Spending 3 hours preparing for a 2-hour class.

My first tutoring case was introduced by a classmate. He himself referred to this student as needing help in physics and chemistry, but he wanted me to teach mathematics. This student was just an ordinary second-year junior high school student, but in the early stages, I spent more time preparing for the lessons than actually teaching. I gave classes twice a week, each session lasting 2 hours. However, my preparation sessions were always so engrossing that I would often spend 3 hours on them.

Just to teach junior high school math? Yes, it was really just junior high school math. And students at this level usually score full marks in math; there are hardly any problems that could stump me!

Some people may wonder what exactly I prepared for, and whether it was necessary. It certainly was! Since I had learned junior high school math very smoothly myself, if I didn't slow down during my lesson planning and observe every detail, how could I imagine where the student might have difficulties? If I couldn't guess the student's weaknesses and blind spots, what would I teach? Would I just tell him, "It's like this...this is all you need... why don't you understand yet?"

At the time, the tutoring took place at a cram school. I taught from the front, and he listened below. Since I had prepared beforehand, the teaching process flowed smoothly, and I also reserved time for him to do exercises. His grades indeed improved. As a result, the student became extremely admiring of me, even telling his mother, "Can this teacher also teach physics and chemistry?"

I felt quite conflicted when I rejected him. It wasn't because I wasn't familiar with physics and chemistry; I also taught these subjects at other small cram schools, and the students' reactions were strong. The problem was that this tutoring case was introduced by my classmate! If I took over the part he was responsible for, it would be too unethical.

Why did I have confidence that my performance before teaching would be at least as good as a school teacher who has seriously honed their skills for three years? The reason is simple: would a school teacher spend approximately 1.5 times the actual teaching time preparing for a very simple math topic? Even if they did, it wouldn't be many!

In fact, the more familiar we are with something, the easier it is to overlook details. Our shortcomings and mistakes often occur in areas where we feel most confident and think we know well!

Therefore, I set high standards for myself in my preparations before teaching, hoping to bring good learning outcomes to my students, so as not to disappoint them.

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