Truongs Maths Tutoring, any comments? (4 Viewers)

[Zephyrio]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

I choose to believe otherwise. The people who actually do put the effort in and do the work still don't get good scores. I knew people who love and are really good at English/Arts, and somehow they still don't manage a band 6 or even close to it? Even the top students (those who usually love English and work hard in it) tend to get low band 6 in Advanced, few have ever scored any better than that. Some students who migrated to other schools, and were relatively low ranked (average) at Sefton before they left, ended up with final HSC marks in English which corresponded to about top 10 at Sefton.

I mean from my own experience, there were heaps of people who entered in Year 7 who loved English over Maths. By Year 12, many became converted to liking Maths over English. Surely there must be some cause of this "maths/science" culture. Perhaps the teachers don't make English as interesting as it should be? It may also be thanks to their ridiculously pedantic marking schemes which screws everyone's confidence in English and cause many to just "give up". Perhaps the Maths faculty are better at making their own subject area more attractive?

I'm not saying that all the teachers in the English faculty are completely responsible for the results. However, I do believe they have some contribution to the school's poor results to certain extent (though they may have you believe otherwise).

That being said, Ms Diab is probably the standout best of the entire English faculty. According to the experience of others, they often said that they learn more from Ms Diab in one period than all the periods taught by Levick, Repin or Pothoven put together.

I'm not denying the fact that Sefton's English department is perfect. Far from it, actually, and I do tend to agree that Sefton's English marking criteria are usually harsh and, in some cases, unfair. However, I don't think there can be any doubt that most kids in Sefton will ultimately gravitate towards the maths and the sciences (which, if we're being completely honest, isn't that good, and probably isn't even as good as English if we're talking about chemistry). I can't find a single reason why this would be... perhaps English is not as attractive, true, but this is our HSC's we're talking about - if you want to succeed, you need to put in the work.

In year 12, you are expressly told that the marking schemes at Sefton are ridiculously harsh, but only to allow you to benefit in the grand schemes of things when HSC moderation plays into your favour. Also, we're also told to put effort into perfecting our essays that can be easily moulded to suit most questions, and in my experience this works best; even the most brilliant of minds will not, unless they are given a burst of inspiration, find forty minutes insufficient.

Last year, we received 13 band 6's in advanced English, which is a marked improvement from previous year.s 13 out of roughly 65 students in advanced means that we're roughly getting one in five kids in that particular course scoring band six. As for standard, I do agree that more of them should be able to do advanced, because we don't get band sixes in standard and invariably, our ranks drop. For the most part, I tend not to emphasise ranks because ranks are only based on how many band sixes were scored out of the number of students attempting a course. In many cases, as with the strength of our standard English results, this does not seem to be a fair indication, as many students will rank within the top 1% of the state in that course.

All in all, I don't think our English department is all that bad. If we're being completely honest, there are some other facets of our school that could be improved, such as our chemistry course. I do recall us getting only one band six in chemistry in 2006, yet our science faculty often escapes any excessively harsh criticism. I think for English, our students just need to approach it with more of a positive attitude.

 

[Trebla]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

I do recall us getting only one band six in chemistry in 2006, yet our science faculty often escapes any excessively harsh criticism.

That's because it's the only year that has ever happened. Most of the time it is much more. In 2005, it was 17, not sure about 2007 though. The results in English, on the other hand are usually similar every year. 2007 was a one-off I reckon (much like Class of 05 was a one-off), since the number of band 6s in Advanced for the state overall was at its highest ever.

Oh and btw, what the hell were you doing posting at 3am?!!! Get some sleep man! Sleep is important to aid your study!

 

[benjihua93]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

miss diab is the best nah u dont have to join science at troung but u have to do maths and its very unlikely that ull get into her class because troung picks the names of the people who are going in the class from a hat. Troung told us there is about 150 people on the waiting list

 

[Zephyrio]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

That's because it's the only year that has ever happened. Most of the time it is much more. In 2005, it was 17, not sure about 2007 though. The results in English, on the other hand are usually similar every year. 2007 was a one-off I reckon (much like Class of 05 was a one-off), since the number of band 6s in Advanced for the state overall was at its highest ever.

