advice about grinds from experienced teachers please?

I'll leave the taxes question aside for the moment...

I haven't really taken grinds in the last year but when I did I used to do the following:

Deal with the parent and not the student, I found when I had students ringing me for grinds and organising times etc, that they tended to be less diligent about attendance, possibly without their parents knowledge. I often got a text a couple of minutes before the student was due saying they weren't coming. I found that happened a lot less when there was a parent involved. Also if student doesn't get what they wanted or fails the subject, you won't have the parent coming back saying how come Johnny didn't pass his English, they will be quite annoyed when you say 'well he didn't turn up most of the time'. That kind of thing is not widespread but keep the parent in the loop.

Give them a set time and don't let them know you have other times available, over time if you get to know a student you can probably relax this otherwise they will always be chopping and changing on you if they know they can get away with it. I've had lads (in particular) text or ring going 'There's an extra football training session on tonight, so I was thinking of coming thursday instead if that's ok' No it's not ok. Give them a set time, if they can't come, they miss their grind for that week.


Now I've started out a bit negative, grinds aren't all that bad, but you do need ground rules. Same applies to punctuality, one girl I had before used to roll up 15-20 mins late and was outraged because I would stop 45 mins later and she didn't get her hour. I pointed out that my life didn't revolve around her and I had other things to do.


When you're starting up if you get an enquiry and it's going to be a one to one grind, find out as much as you can about the student. The obvious stuff first, are they doing Higher or Ordinary level, what grade they are looking for, what kind of grades they are getting at the moment, if it's LC, are they looking for a particular grade. It will give you an idea of the ability you are working with. Then find out if it's a particular part of the course they want help with or just the whole thing in general. Ask them to bring along their school books, notes, exam papers and whatever else they have. You might have resources but not the same as the student. Finding out as much as you can will save you from preparing a load of work that is too hard or too easy for them or not what they were looking for. When you are starting with a new student maybe agree beforehand what topic you will start with and you can arrange from week to week after that what needs to be done.

As for money issues - tell them what you charge up front and get payment up front, no grinds in arrears. The tax thing - most teachers that I know that do grinds do not declare them for taxes, some teachers so and a few have posted in this forum. What you choose to do is up to yourself.

One other thing, are you going to be doing the grinds in your home or their home? If it's in your home and you live at home/share with housemates you will have to have somewhere quiet to work without interruptions. It's not really fair on a student paying for your services if your housemates are in and out every five minutes. If it's their home, it's their call.

mimirose wrote: »

Really appreciate all the advice the main thing at this stage that I am worried about is putting up notices for grinds as I am in a new area and its the only way i can think of to get my name out there as a grind teacher but then am anxious about getting crucified by the taxman as I read in a newspaper article that they are cracking down on that sort of thing and do not want to draw a world of trouble of myself!

I really have no idea. I always got grinds through word of mouth. If you know anyone teaching in the area you could let them know you are available if they have students asking. Don't know how widespread the crackdown is on grinds earnings. I've never heard of anyone being caught by the taxman, although someone else on here may prove me wrong. Maybe just be a little choosy in where you put up your notices. There's also a thread in the Leaving Cert forum where you can put your details. Have a read of it.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=117777

YFlyer wrote: »

Do you need Garda vetting for giving grinds to under 18?
Would it be better to decide beforehand what subsection to teach rather than expected to know all from the off?

That's a sad reflection on society, but I was thinking the exact same thing myself.

But how on earth can revenue prove anything without an actual paper trail?

I would imagine if someone is doing grinds in a big way and/or group grinds that they might be asking for trouble,but otherwise someone making a quiet few bob is hardly rocking the foundations of the state. Though all this talk of revenue investigations and Garda vetting smacks more and more of a police state.

And before anyone gets all high and mighty and accuses me of being a bad citizen,my view is that we already hand over a fortune in taxes and levies and get precious little value for it. Giving a grind and having to hand half of it over to the tax man is a huge disincentive to giving the grind in the first place. But personally,I don't give grinds. I've neither the time nor the energy.

But I am an English teacher OP and my advice is to establish in advance what exactly will need to be covered and stick to that.You can't possibly do a bit of everything in one hour a week,so you do a much better job specifying and specialising. Best of luck.I do hope you sort out something,because it's a good way for new teachers to get familiar with aspects of the course.