Keeping Customers Happy

Posted March 1st, 2010 10:35 AM PST

Tutoring isn’t like other teaching work.  Sure, we all get put together into one big educational category, but there's a whole world of difference between the relationship between a teacher and a student in a classroom on a rainy Friday afternoon and that between a tutor and his or her tutees. First and foremost, it's important to remember that the people you're teaching have a choice: unlike a kid sitting behind a desk in school, if they decide to go and look for a different tutor -- or even to dispense with their extra education altogether -- they can. So how do you keep your tutees happy?

It's a balancing act, certainly. On one hand, you want your classes to be fun and interesting; on the other, learning anything new is difficult -- and like all difficult things, very tempting to put off, which can be very frustrating for both teacher and student. Add to that the fact that you'll often be teaching children or teenagers who don't necessarily want to learn geometry or practice the piano, or teaching academic and scholarly concepts to people who struggle with them in the first place (or else why would they need a tutor?) and it's easy to see just how complex keeping your customers and pupils happy can be.

The first thing to note is that tutoring is not a permanent job. Yes, it can be very long-term, and it's possible to build up a relationship with a pupil that lasts for years (especially with non-academic teaching, such as music lessons or sports training), but generally speaking it's composed of short term goals. Pass this exam. Get to the next level on your instrument. Get to grips with this section of the syllabus. The important thing is that the customer feels they're making constant progress in their learning. If you're having extra classes every week and paying out a significant amount of money, you want to be able to turn around and say, 'This is what I've learned today'. If your pupils can see the progressions they've made under your tutelage, they'll feel as though their hard work is paying off... and as a result, they'll feel much more inclined to keep working hard.

It’s not your job to give them a metaphorical slap on the wrist if they aren’t doing their weekly reading or making time for practice (although if they're struggling, that maybe be part of it); instead, you should see it as being your job to make them want to do it all by themselves. The reason you chose to go into tutoring is -- hopefully, at least -- some level of passion for your subject and for the art of learning in general. If nothing else, you should try to pass that level of enthusiasm on to your tutees. If they don't want to learn, you're going to find yourself having a massive uphill struggle to get them to pay attention. So what can you do to fix this? Try identifying areas of interest as well as problem areas, and work on blending the two. If your pupil is struggling with analyzing literary texts, try getting them to apply similar techniques to books they already know and love; if they're struggling with algebra or geometry, seek out real-life examples to show them how valuable the subject really is. There's a whole wealth of material online to help you make your lessons fresh and exciting, so there's really no excuse for your pupils to be bored and disinterested.

Finally, the best way to keep your pupils happy is to exploit the fact that your relationship is not the kind he or she is likely to find in school. You're in the position to really get to know your students -- their likes and dislikes, their hobbies and interests, their stresses and worries about their subject -- and so it makes sense to work on personal interaction as well as academic training. If your student looks forward to the idea of spending an hour a week with you, the time will fly by much faster, and the work will sink in a lot more easily. No one's saying you have to be their best friend, but if they find themselves dreading their classes, their work is going to suffer.

Working on a combination of these factors will really help you to keep your customers happy, making them much more likely to keep coming back -- and making your job far, far easier.

How Do I Broach the Topic of Money with My Clients?

Posted February 9th, 2010 4:39 PM PST

Private tutoring and providing instruction in an area where your skills and experience set you apart from the rest can be a great way to earn an income.  Plus you will work for yourself, which comes with many benefits.  Aside from the benefits of getting to set your own schedule and choose the clients you would like to work with, there is also the benefit of potentially earning a higher wage than you would working for a company. 

Let's be honest, almost everyone could use a little more income each month.  So, how do you set your rates and protect the integrity of what you do to ensure that you get paid what you're worth?  Consider the list below as a guideline for establishing good terms with your clients so that you will never have to deal with late payments, lack of payment, or compromising your fee.

