Online ESL with Teacher Bell

Well folks i've nearly hit my one year anniversary of Online Teaching. What a year it's been! In 2019 I was inspired by this new and exciting world where I could work from home and teach and earn a bit of extra change. Truth be told I went a bit over the top. I was working 5 nights a week. Which was never my intention when I started out. But the lure of reaching the next level on Palfish and earning those extra points pushed me. As 2019 wound down I realised I needed to make some hard decisions about what was actually sustainable long term. For me staying up 'till midnight 5 nights a week was not! So I took two weeks off for Christmas - and then let my Friday and Saturday night students know I would be closing those nights down. The transition was hard - some of my students didn't rebook with me. But most did! They were able to find a slot I could teach them on the Monday/Wednesday or Thursday night. Towards the end of January we started hearing re...

Hey y'all It's been a little while since i've been able to sit down and wax lyrical ... Probably because i've been so busy teaching! ...and mothering, and wifing and lifing. So thought it was time to check in and let you know how it's going. I travelled for the first time with Palfish this weekend. So THAT'S exciting! Truth be told it was kind of stressful and next time i'd probably be more organised and take the time off. Don't get me wrong it was relatively easy but i'm a stresser, so I need my lighting to be good and my internet to be strong. Of course it all went fine - but was it worth me stressing on my holiday? hmm jury is out. In other big news we just hit Daylight Savings Time in Australia. Which means where I live we are now three hours away from 'china time'. This means all my classes moved an hour later! It opens up more opportunity for me to teach after 7pm(AEST) when the kids are in bed. BUT it also means ...

This post is all about celebrating! I hit 100 hours with Palfish! Remember I only work 3 evenings a week (Wednesday/Friday/Saturday) because of family and other commitments I have a very limited schedule . It took me 12 weeks. But I did it! Working at Palfish has been amazing! It is honestly so much fun! So if you're wondering if you can work part time with Palfish , the answer is yes! If you're wondering if you can be successful at Palfish without opening EVERY slot , the answer is yes! I'm still fully booked ! If you'd like my help let me know! Happy Teaching x If you are ready to check out  Palfish Click Here P.S. Every company offers a referral bonus - If you're interested in getting started and would like my help with the process drop me a line!  Palfish referral code: 58910752  SayABC referral code: EG63VF 

It's been 5 months since I entered the online teaching world -  I work for TWO companies ( Here's why I think everyone should!) Now it's time to give you the low down on what it's like to work for each of them, you're going to want to read this! Requirements Before we begin you are going to want to know straight up what you need to have in order to get a job with Palfish and SayABC. Palfish : 120hour TESOL or TEFL. Ability to work 3.5hours a week during peak Beijing teaching times (6pm-9pmBJT weekdays or 9am-9pm weekends). SayABC : 120hour TESOL or TEFL or any other teaching certificate, BA degree (or in the final year of one), One year teaching experience.  Both companies require that you speak English at a native level.  The kids Seriously the BEST part of this business is the students! Both platforms give you the opportunity to teach the cutest Chinese kids ever! There are also a few...hmmm... less focused stude...

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'...