So You Want to Be (or already are) an Online Educator?

I guess so. We create our lives sessions from scratch. I have tried to adapt a lot of things I use in a B&M, but my sessions are only 45 minutes (as opposed to the 115 min blocks I had in my old school), and of course not everything that works in a physical classroom adapts well to the online space.

Just looking for some creative ideas to add to my lessons.

 

Looking for reviews on K12......I applied for a PT Bus Teacher as well as an opening for a Private School Academic Coach.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Pay? Hours? Training? Benefits? The school schedule, is it around the public school schedule with days off etc etc?

How long is the process from application submission to potential hiring? etc etc?

TIA

 

I ransack YouTube and TeacherTube for videos that go along with the lessons. The sillier, the better, especially for my visual learners. I will also occasionally turn on my webcam (when I'm out of my PJs) as an additional way to get their attention. PowerPoints are my bread and butter these days, and I use a blend of the material in the classroom as well as supplementary material I find online.

 

I'm not sure about K12 in particular, but I have found that the pay for online teachers is a little above most charter schools and a little below most public schools. It's a trade-off, in most cases, because I spend tons less on transportation and wardrobe. My school schedule tends to go on the same calendar as the largest public district in the state, which is Columbus. I have no idea about their application process beyond submitting the application, which is a little tedious.

 

I came from a charter to online schooling (not K12). The pay is the same but the benefits and vacation time are SO much better.

The students do not have many days off during the school year, besides the usual holidays. Our school is state-wide so we have our own schedule-most of our in-service days are tacked on at the end of the student breaks; there are very few "school days" scheduled off for in-service.

My hours are 8-4 but I never have to do work after school unless I want to --not having bus duty, lunch, etc really cuts down on the down time!

My application turnaround time was about a month from submitting to get that first interview call.

 

Thanks. I use PPTs a lot but sometimes I feel like it is me just giving notes and not a lot of activities. Collaborate is so finnicky with videos--I love using the Pixar ones but I can't rely on Collaborate to play them

You teach English also, right? What grades/courses?

 

I'm in my second year of teaching 9th grade after three years of 12th grade (plus one year of Title I reading). I mix it up by having the students do a lot of the reading and by finding online quizzes and the like. Can you share your browser? I used a Quia interactive quiz this morning to verify student understanding of Context Clues. They each used polling to tell me which answer to enter. It was pretty good.

How many students attend your live teaching sessions? I have about 90 at this point, but only about 40 of them are actively paying attention most of the time.

 

I can share my browser (Collagorate calls it a web tour right?). How did you make it interactive for everyone if they are looking at your browser? I LOVE the idea of online quizzes!

I usually have about 30 kids in my sessions and I would say 1/2 of them are paying attention. It is a self-paced class so if they are ahead of pace and have a grade of B or higher, they can decide to attend the class each week or not.

 

You can also take the quiz and turn it into a poll in your classroom. I'm wary about web tours, since they can take advantage of having browser access to go waaaay off-task.

 

Hello everyone!
I am from Russia and I want to start online teaching.
Could you help me in this?
Actually, I suppose, online teaching is our future, it is quite easy and comfortable both for children and a teacher. What is more, it has a lot of other advantages like the possibility to use multimedia files.
However, I don't know from what I should start and how to find an audience and students. Could you give me some advices?
And will you be so kind to tell me about disadvantages of this method of teching?
I'm waiting for your answers, thank you!

 

I noticed that the online school for my state prefers teachers with five years experience or more. Does anyone have any speculation as to why that might be?

I wouldn't mind teaching online school to get my 2 year loan forgiveness in this state. I went for a year and a half to an online school in Ohio to get my high school diploma, and got my associates degree with all online classes except for a few, so I pretty much know how the process works.

 

Online help

Hello everyone!
I am from Russia and I want to start online teaching.
Could you help me in this?
Actually, I suppose, online teaching is our future, it is quite easy and comfortable both for children and a teacher. What is more, it has a lot of other advantages like the possibility to use multimedia files.
However, I don't know from what I should start and how to find an audience and students. Could you give me some advices?
And will you be so kind to tell me about disadvantages of this method of teching?
I'm waiting for your answers, thank you!

 

That is interesting, considering Ohio online schools don't have that caveat and have an excellent Resident Educator program (at least that's the case in my school).

The interesting thing is that you might be effective in an online setting. We have a great number of autistic students who flourish in our school because much of the non-verbal communication is taken away, leaving that level of interpretation out of the mix. However, teachers still need to have one-on-one interaction with their students over the phone and in live session. It is important to listen for tones of voice there. Is the student frustrated or merely bored? Are there lingering issues from previous schools that cause a problem (I've done a lot of research on PTSD caused by bullying)? Listening between the lines is huge. Online teachers don't have one classroom of 100+ students; they have 100+ classrooms of one.

