awpitt
Main Streeter
Wednesday's Enterprise Letters to the Editor section seemsed be dominated by letters dealing with the AP science teacher at LHS. I was wondering if anyone in forum land might have an "inside" perspective on what's going on.
Trouble with AP chemistry teachers
- Thread starter awpitt
- Start date
awpitt
Main Streeter
That's what I was thinking because it seems to involve so many. I was hoping someone here had first hand info.
jetmonkey
New Member
I don't really care, I just remember how retarded high school kids are. Where is the link to the webpage they made about their teacher? That's probably funny.
itsbob
I bowl overhand
feel this was in no small part due to the AP chemistry teachers. I have never encountered teachers this deplorable. Very early on in the school year, they made it very clear to their students that they were not in the classroom to actually teach this AP class. As AP students taking a college-level class, the students were expected to teach themselves material. These concepts are difficult and some of them are obscure. However, both teachers not only expected the students to learn them on their own, they frequently refused to answer questions that the students had because according to them, college professors will not help you. They also did not allow the students the opportunity to talk to one another during class to bounce ideas off one another
Totally makes sense to me..
I'm sure she's doing much better at CSM, as an AP class is probably (and should be) ten times more intense than a chemistry class at a community college.
I think someone above got it right.. they finally realized they aren't quite as smart as they thought they were. Heaven forbid a teacher suggest a kid go do some research, and find an answer to a problem themselves.
Someone treating young adults like adults, and they rake him across the coals because their little darlings aren't given an A.. (BTW isn't a 'C' in a an AP class the equivalent to a +B or an A??)
Last question would be.. how many in the class got C's.. and how many got A's? Unlike all their kids other classes MAYBE this class MOST people got C's (average, makes sense don't you think) and only a select few got an A, like the one or two that should get an A.
Their daughter should just drop out now, and resign herself to saying.. "Want fries with that?!"
Totally makes sense to me..
I'm sure she's doing much better at CSM, as an AP class is probably (and should be) ten times more intense than a chemistry class at a community college.
I think someone above got it right.. they finally realized they aren't quite as smart as they thought they were. Heaven forbid a teacher suggest a kid go do some research, and find an answer to a problem themselves.
Someone treating young adults like adults, and they rake him across the coals because their little darlings aren't given an A.. (BTW isn't a 'C' in a an AP class the equivalent to a +B or an A??)
Last question would be.. how many in the class got C's.. and how many got A's? Unlike all their kids other classes MAYBE this class MOST people got C's (average, makes sense don't you think) and only a select few got an A, like the one or two that should get an A.
Their daughter should just drop out now, and resign herself to saying.. "Want fries with that?!"
Last edited:
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
Lucky me...I DO have an inside scoop on this one 
ok, honestly I didn't read the articles yet but it is pretty safe to assume we're talking about the same situation.
This year...little sis decided she was going to sign up for AP Chemistry. Doing good in school does NOT come easy to her. I guarantee she had to try at least 5x harder than me to get the same grades. Anywho, she signed up for this class because, at least to my assumption, her friends were signing up for it. Go figure...kids do that every year.
Moving on to the crazy mom in the situation here...
some parent decides that because their precious little darling can't manage "good" grades, and has throughout the rest of school (this is the hardest class IN the school, mind you), that it MUST be the teacher's fault. The teacher(s) that have taught for years and had many passing students who did just fine, just finally "effed up" the year your daughter conveniently takes the class...right?
C'mon. This is just another case of the kid biting off more than they could chew, and the parent blaming other people for their child's mistake/lack of drive to do better in the class.
I don't blame the teachers at all...they were good...I had them in HS...I blame a parent who doesn't know when to tell their kid to suck it up, they're the ones who signed up for the class.
PS: This "crazy" mom tried to rope my own mama into her charades at making it public how "terrible" these teachers were. My mom finally realized the lady's intent and nipped it in the bud. SHE at least realized that her kid took on a harder class than she probably should have.
PPS: wtf...silly kid. this is from one of the articles (and was written by the student, I presume)
I'd like to know how the teacher "incorrectly" graded this student's work
ok, honestly I didn't read the articles yet but it is pretty safe to assume we're talking about the same situation.
This year...little sis decided she was going to sign up for AP Chemistry. Doing good in school does NOT come easy to her. I guarantee she had to try at least 5x harder than me to get the same grades. Anywho, she signed up for this class because, at least to my assumption, her friends were signing up for it. Go figure...kids do that every year.
Moving on to the crazy mom in the situation here...
some parent decides that because their precious little darling can't manage "good" grades, and has throughout the rest of school (this is the hardest class IN the school, mind you), that it MUST be the teacher's fault. The teacher(s) that have taught for years and had many passing students who did just fine, just finally "effed up" the year your daughter conveniently takes the class...right?
C'mon. This is just another case of the kid biting off more than they could chew, and the parent blaming other people for their child's mistake/lack of drive to do better in the class.
I don't blame the teachers at all...they were good...I had them in HS...I blame a parent who doesn't know when to tell their kid to suck it up, they're the ones who signed up for the class.
PS: This "crazy" mom tried to rope my own mama into her charades at making it public how "terrible" these teachers were. My mom finally realized the lady's intent and nipped it in the bud. SHE at least realized that her kid took on a harder class than she probably should have.
