Posts
My “Online” Journey
In this post, I would like to talk a little bit about what I like to call the e-teacher and teaching online.
About two years ago I was looking for a job and a friend of mine commented about this great
opportunity to work online. I thought for a moment, wow, this is a great opportunity to keep doing what
I love and work from home! No need to deal with traffic, lost of paperwork, exams, and parents... ooops.
opportunity to work online. I thought for a moment, wow, this is a great opportunity to keep doing what
I love and work from home! No need to deal with traffic, lost of paperwork, exams, and parents... ooops.
As I signed up for the job and started getting my first students (mainly Chinese children) I started loving
it, although at first it seemed to be a little strange. It was my first time doing this and having worked in a
classroom for almost eight years made the student-teacher relation a bit distant and cold. However, with
every class I got to meet my students, know about their strengths and weaknesses just as I do with
other face-to-face jobs, and the most important thing of all, in my opinion, I started learning about their
culture!
it, although at first it seemed to be a little strange. It was my first time doing this and having worked in a
classroom for almost eight years made the student-teacher relation a bit distant and cold. However, with
every class I got to meet my students, know about their strengths and weaknesses just as I do with
other face-to-face jobs, and the most important thing of all, in my opinion, I started learning about their
culture!
I started working for a family company called Violet English. This company, as it is small, does not have
a set platform where I can log in and start my class as other companies do (more on that later). Hence,
I started using apps such as QQ international and Wechat to teach. Both apps, Wechat more than QQ
are incredibly easy to use. I even like Wechat better than WhatsApp! So, once I passed the interview
process, which was very simple and short, the teacher in charge of the online lessons, gave me a
calendar to schedule my free hours.
a set platform where I can log in and start my class as other companies do (more on that later). Hence,
I started using apps such as QQ international and Wechat to teach. Both apps, Wechat more than QQ
are incredibly easy to use. I even like Wechat better than WhatsApp! So, once I passed the interview
process, which was very simple and short, the teacher in charge of the online lessons, gave me a
calendar to schedule my free hours.
It is important to notice that we (Paraguay) are twelve hours behind Beijing. This difference in time zone
ended up being extremely convenient. While students in China decide to study at night (part of their
shadow teaching/learning experience which is very common in China) it is morning time for us. Classes
would normally start at 6 am and last three hours (not with the same student though!). Violet English
sets their class to be 25 minutes long. If you have two classes in one hour, you get a 5 minute break
between classes. If students like your classes and your accent (incredibly important when teaching
Chinese students) they tend to choose you as their teacher. Likewise, if they don’t like you, you could
have one class with them and that is it.
ended up being extremely convenient. While students in China decide to study at night (part of their
shadow teaching/learning experience which is very common in China) it is morning time for us. Classes
would normally start at 6 am and last three hours (not with the same student though!). Violet English
sets their class to be 25 minutes long. If you have two classes in one hour, you get a 5 minute break
between classes. If students like your classes and your accent (incredibly important when teaching
Chinese students) they tend to choose you as their teacher. Likewise, if they don’t like you, you could
have one class with them and that is it.
With time, I got lucky. Students liked my classes and I started having five to six classes a day almost
everyday. This was a great source of $$$ every month (on top of my regular job). Since I had taken the
TOEFL exam and had gotten a great score, many students would sign up to practice TOEFL speaking
and/or writing with me. I loved this for several reasons. Most TOEFL students would have a really high
English level and were already practicing TOEFL on their own. They just sign up for online classes for
a little bit of an extra push. My online boss would send all materials to teach and this made the job
incredible easy and simple. We all know it is time consuming and stressful to create materials for
students. So, it is nice to take a little break from that! Also, students would have a great attitude towards
learning (and this applies to ALL chinese students btw). Every suggestion given by me was appreciated.
I was in teacher heaven.
everyday. This was a great source of $$$ every month (on top of my regular job). Since I had taken the
TOEFL exam and had gotten a great score, many students would sign up to practice TOEFL speaking
and/or writing with me. I loved this for several reasons. Most TOEFL students would have a really high
English level and were already practicing TOEFL on their own. They just sign up for online classes for
a little bit of an extra push. My online boss would send all materials to teach and this made the job
incredible easy and simple. We all know it is time consuming and stressful to create materials for
students. So, it is nice to take a little break from that! Also, students would have a great attitude towards
learning (and this applies to ALL chinese students btw). Every suggestion given by me was appreciated.
