Teaching English Online!!

Whenever I share about online teaching on my Instagram, I always get tons of questions in my DMs! I figured I would answer them here so I can direct interested teacher friends to one place. :)

I currently work part-time for two companies, VIPKID and gogokid, teaching English online to kiddos in China! My full time job is as a kindergarten teacher!

I have been teaching with VIPKID for about a year and a half now, and I love it! Here's the lowdown on what it is exactly:

✳ Classes are one-on-one and full immersion (meaning you speak English only, no Chinese!)
✳ All lessons are provided for you
✳ Classes are 25 minutes long with 5 minutes provided for you to write feedback to the student
✳ You can make between $14 and $22 an hour!

Here is what the classroom looks like: 

It's kind of like a mix between Powerpoint and Facetime!

These are the things I LOVE about teaching for VIPKID:
✳ There are different incentives that allow you to make more money than your base pay!
✳ There is no minimum amount of hours you have to work per week, so it is totally flexible - this is especially great for someone doing this as a part-time gig!
✳ There is minimal "prep work" you have to do. I look at the PPT slides in advance and use a whiteboard, puppet, and a few props during my classes!

"But what are the hours like??"
This is a question I get often since China is 12 hours ahead of my time zone! The "peak" times (most popular times) for each time zone will vary. In my time zone (EST), my peak times end at 9am (during the summer, they end at 10am thanks to Daylight Savings Time!). So I teach from 6-7 before school, and on the weekends from 7 or 8 until 9. If you are a night owl (I am NOT!) you can also teach at night. In my time zone, you could teach starting at 7:30pm. 

Gogokid is VERY similar to VIPKID. It is a newer company, so there are less teachers and students using this platform. In both VIPKID and gogokid, parents have the ability to book your classes. They look at your bio, pictures, and short intro video to see if you'd be a good fit for their child! Because of this, it can take a few weeks to build up a full schedule. 

In addition to teaching classes, you can earn money at both companies for referring teachers! If you want to use my referral code to apply, I can add you to my private Facebook group where I provide videos and answer questions to help you through the hiring process. If you choose to go this route (yay!) - DM me on Instagram and let me know that you used my code and we can get you set up in the group!
If you want to use my referral link for VIPKID, click here!
If you want to use my referral link for gogokid, click here! 

If you have any questions about VIPKID or gogokid, please leave them in the comments below! 

Punny Easter Tags - Freebie!

Hi, friends!

I hope you all have the happiest of Easters!  Click the picture below to pick up these free Easter tags. :)

Weather Math Journal

Hi, teacher friends!

We are starting our Weather Unit next week, so I wanted to share this freebie with you.  I use this math journal as our math center for the week, but you can use it for morning work, independent work, small group or whole group lessons... pretty much any way you want!

There's an addition page and a subtraction page.  The students cut out the suns to use as counters for the math problems.  They also color in the sums/differences as they use them.

Enjoy!  If you download this, please let me know what you think! :)

Valentine's Day Centers

Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! I'm here to share some freebie center activities today. :)

The first one is "Words I Know By Heart" and it's a sight word read/write the room center. I will have it at my reading center next week. Students can use the heart pointers (drink stirrers!) to find the heart words around the room and record them on their paper. 

Click on the picture to pick up this freebie in my TpT store!

This next one is a blog exclusive! Students will find sight words in magazines and glue them onto the recording sheet. I'll have this as a Word Work option next week. Click the picture below for the recording sheet!

We've been hitting sight words hard lately, so my reading and word work centers are really focusing on that!

At the math center this week, I'm keeping it simple with heart facts!  The kids love this game.  They work with a partner and cover up the sum on the bottom of the heart.  The other player has to figure it out!

You can also have them play by covering up an addend for an extra challenge!

Click on either picture above for this center. :)

Have a great Valentine's Day!

Making "Snow" : A Science Experiment!

We did a fun and easy (if you don't count cleanup!) science experiment the other day in kindergarten!

By mixing baking soda and shaving cream, we created a snow-like mixture.  The kiddos had a great time playing in it and feeling it with their hands (and shirts, and hair, and pants...)  I hope it is an experiment they will remember for a long time!

 

If you want to download the follow-up sheet, just click the picture below. :)

I hope you can use this in your classroom!  Thanks for stopping by!

Individual Behavior Chart Freebie

Hi teacher friends!

I am here to share this individual behavior chart today.  I use these when I find students are clipping down on the classroom clip chart a lot.  This is a more positive and more private reminder for them.  Plus, it goes home daily so parents can look at it and discuss the child's day with them!

 I like to divide the day into segments in order for the student to feel more successful (rather than not earning a sticker for the whole day due to one small part of his/her day).  I also like to see if there is a pattern to misbehavior (ie a student who always misbehaves during math might struggle in that area, or excel in that area and be bored!)

Click the picture below to download this individual behavior chart. I have included one with a blank spot instead of rest time as well!

 

"How to Make a Gingerbread House" Shared Writing

We made gingerbread houses today!

They turned out SO well and I'm convinced a lot of it had to do with a shared writing activity we did beforehand. 

 

We started by talking about the materials we needed to make the gingerbread house.  Several kiddos wrote the words and drew the pictures for this part.  I did help with spelling for this activity!

Then, we thought about the steps needed for making a gingerbread house.  We brainstormed these together and landed on these four steps.  I gave each child a job, and off they went!

 

  

I love these activities because they have to really work together to complete the pictures and writing.  I let them go anywhere in the room to do their work, and when they're finished with their piece, they have to go around and help others!

Here's what our final wall of writing looks like. :)

Merry Christmas!