Who did not like PAH AP Chem, AP Macro and/or AP Eng Lang? (and other PAH Courses)

[Farrar]

1 hour ago, daijobu said:

Were there actual threats?    

No. Sorry if I implied that. But the poster was clearly nervous about some sort of repercussions. She says so. I think there's this sense in the homeschool community that you shouldn't say if you had a bad experience with a provider or teacher because it might come back to bite you. I really don't like that. We should feel like we can't say, hey, this teacher/class really didn't work for us without worrying that they're going to barr our kids from other classes at the same provider or somehow blackball us from college rec letters from other teachers or something.

[SoCal_Bear]

On 11/22/2016 at 12:03 PM, daijobu said:

 

This would really bug my dd.  Now I'm leaning toward AoPS.  On the one hand, I'd like her to have AP specific preparation, like sample FRQs and sample MCs, this will be on the exam, this won't, etc.  But she is also used to doing things the AoPS way, after all these years.  I'm wondering if she could audit the class, just do as many homework problems as she felt she needed without worrying about what her grade would be.  

 

edX also offers what they call AP calculus BC, except it isn't really.  It's whatever is not in calculus AB, and it looks like there maybe a couple of archived AB classes, I don't know.  

 

I'm watching the sample video of JHU CTY and it's pretty painful.  

Try checking out Shin's AP Calc classes over on Blue Tent. She used to teach for AOPS Academy in San Diego and ran a math circle here when she was still homeschooling/afterschooling her kids.

[daijobu]

1 hour ago, calbear said:

Try checking out Shin's AP Calc classes over on Blue Tent. She used to teach for AOPS Academy in San Diego and ran a math circle here when she was still homeschooling/afterschooling her kids.

Thanks, but I posted that 4 years ago and now dd is in college!  I should go back and take that down, lol.  

Incidentally I was taking a look at a CS quiz my dd aced last week and I realize the first 2/3 of the exam she could have completed back in middle school.  I'm not sure if that says more about AoPS or about college.  

[MAhomeschool]

Re concerns about posting negative reviews - I had no basis for thinking there could be negative repercussions other than my own thoughts; I had never personally had a relevant bad experience nor had I ever heard of one. However, I was very concerned that we might need a rec letter from that teacher, as that was his only outside non-STEM teacher, and I was aware of at least one school on the radar where we would need exactly that.  Also, as @Farrar suggested, there was also my (imagined) concern that speaking very publicly and negatively about one PAH teacher could (potentially) have repercussions with the organization (e.g., getting transcript requests filled in a timely and accurate way).  And the community is small enough that even posting with a username on this forum would not make it too difficult to connect the dots to figure out who probably wrote the comments.

In general, I think DS has had some teachers who seem like they would be quite fine with people pointing out things that could be improved (e.g., Mr. Moskaluk), and then there are others who don't seem like they would be as open to constructive feedback.  Requiring non-anonymized feedback as a graded assignment does not seem like the best way forward for someone who truly wants constructive feedback.

[Miss Tick]

14 minutes ago, MAhomeschool said:

Re concerns about posting negative reviews - I had no basis for thinking there could be negative repercussions other than my own thoughts; I had never personally had a relevant bad experience nor had I ever heard of one. However, I was very concerned that we might need a rec letter from that teacher, as that was his only outside non-STEM teacher, and I was aware of at least one school on the radar where we would need exactly that.  Also, as @Farrar suggested, there was also my (imagined) concern that speaking very publicly and negatively about one PAH teacher could (potentially) have repercussions with the organization (e.g., getting transcript requests filled in a timely and accurate way).  And the community is small enough that even posting with a username on this forum would not make it too difficult to connect the dots to figure out who probably wrote the comments.

In general, I think DS has had some teachers who seem like they would be quite fine with people pointing out things that could be improved (e.g., Mr. Moskaluk), and then there are others who don't seem like they would be as open to constructive feedback.  Requiring non-anonymized feedback as a graded assignment does not seem like the best way forward for someone who truly wants constructive feedback.

The concerns are not completely unfounded as I have been contacted by a provider about comments I made on the forum. That particular case was handled in a nice way, but it will definitely cross my mind next time my finger hovers over the "submit reply" button. Particularly with my unsubtle username.

[RootAnn]

2 hours ago, SusanC said:

The concerns are not completely unfounded as I have been contacted by a provider about comments I made on the forum

Not PAH, but I had the owner of an online provider respond here to my review of a class. She didn't say she was the owner, but claimed her kids had a great experience with the same teacher. Then the teacher made an account & posted a reply that actually proved one of my points better than I did, IMO. [The teacher's post was removed.] I am more careful now what I say publicly. 

[teachermom2834]

I have only felt I could give negative feedback via private message and even that has made me uncomfortable. We have taken so many online classes over the years and I only have one teacher I would complain about so I think I am very much not picky. But the one who was so bad is one who gets good reviews at MPOA. I have occasionally private messaged someone who asks about it. I am not at all afraid of any kind of retribution from the MPOA folks but as much as I said “never again” for this teacher I just didn’t want to risk that somehow my younger child would end up in a class with this teacher (like if there was a last minute switch or my child was in the diploma program and the class was unavoidable or some other circumstance). 

The MPOA administrators and some teachers post on their forums which can be great and helpful but it makes it a place you aren’t going to get negative feedback especially because they are just so very nice and helpful. People discuss teachers some on the MPOA families FB page but that is not anonymous. I like MPOA and only had one bad class out of close to 20 but it is really hard to get honest feedback about a teacher there.