Ivy says
12 Years of tutoring experience. Best in teaching Chinese and Maths due to academic background and strong family influence/interest. Experienced in teaching 1-to-1 home tuitions and small groups of 2-5 students in tuition centre and homes
Taught a Sec 3 NA Malay/Chi boy Mandarin in an innovative way using historic romance of 3 kingdom characters, computers and online dictionary and translators to help him stir up interest in the subject.
A private O level student had borderline problems in E Maths previously but was now able to do 80-90% of the questions correctly (less the careless mistakes). He was motivated as I always encourage him to push himself when others may bring him down by saying that he may not be able to achieve. After all, my students are young teenagers, they still have time and good opportunities to excel so I hope to lead them in the correct direction. Some students can feel lost when choosing courses during Sec 2 or Sec 4, I have always advised them to pursue their dreams. They also need a lot of moral support from the people around them as well.
A sec 3 Express student had problems in A maths (logarithms) and after 1 session, she was able to solve all of them for her class test.
A sec 2 NA boy passed his Sci test (first time in Secondary) with just 1 lesson prior test date. I recommend consistencies as this is not a good habit for all students as they may rely on tutors too much during test period. My goal is to help students equip the skills and mentality to want solve problems themselves independently.
Also another best subject - Maths, due to the ability and passion in solving and challenging problem sums. Have local and foreign students hence able to translate to other languages (Chi, Eng, Cantonese) for easier comprehension.
Patient (taught 5students (Pri/Sec) with attention deficiencies), have creative and encouraging methods to assist them improve in the subjects as I need to get their attention and make the subject interesting so that they look forward to the next lesson. I take pride in managing and understanding the students' and parents' needs to excel further. It will definitely be better when parents are able to share more about the student's habits, likes and dislikes, attitude as it really helps to create a more engaging and fruitful lesson. I will be strict if students fail to complete homework and will relate this to parents.
I share some real life experiences (when appropriate) with the students to expand their general knowledge and reward them adequately for their efforts too. I've students either 1 to 1 or 1 to small groups of 2-5students. I also tutor foreign students living in Singapore (from Germany, China, Macau, Korea) . Parents like my service and attitude as I frequently update and discuss about their children's progress, weaknesses, ways to improve - not only their on the scoreboard but also in building up the good morales in an individual. Parents are also impressed by my commitment level in moulding students in their academic front as well as characteristics and personalities as a whole as I make it a point to always guide the students from wrong to right (eg. during cases of lying, cheating, copying, truancy, impoliteness, etc). Some students refer my service to their peers and are the real life references themselves.
StarTutor's Review
Ivy is a very professional and committed teacher. Her passion for teaching has led her to leave the corporate world in Feb 2009 to teach full time, and she already has plans to upgrade herself further in NIE and take up a full-time teaching career in future. Ivy was supposed to become a full-time Chinese teacher through MOE upon graduation from Temasek Polytechnic, but she chose not to as being a full-time Chinese teacher at that time would mean that she will not be able to teach other subjects which she has interest in, namely Mathematics and Science. Due to recent changes in MOE, Ivy will finally be able to teach all the subjects that she is passionate about, hence the decision to become a full-time teacher.
During lessons, Ivy not only tries to help students achieve better grades, she also tries to instil in them the correct values and attitude to nurture them into all-rounded individuals. For instance, she educates students who are inattentive by telling them that their parents are actually using their hard-earned money to pay for their tuition, and that it is their responsibility to study hard and not take their kindness for granted. She does not want her students to just simply go through the motion, but instead, she wants them to realize that whatever they are doing is for their own good, and for the sake of their own future. Ivy also makes it a point to set basic foundations right. Basic skills such as writing neatly would need to be cultivated from a young age and is crucial in character building.
When handling younger children, Ivy usually spends more time talking with them initially to try to make them feel more comfortable and to gain their trust. She is aware that younger children generally take a longer time to adapt to strangers, and thus, she does not want to spoil the child’s first impression of her by being too stern. She firmly believes that the learning potential of the child will be at its peak only when mutual trust between the tutor and the child has been built up. Ivy is also stern, only when there is a need to.