1.  Be Direct

At the very first meeting with new clients, bring up the price you charge.  Do not avoid the issue.  Obviously, your clients are aware that any kind of tutoring will cost them something.  Just let them know that you are confident about your ability to provide what they need.  Your experience and confidence will convey that the price you have set is appropriate.

2.  Hold Firm To Your Price

The only time you should ever offer a discount on your price is if you are running an introductory offer or you decide to give a discount when a client books a bulk number of hours at one time and pays up front.

When new clients are asking you to match someone else's price, hold firm.  One of two things will happen here.  They will either work with someone else because price is the most important thing.  Or, they will want to work with you badly enough that they will pay what you ask.  The bottom line is, there are only so many hours in a day.  Don't fill it up with people who are unwilling to pay your price, when there are plenty of clients out there who will.

3.  Explain Important Details

You are the expert at your business.  During the first meeting, cover all the 'need to knows' with your client.  This way you avoid confusion that could lead to an unwillingness to pay for services provided. 

Cover topics like: 

Are the lessons billed in blocks?

What are the accepted forms of payment?

How do you charge if a student misses a lesson?

How do you compensate the student if you miss a lesson?

What are the agreed upon holidays/vacations?

What is the best method of communication if schedules move?

Finally, have these points summarized in an Understanding Agreement that is signed by both student and teacher in case problems arise.  Have a signature card for each lesson in case there is a dispute.  Proper documentation will help you keep things professional.  Plus, you will be protected from clients who might otherwise take advantage of you.

Best Approaches to Teaching

Posted January 24th, 2010 4:36 PM PST

Whether you are interested in part-time tutoring jobs or full-time teaching jobs, you must begin these endeavors with the following question:  What are the best approaches to teaching students so that students can maximize their learning potential?  The answer is that there is no right answer.  There is no one specific instructional practice that fits every content area or subject.  However, one objective is clear.  Teachers should give students the tools to allow them to become active learners and participants in the world rather than passive learners who simply reiterate facts and figures. 

One way to best approach teaching is to recognize that teachers should constantly work on their technique and methods.  Teachers should consistently search for ways to improve the quality of their teaching so that students may benefit from an experienced, versatile, and well-rounded educator.  However, teachers should also try to avoid falling into the trap of attempting new teaching techniques simply because these methods are touted as new.  Of course, the reverse premise is also true

Another way to best approach teaching is to create a setting that allows students to take full advantage of the instruction.  This setting is created when the teacher is fully prepared to teach the lesson.  Preparation begins with clear objectives of what should be taught and the means that the teacher will use to teach these objectives.  Teachers should also create a positive and supportive learning environment where students feel that their opinions are valued and respected.  Students are more likely to participate and actively engage in the learning experience if they do not have to worry that their views will be ridiculed or discounted. 

In an effort to create a supportive learning atmosphere, teachers should be aware that you often teach students who come from diverse socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds.  Teachers should be cognizant of the diversity within their student population in an effort to avoid inadvertent statements or actions that could be seen as discriminatory or hurtful to their students.

An additional way to best approach teaching is to realize that there are varied learning styles among students, and you must incorporate these different styles into instructional practices in an effort to help students achieve their full learning potential.  For example, some students are auditory learners who learn best when instruction is centered toward discussion and lecture.   Some students are visual learners who learn best by the use of visual aids, such as charts and diagrams, to convey information.  Some students are kinesthetic learners who learn best by hands-on instruction, such as math manipulatives and models.  If teaching styles and methods are targeted to a variety of learners, more students will have a greater chance of academic success.

Teachers can best approach teaching by implementing successful and effective teaching methods.  When teaching a lesson, teachers should state the purpose, or objective, of the lesson and also state why learning this material is important to students.  If the students feel that the subject of the lesson relates to them, they take an active interest in learning the material.  It is very important that the teacher establish this connection between the subject matter to be learned and the students, so that the students do not feel that they are learning in a vacuum.  Another way to effectuate active instruction is to encourage student participation in the lesson.  Teachers should ask engaging questions that foster discussion and also ask students to research the answers if the students are unable to provide the correct answers in class.  Teachers may also provide guided notes for the students in which the teacher provides an outline to the lesson but leaves portions of the outline blank.  Therefore, the students must listen carefully and engage in the lesson to be able to successfully complete the outline.  Teachers should also provide closing comments or points at the end of the lesson to summarize and review the essential content in lesson. 

