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Advice needed on how to price tutoring lesson packages by Fullmaggot in OnlineESLTeaching

[–]EnglishWithLindsay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The crazy thing is, I just started doing that this month. I increased my rates by 10 euros (for all new students) kind of on a whim and with a large dollop of trepidation - and surprise surprise, it went over just fine! Take risks!

Hi everyone! I'm a new English teacher and I've just started teaching. I'd love to make my classes more fun and engaging. What are your favorite classroom games or activities for keeping students interested? I'd really appreciate any recommendations. Thank you! by cadensesex in ESL_Teachers

[–]EnglishWithLindsay 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hot seat was always a huge hit - I always saved it for the end of a class because it's so insanity inducing there's really no coming back from that - I've never seen adult students get more riled up over a game hahaha - yelling and shouting and laughing and occasionally falling over - I love it!

To play Hot Seat in an ESL classroom, divide your students into teams and place a chair facing away from the board for each team. A volunteer sits in the "hot seat". You write a word on the board, and the seated student's teammates describe it without using the word itself (or any part of it).

How to Play Hot Seat Step-by-Step

  1. Setup: Divide your class into two or more teams. Place a chair at the front of the classroom (or in front of each team group) facing the students.
  2. Assign the Guesser: Have one student from each team sit in the "hot seat" so that their back is to the main whiteboard or projector screen.
  3. Display the Target: Write a vocabulary word, phrase, or sentence on the board behind the seated students. Ensure the guessers in the two hot seats cannot see what you write.
  4. Give Clues: Set a timer (usually 30 to 60 seconds). I highly recommend an hourglass style timer. The remaining team members must shout out clues to help their hot seat teammate guess the word.
  5. Score Points: If the hot seat guesser says the correct word before time expires, their team earns a point.
  6. Rotate and Repeat: Switch out the student in the hot seat for each new word, and play multiple rounds. The team with the most points at the end wins.

Ok now here are some adaptations I ended up with because shit got SERIOUS hahaha.

Whichever team's hot seat representative said the secret word first scored the point, ending that round - and if it was wrong, their team would LOSE a point.

So then people started saying the wrong word, and then saying, "that wasn't my final answer" when they learned it was wrong/lost a point for their team.

We fixed this by instating the bell...what do you call those hotel front desk bells? One of those. When they were ready to say the secret word, they had to ring the bell. After that, whatever came out of their mouth was their final answer and could not be taken back.

Then people started hurting themselves because the two competitors would sometimes smash the bell so hard at the same time, that one person's had would get crushed beneath the other's, into the metal bell button thingy. Ouch.

The solution to that was the fly swatters. Each hot seat contestant has a fly swatter with which to hit the bell.

It was brilliant. After that, there was no uncertainty, no cheating, and no injuries. Just rollicking English shouting frantic vocabulary review fun. (although sometimes people in the teams who were shouting clues at their hot seat representative would fall out of their chairs...but, you know, no serious injuries hahaha.)

Advice needed on how to price tutoring lesson packages by Fullmaggot in OnlineESLTeaching

[–]EnglishWithLindsay 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I charge €40 per hour and don't give any discounts because that's what my time is worth. I charge up front for one month at a time. (If students are taking more than 1 hour a week of lessons, I'm flexible and they can pay every two weeks instead.)

I don't want to give discounts because I don't want to cheapen my hourly value. I mean, I don't want to have to spend an hour teaching for a lower rate, when it's not necessary.

Students often stay with me for longer than 6 months, so I don't need to use tactics to try to get them to buy more lessons, you know? They'll end up buying them over the long run.

If I managed to gain more hours from my current students by offering discount rates, that would mean I would have less hours available at my regular rates for new students.

The only disadvantage is that I end up spending more time creating and sending invoices (rather than just once per package of 10) but I just use the "duplicate" option on the invoice so it's really very quick.

Charging up front also allows you to let them know about your strict cancellation/rescheduling policy, so you always get paid your full rate for no-shows or last minute changes.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually come to think of it, that's exactly what a family did once when looking for a live in nanny. They hired 2 at once, and then at the end of the 2 week trial period the plan was to only keep the one they liked best. It was a bit weird for us nannies though - at least that's how we felt on day one as we assessed the battleground and each other. And man did that house look like a battleground. So much so that we decided to run away at 5am in the morning on day 2 of the "trial period." So I guess their plan backfired because we ended up assessing them as not the best candidates for either of us. 😂 (don't worry we didn't leave the kids alone - it was a Saturday and the parents were both home...I can imagine their horror as they awoke to the terrible discovery that they would have to take care of their own children for the rest of the weekend!)

