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I moved into my new space towards the end of 2018 and as such needed to trial out different set ups for my new space. I'm lucky in that, in my new home, I have a room that is a dedicated office space but a lot of the tips and strategies that I have used can be used in multipurpose spaces as well.
Things that I would change if money was no option and I taught purely for the love of it (someday ladies and gents, someday):
Tips:
Here is a link to the light I use on my laptop for online teaching. It's technically a selfie light but works great as a clip on light to pair with my on-board camera.
Until next time,
My referral code is: HEATH0116
The number one question when looking to start a side hustle... how much can I make at it? Is it worth my time? I can't answer the second question for you (though I will suggest that it is worth the time it is a personal decision) I can give you the information to make the decision by answering the first. So, here's the quick breakdown of how pay works for VIPKid Teachers:
 Here's the first couple of items that are in the exchange store currently. The biggest one that I currently see available is a $50.00 e-gift card to Amazon.  And a couple rows from the Hutong to show you some of the tasks and announcements (you will sometimes get tokens just for reading). You also get tokens for teaching classes which is nice. OK, so excluding tokens, referrals, new sign ups and extra bonus incentives here's a potential month, working 15 hours per week. All of that is extra gravy on the pay check and I don't budget with it personally. Base Pay: $8.00 * 120 classes (30 classes/week * 4 weeks) = $960.00 Participation: $1.00 * 120 classes = $120.00 Finished Classes: $1.00 * 120 classes = $120.00 TOTAL: $1320.00 That's a nice paycheck for 15 hours per week! Once you put some of it aside for taxes you've got over $1,000. I see this as a great side hustle opportunity personally, what do you think?   My referral code is: HEATH0116
You may have seen that I had a last minute to trip to Quebec crop up and wondered how I was going to handle it since I'd probably already committed to my teaching schedule for that period. Simply... I set up a classroom in my hotel! To be fair I did have to cancel two classes due to the time change not working but the classes I had scheduled were weekend classes so I was able to work it out with my coworker who is also on this trip that I would come into the plant about 90 minutes after he did just for those two days. I'm thankful to him for working with me. I don't think many other people will run into similar problems with the time shift and last minute travel but since you may want to work a couple of mornings/evenings while on your summer or winter break while traveling I thought a walk-through of my 'teaching on the road' kit was in order. It is essentially a paired down version of my classroom and its working great. Have a wanted a couple specialty items during class time? Yes. Have I needed them to do the job? No. And that, right there, is all that matters. So... here we go
I didn't think to take photos until I had already packed (oops) so I quickly pulled everything out on the ironing board across from my suitcase for a few quick snaps. First I have a plastic zipper bag that has my pronouns/conjugation chart in it as well as a few decor pieces I haven't actually used in my normal classroom yet that I got in case I wanted to change it up. I've also got some white board markers and my WOW eraser to go with the white board I packed, my rewards charts and my tigers (I use these two plushies the most as we can do so many different concepts with them). In the next photo you can see that I brought all of my popsicle stick bags, some flashcards, the laminated Dino from my classroom wall and my headset. Here's what it looked like packed and ready for my suitcase.  It didn't take up much space at all which was the goal. I originally had a few more odds and ends but they didn't make the cut when packing for this rather long trip. Your next question is probably something along the lines of "How did you set up a classroom in your hotel room?" Pictures to the rescue again! I actually have two different set ups that I tried. The first would have worked great had the lighting been a little better and the desk been able to be moved over about two feet.  It didn't take up much space at all which was the goal. I originally had a few more odds and ends but they didn't make the cut when packing for this rather long trip. Your next question is probably something along the lines of "How did you set up a classroom in your hotel room?" Pictures to the rescue again! I actually have two different set ups that I tried. The first would have worked great had the lighting been a little better and the desk been able to be moved over about two feet.   So there you have it. My classroom in a bag. Quick to assemble and teaching has worked great so far. I've taught 8 classes while here with minimal issues so far. In the future I think that I will look into a small ring light or other portable light source that I can travel with to avoid the light situation at the desk. I may also look more into creating/gathering digital props so that I can pack even less but that is still a topic that I am looking into myself so I won't be recommending going that route until I've fully explored it and used it in quite a few classes and levels so that I can give a good picture of the pros and cons of digital props. Until next time!   My referral code is: HEATH0116
