Founder’s Notes 

 

Having 10+ years of teaching experience in both individual and class tuitions, I can say that being a good tutor is not as simple as it seems. It is not as simple as having a great interest in providing guidance to the students and regurgitating from the textbook. Experience hits harder than qualifications. There are a few main qualities which I believe I possess that sets me apart from other tutors. I will communicate extensively with my students and provide customised notes, specially designed test papers as well as templates to tackle examination questions.

 

During this period of time, not only have I established relevant communication skills that has helped me build a strong rapport with my students, I have also received very constructive feedbacks from my students on how to improve in my teaching. Coming from a humble background of scoring 199 in my Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) and ended my academic education life with an engineering honours degree from National University of Singapore (NUS), I have inspired and imparted many life lessons to my students

with my personal experiences. In my opinion, the secondary school students are going through one of the most important phases of their life as they grow and transit to be a young adult. It is during this period of time when their environment and everything they do have a strong influence on their life decisions. I regret to say that I did not receive such support when I was going through this during my secondary school years, therefore I strive to be the person to provide them with proper guidance and help them seek their true potential, both in their academic and personal life during this important period of time.

 

As I gained more expertise in my field, I have provided consultation to many students regarding their future education. With my strong relationship with the students along with my understanding of the most updated information made in Polytechnic and University, I was able to help them make an informed decision, and transformed their lives positively. Coupled with the strong rapport, I have not only transformed their lives positively, I have built numerous student-teacher relationships that are valuable and long-lasting.

 

In my previous working experience, I specialise in teaching physics and mathematics to classes with an average size of ten students per class. This has enriched my experience in handling secondary school students and various aspects in the assessment and technical knowledge of these subjects.  

 

Coming from a background of specialised engineering degree and a minor in technopreneurship (Entrepreneurship in technological area), I am equipped with technical and business expertise. The technical knowledge that I have acquired from engineering allowed me to expose the students to modern technology applications, such as wireless charging and solar panels, through the teaching of physics. The Engineering curriculum has exposed me to various tools, such as the use of breadboard, for teaching. With a strong technical background, I am able to draw the strong correlation between Physics and Mathematics, which allow students to experience the fusion of these two subjects. I am also involved in the publishing of physics assessment books and the curation of yearly physics preliminary papers and marking schemes for the O level students.

 

I do not believe in spoon-feeding the students. I expect all students under my tutelage to be sensible enough to understand the importance of studying, so that the student will experience a significant improvement. I always believe that both parties have to communicate to realise their common goal, and work hand in hand to achieve it. That is also the reason why I provide customised notes for the students only if they need and deserve them when they are willing to learn and work towards better results. 

 

During lessons, besides explaining concepts and assigning practice questions, I will spend time to prompt and guide the student to the correct answer. For example, if a student cant visualise 3D models, I will do paper models for the student to visualise and hence, get a better idea of how to do 3D trigonometry questions. In this process, I can discern the students thinking process and correct it if there is any mistake. The students brain will then be activated to think, which will allow better absorption and understanding of the knowledge. 

 

While doing practice questions, I focus on the students' presentation of answers. This is because most of the students are able to understand the basic concept but have difficulties in expressing the concept explicitly, which causes them to lose marks. In order to minimise their effort with the maximum return of marks, I will provide customised answering templates to the students as reference for them to follow. At the same time, I will explain the purpose of the points mentioned and their chronological arrangement. 

 

As an experienced tutor, I understand how students feel when they have to do tuition work on top of school work. Hence, I will always emphasise the idea of good quality work than quantity work. As such, I usually give only key concept questions that are necessary for complete understanding of a topic. If required, I will request the student to do a simple mind map of the chapter as homework as it can encourage the student to get an overview of the chapter. Through this manner, I want to instil a strong mentality in them that no matter what assignment they encounter in life, they should always give in their maximum effort to achieve the best result that they can have. 

 

To some, teaching is a daily routine process of imparting knowledge. To me, teaching is ever more than that, it is about understanding the teenagers and making positive transformations in their lives by honing their critical thinking skills and character. Every batch of students is unique. My students invoke a driving force in me to alter my teaching methodology to suit them. In this process, I have spent time and effort to explain to students the rationale of education and I have discovered great sense of satisfaction when I am able to earn genuine respect from students out of pure gratitude. This sense of satisfaction amplifies when I see positive changes that I have made on the students. Hence, my teaching slogan is Character and value transformations through education unleashes the true potential of every student.

 

Ever since my graduation from NUS in year 2012, my passion for teaching has diverted me away from engineering profession job offers and I have chosen teaching as my sole career path due to the reasons mentioned above. I strongly believe that a teacher has a wide range of responsibilities to fulfil in order to mould the future generation and therefore, a teacher has to take up various roles such as a mentor, a motivator and a caretaker in front of students. I believe that my experience over the last 10+ years as a tutor has greatly prepared me will enhance my capability to groom your child. 

 

As a full-time tutor, my commitment to my students is ranked at the utmost priority. Hence, I will make known to them that they are able to contact me through various means (such as whatsapp/SMS/email/phone call) to clear their doubts.