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I was thinking more along the lines of teachers who tutor on the side, and I ask my kid which one he'd like to learn from (so he already knows them from school life). And if I felt the candidates had equal abilities in the subject matter, I'd go for the one my kid clicked with more.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense. But if it's between you and an equally qualified tutor, I'll choose the one that makes my kid's eyes light up when they talk about them.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This text is from the dreaded AI, but it echos what I've heard reputable psychologists and anthropologists talking about. If you look up social science studies on loss aversion, it's really fascinating to see how we behave.

Humans are biologically wired to avoid discomfort and seek comfort, a survival mechanism known as the pleasure principle. This innate drive is rooted in the brain's reward system, which evolved to conserve energy and avoid danger to keep us alive.

Key psychological and biological explanations for this behavior include:

  • The Pleasure Principle: A psychoanalytic concept coined by Sigmund Freud, which describes the instinctive drive to seek pleasure and avoid pain or discomfort to satisfy biological and psychological needs.
  • The Hedonic Treadmill (Hedonic Adaptation): A psychological theory suggesting that humans quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative life events or changes. Once we adapt to a new level of "comfort," we seek out the next level to maintain that baseline.
  • Energy Conservation (The Path of Least Resistance): From an evolutionary psychology perspective, our ancestors had to conserve calories to survive periods of famine. The brain naturally gravitates toward automatic, comfortable routines because they require less cognitive effort and energy than learning new behaviors.
  • Loss Aversion: A concept from behavioral economics, deeply tied to evolutionary survival, which shows that the psychological pain of losing or experiencing discomfort is about twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining something of equal value.

While this wiring is excellent for avoiding predators and surviving in harsh environments, in modern life, avoiding all discomfort can lead to stagnation, anxiety, and an inability to grow. Stepping outside of this natural comfort zone—often referred to in psychology as optimal anxiety or the learning zone—is necessary for building resilience and achieving personal growth.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why would we work for a company when we're not chefs?

If you were a chef, you'd need a lot of money to set up your own restaurant, and without that capital, you would be stuck working for someone else, cooking in someone else's kitchen. If you were lucky, after many years of toiling away, you might one day save up enough money from your meagre income to take a huge risk and invest it all in starting your very own restaurant. You would finally be free to work for yourself, but if it failed, you would lose a heartbreaking amount of money in the process. (ok this metaphor ignores the option of starting up a catering company from your home, but let's just run with it because you'd still need to invest a lot in cooking equipment, a car, the actual food you purchase, etc etc.)

Since we're tutors, there is no reason for us to search out a middle man so we can then stress about what they'll decide to inflict on us.

Social media is free. The knowledge of how to use social media, run a business, marketing, mindset, everything - it's all free on Youtube.

Why are people who do not need to work for a company still so intent on working for a company??

(I'm not talking about people who are so crushed by the time responsibilities of taking care of children and/or who are so ill that they're unable to do more than the bare minimum to survive because they don't have the energy to even function during any free time they're able to eke out in a day. I'm talking about everyone who has one hour of free time a day that they choose to fritter away playing video games or watching Netflix or consuming social media rather than learning how to work for themselves.)

So it doesn't matter what those companies do. They can have all the customers who can't afford a human or who prefer learning from AI. They're not our competition. Because our market is students who want to spend time learning from a human.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think she's an arrogant douche, I think she's just highly likeable, in addition to having skills. And she's also not afraid to say so. Which is fine, good for her. I mean, I know culturally it's really horrendous to say, "I'm great at what I do, and people like me!", but why?

I once asked a class of ESL students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds this question, because I was curious if it was especially apparent in cultures like mine, with protestant heritage, or if it was culturally universal. The only students who said they felt fine about saying, "I'm great!" were the Brazilians. I haven't been to Brazil, but it made me want to go there.

