Class of 2016!!

[FallingStar]

hey guys!

I've been feeling pretty down in the last few weeks and took some time off AN, but I hope everyone's doing okay and year 12 is enjoyable and not too overwhelming.

Personal update: been really demotivated since school started as my mum went away mid Jan and had a bunch of other shit going on, but she came home on Tuesday and everything's been much better. So much more motivated now! Going to be really tough to catch up on like a month of not working, fallen behind in everything and not the way I wanted to start the year at all, but hopefully I can pick it up. English language with my crap teacher sucks, everyone falls asleep listening to him talk about shit he doesn't even understand and no one gets anything which sucks. Yeah, generally not going well but hopefully rejoining the forums helps my motivation. Been missing you guys.

Hope all's well for everyone and it would be really great if we could get active here again! <3

Fellow 2016er,

I am aware that catching up is tough, especially when you're in year 12 and have a crap teacher. If you do need any help, feel free to post in the ATAR notes forum. Remember: The ATAR notes community is here to help. 

[Darth_Pepe]

English language with my crap teacher sucks, everyone falls asleep listening to him talk about shit he doesn't even understand and no one gets anything which sucks.

Stop right there. Sorry if this might sound harsh, but this is the reality.

On December the 14th, i got with around 20+ people from my school to talk about ATARs, some had achieved 30-40 ATARs and others 99+. However the thing that stood out for me is that.. when you are dissapointed in something, in this case we can use study scores for example, we look to people to blame. And many people who didnt get what they wanted partly took it out on their teachers. How many times i heard 'wtf we didnt go over that in class' 'well if if mr/mrs taught me that i wouldnt have got that score!'.

If your teacher is a bad teacher, then the responsibility is on you to carry yourself out of there. The responsibility is on you. This might not seem fair, but vce at times is not fair.

Personally for me, i think that its a very coward move to blame others when we didnt get to achieve great scores in vce, trust me i was in that position I got my lit score.. i got a 32 study score with an A in the exam.. then i looked at my sacs.. and i wondered.. wtf i got an A in the exam but my sacs are only B? Teacher must have marked harshly and they didnt scale up.... No! Now 2 months later, in retrospect i realize the harsh marking pushed me to achieve an A in the exam.

Accept where you are and the responsibility that you are gonna take yourself where you want to go.

You have an abundance of resources for English Language, including many students on here who achieved 40+. There is nothing stopping you from getting great marks in English Language, it might be hard but it will be worthwhile. Good Luck

[Maz]

Stop right there. Sorry if this might sound harsh, but this is the reality.

On December the 14th, i got with around 20+ people from my school to talk about ATARs, some had achieved 30-40 ATARs and others 99+. However the thing that stood out for me is that.. when you are dissapointed in something, in this case we can use study scores for example, we look to people to blame. And many people who didnt get what they wanted partly took it out on their teachers. How many times i heard 'wtf we didnt go over that in class' 'well if if mr/mrs taught me that i wouldnt have got that score!'.

If your teacher is a bad teacher, then the responsibility is on you to carry yourself out of there. The responsibility is on you. This might not seem fair, but vce at times is not fair.

Personally for me, i think that its a very coward move to blame others when we didnt get to achieve great scores in vce, trust me i was in that position I got my lit score.. i got a 32 study score with an A in the exam.. then i looked at my sacs.. and i wondered.. wtf i got an A in the exam but my sacs are only B? Teacher must have marked harshly and they didnt scale up.... No! Now 2 months later, in retrospect i realize the harsh marking pushed me to achieve an A in the exam.

Accept where you are and the responsibility that you are gonna take yourself where you want to go.

You have an abundance of resources for English Language, including many students on here who achieved 40+. There is nothing stopping you from getting great marks in English Language, it might be hard but it will be worthwhile. Good Luck

very well said 

[JellyBeanz]

I admit, at times i feel like putting the blame on the teacher, getting frustrated at something they may have done whether to benefit me or not.

Although, i often remember that at the end of the day, the teachers won't be sitting the VCAA exams, i'll be sitting the exams, and hence i have to take the initiative for my own future.

Blaming the teacher has no benefits, but rather overcoming obstacles that you face, be it the teacher, subject, whatever have you, will benefit you in the end.

[Swagadaktal]

Something that I've learnt with VCE is that you need to only rely on yourself. I've become a strong independent learner - although to be honest I have great teachers so I can't really complain - but I still independently study. I try not to rely on anyone else (except for english im dying rn tbh help me pls), whilst your teachers there are to help you, they should not be your main resource.

Because you need to understand that your teachers are human. You really need to grasp the fact that they're going to make mistakes - and during VCE you don't want to pin your score on someone else.

And I just want to say one more thing. Even if you have a bad teacher - they're still valuable. They still have some kind of idea what the subject is. Don't overlook that. People are quick to dismiss teachers and blame their learning on them, adopting a fatalistic attitude which is counter productive. Don't fall into that category.

