Build Income Teaching English Online in 2021

Finding a balance between being a strict or friendly online teacher can be tough.

This is not a real classroom setting, so the children should feel relaxed and safe when they are with you.

Kids don’t wake up one day and say, “Hey, let’s learn English!” This is a decision from the parents, and you should keep that in mind when teaching classes.

But, if the class is exciting and includes many activities, children will want to show up. Every day the children sit through their grade school classes, extra-curricular activities, and anything else their parents want them to do. When they are at home, they want to have fun, so that should be your focus with these students.

In other words, an online teacher must make sure the students are having fun while also building their foundation of English at the same time.

Keeping these things in mind will make sure you keep the kids' parents coming back to you to teach their kids more classes.

Making a Comfortable Class

When you're teaching kids, especially online, ensure they are comfortable with you.

These children have never met you before. Many have never even met a  foreigner before. You will be a scary teacher at first that can’t speak their mother-tongue, but the more comfortable they are with you, the more smoothly the class will run.

There are many ways to make a student feel comfortable. For example:

• Learning their interests, and talking about your interests

• Finding out things your student likes and dislikes

• See if you and them share any of the same hobbies. (It will be easy to talk to your students about that common bond.)

• Make jokes and laugh with your students

• Remember: The friendlier you are, the less likely the student will be timid around you!

Remember to be crazy with your students!

If you are more of an introverted soul, then try to let loose a bit. These are children you’re with, not adults, so don’t worry about what you look like.

If the students are very active, use a loud voice.

If the students are more passive, tone it down a bit.

Using TPR (Total Physical Response)

Make sure to use TPR (total physical response). There's a lot of theory surrounding why TPR is effective. TPR means matching your movements to your words.

For example, if you are talking about elephants, be an elephant.

If you are talking about running, pretend you are running.

The students will mimic you and this helps them retain the information. If the student does something funny or tries to make a joke, laugh! Also, you make jokes. The more interactive you are with the students, the more likely they will want to come to class, and the parents will want to keep you as their teacher.

FURTHER READING: Total Guide to TPR Theory and Practice (https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/71296)

Having patience is a must.

Little kids can’t sit still for a long time, and that's even more true during an online English class.

So, before class, take a deep breath and know that the student’s behavior is out of your control.

If the student runs around or isn’t paying attention, that’s okay—don’t stress. Their parents already know their behavior, and losing your cool won’t help anyone. Kids, just like adults, have bad days too. Some days will test your patience more than others. Just remember, it’s a short class, so there's no need to get flustered if things don't go according to plan.

In fact, "going with the flow" is an essential part of teaching. Nevertheless, there are some ways you can guide and control what goes on.

Controlling the Class

1. High-energy will make every class more exciting and make it more likely your children will sit and watch you.

The more expressive, loud, and active you are, the more the children will want to sit in front of the computer screen and watch their crazy teacher!

Make sure to use TPR (total physical response) with your high energy. Make your class like a TV show.

2. Getting creative is a great way to make sure your students have fun and want to come to class.

• Puppets

• Maps

• Flashcards

• Toys

• Pictures

These are just a few tools to help you have a successful online class.

Listing vocabulary words will only cause boredom, and it will increase the likelihood of your students fidgeting, getting distracted, or even running around. Get creative to keep your students glued to you and the computer screen.

And one more thing: Leave perfectionism at the door.

These are little kids, not adults. They will in no way, shape, or form be perfect, and neither should they be. Some have never heard nor spoken English before.

Note: If all this sounds to theoretical at this point, don't worry, you will soon see real-life examples.

How should your classroom should look? Well, if it's for young students, then one word will do—it has to be... ENERGETIC.

Here are some big no-no's to avoid—things that no child wants to see.

• Drab, color-less walls

• Bare desks and shelves

• Dim, scary lighting that makes you look like the boogeyman

If you can afford investing up to $30 on you classroom, here are some decoration kits we recommend:

1. 15 Educational Posters (shorturl.at/mvR27)

2. 20 Large Posters for Young Students (shorturl.at/fkpuE)

3. Motivational Posters (shorturl.at/gmHIS)

However, there are other options. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend, you can absolutely get creative and not spend a dime.

Use home supplies to make posters, flashcards, charts—anything your mind can conjure.

If you have many young and beginner students, put an alphabet behind you.

If you'll be teaching a class about traveling and the world, print out a colorful world map.

Note that you will sometimes have to change your materials with your classes, since what works for a 4-year-old beginner definitely will not for a middle schooler.

So, keep all your materials tidy, then before every class you can hang the relevant materials on your walls.

Lighting

Don’t forget to invest in a light if your room is not well lit! A light will help the camera look less grainy and will focus on your face for the children to see.

In a later lesson, we will go over equipment in more details, and provide some recommendations for affordable gear.

For now, take a look at other teachers' classrooms for inspiration.

About Games

Games are a must in class.

As we said previously, it's not easy for children to sit in front of a computer for an hour. Games will help the children feel like they are not in class and are having fun in their free time.

In fact, as long as the games are relevant to the course material, there is no reason not to play games.

It’s fun for you, for your students, and helps them retain information.

See our attached Games for Online ESL Starter Pack to find countless examples that are entertaining and will help improve your students' English.

Remember, save all your games and have a couple in mind as you go into class. Make a "game book" to quickly reference.

On Homework

Assigning homework to your students will make your life as a teacher much easier.

If they study the previous material outside of class, then, when they show up to your next lesson, they will be prepared. Lessons build on each other, so the more prepared they are, the easier it is to teach.

