How to study this Circuit Breaker

Studying can be a chore and learning new knowledge at this point of time can be a hassle when you have limited access to resources. Reaching your teachers can be hard as the only point of contact is emails (and through phone, although school teachers generally refrain from divulging their phone numbers for privacy purposes). Some students may find it hard to learn from video lessons as their home environment may be distracting and noisy, especially if they are unable to locate a quiet place where they can study in peace without interferences, be it from their siblings or the elderly. Those sitting for their ‘A’ Levels this year may be dismayed to find out some of their tution classes have been cancelled, for older tutors who are not as digitally savvy.

In the context of JC Maths Tuition, it may be hard for students to grasp new knowledge or even pinpoint their gaps in understanding. Unlike in person teaching, it is hard to show their workings to their teachers as every clarification would require students to take a picture of their workings for their JC Maths Tuition teacher to go through. It will be hard for them to input their answers on documents such as Word too.

So how then can you make the most out of the time you have with your JC Maths Tuition teacher online? It may be a hard quest but rewarding outcomes may be achieved if the right approach is applied. You may find yourself accomplishing more with the added amount of time on your hands, since you save a lot of travel time and are kept from distractions, such as being “jio-ed” out to the movies or meals by your friends. All your social contact is limited to only video (or voice) calls.

One, be sure to ask questions still, if not even more so than before. Do not hesitate to clarify any doubts or questions you may have on the spot. Do not drag it on and leave it for later. This should be the case as you draw even closer to the dread ‘A’ Level examinations. You have very little time left to spare and instead of using the time to relearn weak concepts, you can use it instead to apply your current knowledge to new scenarios, so that you can strengthen your understanding and also envision the different scenarios which you may encounter, ultimately preparing you for the final paper. Since it may be hard for your JC teachers to respond as quickly, given the number of students they have under their tutelage, it may be a good idea to direct your questions to your JC Maths Tuition teacher instead, or else, as well to see whether you can obtain a speedier response from your JC Maths Tuition teacher instead. This is so that you can move along and not remain stuck at the same question.

Next, do not hesitate to move along and attempt the next question when you find yourself in a prickly situation. Moving along (for now) is not admitting defeat as long as you have tried your hardest and have tried viewing the question from different vantages. This is a common exam technique which you should learn to apply as well during examinations, especially for Mathematics. You must have heard this plenty of times, but when you find yourself spending more than 5 (or 10) minutes thinking about what the next step should be, you should move on to the next question and come back to the question you face difficulty with only after you have completed the rest of the paper. Since Mathematics is a point-based marking subject, you can gain marks as long as you have some essential workings, even if you do not manage to reach an answer. This brings me to my next point, that you should not be cautious when penning down your workings and should just write out your workings as you think fit. You never know which working may award you a mark so it is better to be safe than sorry. Since you have plenty of time to spare during this Circuit Breaker period, you should take the time to do practice papers or revisit topics you are weak at and work on questions provided by the school or your JC Maths Tuition teacher. Workings should be provided alongside with the questions, but only refer to them after you have completed the question, or as a guidance halfway through if you are really stuck and see no other solution yourself.

Next, you can ask your JC teachers or your JC Maths Tuition teacher whether it is possible to schedule online consolations aside from the limited amount of time you have with them during online lessons to go through any questions you may have. Be polite when you make such requests and remember that your teachers have their own private lives to attend too as well. As such, make sure that you compile a list of questions and only ones that you really do not understand. If possible, you can try to clarify your doubts with another friend before turning to your teacher for help. Your friend may be able to help you with questions you are unsure about and in return, you can help them with the topics you are stronger at or maybe provide support for other subjects. This way, you can tackle your queries more strategically and leave the hard questions to be answered by your teachers, thereby, achieving your objective of clarifying all your doubts, instead of having your questions go unanswered because of the limited amount of consultation time you may be given. Thus, it may be useful for students to procure a study buddy or two, to root for each other and keep each other motivated, particularly when one may be struggling from procrastination issues.

Some students may face productivity issues, having their devices only a few steps away from them and their bed a stone’s throw away. To prevent yourself from getting sidetracked, you can consider scheduling a video call with your friends and keep each other company while studying. You may even coordinate to do time trials together and then go through the answers together after you are both done attempting the paper. You can simulate an examination scenario and seeing your friend hard at work through the screen might just be the very ingredient to successful studying during this period.

For now, no one knows for certain whether there will be a third extension to the Circuit Breaker period. Even if there isn’t, things may take a while before everything will fall back in place and life can go back as per normal. This means that the remaining half of 2020 may not go as expected and normal lessons may not be able to go on. However, learn to take this in your stride and apply the above methods in your studying. Remember to reach out to your peers, family and teachers for support. Fear not and also try reaching out to your tuition teachers if need be, if you have a JC Maths Tuition teacher and you are struggling at Mathematics, you should try asking for more practice papers to work on, other than those already provided by him. Many teachers will be more than willing to provide additional support during this trying times so do not be afraid to reach out!