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Really Bad Chem Teacher vs Awesome French Teacher

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  • 16-09-2010 9:58pm
    #1
    Chuchoter
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭


    So I'm about 2 weeks into 5th year at this stage and my chemistry teacher is really bad. She just reads from the book at us and won't answer any of our questions when she does answer questions she just makes things even more confusing. The whole class is giving out about her and 2 have left, but theres only her and 1 other teacher teaching HL chem for 5th years and her class is nearly full.

    The trouble is I also have an amazing new French teacher. Theres only a few of us in the class and we get so much oral done its fantastic. I can totally get an A1 with her as my teacher. If I swap to the other Chem class, I lose the nice French teacher, and get terrifying other French teacher. I had her for JC and I dreaded her class every day. The thing is, I'm good at French anyway and my mum is a French teacher, so I could probably get away with not having the good French teacher.

    So who do I choose? :S How bad is Chem with a bad teacher?


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    #2
    theowen
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭theowen


    crayolastereo wrote: »
    So I'm about 2 weeks into 5th year at this stage and my chemistry teacher is really bad. She just reads from the book at us and won't answer any of our questions when she does answer questions she just makes things even more confusing. The whole class is giving out about her and 2 have left, but theres only her and 1 other teacher teaching HL chem for 5th years and her class is nearly full.

    The trouble is I also have an amazing new French teacher. Theres only a few of us in the class and we get so much oral done its fantastic. I can totally get an A1 with her as my teacher. If I swap to the other Chem class, I lose the nice French teacher, and get terrifying other French teacher. I had her for JC and I dreaded her class every day. The thing is, I'm good at French anyway and my mum is a French teacher, so I could probably get away with not having the good French teacher.

    So who do I choose? :S How bad is Chem with a bad teacher?
    ...you could do chem by yourself even and then just ask the "good" teacher questions when the tricky shtuff comes along.


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    #3
    number10a
    Registered Users Posts: 1,062 ✭✭✭number10a


    The difference between Higher Level and Ordinary Level in chemistry is unreal. You really need a good teacher if you're doing HL. I had a mediocre teacher for chemistry and I dropped down to pass on the day of the exam. When I looked at the HL paper after the exam, I knew I would have failed it but I got an A1 in pass.


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    #4
    Chemistry Ftw
    Registered Users Posts: 113 ✭✭Chemistry Ftw


    crayolastereo wrote: »
    So I'm about 2 weeks into 5th year at this stage and my chemistry teacher is really bad. She just reads from the book at us and won't answer any of our questions when she does answer questions she just makes things even more confusing. The whole class is giving out about her and 2 have left, but theres only her and 1 other teacher teaching HL chem for 5th years and her class is nearly full.

    The trouble is I also have an amazing new French teacher. Theres only a few of us in the class and we get so much oral done its fantastic. I can totally get an A1 with her as my teacher. If I swap to the other Chem class, I lose the nice French teacher, and get terrifying other French teacher. I had her for JC and I dreaded her class every day. The thing is, I'm good at French anyway and my mum is a French teacher, so I could probably get away with not having the good French teacher.

    So who do I choose? :S How bad is Chem with a bad teacher?
    Maybe try starting chem grinds?


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    #5
    theowen
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭theowen


    Chemistry Ftw wrote: »
    Maybe try starting chem grinds?
    With me:cool:


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    #6
    Chuchoter
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Chuchoter


    theowen wrote: »
    With me:cool:

    lol anytime;):D

    See I'd rather not do grinds as...well they're expensive and the school is private so the teacher should be good. I was thinking of doing chemistry myself and then asking the other teacher, but like I understood emission line spectrums, then the bad teacher 'explained' it, and I was like wtf is this now?


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    #7
    theowen
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭theowen


    crayolastereo wrote: »
    lol anytime;):D

    See I'd rather not do grinds as...well they're expensive and the school is private so the teacher should be good. I was thinking of doing chemistry myself and then asking the other teacher, but like I understood emission line spectrums, then the bad teacher 'explained' it, and I was like wtf is this now?
    That's the tricky stuff. Some of the chem material you just have to look over and mull it over yourself so you can understand it. Then exam papers blerg.


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    #8
    Chemistry Ftw
    Registered Users Posts: 113 ✭✭Chemistry Ftw


    Tbh, the subject could probably be done in a year... the key to it is, as you are doing each chapter, master the exam question that correspond to it... you don't need to necessarily understand what is going on (expect for the parts that involve maths)


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    #9
    theowen
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭theowen


    Chemistry Ftw wrote: »
    Tbh, the subject could probably be done in a year... the key to it is, as you are doing each chapter, master the exam question that correspond to it... you don't need to necessarily understand what is going on (expect for the parts that involve maths)
    :cool:. Gotta understand equations and all that. HCL+salt=what? All that stuff.


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    #10
    randylonghorn
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 29,509 Mod ✭✭✭✭randylonghorn


    theowen wrote: »
    With me:cool:
    Behave! :P


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    #11
    theowen
    Registered Users Posts: 1,744 ✭✭✭theowen


    randylonghorn wrote: »
    Behave! :P
    It's all ye dirty minds that causing the problem here, Randy:p


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    #12
    annainez
    Registered Users Posts: 116 ✭✭annainez


    Defo get a good chem teacher, French is quite easy to do well in, but I've heard sooooooooooooooooooooooo many ppl complain about how ridiculously difficult chemistry is!


