Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
Hello! I’m Nicole. I am so happy you are here!
A couple years ago, I was in a teaching job I hated. I left my kids at daycare and drove through traffic twice a day for close to an hour to work in an inner city school.
Don’t get me wrong-I loved the kids I taught. I hated the drive, leaving my kids to be watched by strangers and the office politics.
In December 2012, my youngest child was born with a congenital heart defect that required immediate, life-saving, open heart surgery. I ate up most of my maternity leave sitting by his bedside in the NICU.
When he was finally strong enough to come home, we were constantly running from doctors appointment to one therapy or another. It was exhausting…and a bit scary.
I knew my maternity leave wouldn’t last forever but the thought of leaving my son with a stranger at a daycare was terrifying.
Talking it over with my husband, we decided to tighten our belts and I would stay home with our children. At the time they were ages 2 yeas old and just a newborn. Yet, the thought of sustaining a now family of 4 on just one income-a teaching income no less-was even more terrifying.
I’m not going to lie. The first couple years of me being a stay at home mom were a struggle. Mostly financially but also mentally. I had days were I didn’t talk to an adult until my husband came home from work in the afternoon.
I tried to find work at as many work from home (WFH) jobs as I could find. Most were short lived and even more were low paying. It was frustrating. I even did a stint of delivering newspapers; I was that desperate.
In my days of staying at home, I was always scouring online ads for any sort of work from home job. I landed my first great paying job with Educational Testing Services (ETS). Bonus–it was in my field! I scored common core assessments and standardized tests from the comfort of my home. The only downfall was the work was project based and not consistent throughout the year.
So I kept searching.
I tried applying for jobs where I could teach from home with such companies as ECOT, K12 and Elevate K12, but in the end I was told I didn’t have the experience. Not that I didn’t have teaching experience. I didn’t have ONLINE teaching.
Enter VIPKid! While surfing my Facebook newsfeed one day in the fall of 2016, I came across an ad for VIPKid. I love how Facebook can generate ads based on what you search for on the internet. It’s actually scary but it came at a great time.
The ad was searching for online ESL teachers to teach Chinese children English from the comfort of their own home. They did require a degree but it didn’t have to be in teaching (this requirement might have changed but at the time of my hiring, it was just any degree). You didn’t have to have any online teaching experience, nor at TEFL or TESOL certification (these are teaching certifications specific to waging English as a second language).
I went back and forth for a bit but eventually decided to go for it. I am so glad I did.
The interview process was a bit nerve racking for me. I am a bit shy but this was not a typical interview. I actually had to do a mock class for an interviewer acting as a child. It was definitely out of my comfort zone but I went for it.
And I passed!
I was hired December 2016 and taught my first class in January 2017. It has been a whirlwind adventure but I learned so much about the industry, my teaching style, teaching English as a second language and so much more.
It’s a very rewarding job. My only regret is that I did not pursue this option sooner.
This blog will highlight my experiences with teaching ESL online, some tips for teachers, teaching resources as well as company reviews.
Thanks for joining me!
My ESL Teaching Life 