Spanish 2- Senor Gamache

[battlemaiden]

Now that our year with this course is over, I feel safe reviewing it.

 

The course was frustrating to both my child and myself. I'm a believer that if I am paying for a high school course I should have no responsibility except payment and the occasional request to my child about their grade. This course gave me grey hairs.

It requires multiple websites, an expensive college level text, and, as far as I can tell, no understandable master syllabus. That last point is an assumption because my son was always scrambling to figure out what was due when and from what site. My college son reviewed it and was baffled by the lack of cohesion.

 

Regarding S. Gamache, I found him condescending. I can say that because I'm snarky, and I know condescending snark when I hear it. I prefer the people I pay to teach my kids stuff would challenge them but not make them feel like an idiot while they are learning new information.

 

It is also difficult to take criticism from your teacher when it comes in the form text-speak (no capitalization or punctuation) in an email. Receiving the "parents help me out here" passive-aggressive emails was particularly annoying.

He's a moody, subjective grader which silenced the class from giving input. He essentially caused the class to avoid criticism at all costs even if it meant not asking questions because they were afraid of receiving an embarrassing condescending reply. 

 

My child jumped in at Sp. 2, and the majority of the class had taken Sp. 1 w/ Senor Gamache before, which I think added to his difficulties. There were assumptions made that often tripped up the new kids.

 

Having said that, we felt the best outcome from our child taking this class was to learn how to communicate with, and navigate, difficult professors. He's destined to encounter this again, and for that reason we're grateful for the "life lesson" that it turned out to be. :D

~battlemaiden

 

Edited June 14, 2016 by battlemaiden

[OnMyOwn]

I totally get where you are coming from and why you are frustrated, but I have to admit, it makes me a little sad to see this review. Sr. Gamache is disorganized and overwhelmed, and, yes, he can be snippy, but there is a genuine caring there and my ds feels like he has a relationship with him. Ds wants to take Spanish 3 with him next year even though I told him that he did not have to. He spends hours and hours on the homework and has dealt with many of the frustrations you have mentioned, but there is something real there for him and he wants to continue.

 

And, of course, you should be able to give an honest review. I've complained, too and people have a right to know what they are getting into. There's just something unquantifiable about Sr. Gamache that is very worthwhile for certain students because I know his class has been a favorite for many kids, including mine.

[RootAnn]

It is good to have different perspectives about classes & especially teachers on here. Thank you, battlemaiden, for your review.  I wish you and your son would have had a better experience. It is difficult to find a quality foreign language experience that doesn't cost an arm & a leg.

 

If I may ask, what multiple websites did your son have to access? I am familiar with the VHL (text's online component) site. Which others were required for assignments?

[battlemaiden]

I totally get where you are coming from and why you are frustrated, but I have to admit, it makes me a little sad to see this review. Sr. Gamache is disorganized and overwhelmed, and, yes, he can be snippy, but there is a genuine caring there and my ds feels like he has a relationship with him. Ds wants to take Spanish 3 with him next year even though I told him that he did not have to. He spends hours and hours on the homework and has dealt with many of the frustrations you have mentioned, but there is something real there for him and he wants to continue.

 

And, of course, you should be able to give an honest review. I've complained, too and people have a right to know what they are getting into. There's just something unquantifiable about Sr. Gamache that is very worthwhile for certain students because I know his class has been a favorite for many kids, including mine.

 

I'm genuinely glad you shared your side. It is hard to know when it is online how others are feeling.

 

 

 

 

[battlemaiden]

It is good to have different perspectives about classes & especially teachers on here. Thank you, battlemaiden, for your review.  I wish you and your son would have had a better experience. It is difficult to find a quality foreign language experience that doesn't cost an arm & a leg.

 

If I may ask, what multiple websites did your son have to access? I am familiar with the VHL (text's online component) site. Which others were required for assignments?

 

There was a student supersite with online homework (Vistas), Teacherease which had some quizzes and grades, and then the pdfs he sent through email (which isn't technically a website I guess). And then there was the textbook, which I thought was expensive for the amount of use.

 

The bigger issue was the lack of cohesion to all these components. There was no syllabus, and the assignments, quizzes, and/or tests were based on their progress after the online portion of the class each week. That made pacing and long term planning difficult for us as a family.

 

 

[battlemaiden]

I totally get where you are coming from and why you are frustrated, but I have to admit, it makes me a little sad to see this review. Sr. Gamache is disorganized and overwhelmed, and, yes, he can be snippy, but there is a genuine caring there and my ds feels like he has a relationship with him. Ds wants to take Spanish 3 with him next year even though I told him that he did not have to. He spends hours and hours on the homework and has dealt with many of the frustrations you have mentioned, but there is something real there for him and he wants to continue.

