I am a student on Italki, and I would like to chime in with a comment. I think it's important for teachers to recognize when they are being too negative with a student. We all have lives outside of our lessons, and there are many important things that consume our time. Sometimes we have hours to study and do homework, and sometimes there is hardly an hour to do so. When a teacher berates you for not studying enough when it's been made clear your free time is spotty, well, that's a bit unprofessional.
I am talking about when a teacher pushes a student faster than they are able to handle. For example, if a student tells you that it may be a good time to review since they are forgetting some vocabulary and think that would help, perhaps it's a good idea not to push to the next lesson (or two). A student who continues with their lessons and keeps making progress is going to get there, and I don't think it's a good idea to push them to a pace you think they should be at. After all, they are the student and decide what they wish to learn and to what level.
Another problem that you can encounter is when a teacher changes behavior based upon mood. Maybe in a good mood you're helpful and supportive and the person is challenged just enough to learn, but another day you're in a bad mood and it carries over into your session and you're very negative and you simply discourage the student. I don't mind a good mood or neutral mood, but a bad mood is just unprofessional and this seems like the wrong place to take that. Even when I have a bad day, I come to my lesson with an open mind and a desire to learn something.
I suppose my underlying point here is that when a student gives you feedback, you should probably strongly consider what they have to say. If you do not care, then why bother teaching?
