As a tutor, you may feel that you are on this path alone. We tend to work in isolation and the unease of income stability is always hanging over your head.
Besides that, we need to be always on the ball to deal with all sorts of students every single day. As a tutor are always on the go and each session you have is different from the other. Sometimes, it can be too much to deal with these students that you feel like quitting. While sometimes, you may feel the pressure from overanxious parents who keep questioning your teaching methods.
When you feel down and uninspired, how do you motivate yourself again and teach?
Down below are some ways on how you can motivate yourself as a tutor.
Set yourself goals
Usually, when you work in any profession, you have a goal in mind that you want to reach.
It could be buying a house with the money that you saved from work, or get a promotion. For tutors, they tend to lose their motivation to teach if they don’t have a clear goal after each class.
With this in mind, think about what you want to do with the money that you earned from tutoring or why you want to teach in the first place. It can be saving up for that dream holiday in Europe or it can be reaching the target of having more than 10 regular students in your care.
Your goal can be anything, so think carefully!
Teach your students something important
Another reason why some tutors lose their motivation is the fact that they are unable to teach other things to students. For example, they know analytical skills that would definitely benefit a child who wishes to pursue law or ethics. But they are hired to teach the child the basics because that is in their contract.
Tutors must not let these limits stop them from teaching students something they can use in the future. You can change your lesson plans to help develop these trivial skills while still teaching the subject matter.
You can also adjust the lessons to make difficult subjects simple, age-appropriate and interesting for students who find it hard to understand them.
Learn something about/ from your students
As a tutor, you will be handling students of all ages, grade levels and preferences.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to connect to these students because you don’t get to know them better. You have to keep jumping from student to student and you only have limited time with them.
As a teacher, we should stand in as a mentor to students but if you don’t have the chance to get to know them, you can’t fulfil that role.
A good way to stop this disappointment is by taking a short time in your lessons to get to know your students. You can do this before you begin your session with them. You can ask them what happened during their classes at school or about their day in general. In turn, you can also tell them a bit about your day.
Doing this not only helps you learn more about your student but also learn something from them. It could be new ways on how lessons are done for certain subjects, or what subjects are taught in school today.
Go to workshops
Sometimes, tutors don’t get motivated because they are teaching the same thing every day. However, as much as they would like to teach new things to their students, they can’t because they don’t have the skills or training for it.
A good way to get past this problem is allotting a day or two for you to go to workshops. There are quite a lot of workshops online and offline for tutors to try out. These workshops teach almost anything under the sun. There are even workshops that can help you restore your drive to teach.
Give workshops
Teachers don’t just teach students, they also teach themselves and others with what they learn from their experience.
Some greatly enjoy this because they can create new ways to teach and help students.
If you have several tips you want to teach your fellow tutors and teachers, why not provide a workshop for them? There are platforms that you can volunteer your insights into tutoring and maybe even get paid for doing workshops and courses online!
Take new courses
If you find yourself bored with the things you are teaching your students, maybe its time you revise your tutoring services.
You can enrol in new courses which you can add to your roster, or even take a qualification to show that you are an expert in your chosen subject.
Of course, if you will be doing tutoring part-time, you will need to assess how you study at the same time without burning out.
Change Your Routine
It is also possible that you are not motivated as a tutor because your routine is starting to get boring.
Boredom can be very dangerous, especially for tutors who are handling a lot of students. If you become bored, you will not give your 100% and your students will pick up your boredom as well.
If you feel like the routine is too boring, why not shift it up a bit? You can change the order on how you teach subjects or change the way you can challenge your students. You can also try out adding games to your lessons or change the learning environment for your student before you teach them.
The possibilities are endless so don’t be afraid to experiment.
Experiment New Teaching Methods
Finally, it is possible that you tend to lose your motivation to teach because your teaching method can no longer teach well.
It is very easy to correct this by researching new teaching methods you can use in your sessions. You can do this by checking the internet or looking at tutoring forums. You can also look at what your student’s learning style is like and change your lessons to fit them.
Adding interactive games and educational videos can also help change the way your students learn your lessons.
Conclusion
It is ok to feel down sometimes when work can get a little too much. However, you should not give up, especially if you have students who depend on you. These tips above will help you move forward and stay true to your creed in teaching these students.
Looking for fun ways to make your classes interesting? Check these tips out:
How Do You Stay Relevant As A Tutor?
Fun Physics Hands On Activities for Young Kids That You Can Do At Home
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