Welcome to our English Teacher Handbook. We want to set you up for success and ensure that this is the best English teaching experience you have ever had!
The English Teacher handbook outlines how a teacher should conduct, manage and track lessons. Please READ FULLY.
Types of students
Trial Student: A student who has purchased 1 lesson only.
Student who has purchased a course: A student who has purchased a lesson package (typically 8 lessons or more) and has a recurring weekly schedule.
Transfer Student: A student who is transferring from another teacher and has lessons left from previous course.
Important: The first half of this document is applicable to all 3 types of students. There is a separate section on trial students with specific instructions at the end of this document.
How students are assigned to teachers
Students are assigned to teachers by email.
a.) If you getting a trial student – the email will specify time/date for class and the student name.
b.) If you getting a student who has purchased a course – the email will specify weekly schedule, start date, how many classes and the student name.
3.) If you getting a student transfer student – the email will specify weekly schedule, start date, how many classes are left and the student name.
Very Important – Please have regular access to email. Having email access on mobile phone is highly recommended. We expect teachers to respond back within 8 hours or we pass the student to another teacher.
Classroom Setup
Make sure you are in a quite location with a good Internet connection. A location with a lot of background noise like a coffee shop or a dog barking is not good. You should have video on. Using headphone is highly recommended. Your Skype login information will be provided in a separate email. Please add a suitable Skype profile picture.
Time zones
When communicating with students, be abundantly clear on what time zone you are talking in. Most students are unfamiliar with abbreviations such as EST/EDT. Stating time in New York City or London time is easier for the student to understand. Also, remember that some students may not be aware that the US has multiple time zones.
Some examples of good and bad communications regarding time:
Let’s have the class Sep 27th, 9 AM my time – unclear, student may not know your time
Let’s have the class Sep 27th, 9.30 AM – Unclear, what time zone are you referring to?
Let’s have the class 9.30 AM tomorrow – Unclear, tomorrow for you could be today for the student!
Let’s have the class Sep 27th, 9.30 AM New York time – Clear, you have included date, time and time zone
Bonus Tip: During the first few lessons, it is good to make sure you state time in both your time and the student’s local time so that both parties are clear.
Note – In our website and email communications, we always use New York City time.
Picking conversation topics
In your first lesson with a new student discuss a few topics both of you are interested in. You can be talking about global events, different cultures, a new movie, the weather, cooking, art etc.
This blog posts has a great list of English conversation topics to pick from. Also, this post has some wonderful ideas on picking Spoken English conversation topics.
Starting the English lesson
Once you have logged on to Skype, you should send a chat message checking whether the student a ready. (E.g. Hi, this is Tracey your teacher, are you ready to start the class?). If there is still no response, call them.
DO NOT just wait for the student to make first contact. It is the teachers job to initiate the conversation.
If it is your first class with a student, introduce yourself briefly. Tell them where you are from (sometimes students are eager to make sure you are a Native English speaker, so tell them not just where you live now but also where you are originally from).
Tell them briefly about your experiences teaching English and ask the student what they are looking to achieve with English lessons (exam preparation, job interview, migrate to another country etc)
Ask a lot of questions
The objective is to have a real conversation. Ideally, we would like the Student to speak at least 60-70% of the time. The teacher’s role is to ask a lot of questions and lead the conversation.
Corrections/Giving Feedback
In your first lesson with a new student, ask them whether they like to get corrected each time they make a mistake or whether they like to get feedback at the end. Understanding this will help you conduct productive English lessons. Most students like to be “taught” some grammar/vocabulary/pronunciation during the class. Make sure you blend feedback nicely within the conversation.
If you are unsure of the frequency of corrections, err on the side of giving too many corrections and ask the student at the end of the lesson whether they want you to reduce the frequency.
Using Skype Text Chat During the Lesson
Don’t forget that Skype allows you to type messages while doing video chat. This is a great way to add notes/clarify things.
E.g. If a student is unfamiliar with a idiom you used, type it on Skype chat and send during the conversation.
Teaching Grammar
We discourage teachers from conducting boring grammar lessons! That said, if the student prefers to understand the grammar rule behind a correction, please share. We have found that the optimal experience for learning English (or any language for that matter) is when students intuitively understand the correct usage. This level of proficiency only comes from a lot of practice.
Time Tracking
Please use this form to track time: login.spokenenglishpractice.com
You will receive a separate email with login information for the above portal.
Track each lesson right after you have completed it.
Class Counts
Teachers must review class counts on the time tracking portal and check periodically with students on how many classes are left. When the student comes to the last 3 classes, please remind them and check whether they want to re- enroll for more lessons.
No shows
Please refer to separate FAQ document on “Cancellations”
Payments
Payments go out between the first and third of every month. Example, if you start work September 23rd, your first payment will be between October 1st and 3rd. Payments are done via Paypal.
Please send us your PayPal ID to deposit payments within 5 business days of starting lessons. PayPal ID is the email address you used to create your PayPal account. Send this information via email to careers@spokenenglishpractice.com.
Trial Lessons
A trial student is someone who has only purchased 1 lesson. They want to try out 1 class before enrolling for more.
Note: The teacher will be compensated at the same hourly rate they are paid for regular students.
The trial lesson is the first time you are meeting the student. Most students are not familiar with our method of teaching so you must spend a few minutes to introduce our method.
Explain why learning grammar and vocabulary is NOT enough to make you fluent in English. Ask them about their past experiences learning English. Most likely they would have learned grammar and vocabulary for a few years at least. This will also help them understand that learning theory is not enough to speak English fluently.
Pick a topic and have a discussion. You can talk about family, hobbies, reasons for learning English, job etc. as an ice breaker but try to jump in to some more advanced (and interesting) topics too (E.g. polities, culture, healthy life styles, art and science, happiness, gun control, conservation etc). Ask the students what kind of topics they like to discuss if they join the full program with you.
Give students specific corrections and feedback in grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation as you go. Introduce some idioms and slang expressions. This is very important for trial students.
Last 5 minutes of a trial lesson
Discuss a potential weekly schedule
Check with the student what times they want to have regular classes with you. Share a few times you are available. Try to agree on a few times if they decide to join the full program
Tip – You can even type down the times you are available on Skype so that there is no confusion when booking.
Share the link to our website if they want to enroll for more classes
The student if interested can buy the full package directly on our website: https://www.spokenenglishpractice.com/programs/ The student can email us about any question at info@spokenenglishpractice.com
Start Date
If the student wants to start lessons on a given date, he will need to pay at least 3 days in advance. E.g. If the student wants to start lessons May 20th they will need to pay on May 16th, the latest. We have set this rule due to any unexpected international payment processing delays that might happen. Make sure you mention this so that they don’t wait till the very last minute.
Follow-up message
A friendly follow up message on Skype increases the odds of the student joining the program.
Some examples:
I enjoyed our chat yesterday. If you decide to join the full program I was thinking this TED video would be a great first discussion: <<Add Link>>
It was great meeting you last week for the lesson. I came across this article <<Insert link>> which reminded me of what we talked about. May be we can use it as a discussion topic if you decide to join the program.
Tip – Nothing overly “pushy” and desperate-sounding. Just a friendly follow up to show you are interested in working with them in the future.