likeawind24 Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Just to give an info about myself: other HLs I take are: Biology, Mathematics, and Economics. Currently I take Chemistry SL but the teacher is really crappy. I don't get what he's teaching about, for his explanations aren't very great. He's new to the school, and he's never taught IB before. On the other hand, the Chemistry HL teacher has taught for at least 10 years. (of IB and in the school). Should I change Chemistry SL to HL just because the SL teacher is really bad at teaching? (There is only one teacher for the Chemistry SL course, I'm devastated. ) If I do change from SL to HL, I'll have to study more, obviously, HL course ain't that easy, and I'm not very confident about doing well in Chem HL... lots of lab reports to write as well. But SL teacher... just sucks. I don't want to have him for 2 years, I think I'll even fail the 'easier' exams just because the teacher isn't very good at explaining things. What do you think I should do? Give me some advice please! If I have to change, I don't want to miss anymore of HL stuff. We have separate classes for SL and HL sciences. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut Butter Jelly Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Could you maybe drop Math HL and go up to Chem HL? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandwich Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 I'd go for the better teaching. Chemistry is such a concepts-driven subject that a good teacher really makes a big difference. Although that being said, all of the hard concepts that you really NEED a good teacher for are in the HL rather than the SL course. SL doesn't have much theory in it, so you could potentially put up with bad teaching. The only worry spot would be the IAs. Your choice. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmi Posted October 9, 2011 Report Share Posted October 9, 2011 Go with the better teacher. Yes, that means doing a harder course but it will be more beneficial for you. If you have a bad teacher that you also don't like very much, it's going to be a long two years and in the end you'll probably end up hating chemistry and do poorly on the exam unless you devote a lot of time to study. If I were you, I'd go with HL chemistry. You'll have to study more because there's more to learn and it's harder, but you would have had to study more anyways in SL chem to make up for your teacher's lack of teaching ability to learn the concepts yourself.Do you have a certain career interest in mind, or are you willing to drop one of your other HLs that you don't really need as much? 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hehe101 Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 I just finished SL Chemistry last year and ended with a 7. However, I was in the EXACT same situation as you. My teacher was very bad. All she would do is have her notes on an overhead and just read the notes. We were expected to print these notes and follow along. Since it was last period and the lights would go off, we would never pay attention (she wasn't interesting at all) and thus, I learned nothing in her class. The reason why I didn't take HL Chemistry was because I would have to drop one of my other HL's and I'd much rather do the other HL's I picked then die in HL Chemistry (not a big Chemistry fan anyways). Come exam time, I just studied my butt off for a good month. I was lucky to do SL Chem and SL Math in grade 11. Since I'm really good at math (even though my teacher was EVEN worse than my chemistry teacher...at least my chemistry teacher taught. My math teacher didn't even do that :|), I was able to focus on chemistry. But I know for most IB schools, you have to do all your exams in one year. So it really depends on your situation and how you generally feel about chemistry. If you hate chemistry, then there's no point in doing HL Chemistry, no matter how good the teacher is. I think you should do your HL's in subjects you enjoy because you'll naturally get better marks.If your teacher is really that bad and there's no good resources you can find that are helping you (i.e the course campanion/study guide is doing nothing for you) then maybe you want to switch to HL Chemistry. But be warned, HL Chemistry is hard and a lot of work. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Glau Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 What do you want to study?Keep this in mind when picking your subjects. If you don't need chemistry HL for uni and you don't like chemistry that much to begin with, don't take it. When your teacher sucks, sadly all you can really do is teach yourself. Open your textbook, read through it, and take notes. Watch the chemistry videos on KhanAcademy if you hate reading the textbook, they are helpful. Whatever helps you understand the concepts. Go through the syllabus and make sure you master each point. Don't waste time learning other stuff you don't need.You already have 7 subjects and adding another HL is just going to make it even harder for you (unless you drop one of your other HLs to SL). 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessskris Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Summer made a really good point there, you already have 7 subjects and you want to take 4 HL??? but well, some people are just very extraordinary.I suggest you to stick because Chem HL is very difficult. if you're even struggling to understand Chem SL concepts, how can you expect to understand more sophisticated concepts in HL? yes you'd argue that you have a bad teacher, but I bet you have a textbook or perhaps notes that you can read! and there are a lot more resources (online, even offline) like those Summer mentioned and I bet there's a library at your school if not in your city... come on.at first I thought I had a bad teacher too, because her explanation confused me and I really didn't get why this is like this and why that is like that--I then concluded that Chem HL was too difficult and it's not for me. so yeah, I dropped down to SL (there were only 1 HL student and 3 including me SL students so our class was combined, we had the same teacher) and started to think my teacher is not a bad teacher. it's just the HL concepts were too tough for me to understand, and the concepts in SL I have actually previously learnt in IGCSE, so it wasn't too bad.maybe that didn't really resemble your problem, but I hope you see my point that HL stuff is more difficult than SL stuff to understand. and