I tutor one Biology SL student individually. Their concentration is extremely short—perhaps 30 minutes at most. I have never been the kind of instructor who simply reads a textbook aloud. Experience has taught me that visual stimulation helps concentration, so I explain most material by drawing on the board. This student takes that approach to its limit: I draw and explain, erase the board, then immediately ask about what we just covered, gradually building recall. They attend an expensive high school costing around KRW 40 million a year, but say Biology lessons there rely heavily on YouTube. They had not intended to choose Biology and ended up taking it almost by chance, so this was their first real encounter with the subject. They truly knew almost nothing about Biology and usually scored around 3 out of 7 on school tests. After the latest exam, they sent me a KakaoTalk message.
They said most of the exam covered what I had explained, so they were able to write reasonable answers. Messages like that give me energy. I need to keep going. We have become close, with plenty of joking during lessons, sometimes whether I intend it or not. Come on, let’s study! Recently, though, the joking has decreased and their attitude toward study has improved. I hope I can help raise the grade substantially.