Every year I take a bit of time in the summer to reflect on the past school year, and damn, this year has certainly been a crazy one. In all kinds of good ways, but crazy nonetheless. When I first started working for myself 3 years ago, I literally had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. I just thought, sure, I'll teach adults in the morning, kids and teens in the afternoons and evenings, and I'll have more free time and more money than when I was working at a school.
AHAHAHA! What a naive little thing I was. Year 1 went alright, I figured out how to set up a website, write a blog and do all things administration like invoices and the like. Year 2 was insane, I took on way too many lessons and ended the year pretty tired and stressed. I decided year 3 was going to be different, and OMG it was. The single best thing about year 3 was that I realized that I had been splitting my energy and focus in a way that just didn't make sense.
I was born to teach kids. So I made some pretty drastic decisions and decided to focus my energy 110% on teaching kids. I invested in some pretty pricy professional development, and finally started to understand that running a business is so much more than filling up a schedule and making invoices. I've learned how to do so many things this year, and it certainly hasn't been all rainbows and unicorns, but it's all so worth it. When my little students tell me things like, "Claire, it's been fun doing English with you this year", or "No, I don't want the lesson to be over!", I know that I'm doing what I was meant to be doing.
As I do every year, I have to thank my students for brightening up my days, and their parents for trusting me to help their child learn English in my own special way. I have to thank all my students, both young and not so young, for all their kind words, support and amazing feedback. I'm so lucky to be able to do the job that I do in the way that I do it, and I wouldn't be able to do it if I didn't have such brilliant clients. Thank you all so much!
And so, with all the sappy stuff said, the blog will be taking its little summer siesta until September, and Teacher Claire will still be teaching, but maybe instead of writing my blog, I'll spend a bit more time hanging out in my vegetable garden, going to concerts, seeing friends, and of course, organizing all the super fun things I have planned for the 2024-2025 school year!
If you're new around here and are just stumbling across this post, make sure you're signed up to my newsletter! And if you're interested in 1-1 lessons for June and July, or are curious to know about my school year group courses for kids, you can book a discovery call or just check out the links for each.
Thanks again to everyone who has been hanging out with me on this crazy roller coaster ride, have a good summer and see you in September!
Comentários