Were you curious about the contrasting example? π¬
This is how the previous post ended:
Why did a second-year high school student who was already scoring 90 come to us? π§
To be continued...
If you would like a reminder, here is the link to Part 1. π
πhttps://m.blog.naver.com/innitacademy/224409480663
Thank you for waiting. Today, I will answer that question. π
Already scoring 90βso why come to us? π€¨
A student came to me after scoring 90 on their first-semester midterm at a high school known for adapting source passages in its exams. That was certainly not a low score. But the student understood something:
"If I keep studying this way, I cannot be sure of reaching the top grade band, Grade 1."
They had come across our materials at school, felt that something was different, and visited for a consultation. What they needed went beyond practice questions. π€¦ββοΈ
They needed to understand how their school adapted and paraphrased source passages, and develop the ability to handle those changes with confidence.
After working on that, the final exam for that semester came around...
The student got just one question wrong and ranked first in English. π₯³ππ
π (They sent me a KakaoTalk message thanking me after receiving an academic excellence award. I was so proud! π€© I wanted to share that joy with readers and searched through my messages, but the chat history had disappeared when I changed phones. π’π Still, we hope our teaching shows what we can offer. π)
In the previous post, I shared a student's substantial improvement in grades. This time, the student was already scoring 90.
One made a large improvement; the other worked on the remaining gaps at an already high level.
But the first thing we looked at was the same for both students.
How is this child studying now?
Their scores were different, but our question was the same:
Does their current way of studying actually fit their needs?
We do not plan lessons from the numbers on a report card alone.
We first look at how those results came about. π‘
So, what does learning at INNIT look like?
We have a principle we often explain:
"What has been learned must be tested."
But how does that testing actually work? π€
Today, let us open the INNIT classroom door a little and look at what happens in a lesson.
The flow of an INNIT lesson
β Review test
We begin by checking what was learned in the previous lesson.
"Do you remember what we learned last time?"
We go beyond asking that question: students work through problems themselves so we can check.
We revisit key concepts and problems from their mistake notebook. Our passing threshold is 80% or higher.
What if they do not meet that threshold?
We revisit the material, even briefly, before beginning the main lesson.
It may sound like a small thing.
But we believe those five minutes matter more than simply moving ahead.
If new material keeps building on shaky understanding, it can eventually become too difficult to sustain.
βββ
β‘ Main lesson
Then comes the main lesson.
Our one-to-one format lets us see where the student is getting stuck that day.
We adjust each lesson by looking at how quickly the student works, the kinds of mistakes they make and how they understand concepts. We fit the pace to the child, rather than the child to a progress chart, and avoid pushing new material before earlier learning has been understood.
βββ
β’ End-of-lesson review test
Before the lesson ends, we check the day's learning again.
Knowing what was covered and being able to solve a problem independently are two different things.
Attending the lesson is therefore only part of the process.
Students work through problems themselves to check their understanding.
If they have not met the standard, we do not simply move on.
Understand β Solve again β Check: we work through the material learned that day.
βββ
β£ Update the mistake notebook
A problem answered incorrectly today is not forgotten at the end of the lesson. π
It goes into the mistake notebook and appears again in a later review test.
Students meet the problem again, revisit it if they are still getting it wrong, and move on once they understand it.
Review test β Main lesson β Understanding check β Revisit mistakes β Review test again
This cycle keeps repeating.
We want learning that goes beyond a good score in one exam:
learning that stays with the student as real ability. π
And
Last step: spend five minutes on a learning journal about the day's English and mathematics study. βοΈ
(I will explain why we ask students to keep their own learning journals in another post.)
The people behind this cycle...
Having a systemβor tools such as ChatGPT and Geminiβdoes not make this level of care happen by itself. π
Reviewing every lesson, each child's working and mistakes, and using those observations in the next lesson
is ultimately something people have to do.
Mathematics is taught by our dedicated mathematics director, confident in her teaching skills and, jokingly, her looks. English is taught by our dedicated English director, an experienced teacher in her thirties. π
(Perhaps because we are still young, the children apparently see us as reassuring older sisters as much as teachers. π)
That helps them feel more comfortable asking difficult questions, showing us problems they got wrong,
and saying, "I do not understand this."
In that comfortable atmosphere, we can work out where they are getting stuck.
(We will explain more about each director's approach in another post. π)
βββ
Today, we have shown the structure of an INNIT lesson.
In the next instalment,
we will look more closely at what happens within that structure:
how the mathematics teacher approaches problems,
what the English teacher pays particular attention to,
and how children develop through that process.
We will give you a closer look. π€
We hope you will join us for the next part! ππ€©
