online course, great lectures, very interesting

Funny guy, great teacher.

cool guy

Super interesting!

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Very fair with grading, included a variety of teaching methods. He's a nice guy.

He's super super nice...but just do not take his class at 8:30am...he has a very soothing voice, I have trouble staying awake. He also likes to use outdated material. But he's super nice and not hard at all.

Love this class by far the best class i have taken. I have learned a lot in this class. Mike is an awesome techer. If you have the chance take him

Awesome instructor. Makes history come alive. I loved these classes.

Great teacher

Nice teacher, easy class. But it was so boring, no matter what time you take it it's hard to stay awake.

Good class, learned lots!

Awesome instructor, very funny, easy class.

Very good

He dosnet seem to enthusiastic about being in class, but is a good teacher. He shows movies with worksheets and the tests make up your grade. But pretty easy to get at least a B in. And dont be surprised if he randomely donsent show up for class and there is a note on the door.

Great guy, funny somewhat. descent teacher, descent tests. easy B to a, not challenging but actually have to read a little, A. I liked

he's very easy going and lienent but very boring. monotone voice, and goes off on tangents, sometimes making it very hard to stay away / keep interest.

Awesome teacher! I would take another class anytime from him!

Made history interesting with some cool stories...

I thouroughly enjoyed his class lectures. He was knowledgable and interesting. Anybody taking a history class who can enjoy a good lecturer, take Balyo.

I took HST 111 with Balyo and loved it. His lectures were passionate and you could tell that he both knows and enjoys the subject. I'm looking forward to the 110 class winter term. Rock on Balyo!

This class requires lots of writing. All assignments are essay answers of 1/4 to 1/2 page. There are 10-20 questions for each assignment. If you can copy ideas out of a book using your own words -- you won't have a problem as there is no real thinking involved. Balyo is a nice guy and wants to help. He's no slacker and keeps up with his class.

Great Instructor

I recommend this teacher highly if you need an online history course. I'm also taking 202 online w/ Traci Hodgson and she's very hard. You have to write about paragraph for 8 questions a week for homework and then one easy midterm and you don't have to take the final if you have an A. Good class if you need history credits. Highly recommended!!

Good history teacher with varied ways of teaching. Very easy to understand and you can tell he cares about what he is talking about.

Great teacher! Come to class and he'll tell you what is on the test. Don't take his laid back style for granted.

Awesome teacher- very easy- as long as you study for the tests. I missed almost half of the actual class times but studied hard and recieved an A!

He is very knowledgable, but his lectures are pretty dull. His tests are not terribly difficult as long as you do the required reading. Other than monotonous lectures, his class is pretty good

He's kinda like Bob Marley in that he just doesn't care unless he has to. This term he has already canceled 2 classes and we leave early everyday. The work is easy and short. He is a fun guy to listen to as well.

Good instructor.If your interested in history this will be an easy class.

Syllabus was clear, expectations were clear, excellent textbook, organized game plan, and timely feedback. I took this online and it was great. He knows the material. I appreciated his uncluttered, streamlined approach to running the class.

Wonderful teacher. Makes the subject a lot of fun. He is very easy going.

Awesome teacher super easy to understand and funny. Lots of reading some homework but great overall class.

Great Instructor. Teaches honest history..it's not apologetic or slanted. GREAT ASSET TO CHEMEKETA. Highly suggested.

I really liked the way that Mr. Balyo offers extra credit for his class - I learned alot because he lets you pick and choose which subjects you want to study to get extra crdit for them and I like that method!

This is an awesome teacher! He is extremely knowledgeable and he does lecture a lot but is easy to follow and gives great information. He makes u want to learn the subject. He offers extra credit and has fun group interactions. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HIM!!!

Balyo is great fun! He does random things just to entertain you and he is really easy going and funny. Not a hard class at all, and he lets you watch a lot of movies, but i still learned a lot from him! He really knows his stuff and he'll answer any questions you throw at him.

He's very laid-back and an easy grader. I fully enjoyed his lectures and sense of humor. I learned a lot in this class. And he also expects you to pay attention so he's not too laid back but that's okay

I took history 110, 111, and 112 with him. I loved all three classes, and kind of wish I could have taken more. Mike Balyo is extremely funny and entertaining!!

Mike is a really easy grader, but you need to be there to get the assignments. If you like history you like the way he explains it, thought he does monologue. In history 112 we had a lot of movie quizes which were easy, and had to write reports on news stories.