Also, most parents will study with their kids a bit, and parents notice the extra effort you put into assigning the homework. This is a big plus for retaining customers.

You might be asking, "How can I prepare homework?" Or, "What kind of assignments should I assign?"

Don't worry about the specifics for now. Just keep in mind that this is important. Later, we have a whole module dedicated to finding and preparing homework.

• Good conversations will make the teacher and students feel comfortable teaching and learning from each other. (See the attached: 36 ESL Conversation Starters)

  
  

• Keep parents in the loop. They are interested in what their children are learning and their progress. The more you talk with parents and send them materials, the more professional and caring you appear.

  
  

• Don’t forget: Give your children rewards for their excellent work! Whether it’s songs, games, or video clips, they will be so excited to receive these rewards and want to do better in class. Emojis are indispensable here.

Teaching adults is very different from teaching kids. While you're able to explain concepts, grammar and ideas more thoroughly, adults also tend to be more conscious about making mistakes—which is often a barrier that makes it more difficult to teach them a new language.

However, adults make up a huge portion of online language learners, so it is crucial you learn how to provide them with ESL teaching services.

Indeed, it's adults who often pay huge hourly rates for "specialized" lessons—college admissions training, job interview preparation, GMAT and LSAT coaching, and more.

In the section below, we will cover what adults ESL goals are, what they want in an English teacher, the preferred setting for older students, and how to teach the class. Unlike with children, there is also a post-lesson aspect as well.

Unlike children and their parents, most adult learners have a specific goal in mind when hiring you. In other words, they are learning English for a reason.

Adults tend to be busy (a lot of them, anyways), so fun is most likely secondary in their reasoning to learn English. That means they will need to see specific, measurable improvement—and it is up to you as a teacher to give them progress and to demonstrate it.

Here are some common goals:

• Passing a proficiency test

• Obtaining a professional certification

• Impressing their co-workers

• Acing a university admissions interview

• Being able to write essays for college

• Speaking with customers

The reality is, being able to speak English gives people an enormous advantage in the workforce in many countries around the world, especially in international industries like banking, education, and tourism.

If an individual is planning to immigrate to an English-speaking country, they will need to prove that they know a required amount of English.

However, that doesn't mean there aren't some students who just love learning new languages or the English language. Many people want to be able to read English novels, go on dates, or watch movies without subtitles.

Whichever category your student falls under, find out what they need to improve on and hammer away at those goals.

Working With Adult Students

Don't rely on what your students say their weakness are. As you gain experience, you will learn an essential teaching skill: Intuition for weaknesses and how to improve them.

After finding out the goals and what the students need to improve on, make sure you and the student have a commitment to these goals.

Unlike with children, it's easy to get side-tracked during adult classes. The students are grown-ups, and many are interesting, talkative, and fun to be around. They also speak some English.

Don’t: Spend the whole class just talking freely, having conversations around topics that won’t help them progress towards their goals.

Do: Stay focused on your lesson plans (we'll go over these in Section 4) and the students' goals—and spot their weaknesses. This is what an effective use of time during adult classes looks like.

In the video, there is a lesson with an experienced teacher and an advanced student. You can tell she already speaks good English immediately. However, the teacher still steered the conversation effectively and told the student what she did wrong. And, he did so in an encouraging way.

At the end of this section, you will see a lesson from a teacher we helped train, teaching a kids' group class. Why kids? This will give you a good opportunity to compare to the class featured in this video, and the class below:

• Real ESL Demo Lesson (shorturl.at/emtA8)

Make sure to watch the videos in full. After you see Sarah's lesson (attached in 5 parts to Lecture 12, go back to this video and see if you can spot the differences.)

1. Be accessible to your students: Check your emails often. Even if you don't have any lessons booked, not messaging back for several days is a bad look with adult customers. Even with time differences, it’s not hard to check your platforms or emails a couple times a day to answer questions.

   
   

2. Do not miss appointments: As sure as night is night and day is day, they will drop you as their teacher if you re-schedule classes or (worse!) fail to log on.

   
   

3. Have a strong presence during class: As a teacher, your job revolves around concentrating, listening, asking questions, and JUMPING IN when there is an issue. Don’t let the conversation become too one-sided. You should be leading the conversation, while also asking questions along the way. That does not mean being an interrupting jerk. When your student is talking, let them finish their sentences, then note mistakes.

Many adult learners also want a qualified teacher.

This can mean a variety of things.

First and foremost is a college degree from an accredited university. However, if you do not have college degree, do not worry. The ESL business is one in which can still be highly prosperous for people with other, specialized training and track records of success.

For this reason, a TEFL, TESOL, or CELTA is something we think necessary for online English teachers without a degree. This will be the main credential you will be advertising to potential students.

It can also help those with a degree as well. Besides serving as a sort of "badge" to show off on your profile, you will also learn much more about teaching.

Here are the main differences between the three:

1. TEFL is the most common certification. It has a vast number of options and will work for almost any employer.

2. TESOL is a newer certification. It works for teaching overseas or in your home country.

3. CELTA is the most professional certification but is costly and focuses on teaching adults.

For more information about the differences between the TEFL, TESOL and CELTA, see the attached document: Ultimate ESL Teaching Certifications Handbook.

Classroom Setup

The "Preferred Setting" part of this lesson is quick and simple because... preparing your class for an adult student is also quick and simple.

Adults don’t necessarily need a beautiful room to learn in. They don't need it to be colorful, either.

Instead, your classroom should be neat, clean, and practical. Good lighting with a nice, clean desk and background will work.

