what should i choose as another subject for yr 11 (1 Viewer)

[Cherrybomb56]

@Cherrybomb56 yeh that's true but some content from yr 11 might come in the hsc if i'm not wrong

Yeah I am pretty sure. Any plans for these holidays?

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Yeah I am pretty sure. Any plans for these holidays?

not much, i guess i have to use this holidays wisely to study lol

 

[Cherrybomb56]

not much, i guess i have to use this holidays wisely to study lol

yeah same.

 

[Xzyle]

Thanks guys @Drdusk and @Cherrybomb56 that was really helpful advice but i was thinking the same as what @Xzyle was saying.
I studied some content of all 3 sciences for next year but not enough for me to make a decision without trying at school first with all my other subjects. I just got overwhelmed by some people that I had known who hadn't done too well in physics of this years hsc physics exam.

Btw congrats @Xzyle to acing your hsc this year plus 99.75 wow.

Haha thank you! Feel free to hit me up in a DM whenever you need any advice, guidance or help!

 

[Xzyle]

@Cherrybomb56 @i.used.to.be.happy
Hey, I haven't checked the thread lately as I've been quite busy. I read bits and bobs of your discussion earlier. With regards to English tutoring, I would recommend finding a private tutor as opposed to a generic tutoring company such as Ngo and Sons. I say this from my own personal experience as someone who as attended both, and is currently tutoring in a company, and also offering private tutoring on the side. I find that English is a subject that, as opposed to mathematics or sciences, required a fair bit of TAILORING. Everyone has different things they need to improve on. Specific texts, different modules, reading task vs essays, etc. I switched from group English lessons to private relatively early on, and my results skyrocketed. I went from like 25th in English (English being my worst subject through years 8 and 9) to being the exemplar in all sections of my end of year 9 exam. And I managed to score a 96 in my HSC English externals which I was quite pleased about. This was all due to the fact that having a private tutor dedicated entirely to patching up my weaknesses improved my English writing and reasoning skills significantly. I learned to write succinctly, the best way to answer the question and adapt to it, and as a result consistently full marked the reading tasks for several exams.

That's just my 2 cents. Or 50 cents.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Yeh I currently go to both private and group (NGO and sons). I use to go to 3 english classes because that's how bad I was and still am at English. Afterwards I stopped one of 3 because I didn't understand a single word he was saying and he kept doing weird hand gestures (apparently one way for me to remember) and always on social media boasting about how he's an actor lol (was definitely not interested). He taught my brother for a few weeks before the HSC and he improved him a lot but I just never got along with him. Though I'm going totally off topic, he called me reserved and hard to talk to. Like how can I talk to him if he's doing all the talking. But anyways the girl I'm going to now is decent. I don't know if I should quite but she's helpful at times but i guess not enough because my grades aren't improving. I'm quitting NGO and sons so that's great.

I'm going to go to another private tutor and I feel so insecure and worried if I'm still not going to improve plus I'm going to go into my senior years. All my english tutors say I still have time but they say that all the time.

Is it okay if you can suggest a good english tutor especially the one you went to before your HSC ?

 

[Xzyle]

Yeh I currently go to both private and group (NGO and sons). I use to go to 3 english classes because that's how bad I was and still am at English. Afterwards I stopped one of 3 because I didn't understand a single word he was saying and he kept doing weird hand gestures (apparently one way for me to remember) and always on social media boasting about how he's an actor lol (was definitely not interested). He taught my brother for a few weeks before the HSC and he improved him a lot but I just never got along with him. Though I'm going totally off topic, he called me reserved and hard to talk to. Like how can I talk to him if he's doing all the talking. But anyways the girl I'm going to now is decent. I don't know if I should quite but she's helpful at times but i guess not enough because my grades aren't improving. I'm quitting NGO and sons so that's great.

I'm going to go to another private tutor and I feel so insecure and worried if I'm still not going to improve plus I'm going to go into my senior years. All my english tutors say I still have time but they say that all the time.

Is it okay if you can suggest a good english tutor especially the one you went to before your HSC ?

Oh wow, yeah I have heard some strange things about NGO and sons but didn't expect it to be that bad.
I know all your english tutors say you still have time, and I'm not going to echo them. Treat Year 11 as a year of learning, developing habits, and improving your english skills overall. In reality however, you do still have a fair bit of time. In fact, people can improve from like 90 trials to 98 HSC externals in just a matter of weeks. The opposite also stands true - I know someone who unfortunately dropped from 98 RAW trials, to a 94 external, despite my school trials being significantly harder and harshly marked. Improving in English can be very rapid through drafting, however I believe that a foundation (analytical thinking, fluent and persuasive writing, addressing the question and being able to adjust a planned essay to suit it, etc.) is extremely important in order for English students to focus solely on further developing their ideas.

I think the most important thing over the upcoming year for you, would be to develop those habits and analytical skills, as they will transfer over regardless of what text or module you're studying. English is a subject that you improve in by developing these skills. And this comes from practice. Drafts, feedback, redrafting, and more redrafting.

But ABOVE all, find yourself someone to talk to. I was lucky in that my classroom environment had been established with student-based learning, where we all inputted ideas, and bounced them off each other. My entire class achieved band 6's, except maybe 1 or 2 people who got 89 I think (big sad). Discuss ideas with that person, brainstorm new ideas, etc. This process is why my feedback throughout year 12 was that my ideas were refreshing, unique and interesting. I think that was due to having people around me to talk to, and who helped me clear my thought processes and develop my OWN unique ideas. When you develop your own style of writing and own content and analysis, it becomes much easier to write essays tailored to the question - since everything will be your own knowledge and work, sitting in your own brain, as opposed to your TEACHER'S ideas, which you may not fully have understood, that you have memorised and rote-learned.

In terms of good English tutors, I would recommend finding high achieving English graduates. Maybe recent graduates as well, since the class of 2019 will have been the first year to study the new syllabus. The Private tutor I went to during year 9 and 10 was towards the end of her Medical degree, and has just recently had a child I believe, so I don't think she is currently offering tutoring. I didn't do private tutoring at all in Year 11 and 12 however, as I was fortunate enough to have my school hiring high achieving former students to work in the "Study Centre" after school, which was effectively the same thing as private tutoring. This coupled with several friends whom I could bounce ideas off of, and an English teacher who incessantly marked my drafts, really contributed to my enjoyment and improvement while studying English.

I'm actually currently amidst finding students over the holiday period, I offer tutoring for all of the subjects that I did during my HSC year. Perhaps send me a PM if you're interested? Or I could potentially hook you up with another high achiever from my year if we live inconveniently far away. No pressure though, haha.

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Wow you actually gave better advice than anyone I've asked. Thank you so much for all the information and hopefully I'm able to go by this. When it comes to ideas, I make it complicated and I know this is a bad habit but I don't make a proper plan, just a small sketch then just write the rest from memory (ekk but sometimes it works). The English teachers in my school are bad but I guess the senior teachers are way better but extremely strict (so I'm going to have SOO MUCH FUN in yr 11 and 12).

I'll think about going to you but my parents already booked a girl who's apparently really good. I could've started now but I told them to do it when school starts because I don't think I'm ready to go to another english class.

The ppl who's going to be in my class next year and the year after are really smart and can get ideas straight off their head. Plus they can write more, analyse texts distinctly, give great advice and talk a lot during discussions. I feel like I'm going to be left out lmao but hopefully I survive and be on their and the teachers good side.

Also, is it cool if you can PM me your details and anyone else you know ? Thank you a lot btw.

 

[Xzyle]

Wow you actually gave better advice than anyone I've asked. Thank you so much for all the information and hopefully I'm able to go by this. When it comes to ideas, I make it complicated and I know this is a bad habit but I don't make a proper plan, just a small sketch then just write the rest from memory (ekk but sometimes it works). The English teachers in my school are bad but I guess the senior teachers are way better but extremely strict (so I'm going to have SOO MUCH FUN in yr 11 and 12).

I'll think about going to you but my parents already booked a girl who's apparently really good. I could've started now but I told them to do it when school starts because I don't think I'm ready to go to another english class.

