|
|
Tutoring: Trading your brainpower for someone else's daddy's moneyJul 11 '00 Write an essay on this topic.What part-time gig gives you the chance to make a crazy hourly rate (I've topped $40/hr), work any hours you please, and meet cute nursing students? That would be tutoring. Of all the things I did for pizza and beer money in college (some of which we will not discuss until the statute of limitations has expired), this was the most fun, the most rewarding, and without doubt the most profitable. Part of the beauty of tutoring is that anyone can do it, but to be honest, not everyone should do it. So how do you know if it's the gig for you? There are a few things that should come together before you hang out your shingle: You should know at least one subject (preferably more), and know it well. This is obvious, but it is also the sine qua non of one-on-one tutoring. If you don't know a subject and know it cold, you won't get repeat business or recommendations, and you'll be back to hosing down trays in the cafeteria. I was lucky to know some subjects that most students needed and even more students hated. I could teach anything from the first three years of the physics curriculum, the first two years of math courses, and often branched into chemistry or statistics when it was called for. A lot of these things were get-it-out-of-the-way requirements for nursing and pre-med majors, and relatively important stuff for engineering types. Of course, these don't have to be your subjects. You may have something else marketable - maybe you know your art history, or your English is good enough to help a foreign student with his required writing courses. But don't despair if your subject matter is obscure - medieval French poetry, for instance - if you can find someone who needs to learn it, you can actually charge more for knowing the obscure stuff. (I also spent some time helping others with their introductory Chinese - and not at the same price I was teaching Physics 110.) You should have a pleasant personal manner, and be able to teach These sound like separate requirements, but I find they go hand-in-hand. Two-thirds of teaching (or anyway, the teaching I've done) consists of getting the student interested and open-minded enough to absorb the material on her own, and a large part of that is accomplished just by being engaging and approachable. Encourage questions, even if you're hearing them for the fourth time (and if you are, evaluate where you're screwing up). Joke around a little, if that's your style. Be as sociable as possible without losing focus on the material you're teaching - it makes a huge difference in outcome. Of course, teaching is more than being good company. As I've said, you do need to know your stuff, and you need to be able to explain it - which is a lot different than just knowing it. When I taught physics, I went in with a whole lot more than memorized laws and equations: I'd worked so many of the homework problems that I could make up my own on the spot, and I got good at constructing thought experiments that got across basic principles with clarity. Whatever your subject matter is, develop a set of tools for getting across the material and making it engaging. You need to be patient When you tutor, you get only the most self-motivated students, to whom learning the subject matter is important enough that they'll give you the money they could be spending on pizza and beer. This makes life easier, but not easy; If your material were so easy to teach and learn, they wouldn't need you, would they? When you have to explain something for the fourth time (which happens even with the best and brightest clients), take a deep breath and remind yourself that you weren't born knowing this stuff either, even if you picked it up a lot faster. Also, you'll likely get a number of students in similar classes, covering similar material. Even when it gets boring for you, you've got to keep it fresh for them. Also, I need to level with you: You will meet someone stupid. I'd like to say there's no such thing as someone too far gone to benefit from your expert tutelage, but it would be a lie. I've had clients who couldn't possibly get any dumber without having to be watered twice a day. They aren't bad, and they're often quite motivated - after all, they put forth the effort to seek your help. You and they will likely experience frustration when the art and skill you breathe and eat is incomprehensible to the student, but you must both stay calm and focused - it may take time, but you will get through it if you both make a sincere effort. You must be at least moderately responsible If you tutor, you will make appointments. You should expect to keep them. You should not show up for a session hung over, even if you know your client will. You should plan ahead and bring with you anything you might need - reference materials, scratch paper, calculator, discussion notes, your brain, the works. If, during a session, you get a question you cannot answer and tell your client you'll look it up and bring the information back to your next session, you'd better do it, or be ready to lose business. Even if you keep no records, you're still running a business, and you should show at least a