Oh and btw, what the hell were you doing posting at 3am?!!! Get some sleep man! Sleep is important to aid your study!

Haha, yeah I should sleep earlier. Sleeping at 12am tonight.

I've been working my arse off in English. Which is, needless to say, my best/favourite subject. =P

 

[dolphin17]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

ms diab is a good teacher but useless at sefton cos all she does is talk to the students about social tihngs rather than actually teach.

Ms diab is without a doubt the best teacher in the english faculty. she goes out of her way to help students who are in need of help, she is the most hard working and dedicated teacher i know and one lesson with her is definitely like a whole year's worth of teaching from other teachers. She teaches so much more in comparison to the teachers i have had. Ms diab does not socialise with students, its pretty much the opposite...she makes you work as hard as possible, trying to make you reach your maximum potential. Without Ms diab at sefton high, the english faculty would be useless.

i go to truong's for math and sciences, he said there will be spaces soon but his math classes have first priority...good luck trying to get in. i have heard truong say she is one of the best english tutors in the state.

 

[Zephyrio]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

Ms diab is without a doubt the best teacher in the english faculty. she goes out of her way to help students who are in need of help, she is the most hard working and dedicated teacher i know and one lesson with her is definitely like a whole year's worth of teaching from other teachers. She teaches so much more in comparison to the teachers i have had. Ms diab does not socialise with students, its pretty much the opposite...she makes you work as hard as possible, trying to make you reach your maximum potential. Without Ms diab at sefton high, the english faculty would be useless.

i go to truong's for math and sciences, he said there will be spaces soon but his math classes have first priority...good luck trying to get in. i have heard truong say she is one of the best english tutors in the state.

Hm.

 

[mandyxpoo]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

im in ms diabs class
theres a new standard class
thats VERY small
but its filling up quick
i think it will be full in about 2 weeks
so get ur places quick!

 

[mandyxpoo]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

no u dont have to do maths to join english or science
and he doesnt pick out of a hat

miss diab is the best nah u dont have to join science at troung but u have to do maths and its very unlikely that ull get into her class because troung picks the names of the people who are going in the class from a hat. Troung told us there is about 150 people on the waiting list

 

[xMrRand0m]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

true.
she doesnt mark stuff that she says she will

I go to Ms. Diab's as well, although I'm in the advanced class. She does mark our homework though. She asks to collect it, and for those that do hand it in, she takes it home and brings it back the week after with red writing all over it. I wrote up a creative piece once before and asked her if she could give me some feedback. She then assigned the class with a task and read over it, then later attached a blank A4 piece of paper to it, filled with red writing.
Personally, I reckon Ms. Diab is a hell of a good teacher, it's thanks to her that I don't hate english as much as I did before. =)

 

[dolphin*17]

Re: Fairfield Troung's recommendation - English

I go to Ms. Diab's as well, although I'm in the advanced class. She does mark our homework though. She asks to collect it, and for those that do hand it in, she takes it home and brings it back the week after with red writing all over it. I wrote up a creative piece once before and asked her if she could give me some feedback. She then assigned the class with a task and read over it, then later attached a blank A4 piece of paper to it, filled with red writing.
Personally, I reckon Ms. Diab is a hell of a good teacher, it's thanks to her that I don't hate english as much as I did before. =)

its thanks to her that english is now my favourite subject. =)
personally, i think she makes learning english fun which sounds impossible. In the end she always wants us to do the best that we possibly can and help us where ever possible. she is a great teacher.

 

[oasfree]

Truong's tutoring, any comments?

I have heard about Truong's tutoring for a long time. My niece went there for year 7 but now dropped out and use private tutor instead. I heard that Truong's method is to focus on the basics to make sure kids learn and understand what they do. Also Truong hires ex-students to come back to work. This brings the freshness of HSC exams to the class. Obviously he is making a lot money. His classes are fully booked out. But the reason why kids like my niece dropped out was because Truong's tutoring could not get the result over 80%. Since she got a private tutor, she has scraped to 90% level in mathematics tests.

