This week we were asked to dig back into our photo albums and pull up a past summer adventure. Mine isn't a fun trip or activity... I decided to share about a favorite summer teaching adventure that really helped bring my dreams of teaching to life at an early age.
When I finished high school, I started tutoring. This quickly evolved into my own summer tutoring business out of my parents home. I set up a classroom in their basement so I could make the sessions as fun and engaging as possible. I prepared the lessons and set up for each session. I worked my tail off to get clients... I passed out flyers, business cards, emails, found community bulletin boards, etc!
I tutored students pre K - 8th grade and adults with special needs. Some summers I had between 15-17 students I saw weekly or bi-weekly! It was an enormous amount of time. I truly worked a full work day either with the kids or preparing and usually at least one weekend day. I gave a summary sheet to parents at the end of each session so they knew exactly what we did and what to do at home the next week.
As a college student, you only had so much time in the classroom and it wasn't your classroom. This was a way to have my own classroom, work for myself, and have sweet memories helping kids love to learn!
I often think back to my tutoring days when teaching at school because there's just something so sweet and so influential working 1:1 for a chunk of time with a child. As classroom teachers, we are always juggling so much, it's like a treat to get to really focus on a small group.
I don't tutor any more because I spent last summer getting married/honeymoon/moving and this summer had surgery and am blogging/TPT among other things. I'm missing the relationships of tutoring a bit. However, my life is teaching so I am trying to invest more in my health, time with my husband, etc since teacher summers are not actually that long! Maybe someday I will get back into it or just enjoy working with my own children!
If you are developing a personal tutoring business and have any questions, let me know. If I can be of help to you, I am happy to do so!
What an amazing experience! That is quite the workload to take on but I am sure the rewards were worth it :)
ReplyDeleteAww, that's really sweet. I'm sure those are relationships and memories you'll cherish for a long time.
ReplyDeleteRachael
What a great flashback!! Really enjoyed reading all about your tutoring. That's just an amazing way to make a difference in lives. I'm sure you'll treasure those times forever!!
ReplyDeleteJessica
www.prideandprimary.com
Marie, I loved reading about your summer flashback memory. Sounds like you had quite the business. I love how you set up your parent's basement to make it engaging and exciting for the students you tutored. You can definitely tell you love working with your students from all the time and effort you put forth, they are lucky to have you. Thanks for sharing and linking up with us!
ReplyDelete