This all started during my college days. I used to teach students to support myself. Given my age at that time, it was easy to become more of a friend to the students. Many times, I used to go to dinner with the families I was teaching. Students would open up to me as they would open up to a friend. They would share about their studies, school, and friends. I would listen and try to figure out what differentiates a good student from an average student. I have had excellent students who would score easily in the neighborhood of 90%. I have had students who would do moderate, about 60–80%, and be happy with that. I have had students who would struggle just to pass. It was hard to see their pain.
I started asking: What can we do for the kids? How can we help them? How do they need us? I would talk to students privately and ask whether they even liked to study. I remember one student who scored 94 out of 100 in Maths. He confessed to me that he didn’t like math and would only do it till the exam. He took up law afterward. I remember one more student—a very bright and confident kid, and scoring 80% was always easy for him. But he ended up having a lower score in the exam (73 out of 100) in maths. One other girl I remember scored 82 in science, who literally failed in preboards. One particular student I was teaching last year rejected even taking a tutor. Honestly, I liked his confidence. But, he scored 92%. I taught almost 200+ students over a period of 10 years in private one-on-one sessions. The one thing I found was that no two students were the same. They all had their own patterns, shortcomings, and strengths. They are at a point in their life where they need genuine care and attention. And this help is for helping them to get great marks as well as becoming a better person to face the challenges of life.
My search started with these interactions. I started listing factors that would affect them. Does one student enjoy learning more than others? Surprisingly, if we consider the early study, the answer is no. Initially, they all would enjoy the new concept almost similarly. It is when things get a little complicated that they take different routes. Some would struggle and persist, and some would leave it for another day. There occurs the difference. The key learning was that there is not much difference between the student who just passes and the other who scores 90% comfortably in the beginning.
The difference occurred in the minor issues. Do they have someone to get help from? If they do, what was the patience level of the help they received? I have seen students sitting for hours (8–10 hours) during exam time and yet not getting enough marks. Even with the students who scored better, they would sit and work and read the content unnecessarily. Some students perform well with less time.
The major issues were not associated with the exam or subjects, but rather with the behavior and nature of help they received from family, teachers, and friends. The kind of books and tests they did.
To name some issues: Getting help at the right time comes at number one. I have seen mostly students would try, but leave it as soon as there are some issues. That is understandable given their age and nature. And here they get the gap. Delaying help simply widens the gap. Over a period of time, this becomes hard to overcome. And over a period of time, you would find two different kinds of students: A high-performing student is one who gets help, and a low-performing student is the student who couldn’t get help at the right time. It's the timing that plays a very big role. I was surprised to see that this was only slightly correlated with money.
A major factor is maintaining consistency for a long time. A simple consistency of 1 hour could just make a difference of 20–30% in an exam. Another factor here was how things like revision, tests, and practice were managed over the period of a year. Most of the time, I have seen students just get tasks thrown at them without much prior thought. They get it because all get it. They do it because school says it or coaching has instructed them. There is no consideration of why and what they are studying, or how the content is related to their goal.
The third major issue was how we guide their difficulty level. This one is a very important issue. You cannot bend them too much, as they might start hating it. This is what happens mostly when they are just told to do a set of questions without individually judging their level. The topper of the class might enjoy it, but the backbencher won’t even open the book. At the same time, we cannot leave them alone as they are kids. We have to guide them in a way that is slightly challenging so that they will be able to solve it, and then gradually guide them from basics to boards to JEE Main to Advanced. The sky is the limit.
“It's not what school or coaching he/she is going to. If this were true, then how could all schools have all kinds of students? It's not who the teacher was — I agree a good teacher matters. But all teachers have all kinds of students. It's about the little things. How much help did they get when they first encountered the issue? How deliberately was the help delivered? How did they have their early learning experiences? How did they find empathy when they felt down? Who was sitting with them to help all of the time? These small issues get compounded over a long period of time, making a student high-performing or low-performing.”
With these experiences, and with the aim that every child experiences joy in learning. That smile when you learn something. That smile when you understand the question on your own. My mission is that every child can experience that smile and joy again and again. And in that process, they achieve the best of their potential.
For a joyous learning experience, do give a chance to STUDYtable.