Make sure your room isn’t dirty and looks professional—a room that wouldn't be embarrassing to Zoom call your boss from.

In the Classroom

In class, you will have to have an "active leader" and "active observer".

• Control the reigns and steer the class

• Set the expectations for your class

• Tell the student how they will improve and where

• Be friendly

• Don’t lose sight of your goals

Phew! That might seem like a lot to remember—indeed, it sure is if you've never taught before. That's we we highly recommend practicing your first class with friends or family to get the momentum going and practicing your skills. (FYI, this is exactly what you'll be doing in Assignment 1)

Also:

Watch real, live lessons before your classes.

Practice makes perfect!

The more you watch classes, the more smoothly your class will run. For that purpose, we have attached two videos from relatively new teachers teaching classes. One is a children's group class, and the other is an adult's 1-on-1, so you can contrast and compare.

So you've taught your first class. Time to shut your laptop, kick your feet up and watch television?

Not quite.

The reality is, adult learners are more than just your students—they're more like your customers. How you interact with them outside the classroom greatly effects the quality of your service in their eyes.

1. After your first class, you will introduce your pricing offer. (We cover this topic in Lecture 28. For now, keep in mind this is what you will have to do.) While they might already know your hourly rate—especially if they found you on a platform such as iTalki or Preply—this gives you a chance to offer bulk lesson discounts.

You will also establish how many times a week you will meet them.

2. After your first class, you will also ask for feedback. This will show the student you are serious about teaching for their specific needs. It will also help you examine what your strengths and weaknesses are as a teacher.

Every student comes to class with different expectations, so a feedback form will help you understand your customers better.

But, even if you have had a student for a while, sending out a monthly feedback form is also incredibly useful. It will ensure you are keeping up with your student's expectations and hitting your goals.

For online teachers, the best feedback forms are Google Forms. They allow you to make sleek forms, quizzes, and a lot of other things and send them to students with one click. When your student submit answers, you can see them on your Google account.

It will take 10-20 minutes to figure out how to make online evaluation forms with Google Forms. You can also watch this tutorial (shorturl.at/mAG47).

You can either make your own form from scratch, start with one of the templates provided in Google Forms as defaults, or use this feedback form (shorturl.at/wCEM3) we made specifically for you to send after your first class with a new student.

A Full Live Class

In the resources section of this lecture, you will find a full, one-hour class with a Brandteach client who was able to find enough students to run group classes. With permission from students parents' we're able to show you a great lesson to watch to understand pacing, attitude and student interaction. It is broken up into 5 sections (Intro, warm-up, exercise 1, exercise 2, and wrap-up) which should serve as a taste of thing to come in the following section—where you will also learn how to plan lessons along these lines. 

Lesson planning can be one of the trickier parts of being an online teacher.

Even though teachers aren’t necessarily getting paid to make lesson plans, having a good lesson plan makes any class run smoother and ensures teachers and students are completing their goals for the class.

Teachers that come to class underprepared might be able to teach a full lesson. But, did the students actually learn what they are supposed to?

Sticking to a lesson plan will make sure you, as a teacher, stay focused on your class goals.

Teachers that have more experience will have a leg up when it comes to lesson plans. Ideally, after every lesson, a teacher should save their lesson plans for future classes. Then, when a teacher has a new student or class, they can easily reference their older lesson plans.

New teachers should focus in the beginning to make great lesson plans to save themselves time in the future. And, make sure to save all lesson plans!

Content of a Lesson Plan

Teachers need to know and plan their lessons' structure before the actual class. So, try to have your lessons: 1. Thought out, and 2. Prepared, before every class.

Students, especially adults ones, will sense if you just rolled out of bed and are ad-libbing off the cuff.

Here is what most lesson plans include (no matter the age of the student):

• Topic for the day

• Main lesson objective

• Student expectations

• Areas of improvement

Topic for the day: This is the general theme of the class. For example, that could be pets and their corresponding verbs, travel plans, or preparing for a job interview and associated formalities.

Main lesson objective: This is the specific type of grammar structure, situation or vocabulary that the lesson will revolve around—taking the theme as the starting point. For example, if the theme is pets and "pet verbs" the objective might be making full sentences about animals. “The dog can jump!” for example.

Student expectations: The expectations are measurable milestones that students should reach at the end of the class. With the above example, that might be understanding that different animals make different "sounds"—cows moo, dogs bark, cats meow, etc. If the objective is more complicated and adult-oriented, like "Pass a job interview," the expectations might be split up into different lessons. For example, one lesson might strive to have the student "Introduce himself and work history in a professional manner," and another later lesson might expect them to "Answer unexpected questions calmly" by the end.

Areas of improvement: These are things that you've noticed beforehand that a particular student needs to improve. At the end of every class, you should write these deficiencies down to practice for the next class.

Lesson Flexibility

The flow of a lesson plan depends on your specific teaching style.

Ideally, every class should have:

1. A warm up, or review of the previous class

2. A section to introduce new vocabulary or ideas

3. A block for activities and games

4. A wrap-up to review the information you learned and to prepare for future classes

Every class will probably be a bit different. How you split up your class time also depends on the length of your lesson, and on actual content.

For example, let’s say you usually follow this format: 10-mins Warm-up, 10-mins Intro, 20-mins Games & Activities, 5-mins Wrap-up.

However, one class might introduce tougher grammatical ideas or strange vocabulary. In that case, you will need to expand this section, while taking away some time for the games and activities section.

Don't bee too rigid: It’s okay to be flexible.

