responding to my students' challenges

Many tutors face the difficulty of helping students improve as they see all students as similar student type. In this blog post, I will share 4 types of challenges that my students usually face.

Challenge 1: Student A doesn't see the purpose in studying Chemistry and doesn't believe that he has the ability to learn.

Response: I explained the value of learning to Student A and also increased the student's ownership of learning by allowing him to dictate how much homework he gets. Whenever he shares about his difficulty in learning, I will pause and listen to help me analyse his weakness in learning. Slowly, Student A started to change his mental mindset and that's the start of seeing improvement in his Chemistry grades.

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Challenge 2: Student B didn't do well in Sec 3 end-of-year exam. She has insufficient prior knowledge and prerequisite skills needed for mastery of new content for Sec 4. 

Response: I used bite-sized assessments as a platform for discussion to teach concepts using commonly tested exam questions. I also provided the key phrases and templates needed to gain scientific vocabulary in the shortest amount of time. With the correct focus, Student B managed to catch up and follow the lessons taught in school.

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Challenge 3: Student C has misconceptions about many topics as he was taught inaccurate information.

Response: I will jot down his misconceptions in a notebook and ask him to justify his belief. After the discussion, the student will rephrase the concept below the original misconception. This allowed Student C to revisit the misconception and relearn the correct concept.

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Challenge 4: Student D doesn't have any learning/studying strategies/exam techniques. She will only do practice questions right before her tests.

Response: I will teach study skills which have proven themselves to be effective. During lesson, I will demonstrate thinking aloud skills, do retrieval practice of information  and also stress the importance of spaced learning. I will also share the common wrong studying methods made by most students.

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My slots for 2021 is currently full.

​Do contact me for a discussion if your child is keen to learn with me from November/Dec 2021 onwards to prepare for 2022.

​Thanks for reading!

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