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Author Topic: Scared of year 12  (Read 3741 times)  Share 

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TTanner01

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Scared of year 12
« on: January 11, 2019, 02:05:08 pm »
0
Hey guys.

So I'm going into year 12 this year and I'm petrified.
I really want to get into a science course (dunno which one yet) but looking towards maybe biomed or just science. The thing is, I haven't been doing well for units 1/2 so my atar is looking really bleak.

The subjects i'm undertaking this year are:
-English
-Methods
-Physics
-Chemistry
-Biology
(note: I didn't undertake an early subject last year because of my naiveness and poor work habits in year 9  :( )

My scores for each subject have been mediocre at best, except for chemistry, where I've been averaging like 20% every sac. Not joking, but the highest score I got out of all those subjects is a 58% lol

Any tips you guys can shout out? In need of desperate help before 3/4 comes
Cheers guys

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2019, 02:13:06 pm »
+1
Just backing up a little: You want to get into a university level science course, and your performance at VCE science subjects is "mediocre at best"? Maybe that's something to think and talk to other people about as well...

sweetiepi

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2019, 02:19:40 pm »
+3
Hey guys.

So I'm going into year 12 this year and I'm petrified.
I really want to get into a science course (dunno which one yet) but looking towards maybe biomed or just science. The thing is, I haven't been doing well for units 1/2 so my atar is looking really bleak.

The subjects i'm undertaking this year are:
-English
-Methods
-Physics
-Chemistry
-Biology
(note: I didn't undertake an early subject last year because of my naiveness and poor work habits in year 9  :( )

My scores for each subject have been mediocre at best, except for chemistry, where I've been averaging like 20% every sac. Not joking, but the highest score I got out of all those subjects is a 58% lol

Any tips you guys can shout out? In need of desperate help before 3/4 comes
Cheers guys
For some of the sciences, I found that flashcards, mindmaps and writing notes helped with managing the content. To apply the content, I highly recommend doing practice questions- past exams, teacher/ones that you/your friends have created, or even checkpoints/other question materials you can get your hands on! :)

There's also the science games link in my sig below, check that out, that's also a pretty good resource to help you out! :)

For maths, past exams are 100% your best friend imo :)

All the best for future studies!!! :D
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PhoenixxFire

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2019, 02:20:16 pm »
+8
Just backing up a little: You want to get into a university level science course, and your performance at VCE science subjects is "mediocre at best"? Maybe that's something to think and talk to other people about as well...
Performance in year 11 is no indicator of performance at uni. The classes are run very differently, not to mention the environment/maturity differences. There is absolutely no reason why they can't do science at uni because of their year 11 results.

Hey guys.

So I'm going into year 12 this year and I'm petrified.
I really want to get into a science course (dunno which one yet) but looking towards maybe biomed or just science. The thing is, I haven't been doing well for units 1/2 so my atar is looking really bleak.

The subjects i'm undertaking this year are:
-English
-Methods
-Physics
-Chemistry
-Biology
(note: I didn't undertake an early subject last year because of my naiveness and poor work habits in year 9  :( )

My scores for each subject have been mediocre at best, except for chemistry, where I've been averaging like 20% every sac. Not joking, but the highest score I got out of all those subjects is a 58% lol

Any tips you guys can shout out? In need of desperate help before 3/4 comes
Cheers guys
There's definitely heaps of time to improve before the end of the year.
Do you know what it is your struggling with?
Like, is the content confusing? Are you avoiding homework? Do you think you know it but blank when you get to the SACs?

There's guides and such floating around in each subject's section if you want to read some people'stips :) (They'll be linked in a post titled something like 'useful resources')

The first thing you should try and do is figure out what specifically is making it hard for you, so that you can then figure out how to tackle that.

Also, it's not unusual to be terrified of year 12 - I certainly was. It's this really daunting thing, but a lot of other people are feeling the same way and you'll all get through it :)
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Bri MT

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2019, 02:27:45 pm »
+7
Hey!


I studied exactly the same subjects as you except English Language instead of English   + Psych :)

The good news is that units 1&2 don't count towards your ATAR - you don't have to be held back by year 12
My first piece of advice would be to ask questions about things you didn't understand in year 11 that are important for year 12. (Eg. the motion stuff from physics, converting between mass and mols in chem)

Once you've got a strong foundation in those things it should make it much easier to do things like practice questions to consolidate and refine your knowledge. In each of the subject boards you should also be able to find specific advice for each subject - let me know if you have trouble accessing this.

If you're interested, you could set up a journal to track your progress and we could step in with advice based on your updates of where you're at.



