What's the big deal?VIPkid expects teachers to have an "educational background" - meaning a space dedicated to teaching. The parents pay big money to have their kids take English lessons, and they want to know their money is going to a teacher who takes the job seriously. They don't want to see your laundry, your dog or hear your kids in the background so VIPkid mandates an educational background in a dedicated space... which leaves LOTS of room for interpretation! Non-negotiable
I have no dedicated space! HELP!
How much should I spend?Zero. Your backdrop is not the first place to spend money on, and between what you have, what you can easily make and what your friends and neighbours are throwing in the garbage, you can probably come up with something. A good rule of thumb is: no spending money until you make money. Now I put aside 5% of my VIPkid earnings to re-invest in equipment, props or backdrops and in 2 months I've upgraded my headphones and my webcam which has been super helpful... but wasn't necessary to start. My next month's investment will probably be garage-sale shelving to get organized. All of that is helpful but not necessary to start with, so start with the basics! Print off some cute animals from the Internet. Salvage that chalkboard from the basement. Hang a colourful calendar. Steal the poster from your kid's magazines. Write the alphabet in bubble letters. Hang a pennant. If you absolutely MUST, stick to dollar store posters to keep costs low to begin with. LightingMore important than your background is your lighting. Most of us are teaching in the early morning when it's dark. Even worse, I currently teach in a sunroom over the course of dawn - so I start in the dark, see the sunrise and end teaching in daylight. It's a gorgeous view for me, but it wreaks havoc with my lighting! If the kids can't see me clearly, or my props are creating huge shadows it really wrecks the teaching process. They need to see my lips for clear pronunciation and they need to see my hands and props to help understand what I'm asking! It can be as simple as some fluorescent lights, or (in my case) old table and desk lamps salvaged from relatives basements. A high quality webcam also auto-corrects lighting very well. Test your lighting with your webcam and add more if you need to! Be Inspired!
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September 2019
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