Why are you doing methods early? Is this normal at your school?So what happens at my school is at the end of year 8, you apply to get into the advanced maths class, where you complete the combined yr9 and yr10 course in yr 9 and methods 1/2 in year 10. I was lucky enough to be able to do this and so I did methods 1/2 last year and decided to finish off 3/4 this year so I can just have methods out of the way because I really do enjoy the rest of my subjects and I want to focus on them in year 12 :)
Are you confident that you'll keep your Year 11 subjects for Year 12?Yeah I'm happy to say that I am because I actually transferred out of Lit 1/2 to do Psych at the end of Semester 1 because as beautiful as Lit is, I think it's really hard to do well in and I didn't want to pick up a new subject in year 12. I also do enjoy Psych. And haha thank you for reassuring me. You're right I do have to keep those things in mind. Best of luck with your exams!
Hi there!
I'm quite excited to be starting a journal on the forum and I really hope I continue on with it. I'm currently in year 11, doing English, Biology, Legal Studies, Chemistry, Psychology and Methods 3/4.
So.. why did I start this journal? Well, it can all get a little bit too much in VCE and I would just like to have a place where I can reflect and maybe even vent.
In all honesty, I'm in a bit of a rut at the moment. I don't really have any motivation to do work anymore and I'm just genuinely tired. I'm on my last couple of days of Term 3 holidays. I had a trial exam at school for Methods yesterday and have been working hard leading up to it. I started doing practice exams and analysing them to see how I can improve. I did 6 which compared to others may not be a lot but I'm really proud of the amount of effort I put into studying for Maths early on in the holidays. However, I'm really not happy with how I'm doing. I've been getting around 40% for Exam 1 and ranging from 23% to 60% for Exam 2. It's really disheartening because I have a high goal for my study score in Methods but it just doesn't seem attainable anymore. To give you some context: I've been getting 80% and above for Methods SACs which also isn't spectacular but I'm happy with them because I'm working hard. And yeah, the trial exam yesterday wasn't great. It was the 2019 MAV Exam 2. I feel like I did really well on multiple choice but like I left the whole last question of the extended response blank, partly due to time but also because I was clueless and I also didn't know how to do like a handful of other questions. Everyone else in my cohort felt the same but it still sucks to feel this way. I'm trying reaaaaally hard to be positive. I mean, the more practice exams I do, generally the better I perform but it's just daunting that I only have literally 32 days (I have countdown app rip) to go until the first exam. I just feel like I wasted the whole year with maths. I just don't understand how people start practice exams so early! I literally finished my prob SAC in the last week of Term 3. I just really want to do well because I want to make my parents and my teachers proud but I also want to make myself proud. It's just really stressful and energy-consuming and I just have super high expectations of myself.
Anyway, sorry for being depresso (especially on my first post lol), it's just getting to me. I just have to remember to be patient and persistent.
Hope you have a lovely day :)
Hey, tigerclouds!Having high expectations and being ambitious is good, I agree. It can just be crippling at times and therefore defy its purpose of being a source of motivation. I’m learning to deal with that which also ties in with comparing myself to others. I heard a really nice saying today that I would like to share here: ‘Compare yourself with the person you were yesterday not another person today’. I found that really powerful. Anyway I’ve gone on a tangent haha, thank you for your reply J_Rho!
Glad to see another journey journal, no need to apologise for venting about VCE! This is what your journal is for.
I can very much relate with this, as I am doing 3/4 Bio and averaging 55% on my SACs and desperately wanted that 40 ss :'(
having high expectations of yourself isn't always bad - I personally want to achieve a 99 ATAR but realistically I just have to be happy even if I get an 80 point being have high expectations but understand it may not always become a reality
you got this 8)
Can't wait to read more of your posts!!
Hey tigerclouds!Thank you Laura for your kind words, I think I do have a little more motivation now :D
Can't wait to hear more about youre journey. Have a great first day back- hopefully a fresh(ish) start to school will jumpstart your motivation! ;D
Psych:Sounds very cool! I'd love to hear more about it. Best of luck this week! ;D
I’m conducting an experiment on the impact of music on behaviour and it’s taking ages. It’s cool but there’s just so much to do.
Anywho that’s all! I try to make these updates short but I just keep rambling on hehe. Alright I really need to get some sleep. Toodles!