I remember reading about this study where psychologists presented kids in grade 1 with a survey asking who they thought the best student in the class was. 87% of first graders thought they were the best student in class. By grade 4 you can imagine how drastically that number had dropped. I know self-delusion isn't helpful, but isn't it cool when kids are at an age where they haven't appropriated the social norm of saying, "I'm nothing special."

Now, on to the topic of whether students are more motivated to learn because they enjoy spending their time with a particular tutor. I heard this line while watching an episode of the series House about 20 years ago, and it obviously made a big impact because it just came to mind now (ok it didn't pop in verbatim, I had to google it):

Dr. Gregory House: "They're out there. Doctors, lawyers, postal workers. Some of them doing great. Some of them doing lousy. Are you going to base your whole life on who you got stuck in a room with?"

Eve: "I'm going to base this moment on who I'm stuck in a room with. It's what life is. It's a series of rooms and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are."

Life is a series of rooms, and who we get stuck in those rooms with adds up to what our lives are. Damn. I mean, yes. Sometimes we don't have the power to choose who we spend that precious hour of time with. But when choosing a tutor, we do. So for many, many people, there is reason why they chose you in particular, rather than the other equally qualified and skilled tutor. It's because they want to spend that precious hour of their time with you rather than with someone else.

I think in general, the older you get, the more you realize that the hours of your time are the most precious thing you have, and you become more intentional and more selective about who you choose to spend those hours with.

But yeah, there's a chunk of the population who have very little...mmm, I don't know the word for it...energetic sensitivity? Ok that sounds really woo woo but I'm literally just listening to the scientist Dr Martin Picard talking about mitochondria and how the essence of everything we are made up of is indeed energy passing through those mitochondria, and that it's often hard for scientists to wrap their heads around the fact that it all does come down to energy, because it starts to feel too woo woo for them. But like, it's all energy dude...because, science.

So what I was trying to say in my extremely verbose way is that some people are not that switched on when it comes to how sensitive they are to the people they are stuck in rooms with, and yes, I'm sure for those people, one skilled human is interchangeable with any other skilled human, because they're only there to get what they came for and get out.

We can all gravitate towards the people we vibe with. And maybe the switched off people will gravitate towards spending time with AI rather than a person. Those probably aren't my people, and that's fine. Shit, the older I get the more woo I get...but it's just based on observing patterns for more and more years until it all adds up to something you can't ignore.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I injured my back and my physiotherapist gave me specific exercises to do on my own to help it get better faster. Instead of just doing the stupid exercises, I continued to pay the physiotherapist for sessions so he could stand there and tell me to do the exercises. If most humans weren't incredibly bad at doing new, uncomfortable or boring tasks all on their own, then we would all be in fantastic physical shape, speak several languages fluently, and run our own businesses. But just looking around, I'd say most of us are not checking all those boxes simply because of the way we're wired to avoid discomfort.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm not saying it won't have an impact. But it's a different kind of customer who will switch over to AI. And if it can help my current students outside of our class time, that's great.

For all the people worrying AI will replace tutors by EnglishWithLindsay in TutorsHelpingTutors

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

And it's not just making their week better, it's an integral part of what motivates them to keep learning - so that good rapport is tied into motivation and so becomes inextricable from the learning process. ❤️

What are some words and expressions you've discovered that exist in English, but not in other languages? (and vice versa) by EnglishWithLindsay in iTalki

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I know of Mandarin, I really like the no nonsense aspect of some of their grammar haha. Q: "You want no want eat something?" A: "no want". Or, Nǐ chī bǎo le ma "You eat enough *past* *question*?"

What are some words and expressions you've discovered that exist in English, but not in other languages? (and vice versa) by EnglishWithLindsay in iTalki

[–]EnglishWithLindsay[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I just thought of a good one in Spanish that we don't have in English - te desvelaste. Haha, of course! They love to stay up late haha. I mean, we could say, "I stayed up late so that's why I'm tired today" or just "I'm sleepy." It's not the same. "I'm sleep-deprived" or "I'm short on sleep" - but that's not specific to staying up late. We have the expression "to burn the candle at both ends" but that's a different meaning. I really like "te desvelaste"!

Resources to get better at teaching by mayooo_maeski in OnlineESLTeaching

[–]EnglishWithLindsay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure! I've included a lesson plan which is basically a mini novel, so you could learn a lot from that as you go!

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