The ppl who's going to be in my class next year and the year after are really smart and can get ideas straight off their head. Plus they can write more, analyse texts distinctly, give great advice and talk a lot during discussions. I feel like I'm going to be left out lmao but hopefully I survive and be on their and the teachers good side.

Also, is it cool if you can PM me your details and anyone else you know ? Thank you a lot btw.

Yeah, no worries!

I found that at times I was also a bit convoluted and over complicated my essays, which you mentioned that you struggle with. This is quite natural when you're still developing your own ideas, and really the only way to improve is just to redraft. With every subsequent draft, you will not only understand your ideas more, but also find better ways to express those ideas. Getting a good teacher or tutor to provide feedback just highlights those areas of improvement, and accelerates the process.

I don't think having a small sketch is necessarily a bad thing as opposed to a real plan, it just depends on what works for you. Personally, I just redrafted until my essays gradually took shape. In part, this worked because I think you can kinda treat your intro as a plan. I would write and rewrite my introduction incessantly - I found that because this contains your overarching thesis and also themes or ideas contained in your body paragraphs, that developing the introduction and presenting these key and refreshing ideas in a clear format clarifies not only to the marker exactly what your essay is about, but also clarifies to yourself what YOU want to write. Redrafting intros and theses is something I found to be much more time efficient than writing whole essays over and over again. Once I realised what I wanted to have in my essay, that's when my body paragraphs came into fruition. And after writing 10 or so different introductions (slight variations in phrasing, structure, flow etc) that honestly I only needed to write like two drafts of each body paragraph. I find writing to be a lot more efficient when you actually KNOW what you want to be writing.

So that comes back to the importance of having someone to bounce ideas off of, and also rewriting your own intro to clarify ideas. I spent much of my time brainstorming and working on my theses - everything else flows on from there.

Regarding your position in your class, there was actually a period of time where I felt much the same way. For me that period of adjustment was year 10, for you it may be year 11. While being "smart and getting key ideas of their head" can be vital, analytical skills and clarity are just as crucial. Some of the smartest people and what some may perceive as "talented individuals" actually struggle to write clearly because they have so much they want to say, or because it's all in their head but not translating to paper. I personally didn't find any need to consider the deeper or more philosophical aspect of texts that I struggled to understand - I developed my own unique insightful ideas.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE IS NOT TO BE AFRAID TO SPEAK IN CLASS. You may feel like you're being judged, or that your ideas may not be as good as others in your class, but it took me a few months in year 10 to get used to speaking up. That's the only way to improve dramatically - talking about your ideas. And while you're at it, you'll receive feedback from your teacher and peers at the same time, and oftentimes they'll help you clarify your own ideas, or add onto your original idea. I found that most of the points I presented in my essays were ones I initially raised on my own, and then they were a collective Mish mash of all the insights my peers and teachers helped me further develop.
The English classroom should be a judgement free zone anyway, and it's hard to have "bad ideas" in English. Any reasonable idea can help you to achieve full marks, in fact simpler concepts are often easier to tailor to the question and get you those results anyways.

Sorry for the essay. And yeah I'll send you a PM.

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Nah it's all good you gave great advice once again. I'll try and practice more until I'm able to get my own idea. Especially reading more and contributing class is something I need to do more often. I found putting my hand up in class during maths gave the teacher a better understanding that I was willing to take risks, so if i can do this in English then that should be good.

This is probably going to be a big step but hopefully I can do this well.
Also when it came to you preparing your subjects before exams, how did you plan it?

Sorry I feel like I'm asking too much

 

[Cherrybomb56]

@Cherrybomb56 @i.used.to.be.happy
Hey, I haven't checked the thread lately as I've been quite busy. I read bits and bobs of your discussion earlier. With regards to English tutoring, I would recommend finding a private tutor as opposed to a generic tutoring company such as Ngo and Sons. I say this from my own personal experience as someone who as attended both, and is currently tutoring in a company, and also offering private tutoring on the side. I find that English is a subject that, as opposed to mathematics or sciences, required a fair bit of TAILORING. Everyone has different things they need to improve on. Specific texts, different modules, reading task vs essays, etc. I switched from group English lessons to private relatively early on, and my results skyrocketed. I went from like 25th in English (English being my worst subject through years 8 and 9) to being the exemplar in all sections of my end of year 9 exam. And I managed to score a 96 in my HSC English externals which I was quite pleased about. This was all due to the fact that having a private tutor dedicated entirely to patching up my weaknesses improved my English writing and reasoning skills significantly. I learned to write succinctly, the best way to answer the question and adapt to it, and as a result consistently full marked the reading tasks for several exams.