 

And, of course, you should be able to give an honest review. I've complained, too and people have a right to know what they are getting into. There's just something unquantifiable about Sr. Gamache that is very worthwhile for certain students because I know his class has been a favorite for many kids, including mine.

 

I have to agree that there is *something* about Senor G. He's endearing...like a curmudgeon uncle. But he got under my skin as the class went on and he got crankier and my child got crankier. I could hardly wait to be done. If I hadn't had the feedback from my college son, I might have thought it was just me being prickly (I can be), but it seemed like a LOT of hassle and angst (and time!) for an elective. :/

[OnMyOwn]

I have to agree that there is *something* about Senor G. He's endearing...like a curmudgeon uncle. But he got under my skin as the class went on and he got crankier and my child got crankier. I could hardly wait to be done. If I hadn't had the feedback from my college son, I might have thought it was just me being prickly (I can be), but it seemed like a LOT of hassle and angst (and time!) for an elective. :/

Well, I am guessing that things were a bit more out of control for him this year than in the past because I've read reviews for his classes for a number of years and never heard any complaints other than some subtle allusions to some adhd issues. Not so this year! As I've said, I've complained myself. My kids used his elementary program as well many years ago, so I'm sure I'm a bit biased because we have lots of happy memories from that as well. I'm not sure what's going on there, but thanks for taking my comments in the spirit they were meant.

[48820592]

Now that our year with this course is over, I feel safe reviewing it.

 

The course was frustrating to both my child and myself. I'm a believer that if I am paying for a high school course I should have no responsibility except payment and the occasional request to my child about their grade. This course gave me grey hairs.

 

It requires multiple websites, an expensive college level text, and, as far as I can tell, no understandable master syllabus. That last point is an assumption because my son was always scrambling to figure out what was due when and from what site. My college son reviewed it and was baffled by the lack of cohesion.

 

Regarding S. Gamache, I found him condescending. I can say that because I'm snarky, and I know condescending snark when I hear it. I prefer the people I pay to teach my kids stuff would challenge them but not make them feel like an idiot while they are learning new information.

 

It is also difficult to take criticism from your teacher when it comes in the form text-speak (no capitalization or punctuation) in an email. Receiving the "parents help me out here" passive-aggressive emails was particularly annoying.

 

He's a moody, subjective grader which silenced the class from giving input. He essentially caused the class to avoid criticism at all costs even if it meant not asking questions because they were afraid of receiving an embarrassing condescending reply. 

 

My child jumped in at Sp. 2, and the majority of the class had taken Sp. 1 w/ Senor Gamache before, which I think added to his difficulties. There were assumptions made that often tripped up the new kids.

 

Having said that, we felt the best outcome from our child taking this class was to learn how to communicate with, and navigate, difficult professors. He's destined to encounter this again, and for that reason we're grateful for the "life lesson" that it turned out to be. :D

 

~battlemaiden

 

 

 

 

Totally agree with everything you said! My son loved Spanish until he got to Mr. Gamache.  At times he would come to the dinner table in tears because of this class, the lack of organization, the remarks made to him, etc.

[samba]

I'm very sorry to hear that your family had such a negative experience. My dd16 just finished Spanish 3 with Gamache and is SO sad that he doesn't teach any higher level classes. He has, hands down, been her favorite teacher.

 

I will say that dd and I both shared some of the same frustrations as you and your son. Yes, uneven workload. Yes, some disorganization (nothing like I've heard others express, though; mostly just a few minor annoyances). Every time online test time came around, it consumed dd's day and she would be pretty worked up about it. I was frustrated by the emails but somewhere around year 2 we started joking about the "cryptic messages" and I decided that as long as dd knew what was going on (and she always did) I wouldn't get involved.

 

I am very surprised to hear about the snarky comments, condescending attitude. DD never experienced that. Just the opposite, in fact. Gamache regularly praised her class, telling them how great they were doing, how much he enjoyed teaching them, what great kids they were, etc. We can be a pretty sarcastic, thick-skinned family as well but I would not have tolerated put-downs so I'm really unhappy to hear that your son experienced that. My dd was not the top student but she always felt supported and encouraged by Gamache and her fellow classmates. She is taking the Spanish CLEP soon because Gamache encouraged her class to try for it, telling them he felt they were all capable of doing well. Dd may minor in Spanish...all because of her experience in this class.

 

I'm glad you shared this. It's important for all of us to get a well-rounded view of courses, teachers , etc if possible. We've had sub-standard, lackluster classes from providers others have raved about. So I just wanted to share our experience...it's been great.