I passed the standard chemistry course last year with a 97% and a good understanding of the material, however, this year, in an obviously more difficult, faster moving course, and a worse teacher, I’ve been struggling VERY HARD. I have currently have an A- in the class, and only because her standard for an A is 90% or higher. I know this isn’t an awful grade or anything, but I want to maintain my 4.0, and I feel like it’s only going to slip further and further if I don’t change my mentality / way I’m approaching this course. Plus, the end of the semester is nearing, so I have little time.
So, just a little bit about my teacher. She’s been at my school for a super long time and she has this reputation for being really difficult on her students and being very little help (even the other teachers talk bad about her, no joke). Her classic line is “Have you checked in the book?” when you go in and ask for help with a concept you don’t understand.
She basically has this mentality that we should act and be treated like college students because we’re taking an AP class. So, she takes ONE DAY giving us notes on a chapter and then she gives tons problems in the book and we spend the rest of the school periods for several weeks working on them, then finish them at home. We are also expected to read the chapters at home and pick up on the things she left out of the notes. And the thing is, our only grades in the grade book are tests and labs, and I’ve been doing very poorly on the tests for the reasons above.
This might be an okay process for some students, but most of us simply don’t learn like this, especially myself. Science is already one of my shaky subjects, and I struggle to find the motivation, time, or resources to sit down with the textbook and spend hours teaching myself. I am taking six other classes, three of them AP as well, and the rest of them rigorous courses that require a lot of homework.
So, here are my questions: What are some tips for finding / spending the time to dedicate to homework? What are some online or text resources that can help me? What can I do to help myself in chem in general, given the circumstances?
I would drop this class in a heartbeat if it didn’t show up on my transcript, but since that’s obviously not a choice, I think I need to figure out a way to make it through this year, with your help!
Thanks!! 