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[inotu-unotme]

Online teaching frustrations RANT...

Pay... $8 usd per hour.

There are some things I have come to find extremely frustrating about teaching online. When a person teaches online there are no magic answers. The teacher is a free agent and must learn as they go. But, damn it! There must be a better way! There must be something that is better for teachers! Or, maybe not... Maybe the only thing that can be done is to go off on your own unconnected to any company, rules and policies which many times help the company or student but not the teacher. I don't know anymore.

I've been teaching online several years with several companies at the same time. One of the companies I have stuck with is TUTORABC in Taiwan. I will get into WHY I have stuck with them so long in a little bit... Lately there have been many changes. They have come up with a lot of rules/ policies that help the student.

TUTORABC views on teachers...

Anyone who works for TUTORABC for any length of time knows TUTORABC is a student ran company. It is a company which is almost anti-teacher. The thought process is teachers are replaceable and at a low premium.

Lessons...

The lessons are pre-made which is great. Some of the lessons are crappy which is not so great. I don't care what anyone says... Pre-made lessons are great and same a huge amount of time. Besides the fact that TUTORABC does not pay enough for me to write my own lessons.

Students rating teachers...

This has always been a form of contention with me. The students are allowed to grade teacher on whatever details they wish. And you guessed it... If the lesson is bad the teacher will get a very low rating. TUTORABC allows teachers to only remove 3 low ratings per month. But, the company has the last word on if they will agree to remove the low rating or not. The company usually takes the stance that the student is always right. So, no they are not willing to remove low ratings all the time. It all depends on who is looking at your 'request to remove a low rating.' Sometimes the student will rate the teacher very low for sound problems. The company will always say the sound problem is the teachers fault. Unfortunately this results in a low rating.

If the teacher falls below a certain rating they can loose their job. If the student falls below a certain rating will they loose their job? No, of course not. The point is the teacher has more riding on the ratings from the student. The ratings from the teacher mean very little accept that the student will loose face. Loosing face is something these particular students in this area of the world do not like. If the student feels embarrassed, disrespected, confused for any reason whatsoever they will lash out at the teacher through the ratings. Again, the bottom line is the teachers job is at stake constantly.

Students with TUTORABC can address the teacher in the most negative way possible. There is never a filter used to be professional or save feelings. But, the teacher is not allowed the same courtesy. If there is anything 'negative' the teacher must address about the student the issue must be danced around softly. After a certain time this can get to yoiu as a teacher.

Teachers not being able to view student reports...

It used to be teachers could see the student ratings before the teacher filled out their ratings. But, now this is not the case. The teacher is forced to fill out the student reports blindly not knowing what the students issues may have been. Again, this is creating a situation in which the teacher is not able to even 'dance' around whatever issues exist for the student.

Scheduling of classes...

It used to be that teachers could choose to work with children 'Jr's' or adults. Well, now there is no choice in the matter. All teachers are forced to work with children no matter what. The children that many times take class with TUTORABC are on the ball and very good. But, the reason I take a break from teaching children sometimes is that there have been many behavior issues in sessions. Real bad stuff like children yelling into microphones interrupting the other 5 people in class. Yes, the classes more times than not are always jam packed with at least 6 people. 6 people may not seem like a lot. But, it is a lot when you have screaming children, microphone and sound system issues. All the students are demanding and expect the teacher to be on the ball. If the teacher is not on the ball guess what... The ratings will be affected and will affect the accumulative rating. I may have left out before something important about the ratings... The ratings are averaged from the first day yoiu started working. Yes, the first day regardless of when you started. This can be both a good and a bad thing.

This should go without saying...

But, I will type it anyway since this is a rant... If teachers try to communicate with 'communications' about issues the stance will be taken 100% of the time the company and student is right and the teacher is wrong. If the teacher is late for a session for any reason whatsoever the teacher can be fired. No reason is good enough. I have had everything happen to my computer under the sun since I have been working online. Well, one day I dropped my computer and I could not get through on the Taiwan phone line for TUTORABC. Sio, i wrote an e-mail to the company to 5 people at TUTORABC from an internet cafe. Guess what... It was not good enough. One woman at TUTORABC even went as far as to tell me that I lied about my computer being broken. There was proof from the computer repair man and drafts of the original emails I sent out to the company. This was not good enough. I only state this little story to show TUTORABC views on teachers. Only students are allowed to be flawed. Teachers are a dime a dozen.

Why I stay...