Effective teachers must continually strive to employ the best approaches and methods for teaching students.  Though some teachers seem to have a natural ability to implement positive and successful instruction, all teachers should unfailing endeavor to improve their teaching abilities.  When a teacher puts his or her best efforts into actively engaging all students, he or she cultivates learners who will be well-prepared to run the fast-paced and ever-changing course of the next generation.

Becoming a Private Tutor and the Value to Students

Posted January 20th, 2010 4:35 PM PST

Have you ever asked the question, ‘What do I need to do to become a private tutor? If so, you’re not alone and you are, in fact, entering into a wonderful world that offers incredible value and benefit to students from all walks of life. Private tutor jobs can be difficult to find for someone who is trying to break into tutoring. Whether it’s high school math tutoring or tutoring part time, the fundamentals are the same. You need to be very comfortable with the subject and comfortable teaching someone one-on-one.

Tutoring, at its core, is private instruction. Of course, you aren’t teaching the student new material. Instead, your job is to guide them through the process of learning something new, typically something that has caused them some difficult or proven impossible to understand up to this point.

So, back to your question: ‘what do I need to do to become a private tutor?’ First of all, check with your community school system. Find out what, if any, certifications or requirements are necessary for you to become a private tutor. Is this absolutely necessary? After all, you’re only planning to accept a few students from friends or referrals. Why would you need to be certified? Well, it depends entirely on the state and the county that you live in, but some states are quite strict about their policies on teaching minors. Children under 18 are protected under the statute of the law much more fiercely than any other age group.

If you begin tutoring students without required certifications or licensers, then you are opening yourself to major legal problems down the road. Of course, if you are only planning on helping a friend’s child or a family member, then usually there will be no issues with this. Nor if you’re a student in high school yourself. In most states, though, you won’t have to jump through any hoops to become a tutor, but it’s best to be certain.

Go to the local schools in your neighborhood and talk with administrators about the process of becoming a tutor. You may be required to go through a background check and other qualifying research. No one wants to send their child to a stranger’s house without being assured that they are safe. Of course, you can advertise in the local newspapers or circulars and wait for the phone to ring, too. Many people find tutors this way. The Internet is becoming a predominant force in connecting people with needs to those that can fill those needs. Become affiliated with locally oriented sites that will put you in touch with parents seeking tutors.

Perhaps the most important thing you need to have in order to be a successful tutor is the desire to help others. Tutoring isn’t about making money, though it’s certainly possible to earn a fair wage tutoring. It’s about helping someone learn the topic that you are an expert in. If you’re a high school math tutor, then you have not only the education and experience to teach math and help students understand this troubling subject, but you love math as well and want others to at least appreciate it.

The value of tutoring jobs to students can be far too many to list in any article or report, but one of the most critical values for students is that they learn that with a little effort and some targeted guidance, they can do just about anything they put their mind to.

We teach our children every day that they can do whatever they want to in life, but as their high school careers move forward, for many of them, obstacles, roadblocks, and unforeseen difficulties arise. Math may have been simple for a student in ninth and tenth grade, but when they started with calculus in their junior or senior year, everything changed. Suddenly they were struggling to achieve passing grades and beginning to doubt their abilities in other subjects as well. Success is contagious and so is failure.

As a private tutor, your job includes helping the student to right their ship as well as showing them new strategies for approaching difficult problems. Some students want their tutors to solve their homework assignments for them and a few can even be quite clever in how they go about this deception. Your job is not to do the work for them but instead to guide them through the process.

