How to teach Spanish Lessons through FairTutor

Have you taught Spanish before?

Already a Spanish Teacher? Great! Chances are you already have your own style of teaching and your own way of running a class. You still might benefit from reading this though, since there are some differences between teaching face-to-face and teaching online through a headset.

No? Not yet? That's fine too.

Teaching isn't all that hard, really. It's mostly about communication, and chances are you're already pretty good at talking. Of course, it also helps to know your subject matter, which I suspect won't be much of a problem for you either.

Here at FairTutor, you'll have the option of providing free introductory lessons to potential students. Naturally it's not a requirement that you offer these lessons, but it's a great way to gain new students so we definitely recommend it. It's a lot easier to convince a student to give you a shot if it doesn't cost them anything, and once they get to know you they'll be a lot more likely to sign up for paid lessons.

Running an introductory class

Start off by introducing yourself (in English) in the chat window, and guide the Student through the steps to get connected to the Voice chat. Usually he'll just need to press the "Voice" button and follow a few prompts.

Once you can hear each-other, introduce yourself again (in English), and start off by asking a few questions to get a feel for the student's abilities.

Spend a few minutes just talking, in English if necessary, but hopefully transitioning the conversation over to Spanish. The idea is to learn what the student would like to get out of his lessons with you, to come up with a plan for what to teach in future lessons, and also to get to know the student.

Depending on the student, this initial conversation can take up the entire introductory lesson. Other students (especially beginners) will benefit more from learning a few basic phrases right away.

The overall goal of the introductory lesson, of course, is to convince the student to come back for more. The best way to do that is to demonstrate how fun and easy it is to learn Spanish online, especially with you as their teacher!

Teaching Spanish Lessons Online

Teaching classes online is a bit different to teaching face-to-face. There are a few technical challenges that need to be overcome just to get a lesson up and running. It's recommended that you spend plenty of time in the Study Hall, familiarizing yourself with the online classroom before you commit to teaching a class.

• Learn how to use the Voice chat (and make sure your computer and internet connection can handle it).
• Learn how to upload documents and images, and how to view web pages inside the classroom.
• Learn to use all the drawing tools, sticky notes, and everything else that the Classroom offers.

You'll be responsible for making your own lesson plans and supplying any online course materials that you want to use. If you've never done this before, be warned that it's a lot of work. In the beginning, you'll probably be spending as much time preparing for your classes as you do teaching them!