One of the things that I worried about when I first started with VIPKID was the cost of props and knowing which props I would need for various classes. I didn't want to funnel everything I made right back into props or spend hours on end prepping for classes. I wish someone had told me not to stress so much right from the beginning, props can be free/cheap and a quick flip through the slide deck and 9 times out of 10 I'm ready to teach. On the props front you can DIY or gather items you already have in your home and be good to go (any of your older students will appreciate realia and the little ones will appreciate your enthusiasm more than almost any amazing/costly prop). Once you start teaching and you try out a few ideas you'll have a feel for what kinds of things will work for your students and then can decide if you want to spend a little more money on those puzzles, the letter puppet or (insert cool prop here). To be an effective teacher you only need a few basic props, nothing fancy and definitely nothing expensive. The only props I had for the first month or so of teaching were:
The white board is extremely versatile and I could get by without much else with most of my students if I really needed to. Ideally though, you'll use 3-5 props in each 25 minute lesson. Don't over use props or you will loose sight of the lesson topic but you want the class to be interesting to the little ones you work with... its about balance. After the first month or so I added a few more rewards charts and my popsicle stick collection followed by several of my dollar tree finds like small balls, dry erase cubes and the magnifying glass. I find that else is just gravy... not necessary but makes class time a little easier and more fun. I spent $50 max for everything I use in my classroom outside of the ink for printing... to be honest I don't remember how much I spent on that (oops). That includes all my decor, the props, rewards charts, and a small laminator. Take a look the props I have in my current classroom in the video below. I hope you find this helpful on your VIPKID journey. Feel free to ask questions, send suggestions and etc. for future posts. What would you add to my collection of props?   My referral code is: HEATH0116
 So you've joined VIPKID, congratulations! After you've set up your classroom and recorded your intro video you'll be teaching your first student in no time. That's exciting, I hope you have as much fun as I do! I'm sure you still have questions so I'm going to be answering those I've seen a lot of as well as ones you submit. The first one I'll be tackling is level certifications procedure. How do I remove add to the levels I can teach?This question has two parts. The first one is simple though, thankfully, if you don't want to teach a certain level student you just submit a ticket at the FreshDesk. Let them know that you would like a certification removed and they will process it within about 48 hours. Once the certification has been removed parents will no longer be able to request you for those classes. If you are wanting to add a level however there are a couple different options...  You may find that after you've been teaching a while you see an email come up that says you may be qualified for an additional level. If this happens you just click over to read & watch the information they provide for the course and then take a short test. If you pass then the certification shows up immediately and you can begin getting bookings. If not then you can typically retake the test and eventually gain your certification.  The next option is that you will see notification in the Teacher's Portal on the Academy tab. Click in and you'll be presented with not only all the available workshops you can take to become a better instructor but with a list of suggested certifications for you. All of the ones with colored badges you have already acquired but the available one(s) will also be there in grey... click it to go through the course information and take the quiz. Simple. The last option is to submit a ticket to FreshDesk like you did for the removal of a course. The current rule is that you may only go up or down one level from where you are currently certified to teach with each expansion. This makes sense as it lets you adjust as you add age and language fluency levels to your lessons. I have used this method on all but the summer courses personally. One you submit a ticket they will usually get back to you within 24 hours to let you know they are reviewing your request and you will see the new certification or a new test appear within a week if they agree that you should expand your levels taught. The last time I requested the summer courses as well as Level 5 and here is the reply I received about two days later. 
  My referral code is: HEATH0116
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