A new student booked an appointment with me today. She chose what I list as a one-hour class, but she booked it as a 45-minute class. The amount I charge for the one hour went down as well, although not proportionately (i.e., it was higher than 3/4 of my usual rate). I did not realize that italki permitted students to modify the length of a lesson. I'm willing to accept this particular booking, but I am worried that someone may decide to turn an hour-long lesson into a 20- or 30-minute lesson based on what they want to pay (at which point, it really isn't worth my effort, and yet I would be <em>penalized</em> for refusing it in italki's ratings system, right?). Anyone else experienced this?
80 lessons? You retired maniac!
About half of my total students are here on italki, the other half come to me from "other". That means I have to use a special schedule to coordinate all the lessons I give every day. Last week I gave almost 80 lessons. That many lessons I can't manage alone. My secretary really helps a lot.
My advice to Brad C is don't worry about italki penalizing you, don't worry about students wanting to change the length of the lesson(s) because they are not in the driver's seat, you are. Just do what is best for the student. Do the best you can, after that it's just water under the bridge. Good luck and happy hunting.
I'm not quoting anybody, I needed the extra space... italki cut me off!
It is the teacher who controls the lesson and it's the teacher who sets the length; not the student, but again, I would be patient and understanding and I would discuss this with the student if possible.
Administrating lessons on italki requires a secretary to keep the lessons in order once you get to the level where you are busy and can't do it all by yourself. My secretary is the boss. She makes the schedule. She is the one who sheppards the students into the lessons scheduled with the Professor.
No, I have never experienced such. italki can be tricky; one needs to pay close attention when accepting the lesson. I have never had a student change the length of a lesson via italki but often enough a student will have something come up during a lesson and sometimes the Internet connection fails and the minutes tick away with no lesson happening. Teaching on the Internet and via Skype is pretty unique. I have found that the students on italki are can be much more independent than in a school and I always talk with them about the lesson, the ideal length of a lesson, and I try to work around logistical problems.
