The freelancer movement is growing by leaps and bounds as a study found that 20-30% of the labor force in Europe is now made up of independent workers. Being a freelancer can be very empowering as it enables you to work on your own time and earn enough money to support your living expenses.
Online tutorial jobs can be a great way to supplement your income without having to leave your home, and if you’re a teacher, it’s a good way to make some extra money during the school holidays. Numerous teaching opportunities have surfaced in the past few years, and there are lots of companies offering online language training all over the world.
Before you can be an efficient online English tutor, you’ll need more than a good grasp of the language to stand out from the crowd and successfully teach your students. Here’s a guide to being a stellar online English tutor.
Be focused
In order to be a great online English tutor, you need to be focused on what you’re doing while you’re teaching. One way to improve focus is to avoid distractions in your teaching space, and you can do this by having a dedicated area for teaching in your home.
You owe it to your students to give them your full attention during tutoring sessions, so create a productive space to enhance your online teaching.
Love the job
Not everyone can be a good online English teacher, but one thing that really helps is a genuine love for the job. Though the money that you can earn from this freelancing job can help to pay off student loans and bills, it shouldn’t be your only motivation to take on students.
Keep in mind that some students will need more help than others, and this requires patience and some creativity so you can help them learn what they need to know. Loving the job can make you look forward to teaching any student, no matter if some may take more effort to teach than most.
Know your students
Getting to knowing your students, their occupations, and their interests can help you become a more efficient online teacher as you get to know what they need.
While a student’s profile can be helpful, talking to your students via video chat will let you determine the teaching method to use and it also gives you an idea on what you need to do to help them improve.
Give rapid feedback
Your students need you to give them rapid feedback on assignments and questions. Even if it’s the weekend or you’re traveling, you need to find a way to go online to answer your students’ questions. This gives your students a sense of security.
When giving feedback, you should identify what your student needs to work on, but at the same time don’t forget to focus on the good.
Being an online teacher takes dedication, skill, and enthusiasm for the job. By following these tips, not only do you become a more efficient online English teacher, but you also help empower your students as they learn.
By Lucy Wyndham, Professional Freelance Writer
Photo Credit: Andrew E. Cohen — Snowbirds (CC License)