Ultimately you just need to rely on yourself. Zsteve is the exemplifies this clearly with his fanfuckingtastic marks - the ratchet (i mean this in a good way) homeschooled his way to a 99.95
the hoe aint got teachers to blame what's your excuse

[FallingStar]

Is it okay that I have a different take on this?

I think that it may be a better approach to say that it is still possible to get a good result even if you are dissatisfied with the teacher, but that will take a lot more resources, and much more effort. Sometimes, you may have to rely on external teachers if need be (though the ATAR notes forum is quite good for this). II have noticed at my school that often, teachers can make a great difference in student marks and their learning. The thing you should do in a circumstance like this is to do your best given the circumstances.

What do I mean by do your best given your circumstances? Luckily, I have an experience that actually exemplifies this trait. I was a little disappointed with the straight study score when I did Chinese last year. I was reflecting to myself the reason I didn't do as well as I wished to do. The teachers were pretty good, so I can't blame them (nor did I want to). I've also worked quite hard, and tried really hard to get the highest mark I could possibly get. Then I found something. I started year 11 Chinese straight away in year 10 because I displayed a basic level of competence in the language. I started with a C+ in most of my work to getting an B+ or A in most of my work. Then in year 12, I did plenty of practice exams and practise with parts such as reading, translation and listening.

I realised something. Given the circumstance I was in, I have done my very best. So I will list some of the things I learnt with this experience:

• Don't get too caught up with the competition by score. Some people didn't work as hard as I did and still got a higher score than I did.
• Even if you do your best, you may not be satisfied with the results. In this case, You may need a reminder that you did all you can, so you shouldn't complain

Just do what you can. Get resources if you need to. Take outside of school classes if you need to. Use the forum and notes on this website. And remember to do your very best.
This is not a criticism to your opinions, but a different take on the bad teacher.

[Swagadaktal]

Is it okay that I have a different take on this?

NO THIS IS NOT AN OPEN FORUM HOW DARE U GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE OPINION
(sarcasm)
Alternative opinions are ALWAYS* appreciated - don't be afraid of giving your opinion on anything

* Unless your opinion is to microwave hamsters to take stress away

[JellyBeanz]

NO THIS IS NOT AN OPEN FORUM HOW DARE U GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE OPINION
(sarcasm)
Alternative opinions are ALWAYS* appreciated - don't be afraid of giving your opinion on anything

* Unless your opinion is to microwave hamsters to take stress away

I prefer roasting them on a spit roast when i'm stressed.

[babushka818]

...hey guys..

So I totally understand everything everyone's said here, and let me put this out there- I COMPLETELY AGREE.

Maybe I hadn't initially made this clear in my post, I wasn't blaming my fate of my education on a crap teacher or anything like that. Yeah sure it's unfortunate and there could have been better alternatives to the way things panned out and I'm disappointed and it adds heaps of stress and a greater workload, but I know it's my responsibility and I'm 100% prepared to take that on. I was mostly just saying that it's going to add to my catch up.. I'm not going to blame anyone but myself at the end of the year if I don't do well, because I know I'm not really happy with what my teacher teaches, and I have the time now to do what it takes to overcome that.

That aside, I would like some opinions on this topic.. I understand my teacher is a valuable resource to an extent (although I'd rather go to some different teachers if I actually needed help because this teacher really doesn't know what he's talking about), but I don't know what to do in class.. He has powerpoints from one of the good englang teachers at my school last year, but he doesn't stop long enough to copy down notes, and he doesn't understand the content of them and can't explain it. He puts the powerpoints up for us though so that's not an issue. But with so much self study needed, it seems like a waste of time to be in class. If we had each hour to learn the content it would be fine, but every minute we're in class and he contradicts himself and expects us to know everything while refusing to teach it, I feel like I'm going backwards. How can I make my class time more effective? Losing four hours a week just feels so pointless and I don't want to be wasting that time. Any tips on what I can do in class will be appreciated

External resources, extra teacher assistance and a strong dependence on ATARNotes are all options I will be using throughout the year

[Swagadaktal]

...hey guys..

So I totally understand everything everyone's said here, and let me put this out there- I COMPLETELY AGREE.

Maybe I hadn't initially made this clear in my post, I wasn't blaming my fate of my education on a crap teacher or anything like that. Yeah sure it's unfortunate and there could have been better alternatives to the way things panned out and I'm disappointed and it adds heaps of stress and a greater workload, but I know it's my responsibility and I'm 100% prepared to take that on. I was mostly just saying that it's going to add to my catch up.. I'm not going to blame anyone but myself at the end of the year if I don't do well, because I know I'm not really happy with what my teacher teaches, and I have the time now to do what it takes to overcome that.