Here is a more in-depth look at lesson planning with the class broken down into sections.

Remember, each class breakdown doesn’t have to have the same time lengths and portions. In some classes, your game might run longer, while in other classes, vocabulary might run longer. Plan your classes accordingly.

1. One helpful section is a "lead-in" for the first 10 minutes. Take notes about what the students are doing well and where they can improve. Try not to interrupt during this section so you can accurately assess their progress.

2. The next 10 minutes can be a "vocab recall". Review all the vocabulary words the students have been learning and have them make sentences. In the video, I use pets and verbs as examples, and students can make sentences like, “The dog can run" and “The turtle can crawl.”

3. For most classes, the longest part of your lesson will be the "exercises". Whether it’s reading, games, or activities, this portion should be getting the students excited about the lesson and keeping their energy up. Get creative for this section by finding relevant materials that your students like to do. Feel free to go back to the games and conversation starter documents provided previously as resources.

4. The last 5 minutes or so of class should be a "review" and quick intro to the next class. Make sure the students understand all of the materials learned and how it connects to the next lesson. If the students are assigned homework, you can also go over the homework with them in this section.

There are countless activities to give your students during class that will help fill time while also teaching the students what they are learning. Make sure the activities you give them are age appropriate!

Younger students will appreciate cute songs and videos while older students might want to watch mock interviews or YouTube content. Find your student’s interests and then search for activities based on these interests.

Please see the attached lesson plan temples. These make it easy for you to plan and organize your classes, and are an essential part or teaching.

In the lesson entitled "Running Smoothly and Tips", you can also find our games and activities worksheets for any level. We have games and activities for younger students up to adults. This sheet can definitely be used in almost all classes you teach and if you ever exhaust this list either email Brandteach (support@brandteach.com) for help or find countless activities on the internet.

Before you start learning how to use Skype, download it from Skype.com. Skype will work on any device including desktop or mobile. Just in case there’s a time where you can’t make it to a desktop, download Skype on your mobile device to teach class from there, or quickly get in contact with your students. You can create an account with either your email address or a phone number.

After you create an account, you will use your name and it will contain your basic information. It will have your name and your actual Skype username.

In this section, you can show whether you are active or not. This is a good feature to leverage as a way of indicating if you are available during out-of-class hours to take questions and talk about students' work.

Skype also has section that you can post what you are up to. If you have many students in one class, you can give them updates on their classwork or just words of encouragement.

Skype Features

• Chat option is how you can quickly get in touch with your students and talk to them. You can see all your previous chats in the Recent Chats section.
  

• Click "call" if you want to make an actual phone call. A dial pad will appear to type in the number.
  

• Contacts, where your contact list is located.
  

• Notifications, which will pop up if someone messages or calls you, or if Skype wants to tell you about new updates on their platform.

The search bar is the best way to search for your students. If you haven’t already added a student yet, the search bar will show you recommendations on the name you are typing in.

When you want to start class with a video chat, find your students name and click chat. This will show their name with many options. In the chat you will have emoji availability, along with an "add files" tab. This is a great way to send your student files of the materials you are learning or planning to learn. You can also record messages for your students so they can practice their listening comprehension. This same section also has a "schedule meetings" tab, so you can remind your students about upcoming meetings.

At the top of the screen there is a video call function. Just click this button and it will automatically video call your student. The video quality is mostly pretty good and holds a good connection. To end the call, just press the end button. Make sure to play around with the Skype platform a bit so you are use to the functions before class.

Zoom is an all-in-one platform used across the world for videoconferencing. It's global popularity and interactive features mean you will likely be asked to use this platform at some point in your online teaching career.

Make sure to practice making a call on Zoom before the first time you use it for a real class.

First, sign up for Zoom. You will then have to download the app onto your device, and can then log back into the website.

After you are signed in, you will see your basic profile, meetings, webinars, recordings, settings, and some other features. At the top-right of the screen you have 3 options:

• Schedule a meeting

• Join a meeting,

• Host a meeting

Since you’re the teacher, you will probably be hosting meetings most often. Furthermore, under host, there are three more options: You can have the meeting with video on, off, or with screen-sharing only.

For our purposes, we will use Zoom with video on.

After you choose this option, Zoom with ask to open their app. Make sure it’s downloaded and press open.

With the app interface on your screen you will see a plethora of different options. These include mute, stop video, and sending invitations. Out of these, you will have to use the last one to invite students to meetings—you can so via invite link or email.

Once you've figured out how to send invitations, you need to get aquatinted with the chat function. You can selectively choose to chat with just one person in the chat group or with everyone.

This chat box on the side is a great way to bring something up without interrupting the class or to practice writing assignments.

Additionally, the chat room also has an "add a file" tab. You can send students worksheets, readings, etc., all directly to them on the same platform.

On the screenshare tab, a participant can share a view of their screen, which is also useful if you have a presentation, worksheet or website you want to discuss with your students during the chat.

For you as a teacher, one of the most important Zoom features is the record function. This is important for watching your student's progression or seeing how you can improve yourself—make sure to record your classes. Maybe get an external hard drive so you can save all your files.

If you are a new teacher, record as many as possible in the beginning and review then to improve your teaching.

For younger students, the reactions feature is great! You cave give them a thumbs up, smile, good job, and more to make them feel accomplished.

When you’re finished with class push the big, red "end" button and click "end for all".

WeChat is the best platform for teaching Chinese students by far. Not only does it have built-in chat, payment, and document sharing features, but every single Chinese person will have this app!