SL stuff is actually supposed to be easy if you've learnt Chem in your previous studies. have you learnt Chem before? in grade 10 perhaps? if not, do NOT take Chem HL because you are very likely to fail it. if you have, you can stay in Chem SL because actually you're just revising what you've previously learnt, with some new chapters that shouldn't be too difficult to understand.try to read your textbook or check out other sources, if you still can't understand your Chemistry concepts, might as well drop Chem since you have 7 subjects because it means the problem is with you, not with the teacher. but if you can understand then you should stay in Chem SL.might consider complaining to your IB coordinator too if you think it's worth it. 2 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Filipino Limner Posted October 19, 2011 Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 I guess, just stay with it, since, yes, Chemistry is concept-driven, so yea. Added to that, going HL is extremely hard! You have to really understand the SL Topics a lot before you could do HL, so think over it. The best thing you can do now is to talk to your IB coordinator. He/She will surely be of help since he/she knows the situation you're in! (Guidance counselor may help also, but they don't have that experience in IB!) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabs44 Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I'd say go with the better teacher (and do HL). Since Chem is so concept-based, the better the teacher can explain it the better you'll do on the exams, regardless of SL or HL!However, I agree with the people above that there's absolutely no point in doing 4 HL's and 3 SL's... so I would drop one of your other HL's in which the SL teacher for that course is better than your useless Chem SL teacher!Good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombat123 Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 I have a bad chem teacher for chem HL . It's not very pleasant.... But he teaches the chem SL class too, and most of the people who have dropped out (about half of the people who originally registered for the course) were chem SL. I'd say go with the good chem HL teacher, especially if you like chemistry and are willing to learn a bit more about it. Chemistry can be really confusing if you don't know what's going on, even if you're in SL as opposed to HL. Even if you don't like chem much, a little more knowledge never hurts! If you have a sucky SL teacher you'll probably spend just as much time, or even more time, teacheing yourself the concepts and getting confused and stressed than if you have a good HL teacher who will already teach you all of the material during class. Hope this helps! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
carpediem Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 Before you even consider changing your course, I'd suggest to complain to your school. Sometimes that makes a difference, like the teacher will be told the students don't learn anything or receive a warning, and it's important that you can try and do that before you change to HL just because there's a bad teacher. If the complaints continue, often (at least in my school) the teacher will be changed to someone else. It worked for my friends when we were doing GCSEs, and it might work again because they're not learning anything in HL Biology.If that doesn't work, I suggest you stay in SL and learn it through self-studying. You are taking a lot of subjects, and you don't seem to want to take HL Chemistry - do you want to Chemistry at uni? Also, HL Chemistry is supposed to be a hard course, and you shouldn't let the extra HL Chemistry classes and work get in the way with the Highers you really want to take.But in the end, it's your choice. Good luck! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBCONQUERER Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 do chemistry HL, drop bio to SL! I take chem bio and math HL...math is hard but fun, chem is both easy and fun, bio is both boring and hard! But then again its a matter of personal preference! Math chem and econ HL will be good, coz you wont have too much reading to do! Where as with bio you have loads of information to digest! I prefer application of knowledge more than just extensive reading but then you might be different! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
omri Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hey,I'm in my second year now, taking Chem SL with a horrible teacher.The Chemistry syllabus for standard level is not that difficult, but it is hard to learn many things on your own.On the other hand, Chem HL seems really hard..I'd say choose Chem SL if you're a good self learner, but take HL if you're interested in Chemistry.I used to like Chemistry until I had this teacher (Don't know if my teacher is to blame for that though..) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antrikshy Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Just to give an info about myself: other HLs I take are: Biology, Mathematics, and Economics. Currently I take Chemistry SL but the teacher is really crappy. I don't get what he's teaching about, for his explanations aren't very great. He's new to the school, and he's never taught IB before. On the other hand, the Chemistry HL teacher has taught for at least 10 years. (of IB and in the school). Should I change Chemistry SL to HL just because the SL teacher is really bad at teaching? (There is only one teacher for the Chemistry SL course, I'm devastated. ) If I do change from SL to HL, I'll have to study more, obviously, HL course ain't that easy, and I'm not very confident about doing well in Chem HL... lots of lab reports to write as well. But SL teacher... just sucks. I don't want to have him for 2 years, I think I'll even fail the 'easier' exams just because the teacher isn't very good at explaining things. What do you think I should do? Give me some advice please! If I have to change, I don't want to miss anymore of HL stuff. We have separate classes for SL and HL sciences. Could you maybe drop Math HL and go up to Chem HL? Believe me, higher level Mathematics is super-difficult. It might seem easy in a beginning but it escalates. At least it did with us. If OP is fine with sciences (likes science, has been good with it all along), I would rather do HL with a good teacher. Same goes for any IB course. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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