Check out this lesson plan by Hugh Heyworth from https://tipsofthetounge.wordpress.com/
Category: Recommended Websites
Twenix: Online English Teaching Without a Degree
If you’re looking for online English teaching work, either as a full time position or a side hustle, Twenix could be a good option for you. I work for the company as a content creator making the lesson plans used in class and the reading, listening and grammar activities that students have access to for self-study. I also teach on the platform a couple of times a week to get a better understanding of the experience both for teachers and students. Here are some of the things that make the platform stand out.
Overview
Twenix classes are 26-minute (Twenix = twenty-six) video or audio-only conversation classes carried out on the company’s platform. All of the students are adults based in Spain or Italy, the vast majority of whom are professionals taking classes as part of company training programmes. For the student, they simply log onto the platform and choose a time when they want to take a class, something they can do with just 2 hour’s notice. The platform then matches the student with a teacher who is available at that time. What this means is that each class the student will have a different teacher. The feedback that the teacher gives through the chat box during the class is saved on the student’s profile so that the next teacher can immediately get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses.
The student decides exactly what they want to study; they can choose from an extensive list of topics they would like to discuss, ranging from specialist subjects such as consulting and auditing, logistics or legal English, to more general topics.
Ultra-Flexible
For Twenix teachers, or tweachers, you’re not required to work a minimum number of hours a week; you can work as little or as much as you like. It’s great for combining with another job or studying as you can adapt your schedule to busy periods in your life. Another benefit is the class transfer system. Many other platforms have strict cancellations policies, however, due to Twenix’s teacher rotation system, teachers can transfer their classes to other available teachers at short notice for whatever reason. This is a feature that teachers really value due to the flexibility it offers them.
Simple & Fun
As I mentioned, all of the class materials are pre-prepared, teachers only need 2-3 minutes to read over the class content before teaching the class. What’s more, there’s no homework to mark, meaning that our focus is solely on teaching and providing feedback to the students. Also, the classes are short, 100% conversation based and with keen adult students who work in a wide range of sectors. I’ve learned loads from talking to students working in diverse fields such as renewable energy, logistics, computer game design and many more.
Hiring Policies
Twenix hires teachers from all over the world*, not just English speaking countries, like some other platforms. You don’t need to hold a degree and non-native speakers are more than welcome. The most important qualities needed are being able to think on your feet, maintain an engaging conversation and provide relevant and constructive feedback to students on their English skills.
*Please note that Twenix is not currently hiring teachers based in Spain.
If I were looking for online teaching work, Twenix would certainly be one of my top choices. So, why not give it a try?
Amazy.uk – Materials Bank & Teaching Community
If you teach English online you might want to check out Amazy.uk – a collaborative resource library for education and training.
👩🏫 For teachers, you get access to a public library of thousands of original educational materials, all easily saved, customised, and shared. It makes it intuitive and easy to create your own interactive lesson materials with an AI assistant, self-checking tasks, audios, videos, and anything else in one place to keep your students engaged.
Share lessons with your students, keep track of their progress, and save time on lesson preparation and homework checking.
🧑🎓 Students will find themselves in the driver’s seat of their learning, with easy access to all covered materials, self-paced lessons, and an engaging learning environment.
🏫 Schools will benefit from a private resource library shared among teachers and students added to the team, a company dashboard to track progress and statistics, and many other features.
To get a taste of what the platform offers, here is a selection of popular lessons you can use in your class today:
1. St. Valentine’s Day A1 – https://amazy.uk/lessons/49732
2. All Future Tenses B2 – https://amazy.uk/lessons/47531
3. All Conditionals B2 – https://amazy.uk/lessons/4560
4. Modal verbs – Ability A2 https://amazy.uk/lessons/15842
Recommended Website: Bright Classroom Ideas
Check out this great blog for teachers. It has tonnes of info, everything from classroom tips and teaching supplies to information about training and professional development opportunities. Take a look!
Podcast Recommendation: What on Earth is a Noun Phrase?
