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!

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conference time can be SO stressful.  I like to be super organized so that everything runs smoothly and it takes my stress level down a bit! :)  I use this conference form to show parents the kindergarten skills we are working on and to keep me on track during my parent/teacher conferences.

Click the picture to download a copy. :)  I did include a few different headers (fall, winter, spring, and just conference form) but unfortunately the skills can't be edited.  If you think you can use this, just click below!




Thanks for stopping by!

Guided Reading Lesson Plan Freebie

Hi teachers!

I posted this photo on Instagram the other day and wanted to share my Guided Reading Lesson plan template with you in case you would find it useful. 

Just click the picture below to pick up these plans!

Have a great evening!

Turkeys to Ten!

{Click the picture to download the freebie turkey pattern!}


Decomposing numbers can be tricky!  I always like for my students to see the relationship between the numbers before we start adding plus signs and equal signs.  I also like teaching decomposing numbers using the word "and."  This reinforces the idea that 8 and 2 make 10, & 2 and 8 make 10!  I always use the example:  "I like dogs AND cats" means the same thing as "I like cats AND dogs."  It doesn't matter what order the words are in, the sentence means the same thing.  This builds a solid foundation for later when we talk about the order of our addends in an addition sentence.

Happy Gobbling!

Guided Reading Organization

Organization in the classroom is SO important.  We know we shouldn't be wasting precious minutes with our kiddos searching for materials.  That is why I LOVE reading about how other teachers organize their instructional tools.  Today, I'm going to share with you how I organize my Guided Reading materials so I can see as many groups per day as possible (I have 5 groups and I see at least 4 per day).  

My five reading groups are the Tigers, Giraffes, Frogs, Zebras, and Monkeys.  I group them homogeneously by reading level (we use Dibels, Reading A-Z Benchmarking, and Star Assessment at my school).  Even if you don't use any of these assessments at your school, you can group your kids using any assessment!  One of the great things about Guided Reading is that your groups are always fluid.  You can move kids from group to group as they grow and change!

This is how I show my class who is in which group.  Easy to see and easy to change!

I store the groups' weekly supplies (books, reading tools, reading response sheets, etc.) in the matching group bin.

This chart is how I know which group to call over on which days.  This is an idea originally from Rachelle at What the Teacher Wants.  I cannot rave about her Guided Reading posts and items enough! 

Some of the leveled books I use are from our reading series, Journeys.  I also print books from Reading A-Z and Hubbard's Cupboard.  Those are great because the kids get to take them home!  For homework at the beginning of year, they had to create a Book Box at home to keep their paper books in.  That way they can read them over and over again at home!

 

I snagged this easel from a rummage sale for $2.00 and I use it daily!  I write our sight words on it before we read to prep the kids.  I also use it during guided writing or anytime I need to show something to the group!

Under the easel, you can see our whisper phones.  After we read the book together at least twice, the group whisper reads it to themselves while I observe for certain reading behaviors.

 

This is my favorite blue Ikea cart (that I think has been discontinued!).  The top shelf holds all the tools I use daily or weekly with my groups.  Some of these items include dry erase boards and markers, ABC charts (use EVERY time a group meets), work mats (stretchy snake, Elkonin boxes, tracking practice mats), ABC flashcards, and of course pencils and crayons!  Having all of these things right there if I need them makes my groups run so much more smoothly.

I also have my timer right there to ensure I don't spend TOO much time with any certain group. :)

 

Next to my group bins, I have two baskets that hold more tools for easy access.  This bin holds snakes and slinkies for stretching words, a CVC word maker, and reading highlight strips. 

The highlight strips help kids that struggle with reading multiple lines.  For example, a child that struggles with visual discrimination or one-to-one correspondence (even when "pointing") may have trouble reading this page. 

However, using the highlighter, the child is likely to be more successful in reading the page, and he/she won't be so overwhelmed.

 

This is one way we s-t-r-e-t-c-h out our words!  The snake was from the Target dollar spot awhile back.  The Stretchy Snake work mat is from Deanna Jump! 

This is another version of Stretchy Snake... Elkonin boxes.  You can use cubes or coins to allow students to segment the phonemes in the words.  If your group needs to work on phonemic awareness skills, you would use Stretchy Snake or the Elkonin boxes without letters (just use items to segment).  If your group is ready for phonics practice, you can have them write the letters they hear!

Here is another bin, full of pointers to help with one-to-one correspondence!  We also use the finger puppets to help with reading strategies. 

Here is an example of the "finger light" pointer!  The kids love this one!  (Vowel tracking mat is from Julie Lee!)

 

This is a bin that holds items I don't necessarily use every time I meet with groups. I store future activities in the colorful pouches.  This bin is still right behind my table in case I realize I need something from it during Guided Reading.

Some items inside are reading cues and questions...

more Elkonin boxes and CVC cards... 

 

and sight words (I pull out the ones we have learned or are learning and keep them in the Ikea cart!)

 

Here is a look at the area altogether!  We are adding our reading strategies to the wall as we learn them.  I love having everything I need organized and ready to go for my Guided Reading time!

 

 

Common and Proper Christmas Nouns!

Hi everyone!  Sorry about my lack of posts lately - if you are in year 3 of RESA I know you feel me when I say I have had NO time between that and actually teaching to do much of anything else!

I just wanted to do a quick blog post because I just finished and submitted my first RESA task (woo hoo!) and now I have some time to share a little something!

I've just introduced common and proper nouns to my firsties.  We started with this anchor chart...

 

I had the common nouns listed and we worked to turn them into proper nouns together.  After we did this together, I had the students go back to their seats and do this sort independently.  They did a great job!

 

Click below for this freebie!