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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Advice for private classes
Advice for private classes
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colibrita
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Advice for private classes
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Hi! This question is for those of you who teach one-to-one private classes...
How do you get the message across to students nicely that if they arrive late for class (for whatever reason) it �s their responsibility? They shouldn �t expect me to extend the class for free or only charge for an hour becuase they are 30 mins late for a 90 min class. I don �t do classes back to back out of choice but that may give the impression that I am available to be superflexible. I �m quite frustated to be honest becuase I �m not a clock-watching teacher and my classes already continue for 5-10 minutes (sometimes 20 minutes more) than the allotted time. I want to be super nice about it but get my point across. Can anyone help? A nice analogy would be cool.
Thanks for listening!
Colibrita
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13 Dec 2012
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ueslteacher
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Maybe this would be of some help http://busyteacher.org/7764-how-to-handle-disruptive-students.html http://busyteacher.org/4834-teaching-adult-learners-how-to-handle-attendance.html
Sophia
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13 Dec 2012
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johanne23232
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Hi colibrita,
My best advice to you, from my own experience, is to set down the rules right from the beginning, before you ever start teaching them...make it clear that the lesson starts on time and ends on time as well, and therefore any late arrivals are their own expense.
If you didn �t do so in the beginning, I �d do it now if I were you. Simply tell them that you have noticed their tardiness and that you want to remind them that they are missing out on precious lesson time, and that you will no longer be able to keep them after the set time.
Hope it works out,
Johanne
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13 Dec 2012
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EstherLee76
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I teach private classes in my home. If the lesson starts at four, it starts at four. If they �re late, they �re late. I have small classes, so I have them doing activities while we wait for the others to come. (The culture is the way it is down here and there �s not much you can do about it.) When mostly everybody arrives, I start the plenary activities.But if then lesson ends at 6:00, it ends at 6:00. I send them to watch TV while they wait for their parents. If the parent is really late, the child gives them an earful. |
13 Dec 2012
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anamia
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Hi! I, like you, give private lessons, but I don �t do that at my home. I go to my students home. That way they are responsible for the atmosphere and the time. I tried giving lessons at home, but it was no good, they were coming late, or wouldn �t come at all, parents would come reallllly late to pick them up, then they would feel � �lazy � � and so on, so I changed the place. I ALWAYS come on time and leave after 2 school hours ( 90 min ). If there is a need to do some extra work, I stay longer and it is paid extra. If by any change the student isn �t at home and comes late, I still leave after 90 min. or they pay extra. If the student is sick or has some other activities he/she has to cancel the lesson on time. It took me a while to train them and now I haven �t got any problems. I don �t know if you are able to go to your students home, but I hope I could help.  Anamia |
13 Dec 2012
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SaraMariam
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The best is really like Johanne says, it must be all clear from the beginning. However sometimes even that only works for a certain amount of time and then the parents or students start to test you to see how far they can go.
To find a nice way to explain to them that you also have a life (which they often forget) isn �t all that easy. What I usually do, which always helps actually, is, that I tell them that I chain the lessons (don �t know if that �s the right word in English?), meaning that I have a student from 4-5h, then from 5-6 and from 6-7h for example and that if you / your kid comes late, I don �t have time to take care of it, even if I would really love to do it (...), but I really can �t because I �m full with students (like be happy that you got a place - undertone) so you must understand that it really is your responsibility to come in time. Since we all don �t want to loose the precious time that the student deserves.
Also, when you speak like that they see that you have many other people just waiting to be taught by you and that they better keep the rules if they don �t want to go find another teacher. I �m not kidding, I actually had parents telling me that (like: better we come in time, or else you might replace us with somebody else if you can �t count on us taking things serious) and after that they even started to call me 5 minutes before the lesson telling me that they will be there in 2 minutes. Let them know you are busy (don �t exaggerate though or it will look like you have too much on your mind to give good lessons), be determined and show them self confidence, that is the most important thing. If you show you are too nice (which I think most of us actually are) they will do whatever they want.
The problem is when you are teaching private, that they often tend to not take you too serious as they think that they pay you so it �s like that they are your boss and they can do what they want. And it is your role to make them understand that that �s not the way it �s working. Sometimes we have to be strict, even if normally we are pretty nice and cool people :p But don �t let them get over you, because that will just end in you getting frustrated and not happy with your work which will show also in the lessons you give. I �ve been teaching private for about 10 years now and have seen them all .. and this is the only way things work halfways ok after having tried everything else.
Well, at least this is what works for me. Maybe others have better ideas ;) I�m eager to hear them as well :)
Have a nice evening :)
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13 Dec 2012
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colibrita
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Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to respond. I absolutely agree with telling the students upfront about your "rules" and it �s what I do. Alas I didn �t add to the list that classes must start and finish on the agreed time because I really thought that was obvious, a given, something that everyone understood without having to put it in black and white.
Johanne I really liked your bit about late arrivals must be at their own expense, that �s it in a nutshell, really. I can not be expected to lose out on income every time somebody gets stuck in a traffic jam, post office queue or whatever. And Sara Mariam, oh now and then they so absolutely think they can be the boss of you, you are soooo right. And another thing you said is very true, even telling them straight at the beginning they will still try and get one past you. In the end it all comes down to respect and unfortunately many who don �t teach have no idea how much time and effort (and expense) is involved in our profession.
Thanks again all for your help.
Hugs
Colibrita
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13 Dec 2012
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EstherLee76
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It �s nice to know that it �s a worldwide problem, isn �t it? You are not alone! |
13 Dec 2012
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jannabanna
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I �ve been very lucky in the past with most of the private students I �ve taught at home. I agree with what everyone here has said, but I �ve noticed that if with one student, late arrivals start at the very beginning, it will always be like that whatever you say or do. They are like that! I always tried to book another student in after them so, of course, they had to leave. It made them realize they were losing precious "learning" time. I NEVER gave anyone a discount because of late arrivals. Unfortunately with this type of lesson you often have people who don �t come or cancel at the last minute and they always have a good excuse! Janet |
14 Dec 2012
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