Before you begin a long relationship with Sapling Academy, there are a few bits of knowledge that should be passed onto you. These are goals, knowledge, expectations, kernels of truth or whatever you wish to call them, which will better help you better understand the people you are helping.
Major Influences of Traditional Chinese Educational System
Current elementary and secondary educational systems value scores and ranks highly, and teachers and parents are under extreme pressures to show improvement in the student’s test scores. They also hope that the students can learn English differently from the way that their parents did. Parents are looking for better teaching methods to prevent their children from becoming poor English learners.
Who You Will Teach
China is the biggest market in the world with the largest population meaning that there are more students in the teachable age range. Many of them are reserved, anxious, and exam-oriented. We are facing a great number of students, most of whom are above the age of 10.
Why They Want to Go to the US
Many parents want their children to obtain an American education, especially from a school with a good reputation. They think that the US can give a higher quality education, with interactive and participatory teaching approaches. They hope that it will give them more job opportunities.
Why Students Learn
- For academic purposes:
- Students in elementary and high school want to improve their ability to speak English so that they can have a better chance of going to good schools in China or the US.
- Students in high schools and universities are preparing for required admissions tests for US schools.
- Students want to have a better social life while staying in the US.
- For career purposes:
- Adults want to improve their English speaking ability to get a job promotion or make a change in careers.
- They want to learn about job interview preparation.
- Some adults will study to enrich their leisure time.
Why They Come to Sapling Academy
For students who have no plans of studying in the US, they can begin with the required classes in our Growing Up courses. They can also learn other major subjects such as Math to improve thinking and intelligence while improving their English skills. There are also elective classes in our Growing Up courses to acquire knowledge that includes Courtesy and Culture.
When the students start at an early age to learn English and other topics in a coherent and systematic way, they find themselves better prepared to accept admission at schools that they had always hoped to attend.
Students that are studying for entrance exams like TOEFL, SSAT, SAT, GRE and GMAT will find that they need to prepare their critical reading and thinking skills too.
Some students will need help finding a good school that enhances their majors and career goals. They will need to know how to write application documents, give a good interview, and how to survive and thrive in the US as well as how to make friends.
How To Gain Long Term Students
Sapling Academy provides long term, tailored schemes for cultivating, someone we call, Elite Students. The concepts include English proficiency, and other major subjects such as Math, American Culture, Courtesy, School Application, and Job Applications. We really did put a lot of thought into the name of the academy because we take great pleasure in helping a sapling, or student, grow. It is our hope that we can keep the student stay engaged in these subjects for many years, and that means you could watch them grow along with us.
You can start by teaching them the required Growing Up courses from the first level, or elective Growing Up courses, according to their interest and our flexible curriculum design. From the feedback you and the academy get from students, the courses can grow and improve it can capture the interests by satisfying the needs of the students.
You’ll get opportunities to increase the knowledge and keep up to date with improved teaching skills on our Symposium, which is read and updated frequently by our staff and students. Students have been known to select their tutors from the knowledge who share what they know.
Not only can you teach these students, but you may be directly responsible for their admittance into a good school, when you guide them through their application process. You can help them put together their submission packets to prominent schools of their choosing.
We shouldn’t have to mention that almost every student will have many friends at their age level with similar needs as the one you are teaching. It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see them recommending you as their friends’ tutor.
You may have long term students who will need you from the very beginning, and you may never worry about looking for students when the current students will not want to stop learning from you. There are many long series of lessons in our curriculum and other services you can provide. If you are successful in mastering these, you will attract many students from China.
However, if you try to take some of current students as your own students and charge them lower tuition than Sapling Academy charges but higher than Academy provides you, then you win the current students but lose the potential market and stable income, and of course, your reputation as well.
Cooperating With The Sapling Academy’s Chinese Educational Team
The Sapling Academy has realized that the Internet can be a great tool for providing its students the opportunity to become involved in a teaching moment with native English speakers that would have been extremely expensive had it been done in person. So our faculty and support staff have taken great steps in creating a link for you to give a student something amazing.
Though the population of students is large in China, it is not easy to have, develop, and keep clientele that we want to share with you. The complexity of the Chinese language, competitiveness of many schools and profound Chinese cultures should be respected.
