Zhen's VCE Journey

[johnnyblack123456]

Hello Zhen,

i am rocky and i am ur biggest fan. ur one of my best train buddies but u talk too loudly. also i love you and keep writing your journal i will be behind u all the way <3

regards,

your good mate rocky

[zhen]

15/9/2017
I did heaps of work after school on this day. I did 2 methods exam 1 and attempted an English practice essay which I didn't end up finishing but got some nice ideas in the process. Also my sickness from earlier started to creep up on me and I didn't feel so good late in the day.

16/9/2017
I had a massive discussion with a friend about ideas for English which was really helpful. I also did quite a bit of work for English and composed a miniature quote bank and attempted analysing those quotes. On this day I didn't run, even though on Saturdays I usually run, as I was still feeling a bit sick. But, I feel a lot better than the day before.

[Eric11267]

This journal is the only thing keeping me sane through VCE! God bless you zhen

[zhen]

17/9/2017
Had English tutoring. Not much really happened during this time. I just studied for my upcoming practice exams.

18/9/2017
Had my English and Physics practice exams which went surprisingly ok. I was able to finish all my essays and felt ok for physics, but I'm not expecting very high for them. Tomorrow I have my specialist practice exam, which I can hopefully do well in.

[zhen]

19/9/2017
Today I did my specialist practice exam which was ok I guess. I know I made quite a few mistakes, but hopefully after more practice I can fix up my stupid mistakes and conceptual errors. After the exam it was one of those days where I just absolutely refused to do any study and now I'm feeling guilty. I crammed in a bit of specialist and chemistry for tomorrow's practice exams, but other than that I didn't do much. I really need to pick up the slack from today and study hard tomorrow. Hopefully I'm not too tired after the 2 practice exams tomorrow, since I really want and need to be productive tomorrow.

[Eric11267]

Where are the daily updates. I'm gonna start a riot!

[zhen]

20/9/2017
I didn't do as much work as I would have liked. After the chemistry and specialist practice exams which went ok, I felt absolutely dead.

21/9/2017
I did a lot more work today. I did a decent amount of methods work today. I'm really going to need to start ramping up my revision during the holidays. I really need to cram out heaps of exams for every subject during the holidays.

[zhen]

22/9/2017
Today I received a physics SAC mark which was below average and probably the worst SAC of the entire year. I feel like I'm not learning anything in 4/5 of my classes for most of the year. Right now I'm not satisfied with my scores and I feel like I'm learning more independently than than I ever learn at school. Majority of what I know is from self study. So, I'm wondering whether it's even worth attending classes next term. I'm really not satisfied with my teachers this year and if you read my second post, it really outlines how I feel. Some teachers just refuse to teach the course (one teacher just refuses to teach and says "if you're good than you're good", implying that those who aren't naturally talented should just give up and the other is busy wasting periods on stuff which is well outside the scope of the course without first consolidating the basics). One other teacher at least tries really hard to teach the necessary things but just teaches too fast for majority if not all of my class to understand. Yes, I have one amazing teacher which I can actually walk into class not knowing anything beforehand and understand, but shouldn't this be the norm? I don't think I should be expected to do nearly all of my learning outside of class. I'm really unsatisfied with my teachers which in my opinion has made what has been an otherwise great year a massive grind to get through. So any advice for me? Should I start skipping classes or should I sit and endure (I can't self study in their classes as they don't allow electronic devices to be opened and most of the time just force their students to listen)?

[Sam M]

Thanks for making me appreciate my teachers more!  .
I definitely agree that you shouldn't be expected to do the majority of your learning outside of class. However, I think that the term four classes can be important as this is generally where the teachers tend to give some helpful hints for the exams and go over the course, helping you realise if you need to focus more on a topic that they are stressing. Also I think that in the final weeks of school many of my classes are just giving practice questions/timed questions, so even if the teachers are inept it doesn't really matter. This might be the same for you?
I suppose that if the classes you go to next term don't prove beneficial you could always stop going (as long as your attendance is good enough).

[zhen]

Thanks for making me appreciate my teachers more!  .
I definitely agree that you shouldn't be expected to do the majority of your learning outside of class. However, I think that the term four classes can be important as this is generally where the teachers tend to give some helpful hints for the exams and go over the course, helping you realise if you need to focus more on a topic that they are stressing. Also I think that in the final weeks of school many of my classes are just giving practice questions/timed questions, so even if the teachers are inept it doesn't really matter. This might be the same for you?
I suppose that if the classes you go to next term don't prove beneficial you could always stop going (as long as your attendance is good enough).

I think I'll take on this piece of advice. My attendance will still be over 80% even if I literally ditch all my classes in the last 2 weeks of school. I feel like this year has made me appreciate my teachers from previous years and has made me respect amazing teachers so much more. Anyway, thanks for the advice. 

[zofromuxo]

I think I'll take on this piece of advice. My attendance will still be over 80% even if I literally ditch all my classes in the last 2 weeks of school. I feel like this year has made me appreciate my teachers from previous years and has made me respect amazing teachers so much more. Anyway, thanks for the advice. 

Just want to note to double-check that school sets a minimum attendance at 80%+ to do your exams at your school. As if you fall below it, after classes are over, you may have some trouble finding another school to do your exams.
But if your sure it is 80%, then by all means skip classes and if your allowed to join other classes. I did this for my free periods for subjects, I was struggling in. One of the better things I did for VCE.

[zhen]

Just want to note to double-check that school sets a minimum attendance at 80%+ to do your exams at your school. As if you fall below it, after classes are over, you may have some trouble finding another school to do your exams.
But if your sure it is 80%, then by all means skip classes and if your allowed to join other classes. I did this for my free periods for subjects, I was struggling in. One of the better things I did for VCE.

My school announced that students have to have an over 80% attendance to complete a VCE subject, which I’m a bit skeptical about since I know people under this and I don’t think my school will force students to stay back a year. Anyway, I meet this requirement since for all of my subjects I have an attendance of 97%+ meaning that even if I skip most of my classes next term I’ll still be over 80% in attendance.

[neverlookback]

Amazing work zhen

[Eric11267]

Hey zhen are you going to the atarnotes meetup on friday?

[Butterflygirl]

Hey Zhen, just curious, what company papers do u think are good for chemistry?