Teaching English online has gained a lot of popularity in the past few years, and the industry is still growing. With companies like VIPKid, GoGoKid, and Magic Ears booming, learning English as a second language in another country has never been easier! I have been teaching with VIPKid for about seven months now, and I am so glad I started it.
One perk for many teachers, including myself, is the flexibility. You can teach from anywhere and make your own schedule. While I do not live that aspirational nomad life in which you teach online so you can constantly travel, I have taught while traveling. This usually happens when I take a last-minute trip and my classes are already booked, or when I’m taking a longer trip and I don’t want to miss work. So, I’m going to share my tips for teaching English online while traveling, and let me know in the comments if you have any extra tips to add!
Travel light
-It is so easy to get excited and buy all the cute props and background decorations, that’s what I did when I started! But, the longer I have taught the less of these items I use, even when I’m teaching regularly at home. It can still be fun to incorporate a variety of props sometimes, but it is by no means necessary. Even my background is just a poster taped to the wall. When I travel I like to bring the bare minimum that I use in every class, and I make sure the items are compact and light.
Here’s what I always travel with:
A foldable poster for my backdrop (mostly to appease the parents so they feel like I’m in an intentional classroom. Mine was from the Target dollar spot, but the Dollar Tree also often has great ones in the classroom decor)
Tape or sticky tack (for the poster)
Printouts of Meg, Mike, Mom, Dad (or whatever characters your company uses)
A felt star (my only reward ever!)
My laptop, charger, headphones (just earbuds- large headphones are not necessary) and webcam (only necessary if your computer’s webcam is terrible like my Mac’s. Serves two purposes of better quality and lighting)
Small whiteboard and a marker (mine is from the dollar store, so it’s very thin and lightweight)
Orange t-shirt (it takes the guesswork out of deciding what to wear every day for teaching)
Sometimes I also bring (if I have extra space):
Puppet (aka a stuffed animal with a hole cut in the back and the stuffing ripped out)
Microphone (makes singing the songs or prompting hesitant speakers so much less awkward)
Consider where you’ll teach when booking
-If I’m traveling with someone else, I always make sure there is a separate space I can teach in comfortably so I don’t disturb them at 4 am. Yes, this is usually the bathroom, so I look for a spacious enough room that I can sit on a towel on the floor and prop my computer on something. Try to have a blank wall as your background, which can suffice, or you can hang your poster on it- you just don’t want a toilet in the background!
-Also look at the lighting. Usually bathrooms have good enough lighting, but it’s helpful to consider so you don’t have to bring your own lighting along.
Be mindful of your itinerary when booking classes
-I won’t get into how English teaching nomads coordinate their schedule from one destination to the next because I have no idea, but I will say to be mindful of the classes you are booking while you’ll be traveling. If you are going to a different time zone account for that, and I avoid teaching on actual travel days such as if I have to catch a plane or if I’ll be just arriving, unless that is significantly later in the day, to avoid any mishaps.
Give yourself a break!
-When I travel for long periods of time I like to teach because obviously I still want to make money. However, I’m much more selective with my schedule. I don’t usually teach in the evenings or weekends because I know I’ll want to do things! I tend to stick with the mornings, but consider whether you’ll be out late one night and not want to get up early, or if you will be going out early and teaching will hold you back from taking advantage of the full day. After all, you’re on vacation, so let yourself enjoy it! I’ll sometimes take off for my travels completely, and then do extra classes on another weekend when I’m at home not doing much to make up for the break.
Burnout can happen very easily with this job, considering the crazy hours and parents giving priority booking requests even when you schedule time off it’s so easy to overwork yourself when you see the money add up! But, remember that you sometimes need a break. If you’re a great teacher, your students will continue booking you when you come back!
I love my job teaching English and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys working with kids and has some teaching experience. The flexibility makes it a great option for someone who wants to travel a lot, and that’s just one of the reasons it has been a great fit for me and many others.
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