思維碎片

Scattered thinking

Is this piece more of a reflection on reading, or would it count as a review?

Honestly, I'm not sure myself (because this so-called reflection doesn't seem to have much to do with Emma's article).This is probably thanks to my extremely scattered thinking—while reading, I was already pondering things on a completely different level.

In short, this article is just a collection of fragmented thoughts that popped into my head after reading 不補習你確定能考得到嗎?

How It Started

One day, I was browsing through Emma's page as usual. I started browsing for articles that caught my interest (I like to drop by now and then because her photos are stunning).

Since a big part of my career has been spent teaching—whether as a cram school teacher, a private tutor, or a homework coach—I was instantly drawn to her article.

To be honest, even though I've made a living in this field,

I don't actually think tutoring is a necessity.

From my perspective, tutoring is essentially about trading money for time.

ThisisEngineering null on Unsplash

If you know what you need to study, how to study it, and what methods work best for you, there's really no need for cram school.

Personally, I rarely attended cram schools. Most of the time, I studied on my own or with friends. (Tutoring costs money, and since I paid for my own high school tuition, where would I find extra money for cram school? To me, it was a luxury.)

I did take quite a few online courses, but in-person tutoring was a rare occurrence for me.

That said, for parents who don't know how to help their kids, or for students who don't know how to study, tutoring or hiring a private tutor can definitely be helpful.

Let me give you a glimpse of what a typical scene was like when I taught at a small-class cram school.

You'll get the idea:

A typical scene

The first time I met Student A (during a trial session), I asked,

“So, why do you want to attend tutoring sessions?”

“I don't want to attend tutoring, but my parents want me to pass the midterms,” this eighth-grader replied.

“How do you usually prepare for exams?” I asked, trying to understand his current study habits.

“I memorize vocabulary during English class at school,” he said, playing along.

“Okay. Do you know the scope of your English midterm?” I asked, wanting to gauge his level of awareness.

“Hmm... I'm not sure. Probably stuff from the English textbook?” he guessed.

I nearly fainted!

Another student who doesn't even know the scope of their midterm. (╥﹏╥)

“Which middle school do you go to?” I asked. Since I regularly review exam materials from schools in Taipei and New Taipei, I could roughly guess the scope based on the school.

“XX Middle School,” he answered.

“Besides the English textbook, your midterms also cover the English magazines and an extra reading book. All of that is included,” I said, feeling a bit exasperated.

Ahhh
AhhhAhhh
AhhhAhhhAhhh (☍﹏⁰)

There are so many students like this—they don't know the scope of their exams, don't know how to study, and don't have any regular study habits.

Hehehe
HeheheHehehe
HeheheHeheheHehehe (|||ﾟдﾟ)

Usually, I have to start by helping them develop basic study habits:

• Teaching them how to study magazines.
• Teaching them how to review textbooks.
• Setting a regular vocabulary memorization schedule.
• Explaining grammar concepts.
• Guiding them through sentence construction.

And their pronunciation? A total disaster.

They lack everything—foundational knowledge, study habits, and exam strategies.

I have to teach them listening, speaking, reading, and writing—everything from the ground up!

Oh my goodness! It’s exhausting.

For students like this, if they're in eighth grade, I usually have to start teaching seventh-grade material.

If they're in ninth grade, I'm still going back to seventh-grade basics.

Even for high school freshmen, it's the same. And as for twelfth-graders whose parents demand instant results, I just say no. (Starting from seventh grade to prepare for twelfth-grade exams? Sorry, but that’s impossible! (⋟﹏⋞))

思維碎片

這篇文章算是讀後心得？
還是算觀後感？

好像都不是

因為這篇其實跟Emma格友的文章沒什麼關聯 (我的思維真的非常跳躍)

P.S.他的文章不是升學考試+青少年，我的是

總之，這篇文章是我看完不補習你確定能考得到嗎? 腦袋自動跳出來的想法碎片

緣起

有一天我打開方格子，找到Emma Tsai格友的格子，然後開始找自己感興趣的文章(我喜歡不定期拜訪，因為照片真的好美)

因為我的職業生涯有很大一部分在當各種老師，安親班老師、補習班老師、家教老師

所以一眼就先相中這篇文章不補習你確定能考得到嗎 ?

老實說，雖然我是靠這行吃飯。

但其實我並不覺得補習算必需品

就我的理解，補習是一種拿金錢換時間的活動

其實如果自己知道要考什麼、要唸什麼、適合自己的讀書方式是什麼，
並不用去補習班

有的時候，去補習班並沒有用，反而浪費時間。

我人生中也挺少補習，大部分時間都是自己唸或是找朋友一起唸 (畢竟補習要花錢，我連我自己的高中學費都自己付了，哪來的錢去補習啊？這算是奢侈品吧)

有沒有用看個人需求

有沒有用看個人需求，還有你遇到的老師靠不靠譜

如果是不知道要怎麼幫助小孩的家長，或是不知道該怎麼念書的小孩。我想，補習或請家教還是挺有用的

我描述一下前幾年，當小班制補習班老師的常見場景給各位聽，格友們應該就懂了

我常常遇見這種同學，簡稱代號同學A好了

第一次和同學A見面 (試聽)

「同學，你為什麼想要來補習？」我問道
「我不想要來補習，但我父母希望我段考及格。」這位國二生說道

「請問你平常怎麼準備考試呢？」我想要初步了解這個同學的狀況
「我平常在學校上英文課的時候會背一下單字。」他配合地說道

「好的。請問你們學校英文段考的範圍是什麼？」我想要知道他知不知道段考範圍
「恩......我不知道我們段考考什麼，應該會考英文課本的東西吧。」他說道

暈倒！又是一個不知道段考範圍的同學 (╥﹏╥)

「請問同學你哪個國中？」我平常會刷雙北各個國中高中段考題目，他只要講出學校，我大概就知道他們段考範圍

「XX國中。」他回答

「你們學校除了要考英文課本以外，段考還會考英文雜誌。另外還會額外給一本英文閱讀本。這三項，段考都會考。」我有點無奈地回答

啊啊啊 (；一_一)
啊啊啊啊啊啊
啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊

這種同學真的很多，連段考範圍都不知道，要怎麼讀書也不知道，平常也沒有唸書習慣

呵呵呵
呵呵呵呵呵呵
呵呵呵呵呵呵呵呵 (°ー°〃)

通常要從培養同學讀書習慣開始
告訴他要怎麼唸雜誌
要怎麼唸英文課本
背單字的頻率
還要講解文法
還要教他造樣造句
通常發音也是一蹋糊塗

不管是基礎知識，還是考試技巧

都沒有
都沒有都沒有
都沒有都沒有都沒有

聽說讀寫都要抓
真的挺累

這種同學通常，國二的我大概要從國一教起；國三的我還是要從國一教起；高一的我還是要從國一教起；高三生家長又要求成績的我會拒收

要在半年內，從國一教到高三
恕臣妾真的辦不到(⋟﹏⋞)