VIPKid First Experiences

I just taught my second lesson with VIPKid and I am so excited to be doing this!

For those who don't know, VIPKid is an online English Learning program for kids who live in China. The teachers are hired from the US and Canada. It is full immersion, meaning that the students learn English by talking with native English speakers.

What I LOVE about VIPKid is that I don't do much prep. I have a bunch of props in my "classroom" that I can use. After you have experience with the lessons, it is easy to check your notes right before teaching and pull out everything you might need. I have used flashcards, a whiteboard, a puppet, magnet letters, play food, finger puppets, play money... But I already had most of these in my house (2-year-old). Really though, many teachers don't use many props and use their tablet or phone a lot so they don't have a ton of toys to organize. Some teachers go all out and by out the dollar store!

My first lesson, I was so nervous. I had a student that was a little more reserved and hard to get excited. I felt like she was bored and just not amused by my antics. My second lesson was a five-year-old boy and he was so fun! He loved my dinosaur rewards and got excited when he got a star! He sang with me and made all the motions for the letters he was learning. Oh my goodness, so cute...

If you are wanting to make some money on the side, VIPKid really is a fun way to do it. Even just doing an hour a day can make some pretty significant spending money each month. I have only taught 2 lessons even though I was hired about 20 days ago, but this was to be expected. I have also done some practice lessons that are paid (this is an incentive for new hires to practice their teaching before their first lesson). I knew going into it, from watching Youtube videos of other VIPKid teachers that the first month is pretty slow for most AND February is slow for EVERYONE. Chinese New Year causes bookings to go down. Some teachers said that they had half of their regular bookings this week! Other than that most of the teachers I have communicated with said they have no problems filling up all the slots that they open and they have a lot of regulars.

The only downside is the hours are weird. Of course, you are teaching children in CHINA. So it is Chinese hours that you are working. For me, it is not so bad. I am in the Central Time zone and the PEAK PEAK TIMES (the most booked) are 5 am to 7 am which is not terrible. I open my slots from 4:00 to 6:30 in the morning. But the great thing is that you are in control of when you open slots. Need some more money this month? Open more slots and work a bit more! Need to take some days off? Don't open slots that day.

If you are interested, I would love to talk you through the hiring process! Use my referral link or my referral code when you sign up!

Link: https://t.vipkid.com.cn/?refereeId=12048703&refersourceid=a01

Referral Code: 0768U7

Already started the application process, but want to put my code in? Email teachvip@vipkid.com.cn and give them my code before your first Mock Lesson!

Valentine's Banners!

I am a little late posting these, but I have made two Valentine's Day animated themes for Google Classroom! I am pretty excited that when I went to write this, I saw that I already sold one!

If you are unfamiliar with how to use animated Google themes and how to use them, you can check out my blog post showing you HERE!

Love is in the Air!

If you like these animated themes, click on the image to go to the product page on my store!

Not sure about it? 

Try out my free "Climbing Hearts" theme and try it out: 

Want more stuff like this freebie? Don't forget to follow me on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for more like this! 

Paperless Solutions, Animated GIFs, Data Spreadsheets, and more!

Like the idea, but not exactly what you want?

Let me know in the comments what you hope to see in my store! 

Gamifying with Classcraft

Alright, Paper-haters...

I am extremely late publishing this post. My life has gotten a little crazy with some personal life stuff (i.e. applying for and getting hired for a new part-time gig! VIPkid is super amazing, and I will probably be writing about it soon!)

This last few week I have been playing with Classcraft. If you have not already heard of Classcraft, it is a wa
y of "gamifying" your classroom. It basically turns your classroom into an RPG (role-playing game). Think "Dungeons and Dragons" meets Class Dojo, which sounded like just about the right level of geek for me.

Although, I'm pretty geeky, I actually don't know a lot about role-playing games, so getting used to the language and the way the points worked took some time. There are a lot of moving pieces.

Instead of trying to explain all of it in a blog post, which would get long and complicated, (and redundant! -Classcraft has plenty of tutorial videos!) I thought I would give my list of pros and cons with using Classcraft.

I use a lot of comparing to Class Dojo, because I feel like it has been used in the classroom enough that most teachers will know what I'm talking about if I use something familiar. I love Class Dojo and still feel like it is the BEST for lower grades (and for some classes, higher grades too). Classcraft is just a bit more mature and has some differences that might appeal to some teachers. I am NOT dumping on Class Dojo when I use the comparisons, I still love it. This just might be a more effective tool for some.

Pros

Let's start with the pros! I really have enjoyed using this platform for the most part for my computer classes. It is different and fun and the students seem to like it.

1. Beautiful graphics! --Part of what drew my students in from the get-go was the imagery in the game. I had one of the videos paused up on my board when the students came into class. They were immediately interested. They saw a mage with the powers coming from their hands and wearing the outfit, and they thought it looked so cool.
   
   Each student has a character profile with a cool scene behind them and their equipment and teammates in the background. It looks like a character page for a video game.
2. Along the same lines... Downloadable Graphics! --In the teacher materials, you can find a downloadable folder that has all of the images used in classcraft! For FREE! I am currently turning the logo into a poster for my door and using some of the cool images for around my room.
   
   Teachers who have used Class Dojo or other platforms that get so integrated into your classroom culture always love decorating their rooms to go with it, using the pictures for prizes, badges, even bathroom passes! Classcraft completely gets this and makes it very easy to do.
   
