# Discouraged from tutoring/instructing



## acidicwithpanic (May 14, 2014)

I've been working kind of self-employed as a math tutor / violin instructor, and I'm still highly inexperienced. I'm well-aware that I'll become better over time with more experience, but there's so much anxiety getting in my way over how I get the impression that I've been screwing clients over for money I didn't deserve at the end of each lesson. I never am fully satisfied with how I perform on each session, so much that I feel conflicted about taking my clients money and wonder if I should be giving free sessions until I feel that I'm capable of doing a better job. Part of the reason why I decided to tutor/teach was to overcome my anxiety, but it's becoming apparent that it's been making it worse in some respects. 

Are there any tutors / private teachers that would like to share their experiences, tips, advice, etc? I don't want to give up just too soon, but I'm unsure whether or not I should just abandon this route to save myself anymore trouble.


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## ghost dog (Sep 8, 2013)

If they weren't happy with your lessons, they would stop taking them.


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## acidicwithpanic (May 14, 2014)

ghost dog said:


> If they weren't happy with your lessons, they would stop taking them.


Thanks, didn't consider that before, and that sounded encouraging.

I have had students leave me altogether for other tutors who were more experienced and probably better. That itself never offended me, but it's the fact that they pretty much put so much of their money into me and relied on me to be somewhat of a miracle worker only to not achieve the full results they wanted. I was wondering if other tutors have experienced this kind of guilt at one point.


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## firestar (Jun 27, 2009)

I was told I would never be an entertaining teacher. 

The next thing I did was teach kids for four years. I left on good terms with the company. Everybody goes through a learning curve. I wasn't that good at first, either, but I steadily improved.


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## Ominous Indeed (Sep 6, 2015)

@acidicwithpanic

How do you do this? Become a self-employed math tutor I mean. Do you use a specific service/website or do you just hang stickers on the schools "Call me for private tutoring" etc?

I probably have to get a small job besides school this year so I'd like to do some math tutoring as well.


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