Am I a good tutor? 我是好老师吗？

Confucius said, "I daily examine myself on three points: whether I have been loyal in my transactions with others; whether I have been sincere in interactions with friends, whether I have mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher." Having taught a diverse range of students after so many years as a tutor, I often ask myself, “Am I a good tutor?” “Have I improved the academic scores of my students, built their confidence and inspired in them a love for the Chinese language? Have I shown consideration for their weaknesses, given every care to preserve their self-respect and left them with a lifetime of benefits from my teaching?”

孔子说：“吾日三省吾身：为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习 乎？”做补习老师这么多年，教过的孩子千差万别，我也常常问自己：我是好老师吗？那些孩子，我有没有提高他们的成绩，建立他们的信心，使他们更加热爱华语？我有没有体贴他们的软弱，呵护他们的自尊，使他们从我的教导中终生受益？

An expert once said,” The secret to success in pedagogy is to create in the student self-motivation to better himself.” Affirmation from a teacher drives students to want to better themselves. Students can become motivated if they are sufficiently assured of their potential to develop by their teachers because curiosity and thirst for knowledge are innate human traits.

有位专家说：教育技巧的全部诀窍就在于抓住儿童的上进心。只有得到老师的肯定，学生才能产生上进心，因为，求知欲和好奇心是人的永恒的特性。

In the process of my interactions with children, I have been deeply convinced that each child has an aspect of self which is hidden and suppressed within. The children may not express it, but in varying degrees, each of them wrestles with feelings of anxiety, inferiority and frustration with the learning difficulties. They desire to be affirmed and the potential in them needs to be awakened. As a tutor, I need to approach things from the child’s perspective. This is the only way in which they may be spurred to become self-motivated individuals with a love for learning.

在和孩子交往的过程中我深深感到，每个孩子内心深处都有最隐秘的一角。 他们也许不太会表达，但他们每个人都或多或少存在学习的焦虑感、自卑感和挫败感。他们期待被肯定，他们的潜能需要被唤醒。作为补习老师，我需要同孩子的心弦对准音调。只有这样，他们才能自己主动变成一个爱学习的孩子。

I believe that love conquers all.

爱是一切道理的总纲，我相信。