For instance, an advanced English learner will still have a difficult time expressing something in English. What an English tutor means can easily be misunderstood. Also a student may be unwilling to express their true thoughts to the tutor due to generations of culture.
Sapling Academy can be a strong connection which can overcome these problems by allowing our teams in the US and China to work together. Team members in both countries can help each other, exchange ideas, share teaching experience, possibly know more about the students in order to improve the teaching environment.
Sapling Academy acts like a powerful bridge through which you will gain access to the biggest tutoring market in the world.
Chinese educational team convey the latest information about Chinese students to the US and help find better solutions to problems from score improvement to increasing positive communication.
To increase learning efficiency, Chinese consultants provide free consultancy and will send a complete report to tutors before class. They spend a great deal of time communicating with the student face-to-face or over phone to find out what they really need and ensure that every student is understood, help define their goals and always listen to their feelings about learning before class and after class. Also, the Educational team in China communicate with American tutors to help them adopt, modify or improve their teaching style.
In addition, the Sapling Academy consultants will provide regular tests independent of the course material, to make sure that students really are reaching higher levels. Combining the tests and the evaluation by students and teachers, consultants will help provide new study plans.
Impress Chinese Students
This is something that you should already be able to do, because you’ve made it this far. But we thought that it would be a good idea to let you know that it is important for you to captivate the students and create a great educational environment.
Mastering a second language is never easy. It takes a long time to reach an advanced level, and we’d like you to ask yourself, “Why are they doing this?” with every student. “What is going to help this student move towards mastery?”
Never forget that mastery includes speaking, writing, listening, and reading. These can all be improved simultaneously, and one part can help build the other parts. They are all bound together.
Your Public Bio
Every tutor is listed on the main web site so the students can become familiar with you. This is why we ask you to tell them a little about yourself. Think of it as an elevator speech where you have a short amount of space to impress them. Our crack translation team will convert it into Chinese for easier reading. To make the intro video easier for you to complete, use this bio as your script. The staff will have to do less translating. Be sure to submit a “book cover” photo of yourself, so your students will recognize you.
- Give a short self-introduction that shows your personality. Try to avoid making it sound like an interview answer, and placing too many names of where you work. If you’re too stuffy the often introverted student may be intimidated and select someone who shows more personality.
- Talk about your teaching expertise. Say something like how long you’ve been teaching, and the levels and venues, such as classroom or online.
- Tell a success story or two about how you helped a student.
- Say something about your teaching approach. How you are going to help the student become more fluent.
- Give the student an idea of your educational philosophy. Sapling Academy uses a systematic approach, that overlays many skills at the same time because they linked together.
Required Videos
A student will listen to a tutor when the tutor is likable and that is why the Sapling Academy asks every tutor to have a video of themselves to let the students know who you are, and what you are like. Show your genuine concern because when you like them, they will like you.
These videos should include one that makes your introduction to the student and let them know your philosophies. Be sure to throw in your success stories for added credibility. A second video will show your techniques and skills as a tutor. We find that it’s best to record a small portion of a teaching session.
A small way to help you get through this step is to remember that this is very similar to the bio. So close in fact that you could say the exact same thing, and everyone would be happy. It would give the student something read, while they were watching it.
Please speak clearly and fluently at normal or at a slightly slower speed. Please keep eye contact to your camera as if you are facing your students.
Please do not speak too slowly. Students may understand what you are saying by reading the English subtitles from the script that you will provide. In this way, they may experience how English will be spoken during future classes or in the real world, and learn to adapt to it. For student at very low English proficiency level, they can read Chinese version.
- A 5-minute Video that:
- Give a short self-introduction that shows your personality. Try to avoid making it sound like an interview answer, and placing too many names of where you work. If you’re too stuffy the often introverted student may be intimidated and select someone who shows more personality.
- Talk about your teaching expertise. Say something like how long you’ve been teaching, and the levels and venues, such as classroom or online.
- Tell a success story or two about how you helped a student.
- Say something about your teaching approach. How are you going to help the student become more fluent.
- Give the student an idea of your educational philosophy. Sapling Academy uses a systematic approach, that overlays many skills at the same time because they linked together.