The problem is, WeChat is not easy to download outside of China. That's because, in China, your WeChat account automatically syncs with your SIM card—and you're good to go.

However, if you live overseas, you will need to find someone that already has a WeChat account to verify you. After they verify you, you can start using the app.

Also, there is currently talk in the US about restrictive measures against China-made apps, such as TikTok and WeChat. As of today, you can still use it as before, but we will provide updates if this changes.

Those who can overcome the hurdles and download WeChat on your devices will quickly note that features look and feel different on mobile devices than on desktop. To use on desktop, you will have to log in on your computer, then accept the log in on your phone (already opened) to open the app on your computer.

Using WeChat

Inside the app, a bubble on the left side of the window will show you all of your recent chats. Below that is your contact list. The square icon is where all of your files and pictures will be saved. This is a great feature for saving your material to look back on.

In the chat feature there are four important icons.

1. Emojis.

2. File icon. This icon sends others, such as your students, important files.

3. Screenshots. If there's ever anything important said over WeChat, screenshot it for future reference!

4. Search feature. If you forgot something you told your students, or anything else you might have forgotten, search it in the chat.

The top right has a 3-dot bar. This is where you can manage your group. It can contain students, parents, or anyone you want to add onto the group.

The bottom right has a button that looks like a phone. If your student doesn't use Zoom or Skype, then you can video call your students straight from WeChat, and it works similarly.

Remember, don't get discouraged if you can't immediately use WeChat. It takes some trial and error, and some users might need to wait to have a student who can approve their WeChat account. If WeChat doesn't work for you then use another platform, but if it does, then you are connected better with the Chinese market.

Preparing your classroom should be a fun experience, not a daunting thought of shelling out money. Really, you won't need to spend more than you can afford. However, as you rack up more students, you can begin to invest more into your classroom.

Remember that there is no one size that fits all when it comes to gear. If you already have great lighting and only teach during the day, then there's no need to invest in lighting!

If you live in a busy part of town, getting a headset might be your best bet.

Here are the common pieces of audio and video equipment for teachers.

Headset: Great if your house or your surrounding area is bustling, a headset will minimize noises outside of your control so you can stay fully focused in class. Some teachers don’t like using headsets, but having a pair beside your computer in case it becomes noisy around you (think construction, loud kids, traffic, etc.)

Recommended*: Mpow Single-Sided USB Headset with Microphone (shorturl.at/ijoM9)

Microphone: Like a headset, a microphone can prevent noise from derailing your class. If there things beyond your control, amplifying and clarifying your voice will help students hear you clearly. Since you're teaching English, having a clear voice is a must for communicating correct pronunciation. Not that many headsets come with microphones included.

Recommended*: USB Desktop Microphone with Mute Button (shorturl.at/bjxL2)

Lights: Great lighting is absolutely essential for any online class. For 60 to 90 minutes, your students will be fully focused on you; nothing is more distracting than if they can’t see you, or there are glares around your face. While a lighting setup might seem intimidating (it looks like it's straight off a film set) a basic kit is cheaper than you think and not difficult to assemble. Alternatively, putting your computer in the right room or location can go a long way towards mitigating lighting problems. Before class, make sure to turn on your laptop camera and move the light around to see which angles and levels of exposure work best.

Recommended*: Andoer Photography Softbox Lighting Kit (shorturl.at/txGV6)

Webcam: If you occasionally have problems will your laptop camera or own an old model with low quality (720p or lower), a webcam might be a logical investment.

Recommended*: Webcam with Microphone, 1080P HD (shorturl.at/gBOQS)

It doesn't matter how much hi-tech gear you buy if you don't remember to test your audio and video systems before class!

Make sure everything is fully functional before you start so you don’t run into problems.

Overall, the most important thing you can remember is that video quality comes from good lighting first, not camera quality. If you can’t figure out why your video or audio isn’t as clear as you would like it, watch some self-help videos on Youtube to get more accustomed to what makes a good video.

*None of the recommendations in this course are affiliate links or associated monetarily with us. They are simply low-cost options that appear to have all the features a teacher would need, or that we have personally bought and enjoyed. Feel free to browse on your own for a suitable product.

Google Suite

If you have multiple students, a file management software will make your life much easier.

Google Suite is the most universally used, and includes a set of online, Cloud-based softwares—some of which you might have heard of or used. For teachers, the ones you need to know are:

• Google Docs

• Google Sheets

• Google Slides

Google Docs allows you to work with Microsoft Word-like online documents, and collaborate on documents with students easily.

Google Sheets is like a Cloud-based version of Excel, and is more for working with data sets—you're unlikely to use this frequently, but it is still important to know.

Google Slides lets you work on and share presentations (which look and function a lot like PowerPoint or Keynote presentations).

Online document tools by Google allows you to work together with students on papers and worksheets, even when you're not together. This makes it great for homework.

Hard Drive

An external hard drive is definitely optional. But, think about it: Once you begin holding regular lessons with multiple students, you will have gigabytes of presentations, images, textbooks, audio files and video clips.

Do you really want all of this invading your personal computer and taking up space?

An external hard drive allows you to keep your online teaching job separate, and lets you not stress about the amount of space that presentations takes up or what you have to delete to free up space.

Graphic Design Tools

There are two reasons you should get familiar with graphic design.

First, you can make your own beautiful lessons, flash cards, pictures for learning, and worksheets.

Second, when you advertise on social media, you can make professional-looking banners and ads without having to pay a designer.

You might be asking, isn't graphic design complicated?

