Hey there! It’s Allyson from OnlineTeacherAllyson.com where stay-at-home moms learn how to teach online so they can earn an income from home even if their kiddos are in tow. Today we are going to talk about, kind of seems obvious but, why online teaching should be fun. We’re going to visit it from the students’ viewpoint as well as your viewpoint as the online teacher. Let’s get started!
If you’d rather watch, you can grab the YouTube Video below!
If you’d rather listen, you can grab the Simple Tools for the Online Teacher Podcast Episode at the very bottom!
40 Hours a Week at School
Let’s talk about the kiddos first. Why should online learning be fun for them? Well, they are in a classroom 40 hours a week. Think about it: they’re at school every day Monday through Friday, expected to sit still, learning about things they might not be interested in, learning how to deal with peers, and teachers, and their frustrations, and the joys that can come from that. You know the typical classroom model is not for every student, and sometimes they’re there regardless. So when they do sign up for online classes, whether they are homeschooled, or in the more traditional standpoint, whether it’s like an extra class after school, you want it to be fun! You want it to be something these kids look forward to! You want them to enjoy it whether they are learning something they’re interested in like robotics or coding, or whether it is a core subject like reading or math that maybe they’re getting a little extra help with, or maybe they’re just getting ahead. But you want it to be fun because they’re kids!
Attention Span
I have gotten so much more empathy for kids since I became a Mom myself and understood on a different level just how little they can sit still. I have a three-year-old and I know it’s very different from a seven-year-old; they have four or five more minutes of time they can focus before they start trailing off. You learn all these things in school. I’ve learned all of this! For every year they have one minute of time they’re able to focus – their attention span. It’s so much different when you experience it day in and day out on a first-hand basis. I noticed it when I was a classroom teacher but I’ve gotten so many more tips and tricks just because I’ve been thrown into it 24/7 as opposed to 40 hours a week with the kids.
The Benefit of Teaching a Class Students Look Forward To
They’re just in class for so long you want this to be something they look forward to because honestly it makes your life easier too. If they’re excited for it and they have a relationship with you their behavior problems are a lot less. So last year I was teaching my math small groups and I had this student. He started a little later than the rest of them and so he missed like all of our first week of school expectation setting and get to know yous. You try to fill him in but… and math was really really hard for him. It was really hard and he already came with some baggage that I didn’t know about, I just knew that he saw the school counselor right before me. So I know so I know there was something going on outside of my sessions that sometimes he would bring with him and he wasn’t able to focus on the class. So my mindset going into class with this student was, you know he just really needs some love. He might not be here to learn today but we can get along. And that’s what I try to take into all of my classes with me is let’s get along because my name is not formally attached to their success.
The Ability to Find the Right Online Teacher
If parents don’t like me as an online teacher or I’m not clicking with students they can find someone else. It’s a hard pill to swallow when you’re first getting started! So if you’re dealing with that please keep in mind that it’s okay. I know it’s a hard pill to swallow and it kind of stings but that’s the joy of online teaching for you and them. If you don’t necessarily mesh, one or the other, you can move on, or the student can move on in a lot of instances. In my instance nobody could move on because our groups were assigned and so I just loved on the kid, and I made it work, and we got along. I noticed that it helped! I would tell him “Look, I know something happened at lunch today, I can tell, and I’m sorry about that but clean slate with me.” I can’t do anything to help you at school, you’re going to talk to your teacher about that, but you have a clean slate with me. Whether you got in trouble this morning or not it’s a clean slate. Bringing that really helped to open them up, open him up especially. He knew it was a clean slate and 30 minutes to 45 minutes guys you can handle it I promise.