Empowerment is an incredible benefit to any young life looking to the future with anticipation and hope. Their difficulties could stem from one topic that isn’t sinking in yet, or family problems at home. Being a private tutor also offers the student an extra shoulder to lean on and to feel that they have someone they can turn to when difficulties arise.

When you become a tutor, you become so much more than just a mentor and the value of that can never be overstated.

Strategies for Engaging Children in Lessons

Posted January 16th, 2010 4:34 PM PST

In both the classroom and private instruction situations, teachers face the challenge of engaging students in learning. After all, this is the “entertain me” generation; it can be difficult for teachers and tutors to compete with video games, iPods, and cell phones. Therefore, instructors of all kinds rely on particular strategies to engage students in their specific learning situation, whether it is algebra tutoring or guitar lessons. These strategies may be divided into two categories – instructional and affective (e.g., motivation and attitude).

Active Learning

One instructional strategy that teachers and tutors use to engage students is to design active learning situations for students. Parents may remember (not so fondly) instruction in their elementary and high school years that included reading the chapter and answering the questions at the end, or defining a list of terms. This is decidedly NOT active learning. In active learning classrooms or tutoring, one would expect to see students doing hands-on science experiments and working in groups, and not relying on pencil-and-paper tasks.  Fortunately, private tutoring in both academics and music provides ample opportunities for active engagement in a one-to-one setting.

Relevant Examples

Teachers and tutors should strive to make learning as relevant as possible, as students are more likely to participate and engage with the content if they understand the reason for learning. Students are motivated when a clear purpose for learning is provided, and when they can relate to the content. It may be a challenge for students to be able to relate to geometry concepts provided in class, but a private tutor may be able to take the time to develop connections for the student by posing relevant geometry problems (e.g., if you are going to hang Christmas lights for your mother, and the roof is 15 feet high, and your ladder will need to be placed 6 feet from the side of the house, how tall will your ladder need to be?).

Appropriate Challenges

A third instructional strategy that teachers and tutors might use to engage students is selecting tasks that are at an appropriate difficulty level. Nothing is more frustrating to students (of any age) than to approach a task that is far too difficult. Consider this: if you had just started a workout regimen, and your trainer asked you to run a 5K this weekend, that would be too difficult for you, and you might become frustrated and attempt to avoid related tasks. Students learn best when a task is challenging, and they have to “stretch” a bit in order to achieve it. When they do, this success motivates them to continue to learn.

Productive Focus

Private instruction in particular lends itself to a fourth effective instructional strategy: time on task. In a classroom full of students, it is common for children to get “off task” – getting up to sharpen pencils, talking with friends, daydreaming, and searching for materials. In private tutoring, however, the one-on-one attention that a student receives ensures that he or she will remain focused on the task at hand. This individualized attention promotes active engagement by the student which, in turn, increases achievement.

In addition to instructional strategies, there are also strategies that impact the affective domain of students – their motivation and attitude. In many cases, a student’s affect has as much impact on his or her achievement as natural learning ability. The qualities of persistence, responsibility, and self-confidence, for example, serve students well, and may allow them to tackle tasks that are difficult, and remain motivated to complete them.

Set Goals

One strategy that teachers, tutors, and parents can use to help engage students in learning is to set high expectations. It is a well-known adage in education that students will strive to reach the “bar” that the teacher sets. Therefore, if a teacher, tutor, or parent sets a low standard, the students will strive to meet only that; they often lack the maturity to push themselves beyond what is expected. So, setting high expectations, and letting students know that you believe they can reach that goal promotes increased involvement in learning.

Provide Encouragement

As always, the most effective strategy that teachers, tutors, and parents can implement is to offer consistent support and encouragement. If students are positively reinforced for their performance, they are far more likely to repeat that behavior over and over again. Be specific when praising students; “You multiplied those fractions exactly right” is more effective than a simple “Good job.” 

Student engagement is a critical component in all learning situations – whether formal or informal, whether in the classroom or private instruction. Use of strategies that promote active learning can ensure increased achievement in all skill areas.