It can be, but luckily, there are tons of easy-to-use, drag-and-drop tools tailored for non-professionals and those who aren't necessarily computer savvy. Canva is the one we recommend, and it has a free option that provides more than enough features for you to do all of the above.

Another optional tool is a social media planning software, like Sendible. If you run an ESL business, you will want to regularly post on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. This is for advertising purposes and to remind customers you're still there for them.

A tool like this allows you to set up your posts in advance for multiple platforms and measure engagement, so you can analyze what works and what doesn't.

Your classroom checklist will depend on your student's ages and the lesson plans you use. However, here is a list of items you should have in your classroom at the ready.

• A whiteboard to write basic information

• Flashcards to quickly review words

• Notepads to write down the strengths and weaknesses of students

• A cheat sheet for the students to quickly review tough information

• A calendar to write down future appointments and upcoming lessons

• A diary on hand to write down information about your student which you might forget

Some other basic learning materials that all age groups might use will be PPT slides, textbooks, and interactive worksheets.

Whatever materials you use, make sure it’s easily obtainable in any country you might teach. Don’t give your students textbooks if they can’t find them in their country. Using materials online is your best bet since they are easily transferable.

Learning how to do some marketing will help you excel in your ESL business.

Many teachers think they can rely on referrals—and, to be fair, that is OK if you're happy with just a few students.

But, if you want to grow an ESL brand, you need to advertise your service more effectively. For that, you need to know where to target your potential customers and how.

The good news is, a one-person ESL business doesn’t need so many customers. There’s only so much time in a day one person can teach and students to keep track of. For a small English tutoring service, finding “good” customers is what’s important—customers you can rely on. Finding 10-20 customers will be fine for one teacher to make sufficient money and sustain themselves.

However, even this might be difficult if you're completely new and need to get the ball rolling. But don't fret—even if you don’t have customers yet or referrals—there are many platforms to start on.

Marketing can also be good for expanding your student pool. Maybe you mostly teach younger students and want to make the switch to adults; good marketing can help you succeed.

To make even more money, expanding and specializing in a “niche” is highly profitable. Things like college admissions, GMAT, and LSAT specialists, or those who can help students pass professional certifications all pay more than normal English teaching.

Many teachers work for companies like English First, Magic Ears and VIPKid. In this case, you won't exactly have to worry about advertising yourself—the companies find students for you! The problem with these companies is that the students you teach are not your own. You can’t get them off these platforms and charge your own rates.

That does not mean we are entirely against working for others, especially to supplement your income as you learn to teach and build your own company. Working for ESL companies has pros and cons.

Pros:

• Sense of community

• Support

• Simple to work

Cons:

• No control over curriculum

• No freedom in choosing students

• Low rates

• Slave to ratings

Where to Find Your Own Students

There are tons of places to find your own students online and grow a business. This includes language learning platforms, classified ads websites, meetups, social media websites, and many, many more.

When advertising on these channels, you can tie your offer back into you personal website or social media accounts, experiment with different packages, and even start working with other teachers under you.

Because this is such a big topic, we have attached our book Get More Students: 28 Places to Find Customers for Your ESL Business.

We recommend you read this book after finishing this lecture—it should take about one hour.

In the book, you will learn 28 recommended platforms, websites and companies for finding more students in 2021. You will also see real-world examples of teachers leveraging homemade ads on these channels, and even building their own education brands with employees.

A nice, well-lit video introduction of yourself is a must to get as many students as possible. It can go on your website and social media channels. If you are looking for students in China, you will have to send it over WeChat. It's also necessary on platforms like Preply and iTalki.

The good news is, most teacher intro videos suck—so it's not too hard to put yours above the rest.

Three essential points:

- Good lighting

- Energy and enthusiasm

- Clean background and set

We highly recommend preparing a script rather than just speaking off the top of your head. In this script, include relevant information about you and why you will help the students progress their English level. Remember: Speak slowly, with good pronunciation—and make it concise. Don't drag it out longer than one minute.

Also, don't memorize the script word-by-word, but rather your main points. During the actual video, highlight those main points.

What To Include

For your script, make sure to include everything that's relevant to teaching!

Include degrees or certifications—these should be the first things you introduce.

Then, introduce your teaching or education experience.

If you do not have much, focus more on turning whatever experience you may have into a relevant part of your pitch. In my case, I make ESL videos and have on-camera experience—so I say I know how to be enthusiastic over a camera for online classes.

If you're a nurse, you can say you have experience making people feel comfortable and at ease.

If you work in retail, you have experience making conversation with people from all walks of life.

No matter your background, there is surely something you can tie back into with teaching.

Video Setup

Try and have someone help you with your video.

They will be able to see more clearly if you need better lighting, how the camera looks on your face, and if you are speaking in a strong, confident voice or not.

During the video make sure to be energetic and "bubbly." Demonstrate that you will show up to class everyday with the personality and willingness to leave everything at the door and really help the student learn as best they can.

Attached you can find a photo of the setup I used while filming this intro. Think of is as a short behind-the-scenes view. You will see:

• Two softbox lights (very similar in style and price to the ones recommended in "Audio and Video")

• My iPhone to help me remember my script

• A DSLR camera on a tripod (although you can use any modern smartphone)

• My cat, Mr. Fluffers (optional).

Introduction videos are some of the most important parts of getting customers and creating a customer base.

Students want to see your credentials, but more importantly if you're the type of teacher that resonates with them. You need to have a strong personality that the students trust on camera and can see learning from you in the future.

There are a few types of homework assignments that teachers are going to want to assign.

