As my teaching has now been moved online, I’ve had to adapt my teaching style and resources to suit the online setting. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I’ve taken a number of professional courses in order to re-familiarise myself with technologies such as Zoom and Edmodo. Every educational setting will have their own VLE or method for teaching online. It is important to familiarise yourself with these before taking on any other courses or tutorials.
Here are the ways I have enhanced my online teaching.
- Volunteering – I have recently begun volunteer teaching to help out some school age learners of English. During the current situation, many parents are faced with working from home, home schooling and childcare in a very uncertain time. To alleviate this pressure, why not offer your services to your community or even to a friend who has young children. It will certainly take the pressure off the parents and will allow you the opportunity to trial and error online teaching technologies.
- Move your teaching onto YouTube – When I was learning Romanian, I followed a fantastic channel which broke down the language into easily memorable segments. If you are confident on camera this could be something you could do! A former colleague of mine has taken the free time working from home allows and started a YouTube channel reading stories and creating educational videos aimed at young learners. Many employers find editing and content creation skills highly desirable, so this is a good chance to enhance your skill set. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzKrAcUGNwkSMOhLgNuQAwg)
- Teaching for an online company – I have mentioned this before in a previous post, but companies such as “Tutoring Go”, “Dada” and “Cambly” are often hiring for full time teachers. They provide all the curriculum, and have their own VLE so there is very little preparation required. These posts require you to have some experience of teaching (any subject) or ideally a teaching certificate.
- Take part in a seminar – I recently began contacting the Young Women’s Trust (England and Wales only I’m afraid) for some ideas about my career enhancement. They run seminars and offer free career coaching over the phone. I also had my CV checked for free by a HR professional. I really recommend using this time to contact them and see how they can assist you in starting your career, getting an internship or just provide general advice. The charity is for women aged 18-30 living in the UK. (https://www.youngwomenstrust.org/)
- Take tutorials for online teaching software-If you are used to using different online software, or your teaching has been placed online and you are confident using it, a course is for you. I recommend “Take your teaching online” by NILE (Norwich Institute of Language Education). https://www.nile-elt.com/. The course was informative, and as someone who is not very competent with using technology in the classroom, it was extremely helpful.
I hope you found this list useful, and please post any other suggestions in the comments below! Thanks for reading!
Ms A Tutoring Services 