The biggest issue that I could see you having is that online teachers MUST leave the bulk of their personal agendas offline. My students do not know my political or religious affiliation. Heck, they don't know if I have either. They might not even know what race I am if I didn't use my webcam fairly frequently. I do admit to mentioning I am a mixture of German and Polish heritage because we discussed immigration in class, but they have no idea the Polish were Catholic and the German were Jewish. Why is this important? Because a huge percentage of online students are there because their parents want to keep them from outside religious / political influences. My Social Studies counterpart does an amazing job walking that fine line. It's easier to avoid it and stick, for the main part, to the subject matter in lessons.

 

Most of them I've seen in those schools were because it didn't work out in a regular school. When I went to ECOT, it was because it didn't work out for me in public school.

I don't see how I would get into political discussions in an online school. I might talk about them on Facebook or in public articles, but that wouldn't be part of school.

That is what disappoints me about homeschooling. If their parents goal is to keep them from experiencing diversity and not having any of their beliefs questioned, that is sheltering in a way that is going to make it tough for them to be in society someday.

 

Welcome to A to Z, Yulya! I've merged the separate thread you started in with this thread: you'll find more answers here, I think, and A to Z forum rules discourage multiple threads on the same topic at the same time.

 

I do worry about a few of my students and their isolation. It's one of the reasons I'm looking forward to chaperoning a school dance (in person, not on Second Life) next month. One of my kiddos is threatening to bring a crock pot as a dance partner. It should be a fun time!

 

Hi, Yulya. I'm in my sixth school year as an online teacher. You might want to read through this thread and the ones I've connected to it. There are a few of us who have been teaching this way for a while. Ask any questions you have!

 

If it is isolation because of religion, that is counter productive. Even on a Christian radio show, they advice against that, because many kids go out into the real world thinking everyone is gonna love them and their beliefs. I think if they are in home school, they should be encouraged to take part in local social activities to learn about being in the real world. I still performed in theatre when I was at ECOT in Ohio.

 

You mean the school is connected to Second Life too?

 

Not everyone who homeschools does so primarily on religious grounds. I know a couple who started homeschooling because the local schools just weren't keeping up with their kids' needs. (The mom has a PhD in history of science and does high level computer work; the dad has a PhD in classics; the oldest kid, back when SAT still had just two components, got a perfect score of 1600 and made nationwide news.)

 

No, it isn't. I was joking in a sardonic manner because too many of my non-teaching friends have made similar jibes.

 

Absolutely! Many of my students are other reasons for schooling online (I prefer to call it "distance learning" instead of "homeschooling"). Several of my students are already taking college classes. Many are disabled and cannot handle the physical rigors of traditional schooling. Others were badly bullied and need a safe space. Every student has a story.

 

I didn't do it for religious reasons either. I actually had trouble getting along with my peers and it was too distracting for my education.

I was referring to her example that many parents want to keep their kids from being exposed to other religious and political views, and that would be very sad if that was the reason for homeschooling.

 

So amazing to realize we've already hit the halfway point of Quarter 1 in school! I had a group of students transferred into my class so they can get more support, so yesterday was spent entering their grades into one system, then getting ALL my student mid-point averages into another system. Not as bad as hand writing them, but it was a little tedious.

 

We're BACK! How is everyone's year going so far?

 

So You Want to Be/Are an Online Educator? Part Deux

This is a revival of catnfiddle's thread "So You Want to Be (or already are) An Online Educator?" The original thread is at http://forums.atozteacherstuff.com/showthread.php?t=183014; with luck, some key bits will be continued here.

 

Dunno how "back" you are, but there's now a new thread that references this one. Go post in it, please.

 

I would love to continue being the helpful person on this thread, as I've been teaching online for a whopping SEVEN YEARS. Any questions?

 

Thank you for this.

I am so interested in being an online teacher....Is earch k12 openings daily, lol.......I think I may be in a state that hasn't grasped the idea fully so opportunities are few and far between.

I also have been taking online college courses and I prefer that I hope that helps in my job search to teach online.

Currently I am licensed only in CTE but working on completing my SPED license I did teach SPED for 2 years. I am also looking to add a Social Studies/History endorsement ot my license.

 

Being an online student probably will help you a great deal because you've seen the other side of the virtual desk. If memory serves, Virginia has a number of online educational options for its students through the public schools. There is also Virginia Virtual Academy, where you might have to apply through k12.

 

Thank you!

 

cat~has it really been 7 years already?!

 

I'm currently in my seventh year at my school. Had to go back and count my older homeroom pages to double check. Thought it was six until I got a pension statement, which prompted the count.

 

Man, how time flies!

 

I always come back to thinking about online teaching every now and again. But ….. I never particularly enjoy doing online days that my school does now. So maybe it is not for me lol.

 

It REALLY isn't for everyone. Online teaching was something that interested me for a long time before I started applying for full-time teaching jobs. I like having the one-on-one interactions I get on the phone and in help sessions with my students. On the other hand, I am incredibly frustrated when I cannot reach students at all and cannot get them to complete enough assignments to pass. This week is the end of the quarter, and it's a rough one.

 

I think we lost our sticky.

 

(Let's see how long it, um, sticks.)