the history of Germany.”
“Very good prof. more than patient enough to accommodate beginner students.”
“Schmitz was a very knowledgeable professor.”
From students in my Intermediate German II class:
“Definitely take this class. It was a great way to not only improve your German, but also learn about German (and Swiss and Austrian) culture.”
“Thanks Professor Schmitz for being so patient and kind. All the materials have been very helpful, and the guidance that he has provided are indispensable.”
“It is simply great. Professor Schmitz has a very good temper and knows the subject really well. I have no doubt that as long as you put enough efforts into this course, your German fluency will increase by a considerable margin.”
From students in my Intermediate German I class:
“I really enjoyed this course and would definitely recommend it. Professor Schmitz was fantastic, and I enjoyed every class period.”
“It’s great for people who already know the language but forgot a lot like me. It’s also good for people new to the language, because Mr. Schmitz makes sure we understand everything.”
“It is definitely a step up from the beginner German courses. In a way, it is more enjoyable because there are more contextual and cultural elements besides just brute force learning grammar. Be prepared for more reading, writing, and speaking.”
“Good course to further improve your overall understanding of German. I found it very helpful.”
From students of my third year course on German Pop Culture (Spring 2017):
“I enjoyed going into depth in a specific topic rather than just learning German language.”
“Christoph was really good about communicating our assignments and grades and was easily reached by mail.”
“Professor Schmitz gave feedback promptly and on every homework assignment … very helpful. Was prepared for every class with an outline and a powerpoint which he posted online for us to use as a resource, which was helpful in studying. Also posted interesting links on Sakai for further reading. Generally gave lots of resources to aid learning.”
From students of my third year course on German Pop Culture (Fall 2016):
“Cristopher [sic] is a great and enthusiastic professor and I would definitely recommend taking a class with him!”
“The class is structured in a way that allowed us to have a lot of group discussions and work during class, which helped with speaking and argument building.”
“Class time was always engaging.”
“Herr Schmitz was great! He’s very friendly and funny and knows quite a bit about the subject matter.”