Magdalene Poh Min Mei

I am a full time tutor specialising in teaching upper primary English, secondary (both 'O' Levels and Integrated Programme) English and Literature, 'A' Levels General Paper, Literature (Previously Papers 1, 2, 4 and 5; Currently Papers 1, 2 and 3) and Knowledge and Inquiry. I am also experienced in teaching International Baccalaureate English/Literature (English Language A1 and A2, English Language B, English Language and Literature, at both Standard and Higher Levels), Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge. As a Masters of Arts Research Scholar from NUS, I am fully competent in teaching English, General Paper and Literature, and I have more than 13 years of teaching and tutoring experience. I have also taught university undergraduates literature in NUS, and have conducted General Paper classes at private tuition centres. I am highly experienced in teaching foreign students English as a Second Language (ESL), and my past students have come from China, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Kazakhstan. As a language specialist, I also conduct language skill classes for adults, as well as teach Business English to working professionals. I mainly offer one-to-one tuition sessions as I feel that this is the most effective form of learning for the student, but group tuition sessions can be arranged if the students in the group are at similar learning levels. I also conduct intensive revision for groups of 4 to 6 students, and these group sessions have proven to be highly effective in teaching important content and key examination skills to students. I provide a wide array of past year papers from top schools and practices for both General Paper and ‘A’ Levels Literature, as well as important notes for the subjects that I teach. I also provide past year IB papers for practice, along with IB marking schemes, so that my students have a clear idea of the IB marking criterion. I mark the students' assignments meticulously and provide detailed explanations when I go through the work with them. I am keenly aware of the syllabi changes for O level students taking the exams from 2013, and I am also well equipped to teach the new A level curriculum for literature which was launched in 2012. My past and present IP students have come from Raffles Institution, Raffles Girls School, Dunman High School, River Valley High, Hwa Chong Institution, Nanyang Girls' High, National Junior College and Victoria Junior College. My IB students have come from Anglo Chinese School (Independent), as well as international schools such as Anglo Chinese International School, German European School Singapore, Overseas Family School, Australian International School Singapore, Canadian International School, ISS International School and Nexus International School. Of all the students that I have taught in the last 13 years, all of them have made a significant improvement (minimal 3 grade jump) in their English/GP/Literature grades. My best achievements to date are helping students who were previously failing (F9/E8 for 'O' Levels or S/U for 'A' Levels) improve their grades to As and Bs.

National

SG

Year of Birth

1980

Availability

Full-time

Past College

NUS

Past Course

Arts and Soclal Sciene

Current Student

12

Achievement

Masters of Arts NUS Research Scholar majoring in English Literature GPA of 4.85 out of 5 Taught NUS literature undergraduates in NUS Received high teaching scores above department and faculty average during NUS Student Feedback Exercise Selected for Graduate Student Exchange to the University of Toronto in 2008 Recipient of Canadian Government Scholarship to the University of Toronto, one of only four winners in 2008

Proven Record

Of all the students that I have taught in the last 13 years, all of them have made a significant improvement (minimal 3 grade jump) in their English/GP/Literature grades. My best achievements to date are helping students who were previously failing (F9/E8 for 'O' Levels or S/U for 'A' Levels) improve their grades to As and Bs. I am particularly proud of aiding my ACS(I) IB student achieve a near perfect score of 44 out of 45 in the 2011 IB examinations, and helping my VJC and ACJC students score 7As in the 2011 A Levels. The ACS(I) and VJC students are both currently reading law in NUS, and they have each won a place in the highly prestigious Double Degree Programme in Law and Public Policy, which was only awarded to seven carefully selected recipients (Their testimonials are available for reference). In the 2011 ‘A’ Level examinations, 4 of my students scored As for Literature and 2 of them scored Bs. These results are particularly heartening because all the students saw a minimal 3 grade improvement, with the biggest improvement coming from an ACJC student whom I taught intensively for just 2 months before the ‘A’ Level examinations. He was previously scoring Cs and Ds in Literature, but managed to pull it up to an A with twice-weekly lessons. With the A in Literature, he managed to achieve a perfect score of 7 As in the ‘A’ Level examinations, and now stands a very high chance of winning the government scholarship that he desires. In the 2012 PSLE exams, the 3 students I tutored scored 255 (English A*), 249 (English A*) and 235 (English A) respectively. The student who'd scored A for English used to be very weak in the subject, but with weekly lessons she made tremendous improvement, moving her grade up 2 notches from a C to an A. This has helped her achieve 4As for her PSLE, and enter the secondary school of her choice. For the 2012 O Level results, my St Nicholas Girls' School student scored A2s in both English and Literature, a great improvement as she used to score C5/C6 for Lit. A student from Singapore Chinese Girls' School that I taught for just 12 lessons before the O Levels managed to pull her C6 Prelims grade in Literature up to an A1. This 5 grade improvement has helped her achieve a perfect score of 6 points, which was critical for her entrance into ACS(I) to pursue her first choice of getting an IB Diploma. (Once again, their testimonials are available for reference). As for the 2012 A Level results, two of my students scored As for literature while one scored a B. One of the As students achieved a perfect score of 7 distinctions in her results, including As in both H2 and H3 Literature. The student who scored a B was a private candidate who used to be an E/D grade student, but has managed to improve her lit results significantly under my tutelage. For GP, my students did very well, and besides the students who scored As, the biggest improvement came from a CJC girl whose GP grade jumped from S to C within a few months of lessons. (Testimonials are available for reference.) I have many years of teaching experience, great passion in helping students learn, as well as a proven track record of ensuring students improve. My keen interest in education is why I chose to become a full time tutor, and I believe that with the right help and patient guidance, every student has the potential to excel in the subject.