What to do about my crappy chemistry teacher? (1 Viewer)

[2loseyourmind4]

Hey guys!

So here's my issue.

From years 8-10 I absolutely loved chem and was pulling some great grades (last year I got top 1% in my grade for science) so I'm good at it and I love it.

But my teacher this year for chem is fucking horrible. He doesn't make sense when he talks - he just rambles about random things, he's very smart but he doesn't know how to teach. He's given us an "assumed knowledge" booklet and half of the things we haven't been taught and when we ask for any type of assistance he hardly answers the question. He's made chem such a dreadful lesson for me and I don't know what to do.

I wanted to do something in medicine/the medical field when I finished with HSC but now I'm starting to regret that decision. And I'm starting to wonder

Do I keep with it and get a tutor and hope I can teach myself (knowing that this is going to get harder over time) Or do I get outta there ASAP and pick up something else? I'm not doing any other sciences to fall back on which is another problem for me


Any advice?

Subjects currently are:

2U math
adv. eng
Ancient history
Business studies
SOR1
Chemistry

 

[pikachu975]

Either get a tutor or drop it. Also barely any medicine courses have prerequisites but anyway I still don't see how chem relates to medicine... bio definitely looks like it relates more

 

[Drongoski]

He's given us an "assumed knowledge" booklet and half of the things we haven't been taught and when we ask for any type of assistance he hardly answers the question. He's made chem such a dreadful lesson for me and I don't know what to do.

Maybe your Chem teacher is a dud. Since "he hardly answers the question", it is very possible he does not even know his stuff. Does he have a degree in Chemistry?

Meantime don't give up. Grab your chemistry text and try to read and teach yourself. What topics have you covered in your class so far?

 

[donkily]

Watch letslearnscience and other youtube videos

 

[dan964]

Since you are doing 12 units, you have the freedom to drop the subject if it is really painful to continue.

In terms of help, if you think there is a genuine concern, depending on the type of teacher, sometimes it can be helped by gently pointing out to the teacher or raising concerns with the head teacher.

Regardless of whether that is an option or not; tutoring is a good option, although to be honest, there are tutors who may not be the most helpful for your situation. (You would need a tutor that doesn't overcharge and can tailor specifically to your situation).

There are also other ways to learn the material online through videos as recommended, as well as online resources, whether here or on other websites.

 

[shumphrey]

yeah I'm in a similar scenario as you right now although my teacher teaches the content in half the detail needed for a band 6, if you want to drop chem go ahead but if you want to keep it buy online notes and other resources, i recommend HSC in the Holidays for like $40-45 you can get really good, complete course notes for most subjects (only $20 for just one though) and example essays. Ace the HSC and Atar notes also have good resources.

I've used these and there pretty good, btw teaching yourself all the content yourself is a pain but you can still do great