That's just my 2 cents. Or 50 cents.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Just wondering for English advanced, do you think it's necessary to study anything in the holidays for it?

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Yeh I currently go to both private and group (NGO and sons). I use to go to 3 english classes because that's how bad I was and still am at English. Afterwards I stopped one of 3 because I didn't understand a single word he was saying and he kept doing weird hand gestures (apparently one way for me to remember) and always on social media boasting about how he's an actor lol (was definitely not interested). He taught my brother for a few weeks before the HSC and he improved him a lot but I just never got along with him. Though I'm going totally off topic, he called me reserved and hard to talk to. Like how can I talk to him if he's doing all the talking. But anyways the girl I'm going to now is decent. I don't know if I should quite but she's helpful at times but i guess not enough because my grades aren't improving. I'm quitting NGO and sons so that's great.

I'm going to go to another private tutor and I feel so insecure and worried if I'm still not going to improve plus I'm going to go into my senior years. All my english tutors say I still have time but they say that all the time.

Is it okay if you can suggest a good english tutor especially the one you went to before your HSC ?

Same I don't find NGO and sons that helpful for english, what subjects are you continuing then in ngo?

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Oh wow, yeah I have heard some strange things about NGO and sons but didn't expect it to be that bad.
I know all your english tutors say you still have time, and I'm not going to echo them. Treat Year 11 as a year of learning, developing habits, and improving your english skills overall. In reality however, you do still have a fair bit of time. In fact, people can improve from like 90 trials to 98 HSC externals in just a matter of weeks. The opposite also stands true - I know someone who unfortunately dropped from 98 RAW trials, to a 94 external, despite my school trials being significantly harder and harshly marked. Improving in English can be very rapid through drafting, however I believe that a foundation (analytical thinking, fluent and persuasive writing, addressing the question and being able to adjust a planned essay to suit it, etc.) is extremely important in order for English students to focus solely on further developing their ideas.

I think the most important thing over the upcoming year for you, would be to develop those habits and analytical skills, as they will transfer over regardless of what text or module you're studying. English is a subject that you improve in by developing these skills. And this comes from practice. Drafts, feedback, redrafting, and more redrafting.

But ABOVE all, find yourself someone to talk to. I was lucky in that my classroom environment had been established with student-based learning, where we all inputted ideas, and bounced them off each other. My entire class achieved band 6's, except maybe 1 or 2 people who got 89 I think (big sad). Discuss ideas with that person, brainstorm new ideas, etc. This process is why my feedback throughout year 12 was that my ideas were refreshing, unique and interesting. I think that was due to having people around me to talk to, and who helped me clear my thought processes and develop my OWN unique ideas. When you develop your own style of writing and own content and analysis, it becomes much easier to write essays tailored to the question - since everything will be your own knowledge and work, sitting in your own brain, as opposed to your TEACHER'S ideas, which you may not fully have understood, that you have memorised and rote-learned.

In terms of good English tutors, I would recommend finding high achieving English graduates. Maybe recent graduates as well, since the class of 2019 will have been the first year to study the new syllabus. The Private tutor I went to during year 9 and 10 was towards the end of her Medical degree, and has just recently had a child I believe, so I don't think she is currently offering tutoring. I didn't do private tutoring at all in Year 11 and 12 however, as I was fortunate enough to have my school hiring high achieving former students to work in the "Study Centre" after school, which was effectively the same thing as private tutoring. This coupled with several friends whom I could bounce ideas off of, and an English teacher who incessantly marked my drafts, really contributed to my enjoyment and improvement while studying English.

I'm actually currently amidst finding students over the holiday period, I offer tutoring for all of the subjects that I did during my HSC year. Perhaps send me a PM if you're interested? Or I could potentially hook you up with another high achiever from my year if we live inconveniently far away. No pressure though, haha.

