switch to polygon tool set and all your polygon tools are there
switch to surfaces tool set and all your surfaces tools are there
in 2008 the edit modelling menu set was split
look for your tools in mesh and edit mesh, you'll find your tools like merge, split polygon, extrude, etc there
i would think that your school's tutors/teachers would have told you where to find the tools you're looking for.
that's a "Ch" pronounced as a "K"
Computer skills I should have:
Objective C, C#, Java, MEL. Python, C++, XML, JavaScript, XSLT, HTML, SQL, CSS, FXScript, Clips, SOAR, ActionScript, OpenGL, DirectX
Maya, XSI, Photoshop, AfterEffects, Motion, Illustrator, Flash, Swift3D