Lower Secondary (Express Stream)
This was an extremely weak Math student, weaker than even some of my Normal (Academic) students. I started teaching him in 2017 after his mid-year examinations where he had scored a 49%.
He was not just weak, but initially lazy to put in the effort to get his work done. Homework frequently was not done by the next lesson, and despite a lot of nagging, this remained a problem for pretty much the full time I taught him.
Honestly, it was a struggle to get him headed in the right direction, but for the year end exam in Sec 1, he scored a 57%, an improvement of 2 grades. Still a long way to go though.
Between Sec 1 and Sec 2, something clicked. He did well for his CA1 but then reverted to old habits in the mid-year examinations, dropping to a 37%.
Miracles do happen, sometimes. Heading into the second half of the year, we consolidate the improvements that he had made, reinforcing what he did well. Lots of nagging, and dragging him along, and somehow he went from zero to hero, achieving a remarkable 75% in his year-end examinations.
This was one situation where the improvement in results did not follow a straight line. Time was needed to weed out bad habits. Because he was not as consistent in practicing as my other students, the results reflected that, bouncing up and down like a crazy yo-yo.
Amazingly, he got his A1 at the end, an improvement from 49% (D7) to 75% (A1) in 1.5 years, via an F9 grade in between. 😛 When I first started teaching him middle of Sec 1, I never expected him to do well enough to be offered A Math at the end of Sec 2, but that was exactly what happened.
Sadly, he did not continue with my services after that, so I’m not sure of how he has progressed in Sec 3.
I need to make it clear that every child is different, and it doesn’t mean that I will always be this successful in effecting an improvement in results. Much also depends on the chemistry between teacher and student. I am, however, confident in my ability to positively impact almost every child I work with.
If you would like to engage my services as a private Math tutor, do contact me via email at lenniechua@gmail.com
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