1. Homework directly related to the course material

Figure out what the class lesson covers, whether it’s interviews, animals, grammar, and finding homework assignments that cover that material.

2. Homework targeting specific problems

If the students are progressing along the lessons without issues, but still having trouble with a specific skill, such as writing or pronunciation, etc., then assign homework that directly targets this area.

3. "Not homework" homework

The last type of homework teachers normally assign is homework that doesn’t necessarily seem like homework. If a students doesn't like doing their work, or doesn't want homework, then give them movies, podcasts, and songs to listen to. It’s fun and still helps the students learn.

Homework is important for progression and continued interest in learning English.

The more a student studies and prepares, the more your job as a teacher becomes easier. That's because your students will be much more prepared for the following lessons and retain more information needed for those lessons.

Lessons and homework should ideally build on each other. If one lesson the students are learning seasons and the following lesson the students are learning what to do in each season, then the students who studied hard learning seasons will have a much easy time understanding the concepts of what to do in specific seasons.

If the concepts for certain classes are hard, then doing homework helps the students reflect on what they have learned, and lets the concepts sink in. Sometimes the teacher alone can’t explain subjects, students need to come to conclusions by themselves by reflecting on the material.

Repetition is also key to effective learning. Practice makes perfect. The more students study concepts, grammar, and vocabulary, the more likely they retain the information.

To determine if you want to assign homework or not, ask!

When teaching children, ask their parents. Some parents might want their children to only study in your slotted appointments since they have so much other stuff going on with their lives.

Take into account whether or not your students are completing their homework. If you keep assigning homework and they don’t put the work in, then save yourself some time by stopping the assignments. If you keep assigning while they aren’t finishing, the students might also feel bad they can’t keep up with the homework.

Busy work won’t work for ESL teachers; your students aren’t getting graded for trying to get accepted to university—they need to learn a language.

Requirements

The key to effective homework is the relevancy to the lesson plans and future lessons. Make sure what they are studying outside of class connects to these lessons. If the homework doesn’t have a rhyme or reason, the students won’t retain the information as well and simply won’t want to finish the work.

Also, in the same category as relevancy, make sure the homework focuses on what the students are struggling with. Homework should either build on their lesson plans or fix problems they are having while learning English.

The homework shouldn’t require too much effort. All of these students, whether children or adults, have lives outside of class. Make sure the homework isn’t taking too much of their time and stressing them out. As long as homework covers what the students need, then it’s fine. More isn’t always better.

Other Ways to Improve Homework

With younger students, make sure they can finish the homework themselves. If not, then ask the parents if they can help them or not. If you assign homework and the students can’t finish, like crafts or assignments that are difficult, then there’s no reason to assign it.

On the same note, your instructions have to be clear. When assigning the homework, make sure the students know exactly how to complete it and how it pertains to their learning.

Here's a piece of good news: You don't need to make your own homework if you don't have the time!

While it’s always better to make student-specific homework, sometimes teachers need quick homework to assign students. Most homework assignments fall under reading, grammar, writing, pronunciations, and exam homework.

Here is my list of favorite websites to find homework assignments and ideas for each of these types of homework: 20 Best Free ESL Homework Websites for Online Teachers (shorturl.at/gtOPR)

When giving homework it’s ideal to use shared bookmarks tools like Evernote, Delicious or Google Docs so students can complete the homework while you give them corrections and ideas on the page. Then you and the students can quickly go back and forth without actually emailing assignments to each other.

Podcasts and audio clips are another great tool for students. It’s a fun way to practice English listening, and there are tons of options out there.

When reviewing and grading assignments, make sure to be generous. Students need encouragement when learning a new language. If you are strict for each one of their assignments, they aren’t going to want to complete assignments or be scared while actually doing the homework.

Payments are a tricky part of running an ESL business, especially if you have students from around the world.

Some teachers don't know how often they should get paid, how much they should charge, and how to ask for their fees. On top of all that, many countries don't use the same payment methods—some (like China) make it incredibly difficult to use common methods used internationally.

"How often should I get paid?”

First, payment frequency depends on the frequency of your lessons.

Many methods (like bank transfer) have a transaction fee, so it makes sense to invoice less frequently.

For new students, you should ask to get paid after every lesson, since you don’t know the reliability of the student. On the other hand, if you have had a student for a while and feel comfortable, then you can opt to get paid every week or so.

However, for any student, try and not wait for longer than two weeks for payment. If something happens to either them or you, then there is a chance you won’t be seeing your hard-earned money.

Invoicing

Since these are your personal students, invoicing can be informal.

If the students forget to pay you, don’t be timid in asking for your money. It doesn't sound rude—rather, equivocating or hesitating will come across way more unprofessional.

No need to be pushy; people forget, so asking firmly and immediately when payment is due usually does the trick.

Here we come to one of the most difficult, and—frankly—annoying parts of this whole industry, but it is an area which any company that does business online has to navigate.

Each country has different regulations and restrictions when it comes to online banking.

Some countries, like China, will have more rigid rules than a country like Japan. As an ESL business owner, your job will be find the best way for you and your students to transfer money back and forth.

Bank transfers are a very safe way for students to transfer money using the SWIFT system, and can be used for most countries. If making a domestic transfer, there are much less fees than international. Note that this method takes a few days to process, so remind students to be careful of errors in the transaction amount as it could take time to rectify. International fees vary from roughly $15 to $25 per transfer.