I was in teacher heaven.
The students who were not practicing for any international exam were mostly young children. Now this
was a bit challenging. Have you ever gotten your five-year-old in front of a screen to sing the ABCs with
a complete stranger? for 25 minutes? Try it and let me know how it goes. Apparently, my sympathy and
charisma did not reach my young learners so they got bored by second 3 of the English class. I started
losing most of my young learners and stayed with a couple of older students and then mostly teenagers.
This was not bad just a teeny tiny bit frustrating. Don’t you want to be liked by ALL your students?
Anyway, classes kept and keep going smoothly. Teaching online is definitely something I would
recommend people doing, at least once, although it is a job, a serious one, not something you do out of
boredom.
was a bit challenging. Have you ever gotten your five-year-old in front of a screen to sing the ABCs with
a complete stranger? for 25 minutes? Try it and let me know how it goes. Apparently, my sympathy and
charisma did not reach my young learners so they got bored by second 3 of the English class. I started
losing most of my young learners and stayed with a couple of older students and then mostly teenagers.
This was not bad just a teeny tiny bit frustrating. Don’t you want to be liked by ALL your students?
Anyway, classes kept and keep going smoothly. Teaching online is definitely something I would
recommend people doing, at least once, although it is a job, a serious one, not something you do out of
boredom.
Three years have passed after this first experience with online teaching and all I can say is that I can see
myself doing this for a long time. It is not only the comfort of working from home, not wearing a school
uniform, not commuting, no extra work for which I am not getting paid, etc. Do not get me wrong, I love
being in a classroom and seeing my students’ faces light up whenever we play their favorite game or
sing their favorite songs. Or even when I see they are actually learning new content or speaking new
English words, words I taught them! But we all know that to be in the educational system takes its toll on
people that is why we love vacation. Am I not right?
myself doing this for a long time. It is not only the comfort of working from home, not wearing a school
uniform, not commuting, no extra work for which I am not getting paid, etc. Do not get me wrong, I love
being in a classroom and seeing my students’ faces light up whenever we play their favorite game or
sing their favorite songs. Or even when I see they are actually learning new content or speaking new
English words, words I taught them! But we all know that to be in the educational system takes its toll on
people that is why we love vacation. Am I not right?
By teaching online I do not only take a break from all the stress of working for an institution full-time but I
keep doing what I love and believe it or not I get challenged by new students’ learning styles,
preferences and personalities. I still have to reinvent myself every once in a while and bring to class
new flashcards and puppets to call students’ attention. I still get to behave in a professional way by
logging in on time, writing student reports, establishing good rapport with students (and parents
sometime) and overall being a professional teacher. This is not vacation time obviously, not if you are
doing it well.
keep doing what I love and believe it or not I get challenged by new students’ learning styles,
preferences and personalities. I still have to reinvent myself every once in a while and bring to class
new flashcards and puppets to call students’ attention. I still get to behave in a professional way by
logging in on time, writing student reports, establishing good rapport with students (and parents
sometime) and overall being a professional teacher. This is not vacation time obviously, not if you are
doing it well.
I would like to finish by saying that as I am more aware of other companies hiring online teachers, the
qualifications needed by an EFL online teacher, especially in our case (non-native speakers) and the
benefits of this kind of job and what it can lead to, I am more than ever, committed to improve my
teaching practices and profile. This kind of job allows me to make extra money, work part-time, learn
about other cultures from the comfort of my couch (or bed) and grow professionally in what might
become the future of a lot of teaching practices. In future posts, I would like to explore the other options
for companies who look for online teachers and also the qualifications needed, since these, in my
experience, are decisive when trying to get hired.
qualifications needed by an EFL online teacher, especially in our case (non-native speakers) and the
benefits of this kind of job and what it can lead to, I am more than ever, committed to improve my
teaching practices and profile. This kind of job allows me to make extra money, work part-time, learn
about other cultures from the comfort of my couch (or bed) and grow professionally in what might
become the future of a lot of teaching practices. In future posts, I would like to explore the other options
for companies who look for online teachers and also the qualifications needed, since these, in my
experience, are decisive when trying to get hired.
Thanks for reading this post! It was nice to reflect and write about my own experience on something that
seems not common yet in Paraguay but is slowly starting to grow.
seems not common yet in Paraguay but is slowly starting to grow.