Mike is one of the best teacher's I've had. I have taken 2 history classes from him. He is easy to listen to, and an easy grader. You do need to show up to every class to get assignments, and he also uses the online portion a bit. I would definitely recommend him!

He is the best teacher that I have had so far at Chemeketa. I like History but Mike made this class fun and entertaining. As long as you pay attention and do your assignments, the class is a breeze; easy to be interested in a subject when the teacher loves teaching it!

My favorite teacher I encountered at Chemeketa without a doubt.

Amazing teacher!! Definitely recommend him!

He is my favorite. He is funny and very laid back.

Hw involves writing responses to questions at the end of each chapter. Exams are pretty easy and are based entirely on the lectures, so take good notes. He was a fun and interesting instructor.

This guy is the BEST teacher at Chemeketa. He very kind too. Highly recommend him, even if you don't like the topic. You will end up liking it. His lectures are clear, easy to understand, and often kind of funny too. You'll end up learning a lot and have a good time doing it too. His assignments are easy too. Take this class!

Mike is an interesting teacher. He is very intelligent and is engaging in the class so long as you are not full of crap. There is a lot of reading but he keeps it fresh. Great course. Mike is smart and funny a combination not often found at CCC.

great teacher, funny, very respectable

Good professor and good at what he teachers. Very good notes online and is forgiving with late assignments. He sometimes goes to off topic, but it usually has a relation to what we are discussing in class.

I really enjoyed Balyo as an instructor. I turned my work in on-time, but he was very lenient with people who didn't. The homework consisted of a lot of short essay answer, but I didn't feel like it was pointless. Balyo is funny, interesting and encourages class discussion, I would take a class from him again.

I really enjoyed Balyo's class. He is a great lecturer, and knows his stuff. I had no problems understanding the material he presented, and the weekly short essay questions kept me on track for the reading. I highly recommend this professor!!!

Easy class, 5 question weekly assignments, page front and back of notes on tests, no late penalties.

I enjoyed this class a lot. Mike is a very enjoyable teacher and, while he may go off on tangents, he is filled with information. His tests are 90% lecture material, so GO TO CLASS. He is incredibly slow with email, so if you have to get ahold of him, call him or go to his office. Otherwise, Mike was great and I enjoyed my three terms with him.

He tests 90% on his lectures/in-class movies. If you listen to him and take notes, you will pass with at least a B. And while he may sometimes repeat jokes, he's a very engaging and entertaining lecturer. You can tell he loves his job.

Mike tends to ramble a bit, but is a good teacher and knows his history. If you do the reading, do the assignments and pay attention there's no reason you can't pass his class.

Good teacher. He does a lot of in class work (mostly movies). He grades his test on a curve. Do the reading before class, show up to all classes, and do all the homework assigned you could come out with at least a B.

As with many online courses I've encountered, they require a lot more work than taking a class you'd physically show up to. This was very true of this history class. Though everything went as expected in his syllabus... Lots of reading a writing. Keep up on reading and assignments! Material is interesting enough to stay engaged in the class.

If you show up the first couple weeks to class and get the hang of his class it's a easy road to a good grade. His lectures can get a little dry, but he grades his tests on a curve,and the homework is just a weekly worksheet from the textbook. Mike the man!

I loved Balyo's class. Granted I like history, but I found the lectures interesting, the assignments easy, and his sense of humor is pretty good too, (in a nice guy sort of way). Took his class whenever I could.

Mike was a really good teacher. It's practically impossible to get anything lower than an A in his classes. There is tons of extra credit opportunities available and the assignments are pretty easy. Just show up to class and do the assignments and you get an A.

Great class. Clear format, interesting lectures, good discussion topics, fair grading. Only criticism is that professor can seem a little absent, but that's the world of online classes. Have taken professor before and experienced similar format. Registered for class next term with this professor again. Hard to not do well in this class!

I've taken the complete world history series online with Mike, and I'm sorry it's over. I found his format IDEAL for an online class. Not heavy on discussions, clear grading, and limited testing. Just one midterm (essay style with a week to complete it), no final, and plenty of extra credit. Lots of reading, but do the work and it's an easy A!

Lots of reading with this class but it's all relevant. Weekly assignments covering what you read, and just a few discussions (which was great because you had to reply to four students and no one posted until the last minute, leaving you scrambling to get your replies in). Great feedback on assignments from him, leaned a lot by reading his comments

Mike is a great History Professor. I took my first course online and went in to see him once during office hour. He is such a nice guy and so helpful. I enrolled in his History 106 class for Spring on campus to hear his lectures. Highly recommend!