How you guys feel? Could ex-students who have just done the HSC teach better than real teachers? Or they are just sharp-shooters who can help you solving problems quickly? The problem is that they only have limited perspective to gain high scores without the experience to help those who are not currently doing well. If you need recovery learning, they would be the worst teachers?

Hopeful some one here who is going to Truong's place can comment.

 

[JollyJohn]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

He's very popular in the southwest area, i had a freind who went there, she told me Truong's quite a strict character. Sometimes his students cry and get verbally abused ahhaha. Dont quote me on this, its all hearsay at the moment, but the general reputation is that Truong's a very strict guy with huge classes.

in terms of teacher vs ex-student tutors, i think higher-end students benefit more from ex-students, and lower calibre students benefit more from experienced teachers.

Ex-students tend to skip many steps in their teaching - they teach based on their own experience and assume everyone else is as smart as them - which is great if that was true. E.g. step 1, step 6, step 10, QED

Whereas teachers (the better ones) are more comprehensive i find

But teachers themselves are a risk, sometimes you get a real dud and years of experience mean nothing (mr kowalski in ruse, anyone?)

 

[1610839335]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

Truong teaches his year 11s and 12s personally.
His ex-students only teach year 10 (up to term 4) and under.
I also go there btw.

 

[the-derivative]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

I have heard about Truong's tutoring for a long time. My niece went there for year 7 but now dropped out and use private tutor instead. I heard that Truong's method is to focus on the basics to make sure kids learn and understand what they do. Also Truong hires ex-students to come back to work. This brings the freshness of HSC exams to the class. Obviously he is making a lot money. His classes are fully booked out. But the reason why kids like my niece dropped out was because Truong's tutoring could not get the result over 80%. Since she got a private tutor, she has scraped to 90% level in mathematics tests.

How you guys feel? Could ex-students who have just done the HSC teach better than real teachers? Or they are just sharp-shooters who can help you solving problems quickly? The problem is that they only have limited perspective to gain high scores without the experience to help those who are not currently doing well. If you need recovery learning, they would be the worst teachers?

Hopeful some one here who is going to Truong's place can comment.

I am currently a student of Truong. I can honestly say that since I've been going to his coaching college, I have dramatically improved in maths. I believe I am a lot quicker and a lot more proficient at maths.

Yes it is true that he hires ex-students as teachers, but these teachers usually get UAIs of 99.xx or even 100 (my current 4U teacher got 100 UAI). I can honestly say that I find both Truong and my teacher very easy to understand. They make maths easy for me to understand and they teach me tricks and shortcuts which I find really helpful. Also in my opinion, he's not about the money. He actually cares about his student's performance and if you cannot pay because of financial difficulties - he will help you out.

Also with his strictness, yes he is strict, but he can also be a very nice person, as long as you follow his rules - which to me aren't unreasonable at all. Just remain respectful, complete your homework and study hard and you won't have any problems at all. He actually makes jokes in class and does treat his students nicely, as long as they are respectful.

I'm not saying that if you go to Truong - you will definitely improve in maths. Everybody has their own way of learning. It just so happens that his way works for me and it also works for a lot of students. However for some, private tutors may be the way to go. Hope this has helped.

 

[oasfree]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

Also with his strictness, yes he is strict, but he can also be a very nice person, as long as you follow his rules - which to me aren't unreasonable at all. Just remain respectful, complete your homework and study hard and you won't have any problems at all. He actually makes jokes in class and does treat his students nicely, as long as they are respectful.

I'm not saying that if you go to Truong - you will definitely improve in maths. Everybody has their own way of learning. It just so happens that his way works for me and it also works for a lot of students. However for some, private tutors may be the way to go. Hope this has helped.

I still have one niece going to Truong's. I was told that he's annoyed about parking violations, skipping home work and non-payment. However I heard he that he was easy on money issues if people talked to him. I heard he would eject any student who violate his rules or when their parents violate parking rules. But people are saying that his classes are hugely popular.