modicum of professionality. Show up on time, fed, rested, and smelling good. So, now that you have some idea how to decide if being a tutor is something you want to do, how do you go about it? Get your name out there I blew ten bucks making photocopies of flyers that I stapled all over campus. Across the top, in huge typeface, was the word "TUTOR". Below that, in smaller but still immediately visible type, was my first name and phone number, and beneath that was a list of subjects I felt comfortable teaching, some with course numbers, followed by an exhortation to ask me about other subjects and group rates. I also claimed that my rates were reasonable and my schedule flexible. Along the bottom two inches I had printed my name and number repeatedly, and used scissors to cut these into convenient tear-off strips. As you can see, it doesn't have to be fancy - it just has to catch the eye and tell someone how you can help them. The tear-off phone numbers are definitely worth the effort, by the way. When the calls start coming in When your signs start showing results (which has happened for me in as little as 20 minutes), you need to be ready to take the calls. When a student calls, keep in mind that you have to know what you're doing - they're calling specifically because they don't know what they're doing. For every student who calls: - Find out with what subject they need help, and the specific material you'll have to cover. Be sure that you're able to teach it, and study up and do prep work before your appointment. - Find a mutually agreeable time, make it clear that you will be there, and that you expect that your client will also be there. If possible, use the word "commitment" when confirming your date. Get a date book so you aren't scrambling for scraps of paper. - Talk money. Don't be shy - you're worth it. I'll get into what you should charge below, but be sure the student knows that payment is expected, and how much it is. - Let the student know how he should prepare, and tell him any terms or conditions on your service. I always had people bring the relevant course text, scratch paper, calculator, and homework assignments, and I strongly specified "cash only". - Answer any questions. Potential clients may ask about your qualifications, or whether you've taken a particular course, or anything else they think will help them decide if you're any good. Be prepared to answer all questions honestly. - Thank this student for calling you. Yours was probably not the only sign up there. What's the going rate? That's a good question. When I started in 1990, I was a sophomore at a state school, and I charged $6 per hour, and a slightly lower per-person rate for groups. Later, I was a grad student at a well-monied private institution, and I could charge $20 an hour and nobody blinked. In retrospect, I probably should have charged more in the early years. In my experience, the more you demand (within reason), the more your expertise is perceived as valuable, so long as you aren't going higher than the market will bear. What will the market bear? One way to find out is to get other tutors' numbers and call them, feeling them out as a prospective client might. Compare their rates and qualifications, and see where you think you fit in. If the hourly rate isn't all you were hoping for, don't despair. If your teaching style is at least moderately polished, you needn't limit yourself to one person at a time. Offer to give people a deal if they refer business, or offer lower per-person rates for groups (but be careful you don't make them too large for you to handle). Once I learned my chops, I'd hold pre-exam reviews with 5-10 students each giving me $10 at the door for a two-hour comprehensive review. Ethical Questions There are a few ethical questions that may pop up in the course of your budding career as a freelance tutor. Here are the answers to some of them: - Don't sleep with your students, even the cute nursing majors. That's bad business practice, and makes exchanging money really uncomfortable. - Don't tear down other tutors' signs. Just don't. - If you're a teaching assistant, tread extra carefully around your department - in fact, you may even want to ask permission from your advisor before hanging out your shingle on campus. And don't ever charge students in your class section for your help; they've already paid for it. - If you somehow screw up a session beyond hope, if you really know that you didn't give the client anything that session, and it wasn't the client's fault, don't take the money. Summary This job certainly isn't for everyone, but if you think you can do it and know that you want to do it, give it a try, stay flexible, and have fun with it. Be creative about how you do it, and be responsive to your clients' needs, and the profit potential for this little business is big. One added bonus to this "job" that I enjoyed so much, and that I should share with you, is this secret: You will never know your subject matter so well as after you've successfully taught it. It will increase your mastery and expertise within your field in ways that will surprise you. My Recommendation: Get paid to be smart.  |
| Read all comments (2)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
