Why I Always Tell Students "Stop Making efforts"

---by Alice Wang

When practicing writing Chinese characters, some top students said, “Writing is such a joy, teacher! Can I write each character two lines, using different colors? Could you play some pop music for us?” The class immediately perks up: “Music! Music!”

I respond, “No music, the colors don’t matter, and just one line is fine. It’s not about how many times you write, but whether you understand what you’re writing and if you’re focused.”

In the past, I used to have students who wrote each character ten times when correcting their tests. I found that some students still got it wrong after ten times of "correction", since they would repeat the same mistakes ten times. I realized something was off. I thought about it and revised my approach—breaking the correction into two steps and scoring separately: first, they students must correct the mistake just once for the teacher to review; second, write the confirmed correct character ten times and submit it for grading.

As expected, I never saw anyone repeating the same mistake thirty times during their "corrections" ever since.

Yesterday, I encountered a so-called “low-leveled student” who was trying hard in a Chinese lesson. I told him quietly, “Stop! Stop copying the characters now! Put down your pen! Do you know what the character you’re copying means?” He shook his head. I continued, “Will copying it ten more times help you learn its meaning?” He shook his head again. I asked, “What about the pronunciation? Will copying it help you remember the pronunciation?” He shook his head once more. I added, “If you keep copying these 25 words, will you at least remember how to write a single character?” He looked carefully at his notebook and shook his head. I said, “Then why are you making so much efforts copying it?” He just laughed...

I often tell my students the story of “Destination in the south, while heading towards the north ” (a Chinese proverb 南辕北辙, it means, to act against one’s own best interest) Everyone laughs at how foolish the protagonist is. But in real life, most ordinary people, students, teachers, and even schools behave similarly, and they have no idea where the problem lies.

Take the prestigious school I attended in high school as an example. In the first two years, our math and science homework consisted of Olympiad competition questions. However, most students did not need to participate in these competitions, and many, like me, were humanities students. So, when most students couldn’t solve the problems, they would copy the answers. I never bothered to copy those answers, not because I was exceptionally noble at fifteen or sixteen years of age. I just believed that writing those numbers didn’t help me improve in any way, and it is a waste of my time and mental energy. Instead, I bought practice books suitable for my level and understanding, tailored to the college entrance examination syllabus, and arranged my own study schedule.

The only answers I would copy, and copy neatly and with full concentration, were from Chinese language, history, and geography. Because copying those answers definitely helped me remember and prepare my exams.

I completely avoided any English homework, as it was too easy; even spending a minute on it felt like a waste. I used that time to memorize TOEFL vocabulary instead.

I believe this illustrates that I have always possessed a talent for education—at a young age, when teachers didn’t understand differentiated instruction, I had already designed a tailored learning plans for myself.

Just like the story of “Destination in the south, while heading towards the north ” 南辕北辙， if you work hard without knowing your goals and direction, it’s better to stop and take a moment to clarify things.