They always fill my work schedule. And I can always get more hours if I wish. You have a certain amount of fixed hours which you are forced to work no matter what. Then you have on call hours. For on call hours you can contact schedulers to have classes added as little as 8 hours ahead of time.



Now I move my rant onto an online company located in Spain...

Pay... $6.50 usd per 30 minutes. Problem classes are NEVER scheduled back to back.

scheduled classes...

I will say this again because its a rant and makes me feel better... CLASSES ARE NEVER SCHEDULED BACK TO BACK. NOT EVER. NOT FOR ANY REASON. NEVER EVER NEVER. That actually made me feel a little better. One average i would get scheduled about 1 class per hour or every 1 1/2 hours. This can be extremely frustrating financially speaking.

student reports...

The student reports with this company are the most time consuming, involved and detail oriented things i have ever filled out in my life. These reports take up a huge amount of time and effort to fill out on every student every time. Did I have get to the point that I was quicker at filling out the reports? Yes... Most teachers fill out the reports while they are talking to the student during the session. The unfortunate thing about this is that if the teacher is filling out the report they really are not paying that much attention to the student. The sessions are all about the report. The report equals justification to bill students or companies for the English lesson.

The teacher is not 'paid' for doing student reports outside class time. There are usually always a few reports which need to be finished up after the session is over. So, now that class the teacher got paid for that was for 30 minutes is moving into a 45 - 1 hour class. Remember, the teacher gets paid $6.50 usd per 30 minute session and not more. Anything that takes the teacher longer is the teachers problem.

student cancellations...

This is an issue which simply can't be ignored. Students in Spain cancel for any reason under the sun. They will cancel for work meetings, holidays, because they were tired, days off, because it rained the day before, because they have a date with someone. THEY CANCEL FOR MANY REASONS. ANY REASON ALL THE TIME. Between the scheduling and the cancellations this does affect the bottom line of what the teacher makes.

Testing to get into the Spain company...

Testing to get into the Spain company is some of the hardest, most time consuming, frustrating, non-paid training I have ever come across in my life. The amount of time this training took was mind blowing. I can't stress enough just how much time this training took to get into the company.

outside session time administrative duties...

There are many administrative duties which take place with this Spain company outside of the 30 minute session time. This means the teacher is NOT GETTING PAID FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES. The teacher ONLY GET PAID to do the actual sessions. There are many administrative duties. For example:

1. The teacher must assign every student every session for the following week. This means looking through a complex database full of pre-made lessons, deciding which one to give the student, assigning it and typing a little personal message to each and every student with each session.

2. The teacher must answer all emails from all students with whatever issues they are having. They have many issues about many things from class times, to computer issues, wanting a different lesson, etc.

3. The teacher also has to communicate constantly through email with coordination about any students or scheduling issues.

4. The teacher also has to communicate with their 'mentor' which is a chosen person who is supposed to make sure the finer details are dealt with.

5. The teacher must also communicate with other departments about 'teacher training.' There is additional teacher training which the company forces all teachers to do. All teacher training is non-paid.

6. The teacher must also fill out 'extra progress reports' on students which come up every couple months. Filling out these reports is a non-paid duty for teachers.

In general all of the duties combined take up a huge amount of time for teachers considering its pretty much a part time job.

There is one more last thing I have to address... 8802

This last thing is no joke. The company in Spain wants all teachers to have an 8802 from the IRS. If teachers do not get an 8802 they will be triple taxed by the Spain government. The Spain company employees are NOT able to handle nor assist teachers in getting the 8802. Let me say this again, THE SPAIN COMPANY EMPLOYEES ARE NOT ABLE TO HANDLE NOR ASSIST TEACHERS IN GETTING THE 8802. All of the Spain company employees are instructed to tell teachers it is easy to get the 8802. IT IS NOT EASY TO GET THE 8802. IT IS DIFFICULT AND A PAIN IN THE ASS TO GET THE 8802. If you live outside your country of residence, if you live outside the country you were born in getting the 8802 can be extremely difficult. Let me say this... I never met ANYONE who got the 8802 who lived outside the country they were born in. This statement includes myself. I NEVER got the 8802. And YES I was triple taxed. The stress and financial burden this triple tax caused me was great. I know many people at the Spain company from many parts of the world who are many nationalities who got triple taxed by the Spain government. Make no mistake... Getting the 8802 is extremely difficult and there are many teachers and higher ups in the company who just have to 'deal' with getting triple taxed for as long as they stay employed there. Getting your hands on an 8802 if you reside in another country involves much more than a simple phone call to the IRS or walking into your local H& R block office. I know many teachers who have left the Spain company because they could not deal with the 8802 situation.