Alright. To be honest, I'm really irked at the moment. I just did a practice exam 1 from Insight and got a 22/40. I'm just so frustrated because I've been stuck at this score even though God knows how hard I've been working and how dedicated I've been to understanding my mistakes and how to solve the question. I do lose quite a few marks for silly mistakes but there are just questions that I just genuinely don't understand and don't even know where to begin with them.Have you tried posting the questions you don't understand in the methods thread to get some help? ;D Being stuck around halfway would be super frustrating. <3
Have you tried posting the questions you don't understand in the methods thread to get some help? ;D Being stuck around halfway would be super frustrating. <3No I haven't, I might give it a try. It's just that I sometimes find it hard to understand online solutions. Thank you though :)
Alright. To be honest, I'm really irked at the moment. I just did a practice exam 1 from Insight and got a 22/40. I'm just so frustrated because I've been stuck at this score even though God knows how hard I've been working and how dedicated I've been to understanding my mistakes and how to solve the question. I do lose quite a few marks for silly mistakes but there are just questions that I just genuinely don't understand and don't even know where to begin with them.
I'm also kind of neglecting the rest of my subjects so I can focus on Methods and do well in it but like the work still isn't paying off so I feel guilty for not putting enough effort for my 1/2 subjects. It's like my 1/2 subjects and Methods are in a tug of war except none of the sides are winning and the rope is so close to just being torn in the middle. I don't know if I make sense. I'm just really annoyed with myself and am so close to giving up on this subject.
It's very normal to start off practice exams and find that you aren't getting the scores you would like. I'd definitely recommend trying to stick through the process of correcting your answers in depth and building up your practice.
It can be incredibly frustrating, but one you do start to see progress and feel more confident it's great.
Alright. To be honest, I'm really irked at the moment. I just did a practice exam 1 from Insight and got a 22/40. I'm just so frustrated because I've been stuck at this score even though God knows how hard I've been working and how dedicated I've been to understanding my mistakes and how to solve the question. I do lose quite a few marks for silly mistakes but there are just questions that I just genuinely don't understand and don't even know where to begin with them.I know exactly where you are coming from! I started doing practice exams for bio this year and got 47% my first go. I was so upset about this. Then I started revising more and studying and I got my average mark up to 70%. I have stayed at 70% for the past 11 practice exams I have tried, so I know exactly how you feel! It can feel a but soul crushing, but as long as you keep trying, and you feel as if you are learning from your mistakes, you will do okay.
Thank you so much. I know you're right, I just really need that confidence boost now. Do you have any suggestions on how I could see more progress, perhaps something other than doing practice exams? Sorry to put you on the spot haha, anyone is free to reply as well:)
I know exactly where you are coming from! I started doing practice exams for bio this year and got 47% my first go. I was so upset about this. Then I started revising more and studying and I got my average mark up to 70%. I have stayed at 70% for the past 11 practice exams I have tried, so I know exactly how you feel! It can feel a but soul crushing, but as long as you keep trying, and you feel as if you are learning from your mistakes, you will do okay.
Good luck, it gets better, you can do!
No worries at all!
I used practice exam questions a lot in VCE and one way that I was able to see progress was doing the same question multiple times until I'd get it right. Have you tried redoing any of your exams?
Sorry to bud in, i'm averaging the same marks as Geoo for the past 14 papers that i have completed, i would like to know how to boost my score by filling in the rest of the 30%.
The questions that i get wrong should i revise the content? or should i redo my papers?
I'm in a state of complete blankness on what to do next.
That's so good that you were able to have such a huge jump with your scores! We can both do it as long as we strick through with the process :)
No I haven't redone any of my exams yet. I'll do that and see if it helps :) It sounds like a great idea, I'm just wary of time because I know quality really matters but I'm still trying to grind through as many exams as I can, so I can get that exposure too. Thank you so much for the advice :)
Hey, happy to help out I just don't want to derail tigercloud's journal; if you post in the relevant subject's section I'll happily help you out there.You're right. I'll try doing that :)
I can see your logic, and exposure is good but you'll probably be more motivated (and thus maybe do more exams?) if you can get more out of each exam. Particularly for methods, I would recommend doing exams multiple times. If you are worried about time you might start off with a vcaa exam relevant to the current study design to be repeating.
No worries at all :)
Ah!!!!!!! I'm so happy right now! I got a 35/40 for the 2017 VCAA exam 1 NHT. Talk about a jump!Congratulations!! ;D
Congratulations!! ;D
English: I have a point of view SAC tmrw in the form of a letter of the editor. I'm writing about anti-vaxxers. It's been fun having a go at them. I haven't finalised my piece yet and it's 10:55 pm. Very characteristic of me. Should probably go do that...That sounds like fun (the having a dig at antivaxxers, not the sac) How did it go? ;D
That sounds like fun (the having a dig at antivaxxers, not the sac) How did it go? ;DIt was good! I had already written a draft so I just ended up memorising and writing that. Oooooh, should I post my piece here?
