Forest Simmons - Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Professor: Forest Simmons

Department: Mathematics

College: Portland Community College, Portland, OR

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MTH65
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you're bad at math, don't take this class. Focus is on practicing the same problems over and over instead of teaching the concepts and how to apply them. Doesnt allow calculators. You will be forced to go up in front of the class and solve problems you may or may not know. He called out a student for taking notes. Easy class if your good at math

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH60
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Horrible teacher. Do not take this class if you have a hard time understanding math. He goes on and on about things that have nothing to do with math. A few classes he only did 1-2 examples in a 2 1/2 hour class!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH60
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Terrible teacher. Puts math vocab In tests that you didn't know existed. Grading is quite peculiar: attendance, homework and midterm are extra credit. What determines your grade is either the practice final or the actual final. Homework is doing the same problems over and over again. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS!!!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH60
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is a total sweet person, but he isn't a good teacher. His classes are extremely unorganized, he expects you to know everything, there is no homework, I haven't learned anything. If you're bad at math, this isn't a good class to take.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MTH111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I was completely lost from the first day, and I'm one of those weird people who generally enjoys math. Professor mumbles, spends time telling useless stories, and expects students to already understand concepts just being introduced. Grading policy is lenient, but I was so lost, I ended up dropping the class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He's not all bad, not like some people are saying. He does mumble and it is very hard to follow him. I think he expects you to know everything about math already. He does seem a bit unattached with his students but I think it's because he can hardly see. He is a very nice guy though. Very dry sense of humor.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH111B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Simmons was the worst math teacher i have ever had! I should have listened to reviews on this website, but with it being the only class still open, and needing this class for my major I decided to take it anyways. Simmons does not explain text or any examples from sections in the book. He is EXTREMELY hard to follow, and makes no sense!DONT TAKE!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MTH111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Forest is an awful math teacher. I registered for his class despite the bad reviews and knew from day one I should have switched. He rambles, doesn't use the book, hardly gives examples in class and is completely unaware of his students. I wast of time and money. I ended up having to drop and will retake next term with someone better.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MTH111B
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Forest Simmons is SO hard to follow. He makes silly metaphors and tells long stories for 2 hours of the class, and then he teaches for the remaining 20 minutes. I gave him a high score on easiness because his grading system makes it impossible to fail, but I'm not paying for an easy grade- I'm paying to LEARN.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH95
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I hardly learned a thing the first couple of weeks I was in his class, and thankfully took from Dan Fish instead. Dr Simmons started with the last and hardest chapter in the book instead of working up to it from easier material. I didn't understand what was going on at all and dropped his class, thankfully. I got an A in Fish's class.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH111C
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Rocking teacher. Prepares the students if they want to be prepared. If you take responsibility for your life you should do just fine. If you are a whiner and can't think math... can't formulate questions... don't take him. He is Great!! He never quoted the bible on me!!! Only made some dry humor on the liberal side jokes. Tenure- thank god!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH111C
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Should have heeded the warnings on this site much better than I did. I learned very little from this professor and now will have to retake the class again. Everything I did learn, I taught myself. Even his writing assignment was strange. Bi-polar teaching style. I would complain to the department but he's got "tenure". DON'T TAKE HIM 4 ANYTHING

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MTH105A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Forest is super intelligent and his class was SO easy. He is a little hard to follow, but then again I had him for a "Liberal Arts" algebra class. :) He grades fairly and allows you to miss five classes without penalty.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATHMATH
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is lame. Not very friendly and not helpful.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH60
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

simmons is a good teacher, but his voice is so monitone. it puts me to sleep. and he spends more time explaining his metaphores than he does the actuall math

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH60
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

awesome teacher! definitely recommended:)

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MTH20
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I had him for a lower level math class and it was the first time that I actually learned math! I appreciated his instruction. He does lecture with his back to class, but he is extremely fair to students and he wants them to succeed. He is not boring, he just has a very DRY sense of humor (which I like). I recommend him, if you want to learn math.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

One of the best teachers I've ever had.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MTH95
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Simply put, he is the worst math teacher I have ever had. He seems to genuinely know and love math, but he seems to have forgotten that this is new information to his students. He is unclear and disrespectful. I had to teach myself out of the book because his instruction was so poor. I got an A, but only because I studied like crazy.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Forest is an excellant teacher who's genuine interest in the subject matter shows. He's a calming presence in a high-stress subject. I've never felt like kicking back and enjoying a math lecture until I took his class.