Unfortunately a bad class.
The topics in this class are absolutely fundamental for physics (it is the basis (pun intended) for every mathematical operation in the realm of physics).

She is quite a yeller, thick accent, comes off fairly abrasive.

I couldn't handle it and dropped. Seems like people who stuck it out came out well.

Received very good grades on the homework but it just didn't translate to the exams. She drops one of the two midterms which can be really great and they should be fairly straight forward if you know your stuff through and through.

If you can self study you will do well but if you actually need the professor to teach you, I would wait out a different professor instead.

Professor Gelmini is very helpful and friendly. She is always available outside of class to teach you everything that you need to know. Go to her office hours if you are ever confused: ten minutes in there taught me more than a few days of class and looking through the book. Either her or her TA holds review sessions before exams, a very helpful little boost.

My one complaint is her communication skills on test and homework problems. A few times I found that no matter how many times I read a question, I could not figure out what the heck it was asking, and yes, this did hurt my grade. Turned out in all cases that the solution was something very simple that I knew how to do, but that the question simply did not lead me to.

My advice, study like crazy: the more exposure you have to the material, the mor you will know what to expect.

Motherly, I believe the word would be to describe her. She's thoughtful and caring. Though at times she may sound like the lady on the Weakest Link, she's no doubt a concerned and open person who will not kick you off the show. She's open to questions and comments any time during her class. She may sound impatient at times, but that's just because in physics 131, she's got a crap load of material to get through. She'll repeat anything she says over without difficulty. Take her class.