Monday Oct 28:
Methods: And...... we're back again. So it turns out that result I was really happy with was an outlier. I did the 2017 VCAA exam 1 today and got a 24/40. Damn it. I was really enjoying that confidence boost. But hey, I heard that it was a nasty exam so.... At least it's still higher than a 22. It's ok though, we're gonna get back into the 80% range. I promise. I took the day off school today so I can do some more work on methods. I ended up completing 2 exams: the one I just spoke about and an exam 2 and I actually ended up getting my highest score yet on an exam 2 which was quite exciting. But yeah, I was hoping to get 3 exams done but I spend so bloody long correcting and making sure I get it. That's a good thing though right? Quality over quantity (though I really want the quantity)
Just for reference, I'm aiming for above a 30 ss and above a 35 would be amazing!
English: I have a point of view SAC tmrw in the form of a letter of the editor. I'm writing about anti-vaxxers. It's been fun having a go at them. I haven't finalised my piece yet and it's 10:55 pm. Very characteristic of me. Should probably go do that...
Till next time!
youve got this.Thank you! I'm trying not to give up lol
yes, it is so much better to make sure that your getting the most out of doing the practice exams. I honestly feel like I've been doing it for the sake of it at this point - I think just keep going at the pace that is most comfortable to you!
It was good! I had already written a draft so I just ended up memorising and writing that. Oooooh, should I post my piece here?Yes, yes, yes!!
Yes, yes, yes!!
Enjoy 8)No Jab, No Sway: theyve gone astrayHave a seat. Lets see whats on the news. Perhaps we can get an update on the climate change strike or see if the wars in the Middle East have calmed. Instead, whats on Channel 7? Meryl Dorey, a notorious anti-vaxxer, preaching about how all vaccines are contaminated and calling parents whose child had died from a vaccine-preventable disease whining liars. What a sight to behold!
This is only a microcosm of the beliefs anti-vaxxers follow religiously. Another famous one is the misconception that vaccines cause autism. Time and time again, science has proven this theory to be blatantly wrong. Studies in Denmark involving over 500,000 children have proven that vaccinated children are no more likely than unvaccinated children to develop autism. You cant dispute scientific facts. Furthermore, the article that first suggested this link between autism and vaccines was retracted and the doctor who published it was declared a fraud and lost his medical license. Still, one uninformed article and the whole world goes into a frenzy. Can it get any more 21st century than this?
Now, I get that anti-vaxxers are all for that alternative lifestyle but vaccines arent deodorant, you cant substitute them for essential oils.
Diseases can spread like wildfire in crowded environments like schools and small towns. Take the New South Wales town of Mullumbimby as an example, where only 52 per cent of five-year-olds were fully immunised in 2015-2016, compared with 92.9 per cent nationally. This town actually belongs to a region that initiated the 2009 whooping cough outbreak in Australia. Shock.
Australia is to be commended for its efforts in raising vaccinations rates by enforcing the No Jab, No Play policy in 2015. This policy banned unvaccinated children from attending school and cut off welfare payments from families who choose not to vaccinate their children. Whilst this is a great initiative as it essentially forces people to vaccinate, its still very restrictive. What about the wealthy non-vaxxers who dont need any welfare payments? We need a solution that applies to everyone and we need it now, not when a pandemic emerges.
We have officially reached a point where we have to beg people to worry about their health.
Theyve missed the shot on this one.
Haha, good on you!Tell me about it ::) They have no facts to base their arguments on.
I get so railed up about anti vaxers, and as someone who does know one in real life.......
Plus what they seem to ignore, is all these "chemicals" in these vaccines are found in natural elements of our life, like formaldehyde is also found in apples....
As someone who is a but on the compromised immune system side, vaccines are really important for herd immunity to protect so many vulnerable people, it just pisses me off.
Highly engaging read but I'm not sure what the purpose of your speech is, which may cost you marks.What do you mean? We just need to outline our point of view on an issue persuasively.
Tell me about it ::) They have no facts to base their arguments on.
What do you mean? We just need to outline our point of view on an issue persuasively.
Bloody hate Methods. (It’s gonna be so funny looking back at my mood swings lol). Seriously tho, no matter how many exams I do and how many unfamiliar questions that I learn to understand, those last few pages of the exam always throw me off. It’s something different every time. How on earth can people just know what to do?! I want to understand it, I really do but I just can’t make the connections I’m required to. You know what, let’s focus on the positive. I’ve grown to like and be pretty good at probability (it just makes sense!) and I’ve been able to apply some associations that I learned to make from other questions, I’m getting better with composite functions. Multiple choice I do pretty ok in. It’s just those last questions.It will all be over in 5 days - youre nearly there!! I guess if youre realllyyyy thrown off with the last few questions, and struggle really badly with them, just try and do the first half of the paper as BEST as you can. The majority of people will struggle with the last few, so dont stress toooo much.