Embed the Fun in Your Lesson Planning
So it should be fun because they’re in class for so long, and we haven’t even gotten to the fun yet! That’s where your lesson planning comes in. I’ve said before Cambly has lessons planned for you but you as the online teacher can still make those fun. If you’re talking about teddy bears, bring your teddy bear! I still have my teddy bear from when I was a kid. He’s packed away in a box somewhere but if I were to teach a lesson on that I would totally bring him out. I taught wig, we were doing the -ig ending the /ig/. So, wig pig, and so I brought out one of my wigs. We went to a wig party for my bachelorette party. It was a lot of fun. I brought out a wig and we got a good laugh out of it because it’s purple and my hair was down and the wig was short! That’s where you can make online learning fun is finding things you have at home. Borrow your kids toys and bring them with you! It helps make it fun, it helps form a connection with you, and it helps form a connection with the content as well. Same thing with math. I would bring stuff! I’d go to my pantry and I’d grab things if we needed to count. For fractions I talk about pies and pizzas. I have – it’s at my mom’s house at his grandma’s -va pizza that you can cut off and you can talk about four or fives that way. So use the things you already have to help make classes fun because it really helps the time go by for both you and the students. If you are doing this as a job like I am like you’re trying to earn at least a part-time income then you want it to be fun! I don’t want to sit and do something boring, that’s not what I want to do.
Students Can Learn About Their Interests
Next, it lets students find the joy in whatever they’re interested in. So I want to go back to my robotics and my coding example from last week, and if you didn’t catch it I’ve got it linked for you. But you want it to be fun, and you want them to find the joy, and keep the joy in that. I know every topic is going to have something boring right? It’s not always fun learning those fundamentals, but it’s important. You can make it fun! It’s where creativity comes into play! If you’ve been doing this for a long time and you’re truly an expert in what you’re teaching then you know ways to make it fun. When I was teaching friendship bracelets I taught the number four because we kind of made a four shape a lot of times. So we did that, and then you can do a chant, you can find the number four, you can find four things on your desk. You can make it fun just to help reinforce the number four. So that’s where your creativity comes into play! It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant or crazy. Like I said a chant about the number four, you can sing a song about the number four, like be careful with copyright if you already know one, and something simple and make it quick. It’s also something you can bring in about halfway through or when you can notice they’re starting to lose focus.
You Want It To Be Fun For You!
Finally, this one’s a short and sweet one today. Let’s talk about you as the online teacher and as a stay-at-home mom. This is probably just something extra. I don’t work full-time anymore because I have my son full-time! That’s my job and right now he’s away at preschool so it’s my time to do this, it’s my time to get my work done, we’re actually waiting for classes to start up for the year. It’s just something extra so really I think it should be enjoyable. I know how it goes Mama. You have a kid and you kind of lose yourself. You lose the things that brought you joy because you don’t have time for it anymore, you lose the time to take care of yourself the same way you used to, you don’t have time to do your self care – whatever that is for you. So if you’re going to use your time at home to work, which you’re probably thinking about, which is why you’re here, then it needs to be enjoyable. I mentioned last week as well tutoring where I come up with the lessons myself just is not my jam because it takes more time and effort than I want to put in every single week for the foreseeable future. But doing things where lessons are created for me like Cambly or Outschool where I just create it once and I keep going that is more my sweet spot. That brings me more joy and also I just like teaching. I think it’s fun and that’s why I teach in my spare time.
Make Sure It Fills Your Cup – Not Takes From It
So you want it to be something enjoyable because momming is hard, I know. You don’t want to add something else that’s hard on top of it when it’s your break time, when your kid is napping, when they’re at school, when they’re with Mom, Dad, partner, brother, sister, whoever they’re with, you don’t want to add something else hard on top of it. You want it to refresh you at least a little bit. Even when I have hard sessions with my students, because those do happen I won’t lie, I still come out refreshed because I did something for me. I got to teach which was still fun, I got to contribute to the household income, which makes me feel good, I got to talk to kids who live somewhere else that I probably wouldn’t have before, and that feels good too. Just knowing that I tried my best to foster those relationships, and teach them, and do what they needed in that moment, that’s what makes me feel good. So even though some of those sessions can be hard and I come out feeling a little bit frustrated with behavior, especially as a math tutor where they’re not necessarily doing something they find joy in, there’s other ways I find joy. I get to contribute to household income – is a big one. It gives us money for all the extras.
So that’s it. I told you it was going to be short and sweet this week. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below and I will respond to them myself! I hope you have a great week! Don’t forget to subscribe if you’re loving the content, a new video every week! I hope you’re having the greatest week, chat soon!