Anyway, it looks like he knows what he is doing and making very good money.
Some people are jealous of his success and the set of rules we force on the kids, but that's their business. It's interesting that he uses students to teach. That makes him a millionaire.

 

[iSplicer]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

Yeah, I am in Year 11 and go to truong, saturday morning class =)

Hes awesome, teaches clearly and catches you off guard with the questions. The money is really good as well. LEagues ahead of preuni, et.c

 

[oasfree]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

Yeah, I am in Year 11 and go to truong, saturday morning class =)

Hes awesome, teaches clearly and catches you off guard with the questions. The money is really good as well. LEagues ahead of preuni, et.c

Glad to hear that. He must have got it right using best students as teacher and also focus on the basics. One of my nieces did not get high results from attending his classes. After she was moved one-on-one tutoring, she improved about 10% on her marks. But I suppose one-on-one is always better unless you get a dumb tutor. So it's right on the money. When I was young, I had a very tough teacher. He dealt with tough students (like me) by challenging us to prove that he was wrong. He made up a question from the answer and ask a kid to come to the board and solved in front of the whole class. It was impossible to beat him!

That was how I was assessed! He did not give out many tests. He just called through the roll and got every one to come up in front of the whole class to solve a problem in a few minutes. Each kid got to do this about 2 times each semester. He gave simpler problems to weaker kids and tough problem to top kids.

 

[iSplicer]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

Glad to hear that. He must have got it right using best students as teacher and also focus on the basics. One of my nieces did not get high results from attending his classes. After she was moved one-on-one tutoring, she improved about 10% on her marks. But I suppose one-on-one is always better unless you get a dumb tutor. So it's right on the money. When I was young, I had a very tough teacher. He dealt with tough students (like me) by challenging us to prove that he was wrong. He made up a question from the answer and ask a kid to come to the board and solved in front of the whole class. It was impossible to beat him!

That was how I was assessed! He did not give out many tests. He just called through the roll and got every one to come up in front of the whole class to solve a problem in a few minutes. Each kid got to do this about 2 times each semester. He gave simpler problems to weaker kids and tough problem to top kids.

Really?! Truong rarely never does that sort of thing. He teaches very well and clearly, and welcomes questions, but never allows any room for challenges. He very very strongly believes his methods are the only and the best. I got slightly busted for calling the 'chain rule' the 'chain rule', because apparently for him it isn't the 'chain rule'. I asked why and he said we would soon find out.

That was two months ago and I still don't know.

But yeah, Truong ftw. I am doing quite well at BHHS because of him.

 

[the-derivative]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

Really?! Truong rarely never does that sort of thing. He teaches very well and clearly, and welcomes questions, but never allows any room for challenges. He very very strongly believes his methods are the only and the best. I got slightly busted for calling the 'chain rule' the 'chain rule', because apparently for him it isn't the 'chain rule'. I asked why and he said we would soon find out.

That was two months ago and I still don't know.

But yeah, Truong ftw. I am doing quite well at BHHS because of him.

That is because at Truong, the chain rule is dy / dx = (dy/dt) / (dt/dx) - and he doesn't want you to get confused with the other rule.

True, but I find that better. It forces you to pay attention so he won't catch you off guard with a question and be yelled at =)

But to me, he's very nice =)

Yeah - he's actually a really nice person to you - as long as you prove you're willing to learn and you are respectful. That goes with his other teachers - all his teachers that I have had are extremely nice to me. But yeah - you gotta be on guard because he doesn't take silly mistakes too well.

 

[iSplicer]

Re: Truong's tutoring, any comments?

That is because at Truong, the chain rule is dy / dx = (dy/dt) / (dt/dx) - and he doesn't want you to get confused with the other rule.

Which other rule?

Yeah - he's actually a really nice person to you - as long as you prove you're willing to learn and you are respectful. That goes with his other teachers - all his teachers that I have had are extremely nice to me. But yeah - you gotta be on guard because he doesn't take silly mistakes too well.

True, although I haven't really seen him go off, like some people have told me... has he exploded in any of ur classes?