Teacher Burnout: 10 Reasons Tutoring Will Save You
The more teachers I talk to, the more I realize how common teacher burnout is. It manifests in different ways, but one common thread is feeling like you haven’t a clue why you’re still teaching.
Between all the extra unpaid hours and added stress of behavior problems, teachers commonly say the profession has changed since they first started.
I know this personally because it happened to me.
It wasn’t all that long ago that I was crying in my car after school wondering why I’d become a teacher in the first place. Teaching was in my blood. Heck, my dad is a teacher. I always felt a natural calling to it and I was living my best life while in the classroom.
A horrible principal, changing schools, and behavior problems are the straws that broke the camel’s back. I was tired of feeling emotionally drained at the end of the day.
If you’re reading this, you might be able to relate?
Maybe you love your school, your classroom and your job, but are frustrated that your income is always fixed? Maybe you don’t love your current teaching situation, but don’t feel like you have options?
All of this has very real effects on our happiness. Our stress levels. Our sense of control over our lives and our future.
Starting a tutoring business literally saved me from the depths of teacher burnout. If you’re a teacher experiencing burnout, my hope is that it can save you too. (You can read my full struggle with teacher burnout here.)
It’s my mission to help teachers create a sense of freedom and control in their lives by creating a profitable side hustle using skills they already have.
I truly believe tutoring can be the spark that lights your teaching fire again.
10 Reasons Tutoring Will Save You:
Working 1-1 with students isn’t something we get to do a lot in the classroom. Between juggling 25 or more kids, behavior problems, and insane things our school districts ask us to do, we mostly do large/small group lessons. When you tutor, you get to sit down 1-1 with your client and really get to know their learning style.
You chose the content! It’s your business and you’re in charge of what niche you tutor in. Which means you get to focus on what you’re most passionate about teaching! I love teaching reading and writing, so that’s what I mostly tutor my clients in. How amazing would it be to tutor kids in something you love?
Grateful parents will remind you why you started teaching in the first place. Think back to a time when you a parent thanked you for something you did for their child. What did it feel like? Did it absolutely make your day? Now multiply that by how many tutoring clients you have and you’ll be floating on cloud 9 every week instead of once in a blue moon. Tutoring allows you to work with motivated students and grateful parents who provide steady revenue for you.
Tutoring from home is the perfect solution to having control over your schedule and getting to do what you love. With very simple tools like Zoom, tutoring online has never been more practical. Seeing your tutoring client’s face light up when you come on the screen will erase anything that happened that day.
5. Because each tutoring session is only 30 minutes, it fits easily into your schedule. You can do a few sessions during the week, or line them all up on a Saturday morning and get on with your day. Having a sense of control over your schedule (which we don’t get as classroom teachers) makes all the difference in the world on how we feel after a long day.
6. Using skills you already have as a teacher means you aren’t learning something new just to make a few extra bucks. Annnnd because you are using skills you’re passionate about, it will shine through when you’re working with your clients.
7. Tutoring will not only show the best sides of you, but you’ll go back to the classroom feeling passionate again and like their skills are in demand
8. Enjoy your classroom again because tutoring ignites the love of teaching that you once had. The energy and spark from my side-hustle that carries me through the school day. And the ability to bring in extra cash on top of my salary, without giving up on my pension. That’s the magic of a tutoring business.
9. You’ll regain self-confidence that you never knew you had. Setting up your tutoring business will have you shouting like Elle Woods at the end of Legally Blonde “We did it!”
10. The ability to spend your extra cash on things that matter to you. Paying off student loans, or your car, booking a flight to Italy over summer break or putting your kids into dance or soccer without worrying about the cost. How amazing would that be?
So there you have it. 10 reasons tutoring will save you.
James Clear says “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” Those are powerful words from his book Atomic Habits. Tutoring is just the action for you to take to be the type of person you wish to become.
If you felt excited by teaching again how would that change your life?
Why not you? Why can’t you have a profitable side-hustle, too?
Want to start tutoring but have no idea where to begin? Check out my FREE GUIDE on the first 10 steps you need to take to get started right now!
