One of my favorite philosophers once said, “Teaching is the
highest form of understanding.” --- I definitely agree.
During one of my English
for Freelancers online classes, when I asked my
students for their expectations of the course and what they want to achieve,
about 15 students said that they want to learn more about being ESL teachers.
I could give a few tips and do a few vlogs. But
the best way for me to share about it is to write a post – so here goes.
How I became an ESL Teacher
For most of you who do not know my story, I started working
at home fulltime in January of 2017. To cut the story short, I resigned from my
toxic corporate job bought a laptop on loan, had internet installed in our
house, and started looking for online jobs.
It was a really big leap. But this happened to be the start
of my journey towards taking charge and full control of my life.
I saw a few ads about working as an online English as a
Second Language (ESL) teacher so I gave it a shot and submitted my resume.
A day after sending my application via email (yes, that
fast) I received a phone call that also happened to be an initial interview.
The interviewer on the other line asked about my background, whether I had
teaching experience, whether I was amendable to working from 6pm to 9pm (those
are the peak hours) and whether I had a quiet, well-lighted room that I could
use in online teaching.
Technical Check, Equipment and Other Specs
All of my answers were affirmative so I moved on to the
technical check. Because I bought a new laptop, this part was quite easy. To
know more about computer or laptop specs and other technical requirements for
ESL opportunities, click here.
I also invested in a Logitech noise-canceling headset, that
cost around P2,000. It’s quite pricey, but it turned out to be a great
investment. The one I bought is super sturdy. I’ve been using it for recordings
and client meetings, and sometimes my kid plays with it like crazy.
Plus, if you’re really planning to make a career in
working online as an ESL teacher, you have to have your own headset.
Training and Demo
When I passed the technical check, I then moved on to the
two-training. The meeting room we used was skype; we were around 10
participants so the line would always get crowded and sometimes would get cut.
But it was a really cool experience.
We had a refresher on grammar, pronunciation, our students’
country’s culture, we were briefed on the demographics of our students-
everything we need to know about the job was discussed in the training.
Then we got ready for our demo. Although not everyone passes
the demo, if you fail, you can practice, try again, and just retake it.
Preparing for the Big Teaching Day
1. Toys and
Props
A lot of
ESL companies cater to Asians of all ages. The company I worked for catered to
as young as 3 years old to as old as 75.
One great
challenge that I faced was the inability of young ones to focus on the lesson. After
all, they are a bit too young to grasp certain concepts and ideas. However,
this shouldn’t be an excuse, and instead, it should be seen as an opportunity to
reach out and teach kids English and communication skills.
Even though
the module was colorful and made specifically for kids, I, the teacher, needed
to reach out and explore other means to catch the student’s attention.
So, I
borrowed my daughter’s toys, practiced my puppet voice, and started coming up
with characters to help me teach. Later on, I made finger puppets, paper dolls, and other crafts to help kids really learn while having fun.
This not
only enabled me to fully teach and let my students understand the lesson, it
also got a lot of regular students who repeatedly booked my teaching slot.
2. Brush up on small talk
As I had different students of different ages, I realized
that it was harder to establish rapport and start a conversation with adults
than with kids. Imagine teaching a 75-year-old male Asian English terms and
conversation skills. Not only will you run out of topics to talk about, but you’ll also find it awkward and uncomfortable if you keep asking him how he is or how the
weather is.
To avoid uncomfortable situations like this, I started
listing down possible small topics. Other than the weather or his predicament,
I ask my students:
- Sports – Do they have a favorite sport, do they watch basketball, who are the teams they love to watch and route for. You can try to find out if they are a sports fan.
- Food – If the class is in the morning, ask about what they had for breakfast.
- Entertainment – This topic is a great conversation starter. It leads to a lot of subtopics and lets you get to know the person more. You can ask, “Do you enjoy watching movies?” If the answer is NO, follow-through by asking, “How about books? Music?”
- Hobbies – Other than their favorite movie or book, a good topic is something like to for fun. Start by asking, “What's your favorite hobby?"
A lot of people take for granted the power of one’s smile.
Your online presence not only provides the first impression that sometimes lasts
a lifetime, but it also says a lot about you – a lot of things that you don’t need
to explicitly say. A good smile says that you are approachable, friendly, open
and easy to talk to.
4. Mind your background
When I started teaching, the walls in our house weren’t painted
yet. It was solid and bare gray. It was acceptable during the first two
weeks. But a month after, the company asked me to either find a solid painted
spot or place a tarpaulin with the company logo as a background. I opted for
the latter.
This directive is actually quite practical.
Our goal is to make sure the students focus on what we’re
teaching and learn the language. Anything distracting them would hinder our
objective in achieving our goal.
We are, therefore, responsible, for everything that the
student sees within the four corners of our screen. We need to make sure
everything within those corners is tidy and non-distracting. We can do this by
recording ourselves to see if anything is amiss.
What to
Remember – Tips on Effective Online ESL Teaching
1. Ask Open
Ended Questions – When engaging in a conversation with your students, make sure
that you ask questions that allow them to explain further. Don’t opt for
questions answerable by yes or no. That'll give them more opportunities to
express themselves and practice speaking the language.
E.g. instead of asking your student, “Did you have fun today?” you can ask “What is the best thing you have learned today?
2. Be
Animated – Another good thing about recording yourself is you get to know
yourself better. I have one student in my Freelancing
Course who told me
in one of our one-on-ones that when she recorded herself and watched the
recording, it made her cringe. She didn’t like what she saw.
That reaction is quite normal. This just shows that we really don’t know ourselves
that well. It could be a horrible or an interesting experience – it depends on
your perspective.
It’s also
an opportunity for us to improve our gestures and body language, online and
offline.
Because our
students won’t see every inch of us, we’ll have the opportunity to control what
they see.
Get to know
your gestures, where you put your hands, how you move your head and body, your
facial expressions… There are a lot of things you’ll find out about yourself by
doing this.
3. Always
Encourage – Being positive can be contagious. Our job as teachers is not just
to teach English, it’s also to believe in our students and push them further to
learn the language.
The best
teacher is someone who believes in his students.
Make your
students feel that they can make it, that it doesn’t have to be perfect, and
that every inch of progress no matter how small should be celebrated!
4. Take care of your voice
When I started teaching, there was one thing I always kept
losing – my voice.
At that time, I was also singing for our ministry’s choir. I
wasn’t really fond of drinking water in between teaching sessions or paying
attention to how I breathe and take in air. This resulted in me having hoarse
or no voice at all.
Not only was able unable to sing most times, but I was also
unable to teach.
Because of this, I had to research further on proper
breathing while singing and teaching, I had to drink a lot of water every day, and
look up other ways to take care of my voice. It was, after all, my bread and
butter.
A Noble Profession Indeed
It is with so much joy that I finished every class. It’s
very true, teaching is a profession that is a mother of all
other occupations. May it be teaching young students, professionals or
people at the prime of their lives, nothing can give so much fulfillment than
knowing that I was able to help out another person learn English and understand
another language.
