Are teachers necessary to get a good ATAR? (1 Viewer)

[Cl324]

The only teacher I need is my English teacher.
All my maths teacher does is give us exercises. I learn about 50x more from my tutor.
For other subjects its just out of the textbook or like making useless powerpoints.

I reckon I study and learn more at home. The only way I see school as being beneficial is my English teacher and the seeing constant competition around me.


What do you guys think?

 

[jnney]

I missed out on school in year 11 a lot because of that. At the end of the year I got called up by the principal about my absences LOL. There's no competition at my school and the environment is general very lousy, but meh. Just make use of time by doing your own work in class.

 

[Carrotsticks]

If you are generally independent, then self study can be very effective.

There are many hopeless teachers out there unfortunately.

When I was at school, I spent more time doing my own work during Maths classes versus actually listening to the teacher.

But every school is different.

 

[D94]

At the very least, make that 80% attendance rate so you can actually complete your HSC.

 

[petermeetswendy]

There are teachers who are crap and I question how on earth did they get their jobs.
It depends on the subject, I find that my correspondence teacher is good for my speaking but shit for everything else so my old teacher helped me more than my current one.

 

[Carrotsticks]

There are teachers who are crap and I question how on earth did they get their jobs.

It's because we have a shortage of teachers, so they lower the standards for accepting them (Internationals etc).

 

[Aerath]

Varies from student to student.

 

[asdfqwerty]

Not really, 60% of the time your ATAR is based on how much effort you put in to your studies. The 40% is the education, support and advice from your teacher for the particular subject they teach (that is, if they are doing their job properly).

 

[physio12]

Hey Cl324
haha teachers really arent necessary to go well in the HSC and get a good ATAR, you just gotta be really motivated and stick to your goal. My school was horrible my business teacher never turned up to class, or would just turn up for the last 5 mins. My english teacher was narrow minded and had her own views on a text so any ideas we had she would shove off. My pd teacher was amazing, helpful and smart but would forget slabs of the syllabus and bio teacher forgot slabs of the syllabus also and would only hand us out sheets expecting us to teach ourselves. I only liked my maths teacher
The other teachers at school told me id get an ATAR in the 80's and i wouldnt get into my course.

I ended up coming 2nd in the year with an ATAR of 97.45 and got into my physio course (the first person ever at my school to do so). I topped in Business 94, Biology 93 and PD 97 and came second in english 91, and 86 in mathematics
All you have to do is teach yourself, thats all i did. I would get 3-5 textbooks for each subject and teach myself every night, whether it is writing notes, rote learning or doing practice papers... i know it sounds like the shittest thing in the world, but trust me it is very worth it Don't burn yourself out, but keep at it, and like you said use the competition to ur advantage and you will go very far all the best!

 

[demonduckofdoom]

Well I guess not. I guess there must be some homeschool kids around (rare I know) which must get an alright atar?

This reminds me of my year 11 biology teacher. She couldn't have been more than 24 at the time, and each lesson consisted of her writing word for word a textbook passage on the board, we were supposed to write it down, and any questions we had "read the textbook". Fucking ridiculous. Enough people complained to make sure she wasn't our year 12 biology teacher. For that whole year, anyone who gave a damn about getting good marks in that subject taught themselves, because it was obvious she had no clue.

 

[loaves]

Teachers (particularly those who have been HSC markers) often have good tips about exam technique/common mistakes etc. So don't completely discount them, even if you think you can learn the content by yourself.

 

[Carrotsticks]

[rant]

1. We have a shortage of teachers.

2. We cater for it by accepting more International teachers (who are often of poor quality and know little about the syllabus).

3. These 'teachers' teach poorly and fail to inspire students regarding the subject.

4. Students are disinterested in the subject, and hence are even less likely to actually go teach it themselves as a career.

5. New generation comes, the back to square 1.

[/rant]

But of course there are awesome teachers out there. I really liked my Biology teacher.

 

[physio12]

yeah, there are some very good teachers out there. I also used other teachers besides my own ones who marked the hsc to help me out, so even though i said they aren't necessary, i mean some of the bad ones you are stuck with, but make sure you try to use others

 

[delian]

In senior high years, the onus is on the student to study, ask the teacher questions, etc.
Of course it helps when you have an especially good teacher who takes time to explain things again, etc.

Teachers are not absolutely necessary to get a good ATAR, but it helps.

 

[alyssa21]

Good teachers are incredibly, incredibly beneficial- I think they are great in that they engage you in the content, and motivate you to push yourself to a higher level. I've personally (mostly) had a great experience with teachers- my Modern & Society teacher is beyond amazing.

However, crap teachers make me wonder why I bother turning up to class. Teachers who just sit there and tell you to "read the textbook" when you ask questions are SO frustrating!

 

[SpiralFlex]

Confidence a remarkable thing.

 

[will_]

i tend to have the same problem. my religion teacher does not even attempt to teach or assign work.

 

[Bobbo1]

This is how I see it, after completing the HSC:
-English: good to have a teacher for marking practice essays but ultimately it comes down to you to read texts, make notes, analyse and come up with your own essay.
-Maths: if you don't have a good teacher get yourself a tutor now!!, or your going to get very frustrated with harder questions - especially for greater than extension 1
-Economics (+ humanities): nice to have a teacher but not going to prevent you from getting a band 6 - up to you to make notes, read material
-Science: if you have natural talent then a teacher is not necessary but may be required for some of the harder concepts

 

[DavDav]

I had this really great Maths teacher until ... he took an arrow to the knee

 

[study-freak]

Also for me, the only teacher I needed was English teacher. I did only maths and science subjects other than English. They were quite extensively taught in textbooks unlike English where essay writing skills, etc don't seem to be well-taught through books alone. (well, for me at least)