MATH: Very good with simple angle questions that require you to find the missing angle using 90, 180, or 360 sum. Solid with FUN angle questions. At first, he got a bit stuck and made a few mistakes. Then we went through a step-by-step working out so Ashan doesn't get confused (1. F or U or N 2. C or A or Co 3. same or sum to 180). Strong at mental algebra and equations. He is able to work backwards mentally and find the answer.

MATH: Struggles with harder, more conceptual problems. He needs to stay calm and go through the concepts he's learnt. He has a bad habit of making up concepts or rules. For example, he would state that these three random angles must sum to 180. This usually happens when the question isn't as obvious and requires application/understanding of concepts. Ashan seems to prefer just applying formulas, which he does well. However, he needs to understand the intuition and theory behind concepts. I will ask him more about his thinking process and how he gets these conclusions so I can help him. This is what I was aiming towards with angles, but with the upcoming exam we had to leave that aside. He's still weak with difficult perimeter and area problems that require you to split the shape into two. But he should be fine with basic perimeter and area problems, especially as they have access to a formula sheet.

MATH: Showed improvement with equations and algebra. He answered all the questions correctly in his school revision booklet. Solid with negative numbers. Gave him a few questions to gauge with ability and he answered them all correctly.

MATH: Needs to show working out, especially with algebra and equations. A LOT OF REVISION. I will be giving him homework and notes based on the sort of questions he will encounter in his exam. He needs to perfect this. These notes will be catered to how Ashan's weaknesses. I previously gave him questions to develop his mathematical intuition but I will transition to very textbook questions so he doesn't get confused. Ashan is very prone to making mistakes when he starts guessing. I will start giving Ashan questions to solve by himself so he gets used to an exam setting, which involves getting stuck or feeling stressed.

MATH: He got 2 questions wrong from Sheet 1 but quickly fixed his mistake. He is always correctly estimates the size of angles but just needs to make sure he double-checks for silly mistakes (e.g. mixing the angles up). But I'm happy because he's demonstrated a much stronger understanding of angles compared to when we started. He got all questions right from Sheet 3, which was identifying and labelling corresponding, alternate, co-interior, and vertically opposite angles. Perfect. Very impressed with his measurement skills. He's going through this topic in class right now. He was able to correctly and quickly convert different measurements. He was also able to operate sums of different measurements (e.g. 8cm + 4mm). I'll keep an eye out but he seems to be doing fine with just class work. On the whole, he is able to explain to me how he solved different problems and I am very happy with it. This demonstrates that he's listening and understanding my explanations. ENGLISH: I was very happy with how quickly Ashan grasped the what, why, and how structuring process. We went through topics like "is global warming bad" and "schools should be paper-free". I like that Ashan always has a lot of opinions about it. I prompted questions (why is global warming bad) and he instantly gave me a reply. So we then transitioned to writing this down so we can structure our writing. I went through a few with him. Then I let him do the last one by himself and I was happy with the questions he asked and responses he gave.

MATH: He struggled with Sheet 4, which was solving corresponding, alternate, and co-interior angles. These problems involve identifying which It seems that when there's several angles involved, Ashan gets a bit confused. Although, he was able to identify these angles so well in Sheet 3, he started to mislabel in this sheet. I gave him three tips (1. double-check that everything sums to 180 2. like sudoku. find missing/unknown using the known 3. when in doubt, swap the angles) to help him. The swap advice is helpful to Ashan, for the time being, because he gets the correct values but mixes them up. If he's rushing to double-check in a test, he should check that all acute angles are less than 90. If not, swap the angle. For example, he usually labels an angle as 120. But the angle is clearly acute so must be less than 90. Here, Ashan should then label this angle 60. I think he just needs practice and to take it slow and easy. I will give him more homework on this. I've noticed that Ashan likes to do calculations in his head, but he's not ready for that yet. I told him to write everything down so it's easier to find mistakes. This is most notable with algebra and equations. I can tell that Ashan has not grasped this topic. I'll be going through the topic thoroughly to make sure he understands everything. I've attached (in email) our notes for this topic. I think one of the biggest issues, which I used to do as well, is guessing. When we're stuck on a problem, we start guessing. But instead we should take a step back, calm ourselves down, and approach the problem step-by-step with the concepts we have learnt in class. ENGLISH: Just practice. Progress is a bit slow but I believe that a strong foundation will make things much easier for Ashan going ahead. If he understands how to structure a response (what, why, how) then all that's left are the easy parts (spelling, grammar, vocabulary, etc.) Debating, extended responses, and essays have their differences but they all share the same foundation. Dinesh suggested using a mind map which I will start implementing. It's a superior form of structuring thoughts so I'll have to see how well Ashan is able to adapt to mind mapping. I don't think Ashan will struggle because he told me he used to mind map.

MATH: He did really well for corresponding, alternate, co-interior, and vertically opposite angles. Ashan told me that he went through this topic in class. He seemed to have a basic understanding but he struggled a bit and didn’t seem very confident. I explained that I was taught to identify these angles by the letter they form (F, Z, C) and he caught on very quickly. He was able to answer all the questions quickly and correctly. I will test him a bit more next lesson to make sure he has got it. The polygon and line segments topic wasn't too complicated so there wasn't a need for me to step in because he demonstrated a solid understanding from what he's learnt from class. ENGLISH: I like that Ashan is always able to come up with points to his stance. He also demonstrated solid public speaking skills. I have set him a writing task so that next lesson I can focus on marking his writing and practicing his speaking skills.

MATH: There was still quite a few mistakes with the angle homework. After I pointed it out, he quickly fixed them. I am happy that he's made progress and demonstrates an understanding of how angles work. I have given him questions that require a bit of "outside the box" thinking and he does a lot better on these questions. Obviously, I want Ashan to make sure that he doesn't make these mistakes. I plan to move on from this topic very soon so I will ensure that Ashan feels confident and answers these angles questions correctly. ENGLISH: Ashan needs to improve his written communication. I will focus on his logical flow. The what, why, and how are the three main questions in writing. I want him to seamlessly transition from the three. Sometimes I feel that Ashan 'jumps' a bit in his writing and it's not smooth. Luckily, this debating topic makes it easier for me to see and fix this.