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Challenges for VCE Teachers in Term 2 & How to Overcome Them

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Welcome to Term 2. The term for packed schedules, hard work and long days with short daylight. For teachers and students alike, term 2 is often felt as the hardest of the school year.


VCE brings unique challenges at this time of year. There is a rising load of assessments to prepare for throughout a long term, and mid year exams lie at the end of it.


This poses a difficult task for teachers, but is also a recipe for students’ motivation and performance to veer off track without a deliberate approach to managing their learning and wellbeing through this time. With this in mind, it can be useful to further explore the reasons why Term 2 can be difficult, and consider the strategies teachers can use to overcome them. Challenge: Motivation In Term 1, VCE students will have been finding their feet. At the start of the year, motivation to succeed is fresh and unblemished - it is a honeymoon period of sorts. There may be events like formals or school camps that ease students into the year. Motivation is high, and the workload is manageable. Whereas, Term 2 doesn’t have that same shine. Winter is starting to set in, which means shorter days and colder weather - making it tougher to face the day. Term 2 becomes more about the work we need to do, and it sets in pretty quickly. The balance between work, study and everything else can begin to tip, and students will begin to find it difficult to juggle all of their activities. So, as the term progresses, students can begin to lose focus. Be authentic about the problem To keep motivation intact, it is important to firstly recognise how students will be feeling. As we know, it isn’t easy to keep up with the throws of VCE. VCE is about keeping high performance high for a sustained period of time, and there will inevitably be dips and dives. In these times, research has shown that displays of authenticity - acknowledging to students when times are tough - can actually improve their performance by improving their engagement with the teacher and reducing negative displays of emotion.

Bring variety to the classroom

In the classroom, it can also help to engage students in different ways. The year is long, and an unchanging lesson plan will inevitably lose the interest of some students. This means being able to do something different to ‘chalk and talk’. The key is variety.


Here are a few suggestions for engaging students in different ways:

  • Music: use music to create a mood in the classroom. Music without lyrics is less likely to distract students.

  • Group work: have students work together to brainstorm ideas, research theories, or mind-map concepts.

  • Peer marking: have students mark each other’s work and compare feedback.

  • Trivia: Kahoot is a great example of a fun way to test knowledge.

  • Use related audiovisual content e.g. segments of movies that provide context to learning, or news that creates discussions at the start of class.

  • Fun fridays: have a fun activity at the end of class. Sometimes a break from learning content can be a welcome change, and motivate students to work in other times.


Challenge: Rising Workload


One of the most noticeable differences between Term 1 and Term 2 is the workload: the sheer number of assessments to prepare for. Busy and rigid schedules create stress for students and teachers. Something that commonly happens to students is an overload of assessments in the middle of Term 2.

Plan ahead

Teachers can help mitigate the stress placed on students with a bit of planning. Go through the school calendar and plan assessments around school dates, and if possible, confer with other departments to ensure students are not overwhelmed with too many SACs in the same week.

Help students get organised

It can also be very effective to help students with their organisation. As workloads start to rise, sit down with students and help them structure their time. This can be one-to-one or even with the class. A lot of students don’t know how to plan their day, and will appreciate the attention to their individual learning habits. Students in VCE often feel overwhelmed by being busy (as everyone does) and this can help them see that there are hours in the day. One of the best ways to do this is to focus on using class time more effectively. Many students will use their class time ineffectively and then feel pressure to do catch up work. Some students may also choose to stay back after school for long hours and miss the wellbeing opportunity of exercising and spending time with family. These habits will have a compound effect on their performance throughout the year, so it can make a big impact to focus attention here now. Allow for flexibility Finally, plan for flexibility and down time. This is not to say we should lower our expectations of students, but it is important to be aware of circumstances and accept that adjustments will be necessary.

Challenge: Lots of Administration Teachers not only have students’ performance to worry about, but also have reports and end-of-semester exams to prepare for Unit 1 or Unit 3. There is further administrative work to be done around content creation and marking. Outside of this, there is also the awareness that Term 3 will require a focus on end-of-year exam preparation, and new subjects in semester 2 for some teachers. Prepare content as soon as possible

As much as possible, aim to have this content ready by week 3 or 4 of the term. We tell students not to leave things to the last minute all the time - but often don’t do it ourselves. External resources can also be used to inspire your own content creation, or to pull material into your school’s SACs and exams. Ensure students keep important material

As you move through assessments, make sure that students are also keeping their practice questions, practice sacs, and feedback on their work. This forms the universe of material they will need to prepare for exams in semester 2. The more students keep, the less teachers will need to reproduce later in the year. Conclusion

Term 2 gets tough, but it can be managed. Keeping students motivated by being empathetic and flexible is important for helping them manage the rising workload. Where possible, keep the schedule of assessments manageable and help students get organised. Get a jump on content and seek help where you can.


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