EDUCATION|PSYCHOLOGY

Can Teaching Kids Online Really Be That Stressful Or Chaotic?

It’s my first-week teaching kids on this new platform and it already has my head spinning

I’ve been a teacher with VIPKid for the past year and a half. There has been a lot of major changes that have happened with the company since last summer.

One of the recent changes is that they have partnered with a company called BookNook which is like an after-school program to help kids improve their reading and writing skills.

The kids are American, but many seem to be bilingual or come from bilingual households. Just yesterday one of the kids asked me if I spoke Spanish.

In theory, this new teaching gig seems easy and fun.

However, in practice, it’s another ball game!

The classes are only 30 minutes each- in theory.

I don’t like to feel flustered or rushed so I always sign in earlier. I hope that they will log in earlier so we have more time for “niceties” before jumping right into the lesson. I sincerely want to know how they’re feeling and discuss that for a bit.

However, with 4 boys who are between the ages of 8 and 11 all sitting near each other in the same loud and distracting classroom, I’ve decided to keep the “pleasantries” to a minimum. Otherwise, I might lose this gig or not be paid for completing these classes.

The first day was the easiest because 1 boy had problems with his computer and couldn’t really participate, so I could focus on the 2 others that had logged in to the zoom meeting.

That went fairly well, aside from the loud background noise.

The next day, I was looking forward to teaching one on one with a girl in 7th grade. She needs to work on her reading comprehension.

The lesson, a story about hybrid plants, mainly involves her reading several pages from a text and asking her questions about it to ensure that she fully understands it.

This will show and tell you how that session went:

My student didn’t show.

In order to be paid, I had to sit there the entire 30 minutes (on top of the several minutes beforehand when I hoped she’d log in earlier).

Tonight, I have the same lesson prepared (the program creates lesson plans for us which is wonderful) for a 7th-grade boy.

We’ll see if he shows up.

Tonight, I’ve a break from the 4 boys, but tomorrow I have my final class of the week with them and I am already stressed just thinking about it.

There’s one boy who likes to write his name in as Lebron James and he is a troublemaker!

He distracts the other boys, speaks into his microphone loudly and likes to jump in the camera of one of his classmates who has already said that he doesn’t think he will continue with the program (I wonder why).

When I ask him questions, he answers them correctly, when I can get him to give me an answer.

They all wear masks, which makes it harder to understand them, but I always do make out what they’re saying.

Aside from the challenges of teaching kids online who are easily distracted by each other and their surroundings, I find the lack of tutorials and support in teaching this program via Zoom a bit disturbing.

I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos about BookNook, but most show what it’s like to use it if you are a student or a parent, not a teacher.

There are a couple of teachers who’ve used it that taught me a couple of important things, but that had more to do with the administrative work than actually teaching.

In the comments section of one, I learned that other teachers who are new to the program have felt lost and think that the company is disorganized.

One woman that talked about what it was like teaching BookNook said that she stopped after a few months and has moved on to another company that focuses on teaching English online.

The program is only 3 months total.

I really like the kids, despite their rambunctious natures and loud environments.

At the end of the last session I had with the 4 boys, one of them asked me if I’ll be the one teaching during our next session.

With a smile on my face, he gave me an emphatic, “Yes”! And told him that I look forward to seeing them all again in a couple of days. I encouraged them to keep practicing.

I told them that I am proud of them.

They seemed to like that.

I did too.

So, yes, teaching kids online can be stressful and chaotic.

However, I have also found it to be rewarding in ways that go far beyond money.

In just a short time, I can tell that they are learning and growing and that my small role in their lives is making a positive difference.

That’s a huge part of what made me want to be a teacher in the first place.

I look forward to when I can finally teach classes in person.

Hopefully, that will happen sometime this year.

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