PPS: wtf...silly kid. this is from one of the articles (and was written by the student, I presume)
I'd like to know how the teacher "incorrectly" graded this student's work
Last edited:
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
As far as I know, my sister got through it and took her grade in-stride :shrug: Pretty sure she ended with a C, if not a D. The way I was always taught in school was...it is better (in the future, for your transcript) to have gotten a C in a difficult (see. AP) class, than to have gotten an A in a standard class.
:shrug:
I doubt there will be too many "survivors" who are also members of this site...
frogman123
New Member
Who was this teacher? McCarthy?
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
I'm not naming names :shrug: I know PERSONALLY I had McCarthy for a class, and she was good. Pretty sure she wasn't the one accused, but I think the nazi mom may be addressing the entire Chemistry department :shrug:
In respect to the three articles at hand...the one written by the teacher, IMWHO, sums up this situation the best.
frogman123
New Member
And even if it is AP, the class should not be designed to make the students fail. If the entire class was doing poorly, the instructor should have made some corrective action to help the students. AP is supposed to be a lot harder and A LOT more work, but it shouldnt be imposssible... The grade curve should have some failures, mostly C's, and some A's. That's how it is with any class.
frogman123
New Member
I'm not naming names :shrug: I know PERSONALLY I had McCarthy for a class, and she was good. Pretty sure she wasn't the one accused, but I think the nazi mom may be addressing the entire Chemistry department :shrug:
In respect to the three articles at hand...the one written by the teacher, IMWHO, sums up this situation the best.
I has McCarthy too and she was an excellent teacher. Chemistry was definitely not my strongest subject, but she got me through it (Occasionally I would stay after class etc). And she is a good person, that why I was curious...
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
The situation here, as I understand it, is that these kiddies with complaints, got C's when they were used to getting A's. They are book smart and can't really comprehend that getting an A in what has been considered the hardest class in the entire school by MANY (students and teachers alike), is not going to be a common/easy thing.
This kid needs an adjustment because she's got a rough road ahead of her if she continues to blame everyone but herself for her failures. I recognize her because she sounds JUST LIKE my daughter did at that age.
Larry, can I get a witness?
This teacher will most certainly be fired - how dare he not give little Johnny and Jane positive reinforcement when they slack off in class??? The OUTRAGE! I'll bet Mommies all over Ltown are firing up their torches and dragging out the pitchforks even as we speak.
This helicopter Mommy better hope she marries her spawn off right out of high school, or the kid will be living in her basement for the rest of her life.
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
I am in that boat. I SUCKED at chemistry (mostly all the tedious stuff...I was good at the "blowing stuff up" part..
). She was great...but I still ended up failing because I had medical issues the last half of the class and she went on maternity leave (had a baby, obviously )...and the sub didn't really work with me the way a full-time teacher would have. I wouldn't really expect her to though. :shrug:
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
They were always helpful with me :shrug: Even when I didn't have their damn class (Didn't have the teacher in question for Chem 1, they still helped me when my teacher was out
)I just got word that little sis didn't finish the class either...thats too bad, but she would have had to work like hell to get a passing grade. Like I said, she has to work her ass off to do well in classes not as hard as this one. I give her props...definitely works harder than I did in school
AP= Advanced Placement.
These are the kids who are supposedly college-bound, where the professors will not hold their hand and coddle them through class. When they say an assignment is due on Wed. by 5pm, they do not mean 5:01pm. And if you "didn't hear" what the deadline was, that is your problem.
These kids and their Mommies are in for a rude awakening.
These are the kids who are supposedly college-bound, where the professors will not hold their hand and coddle them through class. When they say an assignment is due on Wed. by 5pm, they do not mean 5:01pm. And if you "didn't hear" what the deadline was, that is your problem.
These kids and their Mommies are in for a rude awakening.
Cowgirl
Well-Known Member
If the teachers really said they weren't going to teach the material to the students because college professors didn't teach, then they're wrong. I don't much care about this situation, but that part stood out to me. College professors most certainly do teach. They go over material in class, and expect you to study to really understand it. They most certainly answer questions, and they are usually always willing to help after class, etc. if a student asks. They don't hold students' hands, but they're usually willing to help if the student seeks it.
fredsaid2
New Member
These are kids on the honor roll, they are not whiners. They've consistently taken upper level courses throughout high school and understand the concept of work. If AP courses do not require a teacher to teach, why do we pay them a salary? Regrettably not every teacher can be a Ms. McCarthy! 
LateApex
New Member
I agree.
I took 3 years of chem:
Inorganic, Organic, and P-chem.
I had to bust my ass in Ochem and Pchem. Many study groups with the prof helped a lot of us get through the class.
I find it hard to believe that a teacher is unwilling to teach the class - sounds like sour grapes - but if it is true I find a major problem with that.
theArtistFormerlyKnownAs
Well-Known Member
These are kids on the honor roll, they are not whiners. They've consistently taken upper level courses throughout high school and understand the concept of work. If AP courses do not require a teacher to teach, why do we pay them a salary? Regrettably not every teacher can be a Ms. McCarthy!
I was honor roll too...those classes are nothing compared to AP Chem :shrug: I took a single AP class in my highschool career, World History. Great teacher, and I can tell you, they do expect you to learn MOST of the stuff on your own. They lecture, like a college class. They will help you if you don't quite get something. There is deep discussion in class...but in the end, you are expected to learn/reiterate what was generalized by the teacher, on your own (or...ok, with a study group if you choose).