Is a tutor the solution?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>My school's original AP Physics teacher doesn't teach there anymore, he left. He was the only one that could teach AP physics and the kid him out, w.e. Problem is they got this new guy from like India that can't teach and he even admits that he has no idea about AP tests and that he hated Physics in high school and college. </p>

<p>As a person: He's great. I was singing "You and me, and a bottle of wine" and he commented, "That's all you need in life philip" That was pretty funny coming from him in his accent.</p>

<p>As a teacher: He sucks. I never took Pysics last year, but I did take it at NJIT. I know kinematics and all that, but anything else I know nothing (optics, electromagnetism, etc.) He'll teach me something in, for example, one dimension motion, then gives me classwork (which is easy), but then his tests are on stuff he never taught us. Like the tests require us to 100% understand the formulas, but he doesn't teach us. He just writes the formula and says answer it. To study for this One dimension motion test, I d every problem in our book (Serway Faughn - College physics, I think) that was on one dimension motion, I got all of them right but one. Then I come into school thinking I'm ready for the test, yet the test seemed like something foreign to me. The man simply doesn't teach us. </p>

<p>The only kid that's doing fine is a Chinese kid that did Physics @ Columbia over the summer, physics last year in school, and physics privately (at some other place, for fun). Everyone else finds it daunting. </p>

<p>I figure my options are:</p>

<p>(A) Drop the class - They won't let me because I'd have to explain to a college why I dropped outta AP Physics
(B) Change the teacher - there's no one else to change him with, so that's impossible
(C) Bring back the old teacher - Some girls hated him and lied about sexual harassment, so they had to kick him out for a year, even if it was lies.
(D) Buy a better/College book - I think this might help
(E) Get a private tutor - This along with D would seem best.</p>

<p>I think D + E would work best, but I don't know how to go about finding a good tutor, one that can really teach and knows his stuff. Maybe it's just the book that sucks I don't know... I'm about ready to just stop going to the class.</p>

<p>Any advice?</p>

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<p>(F) Take grammar lessons</p>

<p>Or, Option E would be fine.</p>

3

<p>find a way to get a good tutor, preferably a teacher who teaches ap physics and knows their stuff cold (it can be from another school). you said your old teacher was pretty good so what i would do is try to get in touch with him and ask him if he would like to tutor you and explain the situation to him.</p>

<p>i have constantly heard that ap physics is one of the hardest tests and i think doing independednt study for this subject is not one of the best ideas.</p>

<p>FIND THE OLD TEACHER</p>

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<p>do d,e,f combination is good</p>

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<p>So he cursed us out today after my friend solved a vector problem using the law of cosines. He said that's not the way he taught us and he didn't know how to use the law of cosines so it was automatically wrong. My friend remarked that he just didn't know physics and shouldn't be teaching it... Thus he got up and started yelling and cursing; he said it was the only way we were able to understand. </p>

<p>It's just not possible that the 10 smartest kids in the school could ALL be wrong about a teacher. The man simply can't teach. We tried to talk to him like adults today and he got offended and said we prejudged him and never gave him a chance. His last words were, "The changes we discussed will not prevail until after I'm clear with my supervisor on the issue that I can't teach this class."</p>

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<p>That is really crazy. I was reading your post and I thought, I'm going through the exact same situation; although I did take Physics last year with another awful teacher. I tried to get some books during the summer and read up on everything we are supposed to cover this year. Nevertheless, the test did not go as planned. I thought that I was extremely prepared, however, come test time I could not believe the questions he asked. Almost impossible because he had not taught us any of it in class.</p>

<p>I am contemplating getting a tutor, but it is so hard to get a good one and my schedule is so busy that I have no idea when I can fit in tutor time. I tutor myself (not in Physics), and most of my tutorees find it very useful.</p>

<p>Anyway, post another one soon and update us on how everything is going.</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

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<p>I know a way, open your prain plug in some cables from the pc and download all the information the internet has to offer.</p>

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<p>^ That'd be a great solution. I'm just going to buy a more indepth textbook than the College Physics one we currently use, along with some AP Physics prep books..</p>

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<p>What kind of grades are you making so far???</p>

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<p>I would talk to the administration about this new teacher, see if you can have an administrator sit in on a class. Even if the teacher tries to be great during the sit in, if they're that crappy, it will show through. Maybe this will get you a bettter teacher or the old one.</p>

<p>Until that happens, get yourself a good physics book. If you're in calculus or have taken it, get a calculus based text book. You also really need to find another person to help you, so probably a tutor. </p>

<p>Good luck to you</p>

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<p>I’d find a tutor.</p>

<p>Just find a competent friend who took AP Physics before and ask him/her to guide you. </p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>^ This was 7 years ago. </p>

<p>Your advice is so relevant.</p>

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<p>my advice is indeed very relevant. ^__^</p>

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<p>You should be on Dr.Phil.</p>

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<p>Um no. . .I don’t want to be Dr. Phail. o__o</p>

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<p>Oprah…?</p>

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<p>OPRAH!</p>

<p>I dunno. maybe. hehe.</p>

<p>btw. . .who’s “gumbo” in ur location daxlo?</p>

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<p>I would try to go and work with that Chinese kid you said understands this stuff. I personally like the serway physics book. I mean at the start of each homework section they give the important formula you will need to use. And most of the wierder problems you get on tests on farther on in the text are just more integrated problems which require multiple equations to be used. The only problem I have with it are the explanations in the text, as you get to E&M they give loads of new variables without any introduction</p>

<p>So try to work with your other classmates and if that doesnt work i guess you will have to get a tutor.</p>

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<p>^^ Gumbo is some stereotypical new Orleans dish. I say this because in the after-math of hurricane Katrina, my and my dad, made a couple hectares of gumbo, and we made several trips to new Orleans to unload the cargo. We didn’t have the money to hire illegals to do it for us, so we got some dirty shovels, and just shoveled it into the streets. We were praised. They called it the “greatest disaster since the exxon-valdez spill”. I think they meant it in a good way. They were so happy in fact, they gave me and my dad, a nice hotel suite with metal bars, and they let us wear some snazzy pajamas with black and white stripes.</p>

<p>They loved us.</p>

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<p>I’d buy a good textbook or review book, and I’d also google for physics tutorial sites (such as khanacademy.org), and study them. If that still doesn’t work, then get a tutor.</p>