17. How to accept praise.
Over the years, dozens of students have told me that they have passed math classes only because of my personal help. Any tutor who dos this for a long time will have the same experience. When it happens, there is the question of how you should react to it. Every tutor must make their own decision about their response to a student when this kind of praise occurs, and I certainly would not be so arrogant as to tell you how to react. But I will tell you how I react. I have three responses. First, I tell the student that THEY are the ones doing the work, achieving the accomplishment, and the ones to be cheered. I as tutor and only the facilitator of their achievement. Two, I feel good inside. Quietly. And three, I go home and tell my wife what was said to me. I want her to know that the time I invest is worthwhile, and – to be perfectly honest – I want her to know that I am a good tutor.