A few years ago, I heard about this woman who was an incredible tutor.
She was in such demand that only a lucky few got to work with her. I knew I
would die for a reputation like hers.
Fast forward to now and I am nowhere near where my dad would want me to
be and not even close to the woman who has no more time to give!
High expectations and lofty goals; on a positive note, I still have
time and I am learning as I go.
When I am approached to tutor
a child, I set up a one-time free custom assessment for that child where a
parent or parents are also in attendance. They literally get instant feedback
as to what I can do for the child based on my observations from the assessment.
At that point in time, both parties can either move forward or call it a day. I
give parents time to think about it and get back to me. If I really like the
parents, I will accommodate them as much as I can with scheduling. If not, I
can come up with a few reasonable excuses to decline an opportunity to work
with their child(ren).
The freedom to pick my work environment is important to me. At the end
of the day, I am my own boss!
If all of the above seems
easy, it certainly is not! I have to think about my own children and how it
affects them. My home is also my work place. So, I have had to decline a few
kids without even meeting them. Some, I will still meet and assess as parents
are very earnest in requesting at least some feedback about how they can help
their children. The rest, whom I have actually taken on, leave me with a
constant fear of if I am doing the best for them?!
The ability to choose has not made my life easy by any means. Sometimes
I wish I had no choice so I can blame someone else for my fears...
Over the last 3 weeks, I have
been working with a 7 year old girl. I see her at 5:30 pm on Mondays. I
knew when I took her on that she is shy and her mom would like her to be
assertive. I was confident that I could work with this child and produce
results the parent wants. Last week, I wasn't so sure of myself. This child
barely cracked a smile and showed very little emotion.
As much as a writer dreads looking at a blank page without feeling an
inspiration to write something, it is worse for a teacher to look into the
lifeless eyes of a pupil!
Today, as ASid was about to
leave for his own French tutoring session, I remarked how I feel terrible about
this child who looks like she is forced to endure an hour of some horror with
me. The boy looks at me and advises that I do a song and a dance and everything
I can for this child before I talk that way! He was like play a game with her;
make it fun for her.
First, I was like “Hey! That
is my advice to you!” And then, I was like “Great advice!”
I actually decided to sing
and dance if I needed to! This is a 7 year old and suddenly the littlest of
them all had become my biggest challenge!
And we got through it. I didn’t
dance, but I sang to her. When her mom came to pick her up, I told her that she
has the next Monday off as it is Thanksgiving Day. To my surprise, the mom was
disappointed and wanted a makeup session. I told her that the child would
probably like a break from me and the mom said that her child looks forward to
working with me on Mondays.
What?!
I wanted to tell the mom that
I didn’t believe her one bit; but then the child smiled the biggest smile ever
and nodded in agreement with her mom.
Even as I am writing about it
here, I find that moment unbelievable. All I can tell myself is that if I
continue to care as much as I do and give it my best, even the littlest of them
will sense that and learn to appreciate my efforts.
I must never ever give up on the dream of becoming the woman who is so
much in demand that she has no more time to give! It is achievable!
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