Good luck! :)

TTanner01

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2019, 02:28:59 pm »
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Performance in year 11 is no indicator of performance at uni. The classes are run very differently, not to mention the environment/maturity differences. There is absolutely no reason why they can't do science at uni because of their year 11 results.
There's definitely heaps of time to improve before the end of the year.
Do you know what it is your struggling with?
Like, is the content confusing? Are you avoiding homework? Do you think you know it but blank when you get to the SACs?

There's guides and such floating around in each subject's section if you want to read some people'stips :) (They'll be linked in a post titled something like 'useful resources')

The first thing you should try and do is figure out what specifically is making it hard for you, so that you can then figure out how to tackle that.

Also, it's not unusual to be terrified of year 12 - I certainly was. It's this really daunting thing, but a lot of other people are feeling the same way and you'll all get through it :)
not gonna lie, but from yr9-yr11 i didn't do a lot of hw, but instead i just studied.
i do believe the content is really easy to grasp, but hard to interpret. for example, chemistry's concept is straight forward, however translating the questions into mathematical equations is dificult.

Hey!


I studied exactly the same subjects as you except English Language instead of English   + Psych :)

The good news is that units 1&2 don't count towards your ATAR - you don't have to be held back by year 12
My first piece of advice would be to ask questions about things you didn't understand in year 11 that are important for year 12. (Eg. the motion stuff from physics, converting between mass and mols in chem)

Once you've got a strong foundation in those things it should make it much easier to do things like practice questions to consolidate and refine your knowledge. In each of the subject boards you should also be able to find specific advice for each subject - let me know if you have trouble accessing this.

If you're interested, you could set up a journal to track your progress and we could step in with advice based on your updates of where you're at.



Good luck! :)
cheers.
I do ask questions, however whenever I ask, I swear the teachers are speaking another language to me because I dunno what they are saying most of the time, that's probs why I resolved to study by myself because my teachers don't make any sense (at least to me they don't).

what do you mean by journal? like a personal diary or smthing? soz haven't been on atarnotes for quite a while so dunno what that is :P

mod edit: merged posts. You can quote multiple people in the one post :)
« Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 02:45:54 pm by insanipi »

AngelWings

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2019, 02:50:50 pm »
+9
Things you can do:
1. Try to review some of the basics. These holidays, I think you might want to start with the foundations that will reappear. Skills like quadratic equations and using your CAS calculator are fundamentals for Methods, for example, and are things you can do right now before school starts.

2. Check out some of the articles here (click the blue words). Some of them describe things that you can do right now, like how to study and what sort of concepts to study in X subject.

3. Stick around and ask for help! AN (ATARNotes) is a watering hole for past, present and future high school students to ask and answer questions, as well as generally have some good banter as long as you follow the forum rules. Lots of learning can happen by teaching others, so if you want to chime in, please feel free to do so!

4. Find some good resources and don't feel afraid to ask people or teachers for help. You'll be able to improve much faster if someone else knows of your issues. A teacher's job is also, well, to teach and foster students' learning, but also be aware that they're human too, need to cater to tens to hundreds of students and can't exactly read minds. Make their job a bit easier and tell them "Uh, Sir, I didn't get that. Can you explain [insert concept] again?" If you're a bit scared, talk to them after class.

5. Try to find small ways to make studying or content interesting. Stuff like flashcards, listening to podcasts while you're going on a run or using mnemonics can really help to up your game and really remember content-heavy subjects like Bio. Practise questions from Checkpoints and Exampro (which are often found in a school library, so it doesn't have to cost anything) can really help to make you familiar with SAC and exam type questions for Methods, but instead of just doing them normally, try to see if you can answer it as fast an as accurately as possible, if you're competitive.

Note: I typed this while all these replies came in. Some tips may be doubled up as a result.

Just backing up a little: You want to get into a university level science course, and your performance at VCE science subjects is "mediocre at best"? Maybe that's something to think and talk to other people about as well...
I was "mediocre at best" in high school science and I'm now an Honours grad, not to mention it was in an area I hadn't touched since Year 9 when I started uni. I also know plenty of classmates who were pretty much also just "average" or "worse than average" in high school.

