The Student Room Group

Feeling dumb in lesson

I study chemistry a level and I revise everything but when it comes to tests and stuff I get the lowest marks m I get everything slowly and when I get picked on in class I just freeze . I just feel so thick and even though I always put the effort in and revise Im still at the bottom of the class 😭 . Really scared for my real exams which are the end of this year m does anyone have any tips
Tbh what I did was revise at my own pace and only properly for the mocks and Main exams. I didn’t bother stopping my revision to revise for random assessments. Even though my teachers were p*ssed off, that I always got D’s etc I got pretty well mocks and main results. I’m saying this coz Ik sometimes teachers have tests with specific topics that maybe you’ve not learnt yet etc
Original post by OR321
Tbh what I did was revise at my own pace and only properly for the mocks and Main exams. I didn’t bother stopping my revision to revise for random assessments. Even though my teachers were p*ssed off, that I always got D’s etc I got pretty well mocks and main results. I’m saying this coz Ik sometimes teachers have tests with specific topics that maybe you’ve not learnt yet etc

Yeah last year I had a tough year mentally with 2 family deaths and now I'm way behind everyone else considering I moved to a sixth form where everyone's an Einstein . I was considering retaking the year but I just can't do another 2 years of sixth form but now I'm scared of failing . In chemistry I'd didn't do too bad got a C in my end of year exam and a B in psychology . However biology was my worst with a U 🤒😭
Original post by AmberDalia
Yeah last year I had a tough year mentally with 2 family deaths and now I'm way behind everyone else considering I moved to a sixth form where everyone's an Einstein . I was considering retaking the year but I just can't do another 2 years of sixth form but now I'm scared of failing . In chemistry I'd didn't do too bad got a C in my end of year exam and a B in psychology . However biology was my worst with a U 🤒😭

Oh right. I have friends that did biology and they told me it’s a lot of memorisation Of keywords etc. Are you having problems memorising things?
It’ll come, work at your own pace not at the teachers, and for biology when you test yourself on things make sure you write answers down instead of saying it in your head ( mini whiteboards are great because you can remove any evidence of getting it wrong) because by doing that you rule out reading the answer and just going yeah I meant that because mark schemes are so specific.
You can't keep being afraid to be wrong.
You don't have to get everything straight away. Just try to be brave. Make mistakes and learn from them.
Stop worrying about your position in class - it's probably a very good class! You're competing against yourself here. Those guys at the top think they're all safe and have no worries but the only mark that counts is the one in June. Trust me, being bottom of the class is a great opportunity. If you can overcome the fear of being bottom and learn to thrive from it, you'll do far better than you would if you were at the top.
Everything's relative. You may be at the bottom of you class, but you're not at the bottom of everyone.
Original post by OR321
Oh right. I have friends that did biology and they told me it’s a lot of memorisation Of keywords etc. Are you having problems memorising things?

No I just had to self teach myself it because I missed quite a lot of school already and then when I went back one of my teachers went on maternity and the other had more interest in talking about her life all lesson
Original post by holly.567
It’ll come, work at your own pace not at the teachers, and for biology when you test yourself on things make sure you write answers down instead of saying it in your head ( mini whiteboards are great because you can remove any evidence of getting it wrong) because by doing that you rule out reading the answer and just going yeah I meant that because mark schemes are so specific.

I know but I need to raise my predicted grades for uni and the exam for that is in October so I need to get all of it done by october but I can't manage all of it at once
Original post by AmberDalia
No I just had to self teach myself it because I missed quite a lot of school already and then when I went back one of my teachers went on maternity and the other had more interest in talking about her life all lesson

Maybe hire a private tutor if you can’t afford it. Otherwise If you really don’t like it the ask your college if there’s still time to change subject. (Unless you’re in year 2)
Look

Original post by bingbong654
You can't keep being afraid to be wrong.
You don't have to get everything straight away. Just try to be brave. Make mistakes and learn from them.
Stop worrying about your position in class - it's probably a very good class! You're competing against yourself here. Those guys at the top think they're all safe and have no worries but the only mark that counts is the one in June. Trust me, being bottom of the class is a great opportunity. If you can overcome the fear of being bottom and learn to thrive from it, you'll do far better than you would if you were at the top.
Everything's relative. You may be at the bottom of you class, but you're not at the bottom of everyone.

It's not just the students I feel like the teacher thinks I'm stupid as well . And I feel scared to put my hand up and ask if I don't understand something . The marks that count are the ones in June but I have mocks in October which I need to smash in order to get decent predicted grades 😭
I’d say work in just learning things such as extended responses and common questions is your best bet then, you can get around 50% on tests from just knowing content which will make a big difference. Could you talk to your head of sixth form to say about your circumstances and how you could get a much better grade you just had so much on last year. Try getting an extra test to prove you’ve put work in over summer
Also try Tailored Tutor- you can get some of it for free because it’s quite expensive but it’s good
Original post by holly.567
I’d say work in just learning things such as extended responses and common questions is your best bet then, you can get around 50% on tests from just knowing content which will make a big difference. Could you talk to your head of sixth form to say about your circumstances and how you could get a much better grade you just had so much on last year. Try getting an extra test to prove you’ve put work in over summer

I do I have an exam in October

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