Math HL

[Guest soft]

hi, im new here and i have a quite urgent(?) question to ask.

i'm taking HL math and my class has a new teacher..

the past two years in highschool we've had one teacher (a really good one. seriously.)

but now we have a new teacher (while other grade HLs all have our old teacher!!)

and so far we've learned from her for 2 months and i feel very.. insecure.

maybe it's just because i've gotten used to our old teacher, but im really worried about the next two years..

do you think teachers matter too?

i mean, our new teacher really cant teach well.. she tries to just slide past complicated parts

(she avoids explaining them by saying "didn't u learn it last year? u should know it by now")

i want to know if im being overlysensitive, cuz i mean... this IS IB and it counts for college... so im pretty tense about this..

but im just worried if im being paranoid. what do u all think about bad teachers and HL?

should HL students be able to solve things on their own without sufficient teacher explanation?

i mean if thats the case.. i guess my HL class really doesnt deserve to be HL..

[icecoldstar]

^^ are you kidding me? teacher defintely counts!! a good teacher and a bad teacher can make a huge difference...

with math HL, a teacher is crucial... if the teacher cant teach, what is the point of going to school then??

[Guest soft]

well yeah, thats what i think as well.. but then the rest of my class is keeping pretty quiet

(they're talking behind the teacher's back, but it looks like they've given up)

plus we already had this meeting thing with the principal (as a class), he said he'd make sure things would change

but then our math teacher..she's really.... sly? i mean, the class after we told the principal, our old math teacher was in teh class watching her,

and she was acting extra nice and all sweet... but we could tell .. plus she's changed again back to her old self,

and my it is really annoying me... i want to have a private meeting (individual) with the principal but do u think that's a good idea?

im just scared i'll look like some crazy paranoid girl who keeps on wanting to change back to her old teacher just cuz the 'new'ness of the teacher..

ah, what would u do in this situation? would u go ask for a change of teachers...

[linlinchen0502]

Ha, In our school, there's only 1 HL Math class, and 80% of my classmates are from China! I don't know if this HL course is equivalent to the math class, but it seems to be really easy for my Chinese classmates who have already finished grade 11 math in China. Anyway, it seems hard for me. (I came from China to Canada in grade 10.)

I wonder what HL Math course in China is. Are all the IB course the same all over the world?

[BIO-AQUA]

Ha, In our school, there's only 1 HL Math class, and 80% of my classmates are from China! I don't know if this HL course is equivalent to the math class, but it seems to be really easy for my Chinese classmates who have already finished grade 11 math in China. Anyway, it seems hard for me. (I came from China to Canada in grade 10.)

I wonder what HL Math course in China is. Are all the IB course the same all over the world?

Of course the Math HL courses around the world are the same. It's just, maybe the Chinese students take more advanced classes in China?

[Guest Mr Canada]

Just out of curiosity, how many of the total students take HL at your schools? Up here we have 10% and the rest chose studies. Not that many...

[Guest Mr Canada]

hi, im new here and i have a quite urgent(?) question to ask.

i'm taking HL math and my class has a new teacher..

the past two years in highschool we've had one teacher (a really good one. seriously.)

but now we have a new teacher (while other grade HLs all have our old teacher!!)

and so far we've learned from her for 2 months and i feel very.. insecure.

maybe it's just because i've gotten used to our old teacher, but im really worried about the next two years..

do you think teachers matter too?

i mean, our new teacher really cant teach well.. she tries to just slide past complicated parts

(she avoids explaining them by saying "didn't u learn it last year? u should know it by now")

i want to know if im being overlysensitive, cuz i mean... this IS IB and it counts for college... so im pretty tense about this..

but im just worried if im being paranoid. what do u all think about bad teachers and HL?

should HL students be able to solve things on their own without sufficient teacher explanation?

i mean if thats the case.. i guess my HL class really doesnt deserve to be HL..

I have the same type of problem. But my teacher doesn't even SPEAK Really annoys me when he just writes stuff on the board, which he does badly I might add, and when you ask him to evaluate his writing he just stares at you for like 2 minutes and then moves on to writing on the board. GAAAAHHH!!! However the sun is just about to look through the black clouds cause he has become a little more talkative as time has passed but it's still not that helpful.

[BBiswatching]

hi, im new here and i have a quite urgent(?) question to ask.

i'm taking HL math and my class has a new teacher..

the past two years in highschool we've had one teacher (a really good one. seriously.)

but now we have a new teacher (while other grade HLs all have our old teacher!!)

and so far we've learned from her for 2 months and i feel very.. insecure.

maybe it's just because i've gotten used to our old teacher, but im really worried about the next two years..

do you think teachers matter too?

i mean, our new teacher really cant teach well.. she tries to just slide past complicated parts

(she avoids explaining them by saying "didn't u learn it last year? u should know it by now")

i want to know if im being overlysensitive, cuz i mean... this IS IB and it counts for college... so im pretty tense about this..

but im just worried if im being paranoid. what do u all think about bad teachers and HL?

should HL students be able to solve things on their own without sufficient teacher explanation?

i mean if thats the case.. i guess my HL class really doesnt deserve to be HL..

I'm stuck in exactly the same situation! Our old HL math teacher retired at the end of last year, so my teacher this year is completely new to this. He's taught SL or Methods before, I think, but never HL. I had him for AP Calc AB last year and he had enough problems with that.