I do ask questions, however whenever I ask, I swear the teachers are speaking another language to me because I dunno what they are saying most of the time, that's probs why I resolved to study by myself because my teachers don't make any sense (at least to me they don't).
Probably a good idea to stick around and ask questions here, if teachers seem like they're talking a different language. Lots of people, lots of perspectives. Eventually one of them will help. :)

what do you mean by journal? like a personal diary or smthing? soz haven't been on atarnotes for quite a while so dunno what that is :P
VCE Journey Journals. Check them out. Great for accountability, letting emotions out and just general thought-dumping. :)
« Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 03:00:46 pm by AngelWings »
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lm21074

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2019, 02:51:02 pm »
+8
Hey TTanner01. :)

Please remember that your Year 11 performance does not indicate how well you'll do in Year 12. You can always turn things around! By making this post, it's clear that you want to do so. It's great to see that you have a goal in mind as it can really help with motivation. In saying this, you won't be motivated all the time so consistent studying will build up your discipline.

Here are some tips you may find useful:
- Do a reflection - ask yourself what it is that has contributed to the state of your performance and find some strategies to deal with them. For instance, if you just haven't been bothered to do any work, you could write a to-do list and work through it (but a specific one with not too many things so that you know exactly what to do and won't get overwhelmed - instead of ' do trig practice questions' you could write 'trig chapter 1a questions 1-5'). Also, when you can't be bothered to do anything, just do something small like a few maths questions instead of a whole chapter.
- Check in with yourself often and tell yourself why you want to achieve your goals. Set some (but not too many) goals and make sure they're are specific and well-defined. If you have a big goal, like a course goal for example, write out the steps you'll take to get there. Again, make them specific. So don't just write 'do well in all SACs', how will you do well in SACs?
- When you come home from school, do your homework or study first if you can because this will help you with procrastinating.
- Find out what study methods work for you. Do you prefer to make flashcards or have a discussion about material in a study group? You could make up stories to do with the content that include and/or relate to you and are a bit wacky that'll stick. A method I like to use is to go through a topic with flashcards or watch a video on YouTube (helps with understanding) about it and then afterwards give myself some prompts to do with it and either untimed or timed, I'll write down as much as I remember, then go over my notes and add anything I forgot.

- Use your teachers - if you don't get something that they explain, ask them to clarify it until you do.
- Have a set study space only for studying. A clean, quiet space with no distractions like your phone.
- Be prepared for your SACs at least two days before it. This means that the night before a SAC you will not be stressed and cram.
- Even before a lesson you could teach yourself the content first so that when you hear it in class it would consolidate your knowledge.
- Finally, please remember to take care of yourself. Make sure you make time for leisure and doing the things you like around your homework/study time. Eating, exercising and sleeping well is also crucial. It would be helpful to see a school counsellor or psychologist if you are struggling with your mental health at anytime during your Year 12 journey.

Hope this helps you out a bit. You can do it!  ;D







« Last Edit: January 11, 2019, 02:57:33 pm by lm21074 »
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Bri MT

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2019, 02:57:18 pm »
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I do ask questions, however whenever I ask, I swear the teachers are speaking another language to me because I dunno what they are saying most of the time, that's probs why I resolved to study by myself because my teachers don't make any sense (at least to me they don't).

what do you mean by journal? like a personal diary or smthing? soz haven't been on atarnotes for quite a while so dunno what that is :P


Well,  definitely feel free to ask on here and hopefully we'll do a better job.  Alternatively,  you might find video explanations (eg on youtube, khanacademy etc) easier to follow than your teachers' explanations.

By journal I mean making a either a VCE journey journal (some people use these in a more diary-ish sense but others use it to track what's happening in their subjects & academic progress)  or an accountability and motivation thread (this is good for if you have specific goals you want others to support you with and remind you of)

Definitely no need to apologise!  :)

TTanner01

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2019, 02:36:54 pm »
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School starts in a week and I have done nothing so far.

I haven't been productive at all and my sleep schedule is absolutely messed up.
Cheers to everyone for their tips, but it's so hard when you're lazy as :P

Definitely not ready for year 12, but oh well, I'll see how I go.

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2019, 03:09:50 pm »
+7
School starts in a week and I have done nothing so far.

I haven't been productive at all and my sleep schedule is absolutely messed up.
Cheers to everyone for their tips, but it's so hard when you're lazy as :P

Definitely not ready for year 12, but oh well, I'll see how I go.

That's okay. Habits take a while to form. Try tackling some of the low-hanging fruit (the easier tasks) and make sure to try some of these tips above regularly (read: a few times a week). :)

If you can get your holiday homework done and your sleep schedule back to a reasonable-ish time in the next week, that would put you on the right path. 
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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2019, 04:57:58 pm »
+10
School starts in a week and I have done nothing so far.

I haven't been productive at all and my sleep schedule is absolutely messed up.
Cheers to everyone for their tips, but it's so hard when you're lazy as :P

Definitely not ready for year 12, but oh well, I'll see how I go.


