Teacher Training in Navajo Nation
I'm going to the Navajo Nation! This is why I love having my own online tutoring business which gives me the freedom to travel the world. I'd never heard of the Navajo Nation until about a year ago but next month I'll be jetting off to the USA to spend a month in Arizona doing voluntary work with the Navajo people.
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Some inspirational linguistic friends of mine are doing amazing work in this part of the world helping children to read and write in a revolutionary new way. This is seriously groundbreaking stuff and I've been invited to help train the local teachers in a remote school for Navajo kids. This is such an amazing opportunity for me to do three things I love:
- Helping others
- Training teachers
- Learning new skills from experts
Back when I worked for someone else, taking 4 weeks off in July as an EFL teacher would have been impossible. Summer is the busiest time and it's all hands on deck for the crazy busy summer schools. Now I'm my own boss and I tutor online, I can make my own schedule. I'm no longer restrained by the seasonal nature of my industry and when an incredible opportunity like this comes up, I can go for it.
How I got into teacher training
Teacher training has always been a passion of mine. My first teaching job in the UK was in an English language school that ran the entry level qualification for teaching English as a second language (ESL).
Soon I was given the opportunity to train other new English teachers on this course and it was hugely satisfying to help them achieve their learning and teaching goals. The course was very intensive but I'd recently completed it myself so was in a good position to help guide and support them to success. Many of the newly qualified teachers went on to travel the world teaching English but some became colleagues at my school. This gave me even more opportunities to continue inputting into their development as teachers through internal training sessions and collaborative teaching.
Why I invest in my own education
I've always been keen to invest in my own education to continue developing my skills as a teacher so after nearly two years of teaching, I enrolled on the Diploma for teaching ESL course. This was a whole new level of learning and involved balancing a full time job with weekly training sessions and a ton of homework! That year was the hardest I'd ever worked but it was totally worth it. I'd never achieved particularly high academic grades at school or university but when I passed top of the class with distinction, it was a big turning point for me. Not only had I become a much better teacher but having that advanced knowledge and confidence in my abilities opened the door to bigger and better things in my career. Within a few months I was the Academic Director of another language school and I was able to continue my love of teaching English and training teachers to be the best they could be.
Online training - My new passion
Fast forward to the present day and after running my own successful online tutoring business for over 5 years, I now want to focus more on helping others do the same.
For the past 12 months, I've been sharing my experience of tutoring online and creating resources for new and experienced online tutors on this blog. I've had a lot of positive feedback from tutors around the world and I love hearing stories of how people have experienced success with online tutoring after reading my articles and taking action. I've also received requests from tutors wanting more personalised guidance with tutoring online in the form of coaching. So I'm going to be offering one-to-one coaching calls for tutors.
I recently started offering coaching calls for tutors wanting to transition from face-to-face to online tutoring. After doing a small number of these calls, I've decided to open up a limited number of one-to-one sessions in August (when I return from America). Click below to find out more about how these coaching calls can help you run a successful online tutoring business and be the first to register your interest:
