Online ESL with Teacher Bell

What is a homeroom combination? Well this is a relatively new phenomenon at SayABC - and it's causing a lot of heartache for long time teachers. Let's find out why! Basically when you are given a homeroom it has 4-6 students in it. (Mine all have 4 as I teach using the 1v4 platform). Because of schedule changes, sickness, holidays, finance issues etc. Students may pull out of your homeroom. Generally SayABC will try to fill the gaps with other students. This has happened with 2/4 of my homerooms. I only have 1 homeroom that has the same four students that I started with three months ago. The other 2 have had students come and go but the gaps keep getting filled. Except for 1. It kept losing students until I was down to one! Then I got a 'Home room combination' email! This means they've taken my one student and given them to someone else to fill a homeroom. Make's sense! But it also means I have no classes in my first slot now! They

Seriously - SayABC is my bread and butter! Here's a few reasons why I love it! The kids! SayABC was my first experience with online teaching. I have 4 homerooms each with 4 kids and they are ALL great! Some are a little shy or harder to make laugh (always my goal) but they are ALL so focussed.  The parents! Most of the parents are very supportive! If a child is having a hard time understanding the content (or me) they will always be on hand to help out.  Homerooms are great! I know my students very well (Which can happen with other companies too) but the benefit of homerooms is that I have access to the entire unit! I can see what's coming up - plan ahead - I know where we are going and where we've been! The Portal! It's SO easy to use the SayABC platform. You can log on and see feedback and which student gave it to you. You can see exactly how and what you've been paid. You can easily access the schedule to check your availability and updates, AND the

If you want a better chance of getting bookings on Palfish you need to open your schedule! In this post we'll look at what that means and how to do it! The minimum requirement for teaching on Palfish is to have 7 slots open during peak times in a week. Obviously the more you can open the better your chance of catching bookings. Most people will say 'open your slots' as a catch phrase to get more bookings. I say open what you can - but be careful, think about your goals and don't go crazy. It IS possible to be part time on Palfish and successful. I did it! Initially the pressure to open slots is immense - I found myself pushing myself to open more - I opened later than i'd like and earlier than I'd normally like on some nights. Then things took off! Now I have to be REALLY sure I want to work those times because I don't want to put myself in a position to have to cancel a 'fixed' slot (more on fixed slots later). So let'

Palfish levels are important because they have a direct impact on an OKC teacher's pay rate! Let's find out what they are all about! Palfish Official Kids Course teachers always start the month on Level 1 - Everyone! Every month will start on Level 1- Points reset at midnight BJT on the last day of the month. You get 5 points for teaching a class (Even if it's a no-show) You can get 10 points for teaching the 'double' slot in your timetable. You can get points for selling a package after a trial. You can get points for recruiting another teacher. Bonus points are given for no lateness and no absences in a month. Each of these points accumulate in the month and move you towards the next level. From your homepage you need to click on the 'Official score' icon: You will then be taken to this page where you can see how you are doing... This is a run down of the points you have, your absences, cancellations, lateness and trials sold

When you first start out on Palfish, 'pop ups' are key! So what are they? and how do they work? Read on... Firstly let's be clear, Palfish is VERY addictive, you will need to be careful when you first start out to balance your time so as your family doesn't fear you've been lost to Palfish forever! More on that another day. One of the addictive features of Palfish is the 'Pop-ups'. Let's be honest... It's the thrill of the chase... Of the unknown... A Pop-Up is basically a notification of a last minute booking. The first two days after you become 'official' on Palfish , you will receive A LOT of Pop-up notifications. Then they will ease off for a while... As long as you stay below being 80% booked you can receive a pop-up- If you have notifications allowed (you definitely should) your phone will look like this when you are not in the app: When you click into the app you will be presented with a pop-up less

Palfish is all about marketing yourself. The easiest way to do this is to post plenty of 'Moments'. These are a little like status updates, but the more visually appealing and interesting you can make them the better! Moments ARE visible to parents and students if they find you on the kids app. so make the most of them. They can easily scroll down all your previous moments to see what you've been up to!  You can make three types of moments Picture and text moment Video moment Podcast moment Personally I stick with the top two. I'd probably use number three more if I was marketing myself as a freetalk tutor for adults.  The homescreen of your app will look a little something like this: The top rainbow coloured moments symbol is where you will find all the moments you have posted, and where you can post new ones. The grey coloured one in the toolbar down the bottom is where you can see everyone's moments - you can al

Remember folks, if you just want to do freetalk with adults you don't need to do an interview.  However if you want to teach kids (I recommend it) then once you're verified, if you're looking to join the Official Kids Course,   you will need to do an interview. Here's how to pass it. Before we get to that though - here's a pro tip I wish I knew before I scheduled my interview. Once you pass (you'll hear in 48 hours) and you complete your quiz (you can do this many times to get the answers right - easy) You will need to wait up to 8 business hours 10am - 8:30pm BJT and then you will go 'official' - as SOON as this happens all of the slots you selected as available for the Official Kids Course when you signed up for interview will open on your schedule and can be booked. ONLY choose slots you CAN work! Also - those first 24-48 hours after you go 'official' will be when you will get the MOST pop-ups for classes! So here's my ti

Palfish LIVES - What are they? How do I do one? All your questions answered.... If you have a facebook account you are probably aware of the fairly recent phenomenon of a 'facebook live'. Basically you set it up and people can watch you and comment in real time. Palfish LIVES are based on the same concept. The difference is the purpose. Why should I do LIVES? The most important part of getting bookings on Palfish is your marketing . The best marketing involves finding ways for you to be 'SEEN' and 'HEARD' by parents, students and the sales staff at Palfish. LIVES are a great way to accomplish this! How do I do a LIVE? Before you create your own I suggest you watch a few popular LIVES to get ideas! When you are on your Palfish app. the homescreen will look like this: To watch other LIVES click on the 'Live hall' it will take you to this screen: At the top you can see 'LIVES' that are happening right now! Click on one

That's right folks... I've just started my second full month of teaching at Palfish and I have ALL my open slots booked for the next two weeks! How? Read on... Now if you're anything like me (i.e. impatient) then working at Palfish CAN be very disheartening! I get it, i've been there! We are only human - we know we've got the skills - we are putting the effort in- where are the bookings? Now when I first started working at Palfish I was ranking in the top 3000's of teachers for hours taught. Yep read that again if you want... there are 3000 teacher's working for Palfish. Guys, that's heaps! Yes many of them may have signed up and given up... there is probably only half of those that are working hard at making something of the Palfish gig. But that's STILL a LOT of teachers! What are you going to do to get noticed? It may be that you have done EVERYTHING you can, and literally it is just going to come down to TIME. The right time fo

TPR or Total Physical Response - was a whole new concept to me when I started teaching online. It basically means using your hands, facial expressions and gestures to get your point across. That may seem like a simple concept - but i've never been one to 'talk with my hands'. So it did take a bit of practice 😀 Here are some Basic TPR gestures to get you started... Hello... My name is... Then I usually point to my name and then my mouth to say Teacher Bell... Whats... Your...(It's rude to point in China - an open palm is a safer option). Name... (Drag your hands across your front like a name tag). Then cup your ear so they know you are waiting for a response... And there you go! You got through the first question 😂😂😂 Are you happy?... Where do you live?  Thinking... Good Job and Yes... No... Counting/How old are you... (Start lifting fingers one at a time and counting) Wow!/Amazed... When they do