That aside, I would like some opinions on this topic.. I understand my teacher is a valuable resource to an extent (although I'd rather go to some different teachers if I actually needed help because this teacher really doesn't know what he's talking about), but I don't know what to do in class.. He has powerpoints from one of the good englang teachers at my school last year, but he doesn't stop long enough to copy down notes, and he doesn't understand the content of them and can't explain it. He puts the powerpoints up for us though so that's not an issue. But with so much self study needed, it seems like a waste of time to be in class. If we had each hour to learn the content it would be fine, but every minute we're in class and he contradicts himself and expects us to know everything while refusing to teach it, I feel like I'm going backwards. How can I make my class time more effective? Losing four hours a week just feels so pointless and I don't want to be wasting that time. Any tips on what I can do in class will be appreciated

External resources, extra teacher assistance and a strong dependence on ATARNotes are all options I will be using throughout the year

Um if you don't think its worth listening to your teacher - just do your own work in class. I don't think teachers can tell you off for doing work, its like brah im doing work what u want from me.
And I know this might be disrespectful to your teacher, but can you ask to change classes? Like this is your future. I would speak to the principal to do this - this is your future not theirs. You can't let them screw you over - they can't take away your potential for success by pairing you with a crap teacher. I would go to fair lengths to make this happen if I truly thought another teacher was great.
BUT in saying this - Think about your teacher objectively. It's extremely rare that a teacher is useless. I have never done this or know anyone that's done this but I guess if this is what you think is the best for you then go ahead.

[upandgo]

...hey guys..

So I totally understand everything everyone's said here, and let me put this out there- I COMPLETELY AGREE.

Maybe I hadn't initially made this clear in my post, I wasn't blaming my fate of my education on a crap teacher or anything like that. Yeah sure it's unfortunate and there could have been better alternatives to the way things panned out and I'm disappointed and it adds heaps of stress and a greater workload, but I know it's my responsibility and I'm 100% prepared to take that on. I was mostly just saying that it's going to add to my catch up.. I'm not going to blame anyone but myself at the end of the year if I don't do well, because I know I'm not really happy with what my teacher teaches, and I have the time now to do what it takes to overcome that.

That aside, I would like some opinions on this topic.. I understand my teacher is a valuable resource to an extent (although I'd rather go to some different teachers if I actually needed help because this teacher really doesn't know what he's talking about), but I don't know what to do in class.. He has powerpoints from one of the good englang teachers at my school last year, but he doesn't stop long enough to copy down notes, and he doesn't understand the content of them and can't explain it. He puts the powerpoints up for us though so that's not an issue. But with so much self study needed, it seems like a waste of time to be in class. If we had each hour to learn the content it would be fine, but every minute we're in class and he contradicts himself and expects us to know everything while refusing to teach it, I feel like I'm going backwards. How can I make my class time more effective? Losing four hours a week just feels so pointless and I don't want to be wasting that time. Any tips on what I can do in class will be appreciated

External resources, extra teacher assistance and a strong dependence on ATARNotes are all options I will be using throughout the year

this is my EXACT situation with my business and legal studies teacher this year, so i know how you feel!

i have the same teacher for both these subjects, and in EVERY class he goes through powerpoints (one of his powerpoints was 100 slides long no joke) and talks for the whole hour, only leaving us with around 15 mins to actually do some work. during headstart last year i too thought i was going to fail, but like the posts above me have emphasised, being responsible for your own learning is a major key  .

during class time, i usually just prepare for the upcoming sac (by answering exam questions, adding more to my notes, reviewing concepts), i dont do english language (tbh idk what the subjects even about) but maybe doing these things might be helpful to you!

[Swagadaktal]

this is my EXACT situation with my business and legal studies teacher this year, so i know how you feel!

i have the same teacher for both these subjects, and in EVERY class he goes through powerpoints (one of his powerpoints was 100 slides long no joke) and talks for the whole hour, only leaving us with around 15 mins to actually do some work. during headstart last year i too thought i was going to fail, but like the posts above me have emphasised, being responsible for your own learning is a major key  .

during class time, i usually just prepare for the upcoming sac (by answering exam questions, adding more to my notes, reviewing concepts), i dont do english language (tbh idk what the subjects even about) but maybe doing these things might be helpful to you!

umm - I don't wanna be negative or anything here but why are you under the assumption you are entitled to class time :O
With content subjects we barely ever get class time - it's a rare luxury to get class time.
For methods last year there was like 10 mins in some classes to do work (we get a period before sacs or so) -  but like there's just so much content to go through in VCE and so little time to do it soooooo i would take out the predisposition that you are going to have class time to do work.
That way you can plan out your night times to be the superstar u are xoxox <3

[Maz]

I'd say first suggest the idea to the teacher- about pausing down long enough to copy notes though

[upandgo]

umm - I don't wanna be negative or anything here but why are you under the assumption you are entitled to class time :O
With content subjects we barely ever get class time - it's a rare luxury to get class time.
For methods last year there was like 10 mins in some classes to do work (we get a period before sacs or so) -  but like there's just so much content to go through in VCE and so little time to do it soooooo i would take out the predisposition that you are going to have class time to do work.
That way you can plan out your night times to be the superstar u are xoxox <3

sorry, shouldve realised it's different at each school 
at my school our periods are 75 mins long so maybe thats why lol

[Swagadaktal]

sorry, shouldve realised it's different at each school 
at my school our periods are 75 mins long so maybe thats why lol

wtf legit? Do you only have 4 periods a day?
My school has 40 min periods :3 - but like for the double periods we get 10 mins at max for studying so the same still applies