Shiona T
My Passion & How I Inspire
Developing a good rapport with my students is a must. Where there's trust, success follows with more ease, simply because the student discovers the conviction to give it their best shot.
Low confidence is an obstacle that so many experience when preparing for their exams. But I have often been astonished by just how much confidence can be unlocked almost instantaneously. It all begins with the student feeling comfortable discussing what they feel they're not good at, e.g. difficulty grasping the context of a reading passage under timed conditions or they feel their written language is not fancy enough for the essay. From there I can help them build their self-assurance in that one specific area. Often we find that anxiety about one thing has been holding them back in the rest of the exam, and once that single obstacle has been overcome, the student feels a lot better about the test as a whole.
My students consistently amaze me, and if I've learned one thing over the years it's that good results come directly from developing the fortitude to apply oneself skilfully.
In many ways, the US standardised tests are like a game, and successful applicants will have spent months training for them, practicing strategies much as an athlete would. I use a tried-and-tested set of techniques which I adapt to fit the needs of each individual student. A combination of mastering these strategies and techniques and putting in the hours are the means to great results.
