[Matt Pocock]

He owes you money! Send the heavies. Maybe offer him half-price cancellation fee on compassionate grounds?

[Matt Pocock]

I would be straight to the point with him and ask him outright about his behaviour. It’s not fair on you at all.

[Matt Pocock]

Eek, bad luck Beckie in having such a difficult situation land on your plate! It’s always tough when you think that someone might be on the spectrum, but time and again the advice I’ve been given is ‘set them boundaries, so they know what to stick to’. Even if he’s nowhere near the spectrum, my advice would be the same – give him a deadline to improve his behaviour by, and if he doesn’t stick to it (or relapses over three lessons) give him a month off teaching. Good luck – that is a doozie.6

[Matt Pocock]

The phrase I use is: “Really sorry, but it’s industry standard” when getting students to pay a cancellation fee. It’s a good’un – always works.

[Matt Pocock]

As for work-life balance – I teach from 10-7, but I get up at 7AM to do my admin and writing etc. I try and keep a gadget-free bedroom and TRY to put my work down in the evenings (but it’s tough sometimes!). I also keep a free day on Mondays to do admin – means I can catch up with friends and gently do all my accounts etc. Hope that helps 🙂