Biology - need advice please

[Joeyk2]

Hello, I am starting year 12 next week content wise as i have retreat tomorrow until Friday. Last term for my year 11 yearlys I wrote out my notes four weeks before even my notification for each subject came, I felt like I was going to smash it. As weeks came closer to the exams I started to become lazy and not motivated; worn out from the notes. I ended up not going well in my exams from anxiety and laziness. I need advice on what I can do to know how to get a band 5-6 in each subject because I’m getting bad anxiety as I get annoyed when I ask teachers (for example. bio) advice on how I am going and what I need to do to get in the high bands. I really am determined to get a high band but the problem is I need help with how to fix the details in subjects like in biology. I’ve recently started a tutoring company which has three people in the class, and we’re giving sheets which have information such as; asexual reproduction. We read it together and then answer questions together and then given homework for the following week. I’m starting to stress as I’m asking myself whether this is going to help me as I have gaps in the way I write and study for. Biology exams. Since I can’t leave the tutoring until term 2 of year 12 if I wanted to I would like to test out tutesmart, but I would like to know whether I get help on what I need to prepare what my weaknesses are etc. I don’t know what to do, advice please.

Joey

[Jonathan Nguyen]

Writing all your notes 4 weeks before the exams isnt a good way to study you should write you note every week after you learn something in class that applies to the syllabus so you wont overwork yourself and at the end of the year all you have to do is read over

[AngelWings]

I need advice on what I can do to know how to get a band 5-6 in each subject because I’m getting bad anxiety as I get annoyed when I ask teachers (for example. bio) advice on how I am going and what I need to do to get in the high bands. I really am determined to get a high band but the problem is I need help with how to fix the details in subjects like in biology.

Unfortunately, I'll be less handy on the 'how to get a band 5/6' part of things, but I can help with the asking teachers questions/ study side of things.

A good option may be to find ways to study that don't trigger the anxiety. Something like helping or asking questions on things you don't understand on the HSC or even VCE Biology forums here on AN might just help, as it's behind a screen. Otherwise, you could attempt using a new study method that works well for you, which we have a couple of articles on here and here.

Alternatively (which you might already be doing), you could also try to ask more specific questions, such as "I don't quite understand [insert concept], especially that part where you talked about [more specific concept]. Could you please run it over with me again?" It's harder to answer an open-ended or difficult question, but it's a lot easier if you ask a specific concept-driven question which they can answer. Teachers generally want their students to do well and it usually takes students a long time to warm to the fact that teachers are people who have good intentions. It's pretty natural to want to ask a lot of questions and many of the high scoring students take a pro-active approach with learning, which often consists of regularly asking teachers questions. It's not really a bad thing at all. I understand this might be a bit more of a hurdle and will involve overcoming the anxiety (which I understand can be scary and I don't want to diminish the impact it has on you), but asking specific concept-driving questions might help to break the train of negative thoughts to a more positive one like "Oh, Miss X wants to actually help me. Maybe she's not as scary as I thought she was."
Please understand that I'm not trying to be impolite with this option; I'm sorry if it came across that way.     

I’ve recently started a tutoring company which has three people in the class, and we’re giving sheets which have information such as; asexual reproduction. We read it together and then answer questions together and then given homework for the following week. I’m starting to stress as I’m asking myself whether this is going to help me as I have gaps in the way I write and study for. Biology exams.

Same as above, but here's a couple of articles on how to get study notes in order and try a new method for study notes. It's good you're getting regular study done, which will help you reinforce some of the concepts. Maybe you should try organising those notes just a tad earlier so you can focus on what you're not so good at.

Since I can’t leave the tutoring until term 2 of year 12 if I wanted to I would like to test out tutesmart, but I would like to know whether I get help on what I need to prepare what my weaknesses are etc.

You can call them to see what it'd be like and ask questions about the program. In the meantime, there are quite a number of people in this forum that are more than willing to help you on your weaknesses if you just ask on the appropriate threads.

Hope that helps!