You know what, it’s fine. Maths is definitely my weakest subject, I love my other ones and I’m just so excited to just finish Methods and go back to focusing on subjects that I love and make sense to me.
I could break my question down into two questions:Oh ok, yeah I didn’t really take that into consideration because there was no mention of it in the criteria. Regardless, it’s still important, so I’ll keep it in mind for future tasks. Thank you :)
- who is your audience?
- what do you want them to change as a result of your speech? (I.e. what are you persuading them of)
I dare say your audience isn't anti-vaxxers since you alienate them from the start, so who is it?
Are you trying to convince your audience to support vaccines in general, to support no jab no play, to support mandatory vaccinations for everyone? To mistrust anti-vaxers?
You don't have to explicitly state this but your contention should be clear throughout your speech.
Maybe this isn't something you need to worry about at your year level but I'd check the assessment criteria to be sure.
It will all be over in 5 days - youre nearly there!! I guess if youre realllyyyy thrown off with the last few questions, and struggle really badly with them, just try and do the first half of the paper as BEST as you can. The majority of people will struggle with the last few, so dont stress toooo much.Yeah we’re so close! Good luck to you too :)
Also, I've grown to like probability too ha ha.
Anyway, best of luck next week. I'm like you too - I cant wait to finish methods so I can concentrate on my other subjects which I love so much more!
My marks have drastically increased from what I was getting at the start. So that’s goodThat's great, tigerclouds! That's really motivating to see!
That's great, tigerclouds! That's really motivating to see!Aw thank you so much! It means a lot :) How are you feeling about it?
Best of luck for Tuesday and Wednesday! I know you're going to do amazing! ;D
Aw thank you so much! It means a lot :) How are you feeling about it?I feel okay. It's crazy to think that we'll be done with methods after Thursday! But, it is sad that we'll never do methods again.
I feel okay. It's crazy to think that we'll be done with methods after Thursday! But, it is sad that we'll never do methods again.Ooh, I can't say I feel the same way about not doing methods again. That's been my motivation to do well hahaha. I get what you mean though. I think there will be a small tiny miniscule part of me that gets nostalgic when I see my other friends doing methods next year.
Methods Exam 1 debrief
It’s so crazy that this day is already here. Oh my goodness. First VCAA exam! I’m happy :D That was not so bad! I know I did some algebraic errors but like I actually understood what the questions were asking me to do. There weren’t any questions that were like woah how do I do that. It was way better than I expected. I actually also guessed the last question right eeek!!! I’m just kinda mad at myself for stuffing up my working out because like I said, I knew what I had to do and all these little marks are gonna accumulate. For example, I couldn’t put the prob question in the required form and I had the right idea of the area question but working out was wrong. I hate that I keep remembering some things that I got wrong. I really want to focus on tomorrow’s exam. I just hope they don’t throw something feral at us tomorrow. Still, I’m happy with how I went on this one :)
thats so great to hear!! Good luck for tomorrow!!Thank you :) How did you go?
I agree, the exam wasnt toooo bad - although I know I made a lot of algebra questions, like with the triangle question, I didnt diff it properly and then had NO time to fix it - and yay great job guessing the last question right! I had so much relief when I found that out too.
Good Luck for Today!!!
How did you go with exam 2?To put it simply, not so great. After yesterday, I raised my standards and expectations but things just didn’t go to plan today. I completely blanked out on a whole question that was worth 9 marks but managed to scrape a mark or two just by trying to do what made sense at the time. I don’t feel great. I broke down as soon as I hopped into the car and I’ve just been trying to distract myself by doing whatever. It’s just that I’ve worked my neck off this past month and I just really wanted it to pay off. I mean it did for exam 1 and to be fair, (based on the suggested solutions), I got the mark that I was averaging at for my practice exams lately which was a humongous improvement from what I was starting with. I guess I’m just disappointed.
Wow, that's so cool to hear! (Still waiting for that to click with me...) Congratulations of finishing your first VCAA exam! You should be so proud!!Thank you Laura☺️ and don’t worry, as long as you genuinely work hard and try to understand the theory behind your maths work, it should click.
How are you feeling about your 1/2 exams? <3
What about a maths mug with homemade popcorn? (And maybe also a protractor?) Gift-giving is so much fun. It's beginning to look a lot like.... ;DYeah I might do that :) CHRISTMAS! I. love. Christmas. It's such a beautiful time of the year.
Congrats! You should be soooo proud of how far youve come in such a short amount of time! You've achieved a great score, and I'm sure all the things you've learnt this year will help you next yaer!Thank you so much rr28! Well done on your amazing score too! We did it! It’s so good that we’re already done with like one of the hardest subjects, life is gonna be so darn good without Methods!!!!
Yay! And no more Methods!!! ;D