The most common method for online payments is PayPal. It has widespread adoption across all countries and has super-fast payment and transfer times. Among online processing companies, it has notoriously high fees—4.4% plus a fixed fee based on the recipient currency. The platform is also difficult to use in some countries.

Venmo is similar to PayPal, but known for lower fees. While Venmo is simple to use and has low fees, it’s only available in the US. Your best bet would be asking your student if they have friends or family in the United States to be your middleman when receiving money.

Transferwire is an international transfer service, which allows people to send money between banks without high fees. It has borderless accounts which use a pooling method to collect money, unlike other companies, that keeps the fees very low for international payments.

The below methods are convenient for Chinese customers to send money abroad. It may require some workarounds for teachers to accept payments via these methods, but it will make you much more attractive as a business to Chinese students.

WeChat is an amazing app that is based in China. Everyone in China uses this app and is a simple way for teachers and children to communicate and transfer money. The problem is, it is impossible to connect to foreign banks and send money abroad. If you know someone with a Chinese bank account that can help, then great. If not, try and use an app like Swapsy to help transfer the money.

Alipay is China’s largest app for payments, and it supports foreign banks more so than Wechat. To use Alipay, which every one of your Chinese customers will have, you will need to give your customers your banking info, SWIFT code, corporate bank address, and home address. Sometimes, even then, your bank account might not work.

As you start out in any endeavor, it is unavoidable that you will make mistakes. Our goal in this lesson is to highlight the most common ones ESL teachers make, so you can minimize them.

1. Don’t implement a one-size fits all approach. Every student will be at different levels, with different levels of confidence. Judge your students in the first few classes, and progress from there.

2. When teaching an online class, remember, it’s online! If you have taught in classrooms before, don’t use the same activities and materials you might use in-person in this setting. Try to tailor everything for online learning.

3. During your class, don't dominate the conversation. Give time for you and your student to both talk and ask questions. Also, don’t interrupt them; let them finish their thoughts.

4. A messy classroom is a bad look. Every teacher should take some time to clean their room and make a presentable classroom for their audience.

5. Don’t give your students too much work. Most are learning English as a hobby, and to better themselves, while also having a life outside of class. Ask your students beforehand how much work they want to accomplish during outside hours.

6. Bad lighting will make even the brightest teacher seem dim. Make sure your face is bright and focused, so the students have an inviting classroom to learn in.

7. Every student, even young ones, will know if you neglect your lesson planning. Before every class you should have materials and your lesson ready for the class.

8. People have different personalities, but, being an educator, some people might have to get out of their comfort zone and be exciting! Being a boring teacher is a sure-fire way to not get recurring clientele.

9. Everyone has a bad day, and that’s okay, but during class leave your negativity at the door. Every class should be a positive experience for your students. Don't be negative.

10. Before every class, check your equipment and make sure everything is working as it should. Nothing looks worse than having problems during class, and having to take a timeout to tinker with it.

There are tons of articles online about trends in teaching ESL and languages—and that’s not quite what I want to talk about here.

Instead, there are some things you should know about as the owner of an ESL business about global changes affecting how you will make money in the short-to-medium term.

But first off, congratulations on completing the course!

If you haven’t done the assignments yet, please do so—they are the first steps on your teaching journey.

Using the materials so far, you have all the necessary equipment to start making money online. It is a continual learning process, so don’t be discouraged at first.

However, once you start booking regular lessons, commanding a higher hourly rate, and even hiring other teachers to work with you, there is, in my opinion, no more rewarding industry to be in.

Learning a new language will open new doors and new worlds for your students.

That’s why learning English is one of the first expenditures new middle-class households make for their children.

This was true in East Asia, and it will likely occur in Southeast Asia and India as well.

That’s our first ESL trend:

1. Expect many more students from countries like Thailand, Vietnam and India in the next few years. Start laying the groundwork for finding customers from these places—research the websites people use, the rates teachers charge there, the learning styles, et cetera.

This already happened in China as the country quickly became more prosperous in the 90s—where the ESL market has already been established and penetrated for years.Now, it is the world’s largest market for English teachers and a treasure trove for anyone who can access it.

2. However, it is getting harder and harder to communicate directly with Chinese customers, advertise in the country, and receive payments. This is the second big trend.

That’s why we recommend gaining a foothold right now, so you can always rely on word-of-mouth referrals and have a network of trusted people in the country. Start advertising your ESL business to Chinese customers on LinkedIn, while they can still use it, and download WeChat while you can.

3. Next, the world is moving to video.

No matter what industry you’re in, the hottest trend in marketing is recording YouTube videos—starting your own website and blog is not enough. The good news is, it has never been easier.

As people from around the world spend more and more time in their smartphones consuming video, why not post language learning tips on Youtube?

Why not have a website you can refer them back to (it takes 30 minutes to set one up these days with a tool like Squarespace and Wix).

4. That last point is crucial because there is way more competition now, especially with the coronavirus putting many people out of work and forcing people to work from home. So, set yourself apart.

However, none of these tips matter if you don’t continually hone the quality of the product you are actually selling. That is, your ESL teaching ability.

Being a teacher is basically committing yourself to being a lifelong learner. One you take this to heart, and dedicate yourself to this career, nothing can stop you on Your Path to Profitable Teaching.

Congratulations on completing our course.

I hope you can take our lessons and advice and apply it to your real-world ESL teaching company.

We would love to hear your feedback on improving our course and how we can make our course better for our customers in the future.

You can follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn. Or, if you have and questions or feedback, you can email me personally at austin@brandteach.com and I will try to respond as quickly as possible.

Bye for now,

Austin