Hopeless A level Biology teacher.. help

My teacher is hopeless, the work she covers in lessons or asks as to read is only a part of the actual course...its only now that im revising for january exams that im looking through a revision book (WJEC) and finding so much we havent covered....even worse is she is an older member of the school and so there is no moving her....ask for help and she tells you to get on with it..i need help!! :eek:

Reply 1

Laura Lou

13

Maybe you could show her the revision book and ask why she's not been teaching you everything. Failing that, is there another biology teacher you could have a word with about her?

Reply 2

mrs_matt_tuck

hey,
I am also doing a level biology, but have quite good teachers lol. If there are any questions that you might have regarding the course for the january exams feel free to email me.

Reply 3

carasplash

I sympathise! I have exactly the smae problem at my college, and however many pointers myself and my classmates make to her about her lessons and teaching style, she just doesn't change... we still end up with 25 pages of photocopied text and an exam question about something completely unrelated!
I've discovered the best thing is to do as much extra work, notemaking etc as possible (a horrible thought I know!) and then check that you are on the right track with another Biology teacher... sorry I can't be more help!

Reply 4

Wangers

16

just go through the syllabus and make notes on every point. learn. Then learn the markschemes little hoops. jump through. sorted.

Reply 5

Excalibur

15

lol, my Biology teachers are hopeless too :redface:

One is slightly better than the other, but still they both have huge gaping holes in what they teach us - I frequently have to show them my revision guide and demand that they cover that topic (though that doesn't mean they do it adequately!). What I do now is just teach myself out of textbooks and revision guides...

Reply 6

Ancient Beast

2

Ah Biology teachers eh? Most of the time in Biology we were sent to the library to do our own 'research' :rolleyes:

. We also had a lot of group work, where we relied on other groups, i.e. separate groups doing HIV, TB and Staphylococcus. I mean, we're basically learning off each other, we're not teachers so how are we meant to know what we have produced is relevant, or if we have missed out things.

Reply 7

username68316

3

You should be following the syllabus independently anyway. I consider anything that i'm taught to be a bonus!

Reply 8

Ancient Beast

2

Nathan Ley3

You should be following the syllabus independently anyway. I consider anything that i'm taught to be a bonus!

Well the syllabus doesn't tell you everything you need to know, but teachers have seen questions which have come up before. I can't think of anything for Biology right now, but the edexcel chemistry syllabus says you need to know the general conditions and reagents for the reaction of Phenol and Bromine. A question asked, describe the appearance of the product of that reaction, in last year's paper. This is not stated in the syllabus, but it was still asked...

Reply 9

iceman_jondoe

18

I wouldnt worry too much about it i was in exactly the same position as yourself last year. My teacher wasnt amazing but the best advice i can give is to concentrate on your interest and love of the subject rather than how bad the teacher is. If you do that then your interest will allow you to work more independently hence succeed :smile:

Reply 10

Wangers

16

Get some books that are slightly more advanced and read up on the topics. It sounds like making extra work - but it really helps patch up the gaps in A level knowledge. Whet everyone gets taught - regardless of board has gaping holes and inconsistancies - its like looking at a subject from the edges. And when you drop back down to A level, the whole thing makes more sense. And it suddenly seems a lot easier.

Reply 11

Ancient Beast

2

Besides, it does prep us more for University level study :biggrin:

Reply 12

daniela_902

i have this similar situation with my maths teachers only she does tyr to cover the actial syllabus only she doe a pretty bad job at doing it..this year at least half my class failed only she gaves us extra marks for "effort" so in the end only 2 did

Reply 13

lamenter

12

I had a teacher like this last year in my GCSE Biology class. Everyone in his previous GCSE and A level class failed expect for a few. After so many complaints by the A level students he got fired and we got a better teacher.

@Aphidman

Get a life and stop trying to advertise your stuff so much. All of your post is about this ebay stuff.