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    #13
    rainbowtrout
    Registered Users Posts: 15,382 ✭✭✭✭rainbowtrout


    crayolastereo wrote: »
    lol anytime;):D

    See I'd rather not do grinds as...well they're expensive and the school is private so the teacher should be good. I was thinking of doing chemistry myself and then asking the other teacher, but like I understood emission line spectrums, then the bad teacher 'explained' it, and I was like wtf is this now?

    Just because the school is private does not automatically mean the teacher will be good. There are good and bad teachers in every school, even the private ones.


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    #14
    Chuchoter
    Registered Users Posts: 4,305 ✭✭✭Chuchoter


    I know, but I feel a bit ripped off paying for school and then having to go pay someone else more money because they can't give me a reasonable teacher.

    As someone else pointed out above, its the equations and stuff I'm worried about. I mean I had a look through the book and some of the stuff I could have learnt myself and not understood it, but some of it you have to understand it or you'll just get it wrong.


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    #15
    AnneElizabeth
    Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭AnneElizabeth


    Complain the teacher to the principle! And get other people in your class to complain her too (Get parents to do it though :P)
    You're in a private school and are paying, it's ridiculous if the teacher is no good. Don't worry about hurting the teacher's feelings, your education (and parents' money) are more important.
    Seeing as it's a private school I would assume the school would hate to be associated with a bad teacher, so they might try to find a new one.

    Don't lose the good French class, just try and teach yourself as best you can, get revision books/notes from other people if you can, so you read things in a different ways.

    You really really need a good teacher for Chemistry though.. It's difficult enough with a good one! Try to do as best you can to teach yourself and maybe the school will do something about the teacher.


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    #16
    milosh
    Registered Users Posts: 261 ✭✭milosh


    AnneElizabeth wrote: »
    Complain the teacher to the principle! And get other people in your class to complain her too (Get parents to do it though :P)
    You're in a private school and are paying, it's ridiculous if the teacher is no good. Don't worry about hurting the teacher's feelings, your education (and parents' money) are more important.
    Seeing as it's a private school I would assume the school would hate to be associated with a bad teacher, so they might try to find a new one.

    Don't lose the good French class, just try and teach yourself as best you can, get revision books/notes from other people if you can, so you read things in a different ways.

    You really really need a good teacher for Chemistry though.. It's difficult enough with a good one! Try to do as best you can to teach yourself and maybe the school will do something about the teacher.

    Students in private schools are no more entitled to good teachers than students in state schools. Also, teachers are paid for by the state and not the school in all schools in Ireland and there is a strong chance the teacher (no matter how god or bad) is permanent on the staff so they will not be changing your teacher. On top of this, Ireland is a modern country with strong employment laws. You cannot get rid of a teacher just because a few students don't like her!

    To me it is obvious what you should do. As you said, you will probably get an A1 in French anyway, so change French class if you really need to get into the other chemistry class. (Beware: The school may not allow this as you are not changing subjects) Teachers never treat Leaving Cert students the same as Junior Cert Students so the French teacher being tough shouldn't worry you.


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    #17
    rainbowtrout
    Registered Users Posts: 15,382 ✭✭✭✭rainbowtrout


    AnneElizabeth wrote: »
    Complain the teacher to the principle! And get other people in your class to complain her too (Get parents to do it though :P)
    You're in a private school and are paying, it's ridiculous if the teacher is no good. Don't worry about hurting the teacher's feelings, your education (and parents' money) are more important.
    Seeing as it's a private school I would assume the school would hate to be associated with a bad teacher, so they might try to find a new one.

    Don't lose the good French class, just try and teach yourself as best you can, get revision books/notes from other people if you can, so you read things in a different ways.

    You really really need a good teacher for Chemistry though.. It's difficult enough with a good one! Try to do as best you can to teach yourself and maybe the school will do something about the teacher.


    Some teachers in private schools are employed and paid by the Dept of Education and some are privately paid by the school. If the teacher is Dept of Ed employee, you can't just get rid of them.


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    #18
    rainbowtrout
    Registered Users Posts: 15,382 ✭✭✭✭rainbowtrout


    milosh wrote: »
    Students in private schools are no more entitled to good teachers than students in state schools. Also, teachers are paid for by the state and not the school in all schools in Ireland and there is a strong chance the teacher (no matter how god or bad) is permanent on the staff so they will not be changing your teacher. On top of this, Ireland is a modern country with strong employment laws. You cannot get rid of a teacher just because a few students don't like her!

    To me it is obvious what you should do. As you said, you will probably get an A1 in French anyway, so change French class if you really need to get into the other chemistry class. (Beware: The school may not allow this as you are not changing subjects) Teachers never treat Leaving Cert students the same as Junior Cert Students so the French teacher being tough shouldn't worry you.


    I agree. I'm amazed at the sense of entitlement simply because a student attends a fee paying school. A fee paying school can possibly provide smaller classes and a wide range of subjects because they pay extra teachers privately to provide that range and so class sizes are small. It does not guarantee the quality of teaching. All teachers go through the same teacher training system in this country and can be employed by any school. Being employed by a fee paying school does not automatically mean the teacher will be the best there possibly is. Just like attending a grind school does not automatically entitle you to 600 points in the LC. Part of the work is down to the student.


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