Just wondering what subjects are you currently tutoring in?

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Same I don't find NGO and sons that helpful for english, what subjects are you continuing then in ngo?

At NGO I'm still going there for maths, physics and chem.
Are you dropping English plus are you joining there for Chem?

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Nice. Math is pretty okay in ngo. Yeh but I am contemplating weather or not I should continue English cause appearantly they move you into advanced/standard English depending on your choice. I was thinking of joining chem but my friend said that it's okay, not helpful so I don't know if I should. Will you continue chem there?

At NGO I'm still going there for maths, physics and chem.
Are you dropping English plus are you joining there for Chem?

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Yeh probably. They actually give good content. We're actually learning in greater detail compared to the syllabus so some content isn't necessary but it gives a better understanding of the topic. I forgot to say but I go a private tutor. If it weren't for her I think I would've failed science in my junior years as I was so lazy when it came to assignment, doing homework and exams. She would literally call my parents to do the work or call right before the exam if I needed any questions. She charges me less compared to her other students but having private and group really helps. She went through a part of the content from NGO and when I did the exam, I did really well in that section. If I actually studied the content I think I would've done in the exam but unfortunately I was lazy and didn't lmao.

I guess having the right mindset and studying all content plus practice questions, I think you'll be fine, whichever tuition you go to. Well some tuitions are bad but if their decent then your fine like NGO.

 

[Xzyle]

Nah it's all good you gave great advice once again. I'll try and practice more until I'm able to get my own idea. Especially reading more and contributing class is something I need to do more often. I found putting my hand up in class during maths gave the teacher a better understanding that I was willing to take risks, so if i can do this in English then that should be good.

This is probably going to be a big step but hopefully I can do this well.
Also when it came to you preparing your subjects before exams, how did you plan it?

Sorry I feel like I'm asking too much

For preparing for exams, it honestly needs to be incremental. I found it a lot less stressful preparing for my modern history trials for example, as out of the 4 topics, I had written notes on the first 2 a long time ago, adding new pieces of information on every afternoon after a history lesson. And so by the time exams rolled around I really only needed to read over them, and write a few practice essays on what I hadn't fully prepared for.

So yeah, don't cram humanities, it's stressful and inefficient. You tend to forget your content after each exam if you cram as well. Start working incrementally and early on. Try to keep up to date and add things to your notes as soon as you learn them.

With STEM subjects, they're a bit easier to cram. Still wouldn't recommend it though.
Humanities, drafting, drafting, notes, feedback, more drafting.
STEM, learn content, write summaries for understanding, practice questions, more practice Q's, then past papers. For Sciences in particular, make sure you work on some 7-9 mark theory based questions on top of the usual calculation/mathematical questions.

 

[Xzyle]

Just wondering for English advanced, do you think it's necessary to study anything in the holidays for it?

I don't think its particularly necessary in the Year 10/11 summer holidays to do anything in particular, except read over your texts and start thinking about some big picture, themes and ideas. Individual analysis can wait until you've started the school term.

Just wondering what subjects are you currently tutoring in?

I currently tutor English, Maths (Adv, X1, X2), Physics and Modern History!

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Yeh probably. They actually give good content. We're actually learning in greater detail compared to the syllabus so some content isn't necessary but it gives a better understanding of the topic. I forgot to say but I go a private tutor. If it weren't for her I think I would've failed science in my junior years as I was so lazy when it came to assignment, doing homework and exams. She would literally call my parents to do the work or call right before the exam if I needed any questions. She charges me less compared to her other students but having private and group really helps. She went through a part of the content from NGO and when I did the exam, I did really well in that section. If I actually studied the content I think I would've done in the exam but unfortunately I was lazy and didn't lmao.

I guess having the right mindset and studying all content plus practice questions, I think you'll be fine, whichever tuition you go to. Well some tuitions are bad but if their decent then your fine like NGO.

Does she teach chem? Really, That's pretty good. yeah.

 

[i.used.to.be.happy]

Does she teach chem? Really, That's pretty good. yeah.

Yeah she mainly teaches Chem. I felt like I've mentioned NGO a lot in this chat