teahcer can't teach! (2 Viewers)

[ahen]

i do english ext 1- our topic is the rather rare one of gendered language.
but that's not really the problem.
the problem is that the teacher we have can't really teach the topic, i don't think she knows that much about it to be honest.

set text 1 You Just Don't Understand by Deborah Tannen we spent all of...2 maybe 3 lessons on that. Then out of the blue " here's your assessment you have to write 2500 words" on something we knew jackshit about.
we also spend many lessons doing random things like readings and watching videos and stuff that are relevant to the course but when we're not actually getting anywhere i feel that it's just a waste of time.

set text 2 Twelfth Night by Shakespeare we spent literally 1 or 2 lessons on this. 1 lessons reading up to act 2 and the other sort of discussing the assessment. then that was it. she gave us a few readings on the play to use for our assessment over the holidays and now we have an assessment that's worth 20% of our mark due next week.

we got our first assessment back and half the class failed. Basically because no one knew what to do, we get nothing out of class discussions, we draw no real conclusions, we don't even understand what "gendered lanugage" is. some of us want to go see our head teacher about it but don't know what to say.
the other problem is that because our topic is hardly ever done there's very little info out there, i've used all i can from this site but unfortunately it's not enough.

sorry this is so long but i hope you guys can help, thanks

 

[Robbeh]

What do you do in the other lessons? :O

I would suggest telling your parents, and have them level complaints at the school board. It sounds like all your class may be under the same opinion, so advise them to do so as well. It is in your best interest to have the best education possible for your final year of school (oh the almight UAI shall crush us etc...)!

I sympathize with you, I've had dud teachers. Thankfully, I am very happy with my final set. Hopefully, they can drag this worn out brain and this unwilling soul to some results.

 

[shinji]

eh,, it kinda looks like ur class relies too much on class discussions and/or notes provided by ur teacher.

what ur teacher is trying to do (i think) is make YOU do the work instead of being spoon-fed. from my p.o.v, its also ur fault because it seems u don't seem to put enough effort into it? i dunno.

 

[Kebabci Oglu]

Well i can tell ya from experience dont rely on teachers. You have to do it yourself our you will fail horribly. I had same issue with my physics teacher aswell in yr11 and yr 12 i was suckin real bad at it until i bought text books and studied real hard at home and started passin with good grades.
SO advice dont rely on teachers...

 

[pritnep]

I agree with the others are you sure it isn't a case of a class that can't learn, from a teacher who gives them material and then wants them to independently learn and then come back and ask questions.

Class discussions only work if students have read and understand the material and then ask critical questions that the teacher can answer and expand on.

There is two ways you can approach this. One, approach the teacher and tell her to change her teaching method or two go to the head teacher and tell them about the trouble the class is having with the teacher. Or maybe ext English just isn't for you if you aren't willing to go that extra mile.

 

[dr baby beanie]

There is two ways you can approach this. One, approach the teacher and tell her to change her teaching method or two go to the head teacher and tell them about the trouble the class is having with the teacher.

I agree with pritnep here. I once had a really bad science teacher (but I had the most awesome one the year before, so slighlty biased). She know what she was talking about and thus couldn't teach well. She also yelled everything!

Some teachers don't even know that they're teaching method doesn't suit a particular class.

At the time we found her really intimidating so what we did was approach our year advisor and the head of science and organised a meeting (class, HT, yr advisor) to discuss the our concerns about her competancy, things we didn't like, or that weren't working well for us etc. She realised what we were saying and got better after. She did slip a little but so we had to remind her but what we did well was also praise her for when she did things well (so she would for next time).

 

[Season]

I think english is one of those topics you can really go off on your own and do independant study on it. If you have problems analysing it there's always this board and google to rely on. Personally I've got a lot more out of the net then I have out of english teachers (except one, she was awesome).

A good friend of mine once said that 'the teacher is only an addition to the text book'. All you need is in the book, so just go ahead on yourself.

 

[yoakim]

Yeah I've had a few teachers that couldn't teach, luckily now I have good ones. What I did was just teach basically everything to myself. But if you're real desperate, get a tutor.