- A 5-minute Video that demonstrates:
- Which specialization you would like to teach
- Show what you can teach and how you will teach
For instance, if you can teach TOEFL writing, then please prepare a short training for one topic in TOEFL writing test and explain to a student.
Both of these videos will be transcribed by the Sapling Academy, which will be translated and put into your videos as subtitles.
A helpful hint: try to make the recording as clear as possible, and try to eliminate background noise and distractions.
File Submissions
With all submissions, please use the following format: lastname-firstname-contents of file. This is in case your file is located in the same directory with a lot of similar submission. Your information may become lost and time would be lost in requesting another copy.
Be Respectful
Every student deserves our respect. Please do not say anything humiliating. If you find that you have said something that the student reacts negatively to, make a note of it so the staff can help you understand better.
Be Communicative
Interact. Give them a chance to talk. If they are too shy, encourage them and ask questions that you believe they can answer.
Communicate with them to understand their current study situation.
Communicate with the Sapling Academy’s consultants if the students need to talk in Chinese.
Be Professional
Be familiar with required tests beforehand. Know how to score the exams, its rules, what students should know, and other do’s and don’ts. Give some practical advice. If you’re having trouble getting the information, promptly notify the team so we can help you find it.
Help build or rebuild the foundation in a more efficient and interesting way. They can learn the same knowledge in a new way, in a natural way.
Be Patient
Patience is the key to all lasting learning. The student will know when you’ve lost patience, and this will bring down the opportunity to get any real learning done.
Be Inspiring
Have effective and explicit guidance ready to help students improve systematically.
Be Dedicated
We hope that you can continue to teach students so they achieve their long-term goals. Once you begin to teach them, please do not give up on them before they achieve their goals.
The Sapling Academy’s consultants will define their short-term and long-term goals according to different levels. For each level improving, students may take 15-50 courses.
You should be prepared to teach them till they reach the next level.
Some students will want to improve scores quickly, please help them until they take the test. They may be able to improve in a short time, or need to learn that a steady pace suits them better.
Be Farsighted
No matter how small the beginning is, you are like a sapling in a vibrant forest where you can grow tall, strong and stable.
Compensation for Employment
Your salaries are hourly, and we provide salary raises for every tutor who has obtained more than 90% positive student evaluations on over 200 successive sessions. Remember that all prices are per hour, unless otherwise stated.
To make this a little easier to understand, let’s look at this example. If you have 4 students, teaching each of them one-hour course 3 times in a week. You work 12 hours a week, which is about 50 hours a month. If you were to have over 90% positive evaluations, you would be eligible for a salary increase after 4 months.
How to Turn in Your Sessions
In the future, we are going to have a more integrated method of recording your session with the student. But for now, we will need to do things using a more “hands on” approach. This will involve already having Skype installed. In case you missed it the link back there was for downloading Skype. You will also need to have Callnote Premium installed. Once you get these running, you’ll be prepared for tutoring. Now do the follow to get paid for the session:
- Set a schedule to teach the student.
- Start the session on time, and be professional.
- Record 100% of the session.
- Email the session to Sapling Academy for review.
Wages
Please check here in the future for amounts.
Bonuses
If the student can achieve their expected score after editor’s help, the tutor can get a bonus which is equal to 5% of the package price.
Special Tutoring Opportunities
There are other times when the student will require more intensive help. These will be assigned higher values, which are made on a case by case basis.
Comparative Rates
Some may say that these rates are low. Well, compared to other markets, yes they’re insanely low. This is the Chinese market. There is a reason that your clothes are so inexpensive when you go to the outlet mall. Also, take into consideration that you will be teaching over the Internet. Your travel costs to China are lower, the work environment is far less smoggy, and Sapling Academy is doing all the work to bring in your students for you.
Rules to Tutor By
- Be loyal
- Cherish our educational team and your good reputation that you’ve built
- Cherish the long-term benefits built and accumulated by cooperative team members
- Cherish the potential of China market
Improving Yourself
If you want to know more about how to teach at a certain level of English or tests, ask an experienced trainer to teach you for $10 USD per hour as a benefit. Think of it as paying it forward. Because as you gain prominence, you may be asked to help someone else become better.
For instance, if you want to learn Chinese, you can pay $10 USD to a Chinese tutor.