I think this goes in the Classifieds as this is an advertisement. If I am incorrect feel free to move it to the correct category.
Hey everyone! I know some of you may know about the recent survey I did to ask the Go community about their study habits and dedication to Go. This was actually in an effort to learn what students want from Go so I can organize a better curriculum for them. At the encouragement of students, family, and friends I have begun to organize material for an online Go school. This is a big project that I am working on to teach Go more and potentially turn teaching Go into a real job. (Which has been my dream for many years, haven’t succeeded yet but I love this game too much to quit lol.)
Thanks to feedback and my current and new students, progress is coming along nicely. Material is being creating, weekly study habits are being tailored to individuals with limited study time, and we have even started to make graphs to reflect strengths and weaknesses!
The reason I am posting here is not only to let others know about the project being created, but to reach out to those who may be interested in helping build it. The more students I reach the more material and feedback I can get before launching the school. I want to fine tune my structure as much as I can to make the school a success. If you would like to work with the project and myself, you can check out Patreon where I am working with students on different aspects. It can be as simple as getting game reviews and just providing feedback on the structure of the review.
It is my hopes to reach as many students as possible and help them improve, but by being a student you are also helping me improve as a teacher!
I want to thank everyone who has been supportive of my teaching in the past, now, and those who support in the future! Without everyone’s support I would have probably given up teaching Go a long time ago.
I’m glad to hear that you will redouble your teaching efforts Clossius. I would love to continue my study of the game with you. However, I had been increasingly dissatisfied with the current structure of most online Go lessons.
Most online teachers will only review your games. That is fine. It is important to get your games reviewed by a stronger player. I am not satisfied by this because I generally already know what/ where I went wrong in my games. A stronger player will point out things that I never will have thought of, sure, but these tips are usually only applicable to the current game. I will not have a chance to apply that tip to my next game because that specific position will never again arise.
I am also not quite satisfied with Go lessons on specific topics (although I prefer this type of lesson). It is good to gain new insight and learn new moves, but again, I rarely have chance to apply what I’ve learned in my games because the lesson does not suit my playing style (so the situation rarely comes up).
I realized the type of teacher I really want is more like a coach. Someone who can identify my playing style. Someone who can give me practical tips to use in future games. Someone who can give me goals, something to strive for, something to work on.
But all of this is much more burden on the teacher than just doing game reviews. So I can see why this kind of teacher does not really exist… yet (to my knowledge).
Best of luck Clossius! I love what you’re doing and I’ll support you however I can.
I just attended a well known online school for 3 months (one “season”), and that’s exactly what the teacher does. You need to participate in at least 15 league games, then the teacher outlines a “profile” that allows you to build on your strengths and work on your weaknesses.
That surprises me. If the teacher offers a mix of modern joseki, tesuji and life and death, surely you should be able to apply some. Especially right now as there are so many new ideas to learn from AI.
Thanks for your response! That’s actually what I’m working on is becoming a better teacher to give better direction. Currently the idea is to help the student learn a new opening, teach them how to study, review games, and master that opening and style at their level and rank up. Each, month or maybe section will focus on a new opening/style to learn until the student has a lot of information under their belt to work with.
I also know of that school and I’m quite a fan of it. May I ask what that school is lacking if you have been there for 5 months yet still have not found your type of teacher?
Good question Clossius. I’m not sure myself. And it will be hard to put into words without sounding like a spoiled brat. Basically I get the sense that this teacher does not like me or is rooting against me. Most of my game reviews are very harsh (which I appreciate). But even when I win he rarely has anything good to say about the way I played. I guess I have a specific opening that he is not a fan of. But I think it is fine for my level. I would like more encouragement. I understand that he has hundreds of students and probably some favorites. I am just a lowly 3 kyu, there are people way more deserving. But I am not trying to be pro or even 4 dan level, I would just like to improve little by little.
This teacher is really one of the best at what he does. My play has improved immensely since joining, so I will be sticking with it for now. But part of me wonders if I’m not a good fit.
@koolbreeze my game reviews are harsh too I take it as a sign that he cares and wants to see progress. It might also be a cultural difference.
Ditto. Showing the good move is one thing, explaining what’s wrong with your thought process takes it to another level.
That’s the spirit… but how are you going to achieve that? The issue with a go school is that you can’t afford to create lectures adapted to all levels. And that might be the issue with the school @koolbreeze and I are attending. I’d say the lectures are dan level, and it requires a lot of effort for a kyu player to keep up with this.
I am working on problem sets and recommended openings for every 5 levels or so. Basically I am trying to determine the average mistakes and ideas at certain level ranges and then also determine how to identify specific mistakes to that player. I think it is difficult to be sure, but like I said, I am trying to improve as a teacher.
One thing that does separate me from the other school is, for better or worse, I will likely have a lot less students at all times. While I would love to teach many people, I don’t think I’m strong enough to attract as large a crowd as he does. But this also allows the luxury of giving more focus to each student.
I think one thing I am really working on, which I kind of learned during the survey phase, is to be more encouraging and set small reachable goals rather than focusing on long term improving and trying to teach everyone to train like an Asian. I am also trying to work with students who study less than 5 hours a week rather than trying to encourage them to study 10-20 hours a week.
It’s a different approach but similar goals I guess. I want to create a great learning environment but I think I will be targeting a different type of student. Feedback from many people and sources is helping me learn this and fine tune it.
Thanks so much for responding and sharing your thoughts! It is very helpful to be sure :D!
I take it as a sign that he cares and wants to see progress. It might also be a cultural difference.