 

[jdcb4]

Ext Eng teacher that doesn't know what they're on about? I can sympathise, had the same problem. Easy solution was to cut and run. I dropped Ext Eng 'cause of her and would give you the same advice. Unless you only have 10 units already or something. Ext Eng doesn't scale all that well and to get good marks takes a shit load of work. Cut your losses. Or, as most people have said, teach yourself. Teachers aren't that important in the long run.

 

[gaoOO]

English Extension is one of those subjects where your teacher isn't going to tell you much. It's really up to yourself to formulate your own ideas- that's what makes it different from advanced english or standard english.

you don't need a good teacher for a subject like english, because it's wholly dependent on yourself. I can sympathise with bad maths or physics teachers, but you're meant to do your own work and thinking in english.

 

[pritnep]

I disagree a good teacher in English can make the word of difference. But for English Extension I think it's more important that you can be an independant thinker and learner.

 

[gaoOO]

I disagree a good teacher in English can make the word of difference. But for English Extension I think it's more important that you can be an independant thinker and learner.

the point of extension english is to formulate your own ideas. Our teachers don't tell us much at all, it's really up to you.

when i say good english teacher, i guess what i mean is how much they "teach" in class. I think english teachers that go through your work with you and help you improve it are important and can make a big difference, but in the case of not telling you what you should be writing in your essays, that is up to the students.

 

[watatank]

I disagree a good teacher in English can make the word of difference. But for English Extension I think it's more important that you can be an independant thinker and learner.

Word.

 

[shinji]

just got a new teacher for business studies and i have to say she is the worst teacher in the world

i thought i'd just share that

business studies is another subject that u can learn by urself.

basically every subject, u can teach to urself. just requires dedication.
just go through syllabus and text book, and try to read and understand everything.

if u don't understand something, post it on bos, ask your teacher, google it, or cross-reference it with another textbook.

use ur imagination,,

 

[-pari-]

hmm...i personally find english the least easiest subject to study on your own with.
a good teacher does do a world of good.

but. thats not to say you can't do things on your own. a LOT of what i get out of english is what i do myself. i did a lot of background reading on crime fiction etc, and thats mostly where i learnt my stuff from. the teacher is the icing on the cake. the cake you gotta make yourself

its hard, but not impossible

 

[ahen]

maybe its cos we had such an awesome teacher for yr 11 extension english that i'm comparing her to his standards. But the other thing is i love english and im doing ext 2 so i couldnt drop ext 1 even if i wanted to.
i'd learn from a textbook if i could FIND a textbook, frigging gendered language is only done by (apparently) only around 200 people in the state hence textbooks are scarce and very difficult to find. i looked in angus and robertson, borders and local 2nd hand book stores and found nothing.
anyway thanks for your help, we're thinking of talking to our teacher on monday.

 

[-pari-]

hey y'know what? i was in that situation

one of my teachers changed from the yr 11 to yr12 transition
and i initially thought she was reaaaal bad. but then i realised i was comparing her to the other teacher

every teacher has a different style of teaching, and you gotta recognise it, and how best you can extract things from him/her.

dont just limit yourself to text books.
the internet is great, read some past students' essays etc. look up boredofstudies....

 

[gaoOO]

i'd learn from a textbook if i could FIND a textbook, frigging gendered language is only done by (apparently) only around 200 people in the state hence textbooks are scarce and very difficult to find. i looked in angus and robertson, borders and local 2nd hand book stores and found nothing.

talk to her, BUT my suggestion is that if you're trying to learn Extension English from a textbook, it doesn't sound like the right subject for you. Textbooks for Extension are useless in that what you can extract is generic and won't get you the marks anymore (considering the course for ext has been pretty much the same), so you need to develop your own ideas. I know that a guide can be useful though, so i think the easiest way is to look at sample HSC responses and that should give you enough indication to help you along the right track.

 

[bringbackshred]

If you teaher can't teach, havea word tot he head teacher or the principal about it and see what canbe done - this is your only chance, and the BoS won't take "I had a crap teacher' for an excuse when your mark goes in.

No, I didn't read the first post either.

 

[jaaaaay]

Teachers who can't teach aren't uncommon... I think we just have to put up with it... that's why so many people resort to tutoring ><"

Complaining won't do anything. By the time they get rid of that crappy teacher and replace them, you'll have already graduated... public school teachers aren't easy to get rid of...

If you have one or two good teachers in a public school, consider yourself lucky!