From B Minus to A Plus in One Month: How Ava Became an A Student

Joey Lim|14/03/2020|High School, Transformation Stories, Transformation Stories

Meet Ava. Ava is an A+ student – but she wasn’t always. Ava’s story is of a typical student who wasn’t meeting her full academic potential. To become an A-plus student, it’s not just about putting in the long hours, it’s about identifying areas of potential learning growth. Sometimes, small changes make all the difference – and of course, some hard work helps too! So wondering how to become an A student parent? Spoiler: It’s not about us, it’s about your child and how they consume and recall information.

Why studying more isn’t always the answer to becoming an A plus student

At A Team Tuition, we pride ourselves in transforming students not only academically, but also psychologically, emotionally, and any other ways our students may require in order to reach the pinnacle of their studies. While many students may require Academic Personal Training to catch up on school content and understand assignments, Ava needed help with something different – the methods in which she approaches studying.

Ava set goals and that makes a big difference

Ava had a distinct goal. So many children see study as a necessary and never-ending chore. Their goals are nothing more specific than making it through to school holidays. Ava had a goal in mind. Helping your child to establish attainable and timely goals gives them direction with their studies. “When Ava received a B- on her Semester 1 report, we decided to get her some personalised tutoring and she was determined to raise her grade to an A, and finish the year on a high.” We all love a student who aims high for the sky!

Enter Jess, not your typical tutor

A Team Tuition paired Jess, one of our amazing Academic Personal Trainers, with Ava soon after Ava’s parents reached out to us. Fortunately, Jess and Ava connected very quickly through their common bubbly personalities. When a tutor and student pair well, it makes studying more enjoyable – that’s why we go the extra mile to find you the right help for your child. Jess set to work understanding Ava’s barriers to learning. Our Academic Personal Trainers take a deep dive into your child’s learning language and mindset to clear all barriers to meeting their full academic potential.

Why wasn’t Ava an A plus student?

Jess discovered that Ava’s greatest struggle was remembering the content taught through effective means: “It wasn’t so much the theory behind the concepts, however, it was about devising techniques Ava could use in exam/test situations.” As a result, Jess thought it would be perfect to first find out Ava’s learning language – a key element to the effective and efficient learning of an individual. (Be sure to check out our learning language blogs to gain a better understanding on the best way you take in information!)

Retraining Ava to learn in the right language for her specific needs

Jess prepared a test for Ava to work through 3 different problems where she had to implement either an auditory, visual or kin-aesthetic type approach. The outcome of this test suggested that Ava is an auditory learner. Taking the wrong approach to teaching Ava in a classroom would mean she may struggle to understand the curriculum. As one of up to 30 students in a classroom, your child’s preferred learning language may be overlooked. This is where a skilled tutor can make such a big difference in transforming your C or B student into an A student.

Teaching maths to an auditory learner is possible

In order to utilise Ava’s newly discovered learning language to the duo’s advantage, Jess and Ava began to work on creating rhymes for learning algebra. Who would’ve thought algebra could be rhymed? Our power Academic Personal Trainer and student here have truly inspired us all with their resourceful creativity! The secret to how to become an A student isn’t a secret at all, it’s simply teaching your child in the language they best understand. Even if the subject matter is Algebra!

So, is Ava a remarkable student or can any child achieve better results?

Ava wasn’t afraid to set goals. She wasn’t afraid to put in the work. Ava is a remarkable student; all our kids are remarkable – and our tutors are committed to drawing out their remarkable skills. In tweens and teens, a solid attitude may seem remarkable! But with the right help, most children can uncover their inner geek and achieve better academic results. However, there is no success without a little hardship.

Like a lot of teens and tweens we meet, Ava lacked some motivation. Jess described Ava as a very relaxed person, which prompted her to work on trying to make their sessions more engaging. Our Academic Personal Trainers are trained to help lift student motivation by creating tutoring sessions that the child wants to engage with. It wasn’t long before Jess surprised us all with her ingenuity in overcoming such an obstacle:

“When Ava was trying to memorise her oral, we would read it out in different voices, trying to act out the words. This made her have to think about how placing emphasis on different words can change the meaning of what she is saying,” Jess noted. This not only helps with memorising but also helps develop deeper language skills – and is silly and fun… even if Ava was formerly lacking motivation.

The pinnacle point of transformation for them both occurred when they were revising for Ava’s test – they broke the session up with naughts and crosses when Ava got 10 questions right in a row!!

“It made the atmosphere light-hearted and she seemed to have gained confidence with her ability,” remarked Jess.

What child doesn’t need more self-confidence?

When asked about the most significant thing she contributed to Ava’s life, Jess replied: “Personally, it’s hard to pinpoint one significant thing as it is the little things that build up to one big thing. Maybe confidence would be the key thing, building on what she knows and reinforcing it.”

Through Jess’ Academic Personal Training, Ava has become more confident when it comes to approaching problems she does not completely understand. She is also a lot more open to new ideas. Aversion to new experiences is pretty typical in children, but overcoming it can change their whole life outlook.

Wait, this year 8 student started doing her homework without complaint? NEVER!

Both Ava’s parents have seen a positive change in attitude:

“Ava immediately became more confident in both English and Maths, and her general confidence grew very quickly. Jess helped her with an oral presentation and Ava was much more confident with performing the presentation in class.” Not only did Ava’s parents reveal that Ava became more confident and keener to study, she also works diligently at home and is really focusing on her homework and assignments now that tutoring became part of her life.

There is almost no greater feeling than seeing your child transform and grow after getting help from an Academic Personal Trainer. And, of course, Jess has benefited equally as much from her tutoring sessions with Ava:

“Ava is an absolute joy to tutor, I always look forward to our sessions. She has such a bubbly personality that the time flies by. She approaches questions slightly differently than how I would, so she’s taught me a new perspective in some things which is really refreshing. She’s teaching me just as much as I’m helping her.”

So, how do you become an A student like Ava? What’s the secret?

At A Team Tuition, there are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, persistence, hard work, and learning from failure. In the case of Jess and Ava, their hard work was paid off when everything came together to successfully transform Ava’s results. Of course, this would not have been possible without Jess’ connection to Ava. Coming from a fresh perspective, Jess became more of a mentor than a teacher to Ava. Moreover, having just finished high school, Jess could possibly relate to Ava more than a teacher may. As an Academic Personal Trainer (not just a standard tutor), Jess was also able to spend ample time understanding how Ava learns best, making it easier to come up with strategies to enhance Ava’s learning. The secret is no secret – help your child learn the way that best suits them, with a tutor who understands their needs, and you may just find all barriers to academic achievement melt away!

For us here at A Team Tuition – nothing makes us happier and prouder than both a transformed student and a transformed Academic Personal Trainer!

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