We've complained to our teacher... last week half the class went and literally ambushed him after school and the next day during class he had us all write him letters to tell him exactly what we weren't happy with.

To be honest, there's not much he can do -- obviously we can get him to improve his teaching style and grading system so it's not screwing our GPAs over on top of it all... but if he doesn't know the material it's not like we can beat him with a stick and make him learn it better.

Of course a good teacher makes all the difference in the world... but when you can't get a hold of one you'll have to make do with what you have, I guess. Try contacting the old HL teacher and see if he/she would be willing to answer some of your/your classmates' questions... find a math tutor... ask your teacher for past IB exam papers to study from (but if you're IB1 you're probably at a disadvantage there since your curriculum is new and all =X). This is the stuff my class has come up with so far... Form study groups too with your classmates - you'll probably get more out of it than trying to battle through the material on your own.

It's really gotten ridiculous at my school since we have a class of 61 IB2's and there are at least 28 people in HL Math. And the SL and Methods classes both have better teachers. ugh.

[homeroom]

I'd certainly agree with you - the teacher makes the class, and I think the only reason why I'm doing well in my math HL class is because my teacher EXPLAINS everything succinctly and clearly.

[Ghanem9]

math hl without a gd teacher is like a coffee without caf

so i would agree on that, and thank god we got ourselves a rly gd and experienced math teacher

[homeroom]

Out of curiousity...have you guys started/finished on your math portfolios yet? (does everyone have the one that starts with the quartic function...)

Edited December 6, 2007 by homeroom

[linlinchen0502]

we have 33 students in one (and only one) HL class and only one teacher teach in HL.

[cixelsyD]

Out of curiousity...have you guys started/finished on your math portfolios yet? (does everyone have the one that starts with the quartic function...)

We've done 1 HL portfolio.. and no it wasn't quartic function.. we did series and induction ><

[Guest tbittner]

We've done both of ours, because our teacher wanted us to finish early. She said that last year the students had tons of portfolios to do all in the same week because all the teachers waited until March to assign them. One was on induction, and the other was on radiometric dating. The teacher said something about there being a bunch of different portfolios that IBO has approved or something, so maybe that's why some of us have the same ones, and some have different ones?

Out of curiousity...have you guys started/finished on your math portfolios yet? (does everyone have the one that starts with the quartic function...)

[Guest tbittner]

I think I can help with some of the HL questions. I think (hope?) I understand the material pretty well so far. If you have any particular questions, please let me know.

I'm stuck in exactly the same situation! Our old HL math teacher retired at the end of last year, so my teacher this year is completely new to this. He's taught SL or Methods before, I think, but never HL. I had him for AP Calc AB last year and he had enough problems with that.

We've complained to our teacher... last week half the class went and literally ambushed him after school and the next day during class he had us all write him letters to tell him exactly what we weren't happy with.

To be honest, there's not much he can do -- obviously we can get him to improve his teaching style and grading system so it's not screwing our GPAs over on top of it all... but if he doesn't know the material it's not like we can beat him with a stick and make him learn it better.

Of course a good teacher makes all the difference in the world... but when you can't get a hold of one you'll have to make do with what you have, I guess. Try contacting the old HL teacher and see if he/she would be willing to answer some of your/your classmates' questions... find a math tutor... ask your teacher for past IB exam papers to study from (but if you're IB1 you're probably at a disadvantage there since your curriculum is new and all =X). This is the stuff my class has come up with so far... Form study groups too with your classmates - you'll probably get more out of it than trying to battle through the material on your own.

It's really gotten ridiculous at my school since we have a class of 61 IB2's and there are at least 28 people in HL Math. And the SL and Methods classes both have better teachers. ugh.

[Guest cgm]

Yeah i agree, teachers really do make a difference. I have had four different math teachers since pre-IB and just now in 2.IB have we gotten one thatcan actually teach so we all understand. but then again my class is lazy so they didnt really care, but we do seem stupid now.

but you all sound like you have huge Math HL classes. we are only four people in mine!

[ezex]

Well I'd like to add on to this teacher chat as well, considering I almost failed most of the IA's for SL math in 9th grade because of our horrible teacher. This is my first post but I'm sure I"ll get more underway. On the math issue, all I can say is that teachers make up for a lot of the class, but if you think about it, IB is preparing us for college, and in college, most of the work is done independently...as in reading your own book in your own time. Of course it's imposible to read books with all the IB things going on, but either way, I never blamed my teacher for my poor performance...that's why I took up Calculus BC in 10th and now i'm doing Differential equations in 11th, but that's another deal

[homeroom]

It's a bit scary having a math HL teacher who is the principal moderator for all of North America's math exams.

*gulp*

Hahaha...but wouldn't it be rather advantageous considered that they would know what's to be expected of the exams?

[Guest kl_90]

I am trying to improve my math Hl grade. My teacher does not give us much to practise and we are using only the Haese & Harris book. I'm in yr 1. Any advice where to find more practice other than past papers?

[Guest tbittner]

I am trying to improve my math Hl grade. My teacher does not give us much to practise and we are using only the Haese & Harris book. I'm in yr 1. Any advice where to find more practice other than past papers?

There is a pretty good book by Peter Smythe that covers all of HL. It has a lot of good exercises that seem to look a lot like old IB problems. It is called "Mathematics, HL and SL with Options."