Y11 2023-24 continued

[Techno56]

New thread for when the other one fills up, I need somewhere to panic away from my son 😁

The history exam is ridiculously short for what they have to write.

My son also has the worse topic choice - Migration!? I mean really!

Lit is not looking good😭😭😭. She doesnt want to fail but really wants to prioritise history. What to do?

I mark this paper. More doesn't mean better - focus on what the mark scheme is asking for.

DD says biology went okay, she has English lit and media studies on Monday so revising for that now.

Yes that's what I told him, and his teacher told him! I got him to write out an essay today and mark it to try and cut out the extraenous bits of it.

@DramaLlamaBangBang - I think perhaps we share a child I've been drilling into DS for a year now the importance of time control in the essay based exams as he has a habit of writing loads but dribbling on. Our sons (and everyone else) will get the vast majority of the marks for a question in the first X minutes - after this it's just waffle. Much better to go on to the next question when the time is up and then review it if there is time at the end. DS is still a work in progress though.

MrsHamlet - thank you. I have said (again) to DS - "look, an English teacher on MN says "More doesn't mean better" listen to her".😂

@Waspie I have a number of waffly students and my training approach is to put a red pen line through anything that not worth saying. Brutal but effective!!

DD tying herself in knots trying to second-guess what themes/characters might come up for her English lit texts!

Rather than worry about what might come up, focus on what skills are needed in the answers.

Not sure which is worse, tying in knots over what might come up, or my son's strategy which was to watch two summary videos and will go over his quotes tonight but is now playing Minecraft 😅

Well, if I tell you that one of my students was still adamant on Friday that I was making it up that the exam on Monday was on Shakespeare and the c19 novel, in spite of the rest of the class backing me up, then you might not be as concerned.

If I hear, "nah miss, don't stress" one more time, I may actually crawl under my desk and start rocking.

I'm not stressed. I don't think they should be. But the level of chill in some kids is challenging!

Luckily those skills have been drilled into them since Y9!

I would highly recommend going over the mark scheme for English Lit. My DD didn’t realise that for edexcel, 40% of the marks are for context, for her second book, but only 12% for Shakespeare. And they only mark for spelling/grammar for the second book.

@MrsHamlet I must say I have always found your advice on threads very helpful so I really hope that your students get the grades that reflect their hard work and the great teaching they have been privileged to have!

@MamOfTwo that's very kind of you to say.

I fear some of them will indeed get the grades they deserve!

My son's English teacher is leaving at half term, wondering if she just didn't want to know the outcome of her current year 11s!! 😫

That's an unusual time to leave.

Just watched Mr English and his predictions - he’s such a great guy giving so much of his time.

I second @MamOfTwo . Thank you @MrsHamlet I hope that your students appreciate you (even if they don't show it much) and that they do you proud.

It is isn't it. Hope she is ok.

We just have chemistry and geography (both on Friday) to do this week.

ds is officially on study leave now but still planning to get up at ‘normal’ time every day. We’ll see how long that lasts!!

No Maths or English?

ds has got 7 this week - 1 every morning and then 2 afternoon exams. It’s the English Lit here that is causing most stress as well. He has worked a little bit this weekend but I feel that he’s already over it and thinking about the summer!

English Lit is causing us great drama, too. I'm quite glad that both papers are over before HT.
We have business, history, maths, chemistry, and geography for the rest of the week.