All in all, Ivy wants to help students who are already good to be even better, and aid weaker students to achieve realistic improvements. She makes it a point to communicate with parents to understand the child better, as well as to update the parents on the child’s progress. We believe that Ivy’s passion in teaching will certainly touch the heart of many of her students in future.
- Interviewed by StarTutor (Cady, Weichao, Gavin), 18 April 2009
Testimonial
Grace's son understood his Maths better and more effectively as I explained the concepts clearly, showed him alternatives which made him realise that Maths was not so tough after all. (Sec 2 SCI,MA) - Student also had me teach him Computer Apps which was part of my degree course previously. Improved from Bands 3/4s to 2/3. (---updated SA2 2009 Maths A1)
Mdm Lum's daughter was able to understand her Maths concepts better due to the way I guided her, that she had asked me to teach her Sci during our lessons as well. (Sec 2 SCI,MA) Improved from B grades to A2 grades. (---updated SA2 2009 A1s for Maths/Sci). Student mentioned I was the best tutor ever and I had encouraged her to take up the 3 Sciences even though her school teach only 2 Sciences.
Mrs Ho noticed that her son (an ex-student which I had continued to teach again this year), had picked up interest in his school work after I taught him and mentioned it to me. (Pri 6 EL, MA, SCI) - (improved about 10+ to 90+ %) -- (--- PSLE 2009 passed all except Maths, student failed all subjects in Prelims previously)
Mdm Soh has requested that I teach her younger daughter as I have been doing a good job teaching her elder daughter. (Pri 3 EL, MA, CHI, SCI) - (improved from Band 3s and 2s to a Band 1 and Band 2s)
Mr Tan's daughter recommended me to some of her schoolmates as she shared with them that she liked the way I taught, so would like me to tutor them as well. She had improved her in Maths areas especially in speed and accuracy of her calculation.
A China student felt that the each time I prepared him for his tests and exams, he was able to score better than his peers from overseas, as I had shortcuts and acronyms to help him memorise and understand better. (Sec 2 GEO, SCI)
P4 EMS+HCL student's parent Mr Tan emailed - We would also like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation to you for the amount of commitment spend in moulding student in her academic front as well as her characteristics as a whole.
2011 1. One of my students attained 271 for PSLE. She comes from a neighbourhood primary school in the North East - Student LT
2. Another PSLE student scored better than expected overall accordingly to his mother - She is the parent of my student in the tuition centre I teach in
3. One S2 student achieved high scores for his common tests (Maths) and he has never been the top few in Maths before, until recently. Finally, the last few tests and exams helped student to pass his overall in Maths though the results were poor in first half of 2011 - Mdm Teo
4. One S2 student has more confidence in solving Maths and doing Chinese and has scored high marks for especially Maths in his common test - Mrs Foo.
A few other guardians and parents have commented that they felt glad that I cared for their children and made effort to ensure they learn more about building their character and personality alongside their school curriculum.
Other Qualifications
- Trinity College London certification
- Guildhall School of Music and Drama certification
- Australian Mathematics Competition
Commitment Level
I believe that time management and patience is very important and I will plan my schedules ahead. Will try to get different schools' exam papers for students' revision if required. Always try to complete stipulated tasks planned during the session so that the students can be on the track of improvement. This also requires the student to co-operate by finishing given tuition work, but will also discuss the workload if he/she has problems. I believe that self discipline in finishing the work can help push the limits of the student.
Able to provide extra tuition during school holidays or exam periods (upon request or I may communicate with the parents if I feel the student really needs a lot more) as those are the most crucial or best times for students to catch up on their studies N be ahead of others.
I'll make sure that the student learns and enjoys each lesson so that the teacher-student relationship can be enhanced, as it assists me in getting the student more engaged during lesson - the student listens and asks, which is more productive.Tuition is conducted in various ways, be it from books, assessments, through conversations, impromptu QnAs as students have different abilities to adapt to the the various teaching.
I will do my best to come up with the most appropriate teaching method for each student and discuss with the parents too. I will provide feedback to parents/guardians constantly, either verbally or over sms.
For secondary school students, I think sharing with them like they are adults, helps to build their confidence and maturity, as well as acceptance. It is part of how I want to conduct my lessons with them and I believe that will be a great gift during their education.
