The Power of Getting Ahead!

Today I had one of my high school students. With the beginning of this school year, he is working to get a strong start on a type of math that is new to him. When he came onto ZOOM today, he let me know that he and I are ahead of his math class schedule. His sense of accomplishment and confidence were apparent in his demeanor.

In years previous to this, when I've worked with him, he would often come to our sessions with deflated communications of how the teacher had taught the class something, but he himself hadn’t captured any of it. The experience he was having, unfortunately, is common: The information that was supposed to be the lifeblood of his education was leaving him flat-lined. For a student, it's disheartening to say the least. In a freer dynamic, like a one-on-one session with a tutor, there exists the power to interrupt such a pattern. Once he got the textbook for his math class (just before the school year started), we had begun learning the math, and doing the first practice problems we came to. By the time the teacher began teaching the principles to the class, my student already had a strong basis from which he absorbed the teacher’s lecture. It helped him pay attention in class, and furthered his understanding. Together, in our session today, he forged ahead with a new level of confidence and a positive outlook!