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March 29, 2024, 01:17:27 am

Author Topic: Bad Teacher  (Read 4226 times)

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jroeb

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Bad Teacher
« on: May 06, 2021, 09:25:51 am »
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Before I get started - I understand bad teachers exist, alot of them, but this is unlike others.
I'm currently doing methods and my teacher is awful - he doesnt actually teach. He just puts a question on the board and tries to answer it with no explanation as to what he's doing and gets it wrong and then spends the lesson trying to figure out what he got wrong with it. Im about to finish Unit 1 and the only content I've actually learnt is from when he plays youtube videos. In fact, he accidentally taught us general math work a few lessons ago. I've spoken to the coordinator and she has given me the option to swap into a different class but to make the timetable work i would have to change my psychology and religion and ethics classes which ideally I wouldn't want to do. I'm confident that I am going to fail this term's exam because of how bad this teacher is. She has also given me the option to swap into general maths without effecting any of my other classes. In the past I've been a straight A student in maths but I simply can't maintain that with this teacher. Is it worth swapping my other classes to stay in methods and actually learn something and potentially still do bad because of what I've missed, or should I swap straight to general maths and almost definitely do well in that and keep my other two classes?
EDIT: Am in year 11 by the way if that wasnt made obvious

Bri MT

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Re: Bad Teacher
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2021, 09:49:39 am »
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Hi!

Welcome to the forums :)

I've removed your other post you accidentally put in QTAC discussion btw.

Sounds like a very tricky situation - do you feel that you could independently learn and cover the content that way?

I would be a bit wary of dropping methods unless you are also doing spec or are confident that you won't be interested in uni courses which require it. It's probably worth taking a look around to see what you think you'll do after year 12.

s110820

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Re: Bad Teacher
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2021, 10:02:47 am »
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Before I get started - I understand bad teachers exist, alot of them, but this is unlike others.
I'm currently doing methods and my teacher is awful - he doesnt actually teach. He just puts a question on the board and tries to answer it with no explanation as to what he's doing and gets it wrong and then spends the lesson trying to figure out what he got wrong with it. Im about to finish Unit 1 and the only content I've actually learnt is from when he plays youtube videos. In fact, he accidentally taught us general math work a few lessons ago. I've spoken to the coordinator and she has given me the option to swap into a different class but to make the timetable work i would have to change my psychology and religion and ethics classes which ideally I wouldn't want to do. I'm confident that I am going to fail this term's exam because of how bad this teacher is. She has also given me the option to swap into general maths without effecting any of my other classes. In the past I've been a straight A student in maths but I simply can't maintain that with this teacher. Is it worth swapping my other classes to stay in methods and actually learn something and potentially still do bad because of what I've missed, or should I swap straight to general maths and almost definitely do well in that and keep my other two classes?
EDIT: Am in year 11 by the way if that wasnt made obvious

Hey jroeb,

I personally think that when you make your decision, you should also consider your future university prerequisites. If you're interested in studying in a course that requires the prerequisite of Mathematical Methods and/or Specialist Mathematics but you choose to do General Maths instead, you may have to do additional units during university to catch up. For example, QUT offers a Mathematics Bridging Program that can meet the assumed knowledge or prerequisites for your course and is also applicable for other institutions as well. Hence, when making your decision, I would recommend considering the future outcomes and the pros and cons of each situation.

However, as you are only in Unit 1 at the moment (which is an advantage as your Unit 1 & 2 results don't contribute to your ATAR or university prerequisites), I would also recommend to continue to emphasise this issue to the coordinator, the head of mathematics at your school and maybe even the principal, if necessary. The reality is, you won't be the only student who is struggling with this issue so if there is a way to come together as a class (separate from your teacher) and discuss, record and elaborate on personal experiences with this teacher as a whole then maybe this issue can be further addressed without having to a) risk your grades, b) change classes or c) swap to General Maths all together.

What I'm trying to say is that, at the forefront of this issue, is your teacher and how he teaches. As a student, you (and the rest of the peers in your class) shouldn't have to swap classes, change to General Maths or to potentially compromise your future university pathway because a teacher cannot teach effectively. The reality is, this whole situation isn't fair either. Regardless of which scenario you choose, you will still have to play the "catch up" game to succeed, especially if you missed/weren't taught most of the Unit 1 content.

My point is, the teacher himself, should be addressed with other Maths Methods teachers, the coordinator, the head of mathematics and the principal for this issue to be resolved. Furthermore, this teacher also needs to recognise how the lack of effective teaching will be a detriment to the future performance of students, especially if he's allowed to continue teaching Maths Methods.

It's like a domino effect: if one domino (in this case, you and your peers) fall down due to your teacher's lack of effective teaching, then so would future generations of Maths Methods students who are taught by the same teacher. Personally, I would start by looking at this situation head on (by not giving up when the issue is not addressed) and if necessary, (especially if this issue doesn't end up being addressed in time), consider the potential outcomes for each scenario.

Hopefully that helps :)

P.S. I also forgot to mention but here is the link for the QUT Mathematics Bridging Program
https://www.qut.edu.au/study/bridging-programs/mathematics-bridging-program
« Last Edit: May 06, 2021, 10:12:28 am by s110820 »
QUT 2021 - Bachelor of Education (Primary).

jasmine24

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Re: Bad Teacher
« Reply #3 on: May 08, 2021, 04:18:32 pm »
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Before I get started - I understand bad teachers exist, alot of them, but this is unlike others.
I'm currently doing methods and my teacher is awful - he doesnt actually teach. He just puts a question on the board and tries to answer it with no explanation as to what he's doing and gets it wrong and then spends the lesson trying to figure out what he got wrong with it. Im about to finish Unit 1 and the only content I've actually learnt is from when he plays youtube videos. In fact, he accidentally taught us general math work a few lessons ago. I've spoken to the coordinator and she has given me the option to swap into a different class but to make the timetable work i would have to change my psychology and religion and ethics classes which ideally I wouldn't want to do. I'm confident that I am going to fail this term's exam because of how bad this teacher is. She has also given me the option to swap into general maths without effecting any of my other classes. In the past I've been a straight A student in maths but I simply can't maintain that with this teacher. Is it worth swapping my other classes to stay in methods and actually learn something and potentially still do bad because of what I've missed, or should I swap straight to general maths and almost definitely do well in that and keep my other two classes?
EDIT: Am in year 11 by the way if that wasnt made obvious

Ik you shouldn't really choose subjects because of scaling but I think its important to consider if your thinking about swapping, the scaling for methods is quite significantly better than general like a 55 in general scales down to a 47 while a 57 in methods scales up to 77. If methods is a subject you want to keep, you could possibly get a tutor and I'm also happy to answer any q's you may have (I duxed methods last year and currently have a 100% in both my internals for unit 3, it will also be good revision for me anyways)
I think it's so unfair that ur having this dilemma because of a bad teacher :(