   And now to talk about the actual game!
3. Teamwork and comraderie--The students are put in teams. They are able to use their powers that they have earned to help each other out. If a teammate starts to lose Health Points (HP) the warrior can take the hit for them. (Why would they do that? To gain Experience points and level up to get more powers!)
   
   When a teammate "falls into battle" (I know it's all so geeky and awesome!) the other teammates lose health points too, so it benefits everyone to help their teammates do well in class.
4. Behavior Management--The students want the powers and want to level up. When they know
   
   they can gain experience points by trying their best, they become more motivated. The "game" also has a built in consequence system for when students lose all of their HP. These can be set by the teacher.
5. (With Premium) Google Classroom Integration--This has probably been my favorite feature. Classcraft will AUTOMATICALLY award experience points for turning in assign
   ments on Google classroom. I can also import the graded assignment and it will award points based on the grade they got. So easy.
6. Equipment, Powers, and Pets--The studnents can gain powers to use in the classroom (such as getting to listen to music while they work or switching seats with a classmate for the day) as well as dress up their character using Gold Pieces that they have earned. The students love this way more than I thought they would.
   
   With the premium account, they can also choose a pet and send it on quests to gain more points.
7. (With Premium) Quests -- I also have enjoyed this feature. Since I am a specials teacher I put all of their tasks for the day in a quest. They are expected to finish the quest before the end of class. I could see this being a really useful tool for long term assignments. Each step of the assingment can be a task in the quest. The teacher can set the tasks to be self-progress, where the student just clicks a button to say their done with the task, or teacher led, where the teacher must unlock the next task. The writing process came to mind immediately when thinking about ways to use this.
   
8. (with premium) Volume Meter- This has been amazing!!!! You can set the volume meter on a timer and set a reward. If the students go the whole time without going over the bar, they are all automatically awarded the reward that you set. If they go over, a warning message comes up. The teacher can either choose "false alarm" or continue the timer. If they have triggered the warning, the reward gets smaller. Each time the students go over the noise limit, the reward gets smaller.
   
   This has worked like a dream!

Cons

There are a few things that someone might not like about Classcraft. Some of the things that might be considered cons are also things that might make some teachers like it.

1. Not really free... OK, there IS a free version and it is great as just a Class Dojo style behavior management system. The students can have characters that they can log in and dress and use their powers. But it is not as integrated into the classwork as premium. You can of course choose how you would award the experience points based on classwork, but it is just not built in like it is with premium and takes some extra work.
   
   The free version does not have quests, grade converting, pets, or volume meters which are pretty much my favorite things. The paid version is pretty affordable though, and you are given the option to pay for a whole year or to pay monthly.
2. Can be confusing for some--The complexity might turn off a lot of teachers, but I actually think it's what keeps the students bought in. Class Dojo feels baby-ish to older students sometimes and Classcraft has a similar function, but seems cooler to them. The fact that the language and point system are more like a World of Warcraft game make the students enjoy it more and helps them use their strategy skills.
3.  Not great for younger students--The videos and demos on the site even show Classcraft being used with high school age students. It really is meant to be used with older kids. My different classes use it differently. With my third graders, it is basically Class Dojo but with pretty pictures. Fourth and fifth grade use it to manage their tasks and know that they are getting their work done. They like using their gold pieces to change their characters and train their pet but they don't really use the powers in class. Sixth grade has a better handle on it.
   
   I also only see them for an hour a week, so they don't really have time to get the hang of it. It might be different if I was a classroom teacher using it every day, all day.

Conclusion

I have enjoyed using Classcraft and definitely think it is a worth a look, even for elementary teachers. The students LOVE it. However, if you want something that is easy to implement and very simply a way to track behavior, I would stick with Class Dojo, which is always free and has many useful tools and is great for data collection!

Don't forget to follow me on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store! 

Paperless Solutions, Animated GIFs, Data Spreadsheets, and more!

Back to Life

Hey everyone!

Winter break just ended, and I am back in the game.  I had been planning on using my break to write some more blog posts and make some more Teachers Pay Teachers products, but my break got hijacked. My son was sick on and off during the break and my husband and I were fighting colds for the first part... Winter time is beautiful, isn't it?... I also decided it would be a good time to try to reset my house on the days that my kids were in daycare. So my house is cleaner, but my store and blog are a little bit of a mess.

What's Coming Up

Classcraft

In the next few days, I am hoping to write a few posts regarding Classcraft! I am very excited to start using this. Basically it turns your classroom into an RPG game. I know, super geeky. Geeky and awesome! I took the last week before the break to have the students set up their accounts and teams so that coming back we could hit it hard. I will keep you updated on my progress with this and come up with tips for those who would like to try it. It is mostly a behavior management tool when you use the free version, but with the Premium account it is a great tool to help keep the classroom paperless, and it links to Google Classroom!

More Google Classroom Tips

I am also hoping to give some more tips to using Google Classroom. Many of the teachers in my building have started using it, but don't yet know all of the awesome tools and tricks they can use it for!

More Paperless Products for You

I hope to create more and more products in my store to help keep your classroom paperless! If you would like to browse the products in my store please visit by clicking HERE! 

My most popular items are my animated Google Themes! And I am planning a whole bunch of new seasonal items, so be sure to follow me to get updated on new products.

Here is a link to a free theme for your google classroom to try it out: Freebie Animated Climbing Hearts. Don't forget to rate and give feedback!

If you would like directions on how to use these animated themes, check out my past blog post explaining how to use GIFs as your Google Classroom theme.

Want more stuff like this product? Don't forget to follow me on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for more like this! 

Paperless Solutions, Animated GIFs, Data Spreadsheets, and more!