English Teachers, Can they teach? (1 Viewer)

[debzz]

I don't think all of you realise the hard work that goes in to being an English teacher. It is the only compulsory HSC subject and each class has 24 students, the marking load is much more strenuous than other subject areas (some teachers can spend hours marking papers due to the subjective nature of the material).

The syllabus is constantly changing and the teacher needs to revisit texts that they haven't taught in years, (or they may not even know). Most English teachers are developing new programs of work to compensate for the new syllabus both at Prelim and HSC levels. This is not to mention the junior classes they teach.

At some stages the teachers seem to put in all the work over their weekends and holiday breaks to find that their students have lost their sheets, have not attempted the work or just don't care.

I would have to say that English teachers must have it the hardest in NSW schools, it's a shame that we are exposed to 'bad' teachers, but maybe it's because there's not much incentive in becoming an English teacher *shrugs*

Only an opinion, but I think we need to look a little deeper, if you have had problems with an English teacher talk to them, I'm sure they'll shed some light on the matter and devise a plan to make you achieve the best that you can.

 

[dp624]

My teacher is an awesome engilsh teacher, but I don't know if I can muster a band 6 in English purely because of my stupidity in English.

Naww, you sure can.
Just put about 25% of your entire time into it.
And use your teacher well, lulz

Cos eng is one of the area where your UAI can get boosted up the most.

 

[georgefren]

Sure english teachers can teach. I havent really had a bad one yet. Just ones that i thought were bad at the time, but looking back on it thats because i either didnt like them or got bad exam results with them. If theres at least one person in the class who did well, it means the teachers good. You can't do well in english on intelligence alone, even really smart guys will do shit if they have a shit teacher.

 

[dp624]

Sure english teachers can teach. I havent really had a bad one yet. Just ones that i thought were bad at the time, but looking back on it thats because i either didnt like them or got bad exam results with them. If theres at least one person in the class who did well, it means the teachers good. You can't do well in english on intelligence alone, even really smart guys will do shit if they have a shit teacher.

lol dude you have the best-paid teachers in the state, they had beter darn teach well

 

[-may-cat-]

My English teacher for the second half of year 12 was so difficult, he was like a kindergarten teacher, completely useless, but really really really nice...

 

[itadakimus]

I have an awesome teacher. In her class, I understand the topic much better, I find it interesting and am more motivated to learn. I think that is pretty important to an English class. My marks have improved a lot in her class.

Conversely, I've also had some of the worst English teachers ever. And I mean bad as in, she just sat in the classroom and read a magazine whilst we all chatted. Sure it was Year 7 and nothing technically counted but when we hit Year 8, we had no idea what was going on when our new teachers said, "blah blah blah, oh but you should've already learnt this last year"

 

[GUSSSSSSSSSSSSS]

I have an awesome teacher. In her class, I understand the topic much better, I find it interesting and am more motivated to learn. I think that is pretty important to an English class. My marks have improved a lot in her class.

Conversely, I've also had some of the worst English teachers ever. And I mean bad as in, she just sat in the classroom and read a magazine whilst we all chatted. Sure it was Year 7 and nothing technically counted but when we hit Year 8, we had no idea what was going on when our new teachers said, "blah blah blah, oh but you should've already learnt this last year"

this is completely irrelevant but:

i like your name, i dunno why but it made me laugh

 

[fungus12]

I have a VERY average teacher this year, although all my other teachers are awesome. I have learnt most of my essay writing techniques from my extension english teacher (she is the best english teacher EVER) and my society&culture teacher. Our school has pretty good english teachers, i just got stuck with the crap one! : (

 

[Brontecat]

had my best english teacher year 8 and 9 then she went to england and the rest have sucked and just go on about irrelevant crap

 

[mynamewastaken9]

Dismal teacher for the preliminary course and for the first term of the HSC course.

She's such a knob she decided to leave us through our HSC year join go to a prestigious private school, thanks lady!

The teacher I believe we're getting is supposed to be the bee knees, lets hope so!

 

[selablad]

I've had awesome teachers for the last two years, hopefully getting the one from last year again although there's a big reshuffle happening in our english department so I'm not sure

She turned english around for me, not so much marks but more my enjoyment of the subject. I think it's because she doesn't really have 'structured' lesson time - well, she does a little bit but she's really flexible. Compared to my year 9 english teacher who just made us fill in worksheets all the time, I mean. We always just have class discussions, and she's really good at handling them (making sure everyone's included, keeping it on track without making it boring, etc). And she doesn't always religiously stick to the syllabus - we had an hour-long debate about whether Goldilocks was a rapist once (well that was our conclusion, anyway, I don't think it started that way)

 

[Brontecat]

i reckon they're the best sort of teachers - the ones who have a passion for the subject

 

[Hello2U2]

My advanced teacher was good. she helped me get all my work done and because of her I got good marks for the subject.

I don't consider myself particularly good at english, but her encouragement motivated me to go on.

What I think are the most important factors to your success in any subject is to have an encouraging teacher because they will push you to be enthusiastic about the subject too, not just how smart you are or how smart they are.

My extension 1 english teacher was hella smart, but he wasn't very encouraging nor did I ever feel enthusiastic about coming to class. It turned out to be my worst.

I loathed my cafs teacher for practically all of year 12. I practically slumped the half yearlies. But by trials I controlled all those feelings of animosity towards her and I did really well. I was even happy when she congratulated me for all my hard work.

Anyways, the point is get in a good relationship with your teacher. Your teacher may not be the best, but if you stay on their good side or at least try to tolerate the crappier sides of them you'll find it a lot easier to learn and do well in the subject. Good luck 09'ers

 

[technicolour]

My teacher can definitely teach, but I sympathise with you. Our English department went through a complete re-haul and all the good teachers are gone. Our class managed to get one of only two decent ones.