For those of you who have come in to complain about this science or that science here is another site you can use. It is called Free Science Videos and Lectures. They have a good selection and you should take a look.
This site got me thinking about something that has been bubbling in my head for a few days. The effort and work of my IB students. Now I am not going to go on a rant and say that you are lazy, you aren't. But I don't know, or I should say I haven't seen one of you that makes good use of your time for studying and preparation. As you are coming to understand, it is all about time. There is only so much time in a day, in a week in a year. Then the exams arrive.
It is also about your expectations. What do you think you should be accomplishing in class? Does this correspond to the expectations of your teachers? or your coordinator? How much work can you get done in class?
The truth is that we do not have enough time to teach you everything for your IB subjects.
Let me say that again. Even with almost two years we do not have enough time to go over everything that you might be tested on. We couldn't begin to cover all aspects of each topic that is listed for your courses. We wouldn't even get to the halfway point.
If we are lucky we can cover the main points of the topics that are listed in the syllabus. Everything else is up to you. That's right it is up to you, not your teachers.
'That's not right' you say. 'Our teachers are supposed to tell us what to memorize so we can get sevens on the exam'. Wrong. That is your wish but it is not reality. The truth is that your teachers can cover only the basics, you must go out and get the rest. It is called studying and it is what IB students do. The usual term is 'extra work' and it is completely up to the student.
You should be spending several hours a day on these activities: watching lectures, listening to podcasts, participating in online discussions and anything else. If you think studying means rereading the same pages of your textbook that you went over in class you are wrong. That is memorization and it is not knowledge.
If you are not making regular use of resources like the one above than what are you doing? And what makes you think that you have anything to complain about?
If you wait for other people to tell you what to do or what to learn, you will accomplish neither.
This site got me thinking about something that has been bubbling in my head for a few days. The effort and work of my IB students. Now I am not going to go on a rant and say that you are lazy, you aren't. But I don't know, or I should say I haven't seen one of you that makes good use of your time for studying and preparation. As you are coming to understand, it is all about time. There is only so much time in a day, in a week in a year. Then the exams arrive.
It is also about your expectations. What do you think you should be accomplishing in class? Does this correspond to the expectations of your teachers? or your coordinator? How much work can you get done in class?
The truth is that we do not have enough time to teach you everything for your IB subjects.
Let me say that again. Even with almost two years we do not have enough time to go over everything that you might be tested on. We couldn't begin to cover all aspects of each topic that is listed for your courses. We wouldn't even get to the halfway point.
If we are lucky we can cover the main points of the topics that are listed in the syllabus. Everything else is up to you. That's right it is up to you, not your teachers.
'That's not right' you say. 'Our teachers are supposed to tell us what to memorize so we can get sevens on the exam'. Wrong. That is your wish but it is not reality. The truth is that your teachers can cover only the basics, you must go out and get the rest. It is called studying and it is what IB students do. The usual term is 'extra work' and it is completely up to the student.
You should be spending several hours a day on these activities: watching lectures, listening to podcasts, participating in online discussions and anything else. If you think studying means rereading the same pages of your textbook that you went over in class you are wrong. That is memorization and it is not knowledge.
If you are not making regular use of resources like the one above than what are you doing? And what makes you think that you have anything to complain about?
If you wait for other people to tell you what to do or what to learn, you will accomplish neither.
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