falling behind

[Alomoac]

Hey, everyone!

I am a Year 10 student who is currently falling behind in 1/2 Methods. Our class is very behind in methods and we have a SAC soon, so our teacher decided to teach 2 entire chapter's in 2 lessons (hasn't taught it well as they aren't a great teacher) and handed out extra practice assessments. Because of this I haven't been able to do each subchapter sufficiently and feel behind and very unprepared for the SAC. The SAC will include everything from chatper 1 to 5. It would be awesome if anyone has recommendations on how to catch up and be prepared for the SAC. I am fairly certain the SAC is either this week or the following.

Kind regards, James

[1729]

Hey, everyone!

I am a Year 10 student who is currently falling behind in 1/2 Methods. Our class is very behind in methods and we have a SAC soon, so our teacher decided to teach 2 entire chapter's in 2 lessons (hasn't taught it well as they aren't a great teacher) and handed out extra practice assessments. Because of this I haven't been able to do each subchapter sufficiently and feel behind and very unprepared for the SAC. The SAC will include everything from chatper 1 to 5. It would be awesome if anyone has recommendations on how to catch up and be prepared for the SAC. I am fairly certain the SAC is either this week or the following.

Kind regards, James

Hi James,

May I ask what chapters you're struggling on?

I don't have much recommendations on how to catch up, but I recommend looking through those particular chapters yourself at your own pace, watch youtube videos relating to it and if you have any questions about those chapters ask them here 

I will be more than happy to help you if you have any questions, and I'm sure others will as well 

[Alomoac]

Hi James,

May I ask what chapters you're struggling on?

I don't have much recommendations on how to catch up, but I recommend looking through those particular chapters yourself at your own pace, watch youtube videos relating to it and if you have any questions about those chapters ask them here 

I will be more than happy to help you if you have any questions, and I'm sure others will as well 

Hey 1729,

I am at the moment not really struggling on a specific chapter, that I've done (not too sure about chapter 4-5 as I havent done much of it) but I am finding a lot on the worded questions/application questions difficult. I really appreciate your advice on watching videos and going at my own pace. I am just worried that by going at my own pace, I won't have the time to cover everything before the SAC

[1729]

Hey 1729,

I am at the moment not really struggling on a specific chapter, that I've done (not too sure about chapter 4-5 as I havent done much of it) but I am finding a lot on the worded questions/application questions difficult. I really appreciate your advice on watching videos and going at my own pace. I am just worried that by going at my own pace, I won't have the time to cover everything before the SAC

Perhaps your class could ask your teacher for special consideration or postponement of the SAC? It seems really unfair to me if it's only your class in the cohort that's behind on chapters. But if you can't dispute it I still think that you should be working on it at your own pace or working on chapters until you're confident enough with the concepts explored in it. I don't think cramming information is really effective, you need a thorough understanding of concepts when it comes to worded problems.

You say you are finding worded questions challenging, if you want help/tips on how to approach them you can post them here.

I'm sorry if I'm not that helpful and can't offer much advice - but if you need help with a certain concept, ask a question here! 

[exponent37]

Hi! I assume you're using the Cambridge textbook, so my advice is as per follows:

Key things in Chapter 4:
1. Know the shape of your 4 basic rules from 4A to 4D
2. Know the key features of your 4 graphs
3. Be able to describe a sequence of transformation that has taken the basic graph to the transformed graph
4. Be able to graph a given rule
5. Be able to find a rule given certain key features/coordinates

Key things in Chapter 5:
1. Know how to express an answer/domain/range in either set notation or interval notation
2. If a relation passes a vertical line test, it's a function
3. If a relation passes a vertical and a horizontal line test, it's a one-to-one function
4. What is implied domain and how to find the implied domain for the different rules
5. How to use function notation to show your working out
6. Hybrid functions
7. Inverse functions
8. Modelling (which of course is the last thing on the list for you if this is the one you are struggling with the most)


Other general advice:
I'm sorry to hear that your teacher is not great for you. 11 Methods is a very packed curriculum and sometimes the inexperienced teacher might find it hard to pace it well. My advice would be for you to try your best to understand as many concepts as you can before your SAC. If you're not 100% ready for it, it is fine. What you should be focusing on is being able to do it ultimately. So that could mean trying to catch up on the things you've missed over the upcoming holiday (posting questions here when you're stuck, asking your friends, finding videos online) and then working through the SAC again independently.

Fortunately, this is only Year 11 and at the end of the day, your SAC won't mean much, so hopefully you can take comfort in that. But my other advice would be to try and develop some independence in your Methods work, in the unfortunate event that you get a teacher next year that is not well-suited to you again. At the end of the day, you want to be able to take ownership of your own learning! I know of people who have gotten great study scores with "lousy teachers". You'll just need to find the right avenues.

All the best!