If you’re an English teacher or linguist, check out the great new podcast What on Earth is a Noun Phrase? by Oxford Language Performance. In each episode they speak to a different practitioner in the field of EFL or linguistics and interview them about their area/passion. The episodes are short, insightful, and full of great tips and tools for teachers. You can find them wherever you normally get your podcasts or sign up through their website below:
You can also follow them on Twitter @whatonearthisa
Freeed: The Online Teaching Community
I’ve recently made an account and started connecting with other teachers on freeed.com a great new platform and online community for teachers. It’s completely free to create an account and it’s full of useful lesson plans and other resources created and shared by teachers all over the world. The types of content range from ready-to-use class materials to book reviews and blog posts. It’s an easy way to share materials and make connections with like-minded teachers.
Myles Klynhout is a member of the Freeed team and here he is talking about the origins of the platform and giving advice on how to get started:
“Teachers already face many challenges and pressures. Good practice now means working with efficiency, consistency and creativity. The problem is that too many teachers are working alone, adapting authentic and published materials, or developing their own.”
“Too often, these materials never see the light! If more educators shared their great ideas, everyone would benefit. Freeed’s mission is to make that happen, by ensuring that the process of sharing is as quick and easy as possible.”
“We understand the importance of teachers connecting and developing materials locally. Freeed’s first community in Finland has achieved just this and now has more than 3000 active users – primary and secondary school teachers, all sharing lesson ideas and teaching tips.”
“Since then, communities have been established in the Netherlands and Tanzania. As our number of teachers grow, what we want to do next is link these local communities to one another, creating a global network of educators.”
“The new ELT community is a great opportunity for us to understand the challenges teachers face in different contexts around the world.
“How can I join the Freeed ELT community?”
Step 1: Go to the Freeed website and Get Started.
Step 2: Quickly create your free account and join the ELT community (Freeed will always be free for teachers!).
Step 3: Start sharing ideas with other English teachers. You might even find the perfect materials for tomorrow’s lesson.
The situation Myles describes definitely resonated with me and it was that urge to share and swap materials that initially got me started with this blog. Check out the full blog post here. Then create your account and dive straight in! See you there!
Smart Classroom Management
Just stumbled upon this great Classroom Management blog by Michael Linsin, full of great tips for dealing with troublesome classes and students.
IELTS Practice Tests from Magoosh
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
Check out this great set of IELTS practice tests and tips from Magoosh blog:
U-Speak: Calling Barcelona-based Autónomo English Teachers
A quick shoutout to my friend Paul O’Brien from U-Speak who’s looking for professional, committed autónomo English teachers to get involved in this exciting new language centre.
- Are you an autónomo English teacher?
- Would you be interested in becoming part of a new English language centre?
At “U-Speak” we provide a comfortable and supportive environment where students can develop their English level through speaking.
We are looking for teachers with their own students who would like to have a comfortable and convenient location for their classes.
Facilities
- Fiber optic broadband (ideal for Skype classes)
- 5 classrooms for one-to-one classes and groups
- Kitchen facilities
- Waiting room
- Printer
- And much more
You can check out our location at: www.uspeak.eu
If you are an established teacher who would like to take their business to the next level, we would like to hear from you!
Contact
- Email: paul@uspeak.eu
- Tel.: 616108026
Habitica
Image credit: habitica.com
Follow me on twitter @RobbioDobbio
A few weeks ago a friend introduced me to this amazing app designed to boost personal productivity. It’s kind of a cross between a role-playing game, a tamagotchi and a to-do list. It’s pretty damn geeky but it works a treat!
Want to go to the gym or write a blog post every day? Habitica can help.You simply put all the good habits you’d like to start doing (and all the bad ones you’d like to stop) into the app and then every time you do them your avatar receives experience points or gold. As you level up you can equip yourself with better weapons, armour and pets that you can ride into battle against the bad habit monsters. You can team up with friends to do battle together and earn more rewards. As I said, it’s pretty geeky and probably not to everyone’s taste but in the week I’ve been using it I’ve flossed every day, written 5 blog posts and taken up a new sport!
Obviously you have to be honest about what you have and haven’t done but it has definitely given me a push to do things I would often put off or simply not do.
Applying it to language learning
It could be the push you or your students need to study some vocabulary or read for pleasure in their L2 outside class. Advise your students to set a target of 10 minutes reading or studying a day and see how they get on. I’ve done it myself and I’m currently on a 7-day streak of reading for pleasure in Spanish!
Check it out at: https://habitica.com