Hello!

Agree with AngelWings that habits, especially when it comes to being productive, usually needs some time to form and it's okay if you don't start off Year 12 with the most productive mindset. For the moment, you should focus on getting all the compulsory stuff done, namely holiday homework, and look through the study designs for your 3/4 subjects.

In response to your original post, as a previous Nossalonian, I can verify that 90% of the teachers at Nossal love it when you come to them to ask for help, whether it be before school, during class, through email, during free periods, after class or even after school. They want all of their students to do the best they can, and coming up to them regularly for questions is something they always welcome, especially when you're in Year 12. Personally I was really lucky to go to this school because (and I kid you not) one of the biggest factors that led me to my increased motivation to do well was the fact that I could go to my teachers for help at any time and that it wasn't perceived as annoying to them.

I remember one time in Year 10 I was really confused about the 'mole' concept, and I couldn't really understand the explanations my teacher gave me during class. So I went to the Science staffroom during lunch and asked for whether my teacher was available, but he wasn't at that time. However, another teacher asked what kind of question I had and I said that it was the 'mole' concept for chem, and I couldn't understand their own explanation even more; it really was as if they were speaking another language! I told them that I didn't get it, and they repeated it a few times, but I still couldn't understand. In the end, about three or so teachers in total gave their own explanation and made it as simple as they could, with different analogies, until I finally got it. Another iconic moment was when my Year 12 Chemistry teacher spent an entire lunchtime to explain equilibrium.

On top of the amazing pieces of advice that has already been posted, here are my tips for Year 12 in general:

- Make the best use of your free periods!! Have a separate checklist to see what you need to get done that's only possible when you're at school (e.g. ask your English teacher about SAC feedback, organise a meeting with the careers counsellor). If you have any of these in common with your friends, meet up with them and study as a group. If you have a free period at the end of the day, go home early unless you find yourself being more productive in the school setting. I sometimes did this, because I found that when I came home early I have a greater tendency to just waste my time and watch Youtube videos, which I wouldn't really think of doing at school

- Use the separate Year 12 study room! Usually it's really quiet (and nicely air conditioned!!) so it's a great place to concentrate on your personal study, SAC revision and exam revision. The Nossal library can sometimes get really loud, despite the librarian telling people to be quiet, so if you want to study there then I recommend doing it before or after school, where there aren't as many people so it's a lot quieter.

- Keep a balance and participate in extracurricular activities. There are so many that are offered by the school, such as Science Peer Coaching, being a student ambassador at the Careers and Pathways Expo and interhouse debating. These can really help combat the stress that Year 12 put students through and can help make some of the best memories of this final year.

- Constantly remind yourself of your ultimate goal. This may sound a bit harsh, but is being lazy and putting off important work really worth not getting into your coveted course? Having some lazy days is completely fine (I had plenty of them!) since they can be a good opportunity to rewind and relax. But as soon as you notice that you haven't touched study in a while, try and jump right back into it. What matters is that you do your best to utilise whatever time you have and leave no regrets, because you won't get this time back.

Hope this helps and best of luck for Year 12!! ;D
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TTanner01

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #12 on: February 06, 2019, 06:17:52 pm »
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Hey everyone.

School has started and I've not been feeling well at all. The first day, I went to school with a positive attitude knowing that it's my final year of high school and that I should make it count. As days progress, my will to do well has gone down the drain. I literally have no energy to put in effort anymore, and I don't know why but it's hard for me to get back into my routine. Some time last week, I almost broke down because of all the stress that was coming my way (yikes).

I've contacted kids helpline today and we had a really long chat which made me feel better, but for the past few weeks I've just been feeling like shit.

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Re: Scared of year 12
« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2019, 09:40:49 am »
+7
Hey everyone.

School has started and I've not been feeling well at all. The first day, I went to school with a positive attitude knowing that it's my final year of high school and that I should make it count. As days progress, my will to do well has gone down the drain. I literally have no energy to put in effort anymore, and I don't know why but it's hard for me to get back into my routine. Some time last week, I almost broke down because of all the stress that was coming my way (yikes).

I've contacted kids helpline today and we had a really long chat which made me feel better, but for the past few weeks I've just been feeling like shit.
I'm sorry to hear that things are tough right now.

I think you've done the right thing by contacting the helpline :) I would also recommend seeing your GP. It's a great way to get the wheels in motion in terms of looking after your mental health.

I'd also recommend having a chat to your year 12 coordinator (or a trusted teacher). Let them know that you're struggling and they'll be able to help you with some strategies for your subjects and study. :)