About online teaching platforms that help teachers and students find each other...

Many teachers have a problem with these platforms that help located ESL students for teachers. One of the problems is that teachers have to pay a fee. And some platforms make teachers download their lessons they have created onto the 'main platform.' From one teacher to another, be careful with where you choose to download your lessons you have created. If you have created something of value protect it. Be careful.

If any teachers are interested, there is a new facebook group page which is free. Its called Online ESL Teacher Student Connect This group is meant for teachers who are ready to start teaching online and have lesson plans, payment plans, a platform, etc already set up and ready to go.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1400894020239790/

This concept is simple and free... ONLINE ESL TEACHER STUDENT CONNECT is a platform to assist connecting freelance ESL online teachers and students. This group page is for ESL online teacher profiles seeking students and student profiles seeking ESL online teachers only. ONLINE ESL TEACHER STUDENT CONNECT is strictly a profile page. All you have to have is a teacher summary of your services ready to be posted. It is a very new group. Students have not started viewing teacher summaries yet.

[scot47]

US$8 oer hour ?


Get lost !

[nomad soul]

Shut the front door!

[spiral78]

Wow. Don't McDonald's workers make more than that these days?

[inotu-unotme]

Thats right... TUTORABC is $8 dollars per hour. The reason most people stay is because its 'easy.' Meaning they fill your schedule with 'the class times you want.' You don't have to travel to work. Filling out the student reports is easy for teachers meaning 'quick.'

I want to say this about the pay... Pay is subjective according to where you live. If you live in Europe in a nice flat a few blocks from the beach I'm sure the rent is not cheap. I live with my fiance 2 blocks from the beach in a large apartment and we have a dog. I only say we have a dog because I have found out dogs are NOT cheap. Anyway, we live our 'beach' life, have a dog, can eat out and have a nice apartment. I can appreciate the stab towards TUTORABC and people who work for TUTORABC but no people in my city do not make $8 dollars per hour at McDonalds. If I am not mistaken I think the 'day rate' comes out to more like $3 usd per hour if you figure it out that way. In my state people usually get paid a 'day rates' per 8 hour shift as a general rule.

Where I live in Mexico $8 dollars per hour is quite good pay. Most people where I live make from $5 usd per day to teachers who make $5 usd per hour. So, $8 dollars is better than $5 dollars per hour. That aside I will state here in black and white that I made less with the Spanish company, much less. Because once you factor in all of the administrative stuff I was doing with Spain, took into consideration students were calling out left and right and did the 'teacher training' I was not making that much per hour. So, I do feel I make more with TUTORABC than with Spain. And the fact that I can get those 'on call' classes at the last minute is convenient. But, with all the extra rules and policies now its not what you call 'convenient' anymore. And the students ripping teachers apart in student reports is also not convenient if thats what one wishes to call it.

[santi84]

I would love to teach online but haven't made the jump yet. I'm living in Canada again, and I would make $13-14/hour at McDonald's.

[mostlywords]

Does TUTORABC provide anything for tax purposes? Thinking of online teaching, but not sure how it works with foreign companies (I'm in the US)

[Deats]

Love the plug at the end of the message. Just in case you didn't see it, you should join Online ESL Teacher Student Connect, and if you weren't sure I will tell you again, but use bold... that's ONLINE ESL TEACHER STUDENT CONNECT. I'm not sure about you guys but I'm off to Facebook to check out ONLINE ESL TEACHER STUDENT CONNECT because ONLINE ESL TEACHER STUDENT CONNECT is the best!

[spiral78]

Yes, they're eager and willing to pay qualified teachers 8 usd/hour. Rushing right over....

[BadBeagleBad]

[BadBeagleBad]

[spiral78]

Yes, I understand about this (haven't lived in the US for over 20 years myself). But I still think it sounds exploitative if it's an international or multi national organization paying this amount.

[MotherF]

[spiral78]

I agree. I was also thinking that the companies would be hard-pressed to get qualified teachers living in Anglophone countries or other better-paid job markets to teach at such low rates - so are they then targeting teachers with the same qualifications and experience who happen to live and work in places with weaker economies?
Is it fair to pay a teacher with equivalent qualifications so much less than a fair international rate simply due to his/her location?

I am sure there is nothing illegal about offering work at such a rate, but it does seem unfair.

[Sashadroogie]

This is simply piggie market forces in action. Nothing new about this trough, except it is electronic...