Easy grader. Exams are somewhat challenging but only if you didn't try to learn. Easy going and very casual teacher. Very easy to talk to, definitely recomend him.

Lots of extra credit available. In-depth lectures. No group projects, which I preferred. Covered a lot without seeming overwhelming. Textbook and class are both necessary, because questions from both show up on the final. Be prepared for essay questions (STUDY GUIDE!), as the subject can get a little obscure. Overall, great teacher and great class.

The reading is done online and then you take a quiz. Make sure you take the quiz through the textbook, that's how you get points for reading each week. Exams are short essay. Overall, he was pretty absent from the class... only posted grades and maybe 1 or 2 class announcements the whole term. Pretty easy class if you do the reading each week.

Mike was a great instructor, and very informative. His whole class lectures were sooooo boring. He had a voice that would put you to sleep. Overall, super nice guy, easy going. Show up, do your work, and youll be fine.

One of the easiest classes I think I've ever taken. No papers, no group assignments, barely any homework at all, and you don't even need to read the book if you show up and pay attention every day. His voice is a bit monotone, but his lectures are really interesting regardless. If I take another history class I know exactly which professor I want.

lots of reading but very relevant lectures and videos you know exactly what is expected of you and easy to understand instructions!

Overall, this class is really easy and a really easy work load. I took it as an elective because I knew it would be an easy class (I've taken previous classes with Balyo). Do the reading assignments and discussions on time each week, and the one exam, and you'll pass very easily.

I had Mike Balyo for my online HST 104 class and he was awesome! Always posted each lesson at the same time each week. There's quite a bit of reading, but text was on SmartBook so as long as you read the highlights and the lecture notes, it was fine. Group discussions were interesting and informative. Easiest grader ever.

Bit difficult to contact, it's best to plan to meet him in person. Knowledgeable, but doesn't demand much in the class. Be prepared for group projects in his classes, and reading handouts for them. A fairly funny guy, but if you need him to be clear on something, you need to ask exactingly.

Mike is extremely knowledgeable (sometimes goes on a tangent) and his class was very lecture-heavy. The problem is that 60% of what he says is on the test so you MUST attend every class to get that information because it isn't in the book nor in his online lectures that he posts. Plus, if you miss the few in-class tests you can't make it up.

I hated other history classes that Ive taken, but this class was great. The weekly discussions are interesting and not to time consuming. There is weekly reading and questions, but if you do that then the two exams are doable. Ive already registered for another one of his classes.

I loved this class. He was a nice guy who offered 25 points of extra credit. He allowed notes on the test and tried to make jokes during class that was more funny to him but it made the class laugh. He never answers his emails but is willing to help you understand in person. It was super easy even with the large amount of reading.

I've taken Mike for HST104 and 105 and am taking him again for 106. Class is just a long lecture, but there are videos and worksheets interspersed as well as a five-minute break. If you like history you'll love this class; he is kind of monotone but knowledgeable and somewhat entertaining. Extra credit available and finals are graded on a curve.

Have taken multiple classes with him and I have no clue where the negative feedback here is coming from. Class is lecture heavy (which I personally prefer) and he makes it entertaining and his passion and knowledge directly translates in his lectures. Probably my favorite instructor so far at Chemeketa, look forward to taking his other classes.

He's pretty funny and really loves what he teaches. Understanding and willing to work with you in any way to help you pass the class. Be prepared to write a lot for hmwk.

Great instructor for an online course. Mr. Balyo clearly laid out his expectations and responded to emails quickly. There is a weekly discussion post and two exams that are essay based. Considerable amount of reading, but nothing crazy, he also didn't expect memorization of dates or extreme specifics due to the essay format of everything turned in.

This is my favorite history teacher at this school and I've taken a lot of them. He is by far the easiest history professor and he is really understanding about real life events and emergencies. There was 1-2 things to do a week that took an hour to two to complete. Really easy and fun class I learned a lot I didn't know about history!

I took his class during the pandemic, where he was very understanding about late work and graded leniently, responded to emails in a timely manner, and supplemented our online textbook reading with Zoom meetings talking about each chapter. It's evident he has a passion for history.

Very easy class. You can keep retrying the questions for the online assignments until you get 100% so there is literally no reason not to have an A in this class. Gave good feedback too!