How I took advantage of what most online ESL teachers complained about

Just as the title implies, this article is all about how I “turned shit into fertilizer” and how you can do it too! 😉

Shit #1. Mistakes in lesson materials.

When I was a newbie in the ESL company I worked for, I was very eager not only in teaching my students but also in contributing whatever I could to the company. I would send emails requesting corrections for mistakes I noticed in the lesson materials. Some were corrected, some were not. Some took more than one email just to get them corrected. So, I got tired of sending emails. I simply continued correcting the mistakes as I went through the lessons. Interestingly, I would get feedback such as, “Really? The last tutor did not correct me on that.”
With intermediate and advanced students, my other approach would be a little different. I would ask them, “What could probably be wrong with this sentence?” “Do you think this sentence makes sense?” “How do you think can we make this sentence better?” “Can you tell me what makes this sentence incorrect?”
I took every mistake as an opportunity not only to “show off” a little bit to my students but also, to commend those who got to notice the mistakes first. And I hope you notice just how I turned those mistakes into another lesson opportunity for my intermediate and advanced students. And sure enough, I got verbal feedback such as, “I think you’re the best teacher.” “I think your teaching style is unique.”

Shit #2. Demanding students.

Some students can indeed be demanding. They don’t necessarily ask you to do more than expected but you can tell they’re demanding based on their gratefulness after the lesson, or the lack thereof. I always go the extra mile for my students and what’s difficult with demanding students sometimes is, they take what you do for them as nothing but ordinary when in fact, you gave that little “extra.” But one lesson is not enough to judge a student, let alone, to show how you can be the best teacher they can ever have online. So, I didn’t give up on them right away. The next time they booked my lesson, I gave them a little bit more of that “extra.” Soon enough, not only did they become my loyal students but also the most grateful and gracious ones.

Shit #3. Low pay.

While many online ESL teachers understandably don’t see a bit of good in this, the low pay I was getting made me think of other ways to increase my income. There are a lot of online ESL teachers who have other online jobs such as being a VA, some are bloggers, and a few others, vloggers. Others go find another online ESL school that might be offering a higher pay but only to find out, it’s just the same or indeed, a higher pay but more responsibilities!
In my case, I didn’t have to look elsewhere for that opportunity. As I was then slowly building up my own “online school,” I, of course, had to write my own lesson plans for my future private students. And what better way to test how good or effective my materials were than to use them with my company’s students at that time. Guess what?! They loved my materials and the manner/method I taught them. After a few lessons, they wanted more of the same kind. I then worked hard to complete the whole set of materials and started selling the rest of the set to them.
You see, while it may look like I was doing a favor for the ESL company I worked for by giving lessons to students with my own “unpaid” materials, going the extra mile for my students, as well as for the company, did more favor for me in the end, than anyone else.

Shit #4. Unfair evaluation and penalties.

Nobody likes to be penalized because of “unfair evaluations.” But, the truth is, we can only do so much about the “unfair evaluations” that lead to penalties. As long as people have their own preferences (which is forever), the lesson evaluation students give you will always be “unfair” or, I prefer to call it subjective. You cannot please everybody and you shouldn’t even try at all. I have gotten failing marks on sound quality, on my attitude, and even my teaching skills and penalized for it quite a few times. But, I never complained about it. I’ve always respected my students’ feedback.
There were a few times I got complaints but after explaining my side directly to the people concerned, the complaints were invalidated. The failing marks and penalty remained and I simply let go of it and made better use of the time I was suspended to continue building my online presence, write my own materials, have some general cleaning in my room, improve my backdrop, relax, and do whatever else was productive. I never complained.
While under suspension, some students would send me messages like “When can I book your lessons again?” “Please tell me when you open you slots again.” It would have been easy to “pirate” them then but I did not do so until I was certain I had something more valuable to offer. But such messages made me more confident that having my own private students in due time would be the least of my worries.

Shit #5. Lack of career growth.

If you are looking for some kind of a career ladder in this industry where you can climb your career up through promotions, you can find one but you can only go up so high. Let’s see, from ESL teacher/tutor to ESL teacher trainer, or maybe a lateral move to being material developer or tutor and IT support, and then? What’s next?
I don’t know about you but in my case, I’ve known from the beginning that this was a great opportunity for me to learn more about the business and not to work my way up to being being a trainer, consultant, or whatever, but to build my own ladder up to being the owner of an online ESL school without someone’s stamp of approval. BOLD, don’t you think?
To be quite honest, that was my goal – to put up my own online school. So I bought my own domain, taught myself some coding skills, built my own website without any background in IT whatsoever, wrote my own materials, I was able to build a team of 3 teachers, which was the most difficult part, then came a beautiful distraction (I’ll write more about it in my posts to follow) and that’s the closest I could get to reaching my goal of building an online school. I may not have achieved my goal to have an “online school” but neither did fail. I learned so much in the process. I developed skills I never thought I could and built a startup web-design and development company I had never once imagined I could.
Surely, opportunities for career growth in the online ESL industry are scarce and elusive but it offers a lot of opportunities for both career and personal development. (You may want to read more on the the difference between career growth and career development and decide for yourself which one is more worthy of your time and energy.)

Shit #6. Additional work/service.

Along with demanding students come additional work or services they hope you can help them with. One is proofreading. I’ve seen a lot of online ESL teachers complain about being asked for help in writing or proofreading by their students. One said because it’s not part of her job, why not go to a proofreading company?! Another one said, it could be another business opportunity for the company, etc.. And for a few minutes I was speechless upon reading that rant. I could not believe until now, how such a beautiful opportunity was deliberately put to waste!
A number of online ESL teachers have sent me messages for teaching tips as well as tips on getting employment here in Japan. Well, how exactly I got here in Japan is truly worthy of another article but, let me tell you this, I wouldn’t be where I am today had I turned down a proofreading request from a student.
As I have mentioned, I always make it a point to go the extra mile for my students. When one of my students, asked my help with his written work, I instantly grabbed the chance! I proofread his work like a pro! He was very happy! It was a service the ESL company I worked for did not not offer. And what could be a better opportunity for me to bring students over to my own “online school” than this?!!
So, as I continued teaching, I would proactively offer my proofreading services to my students who are researchers, writers, doctors, MBA students, and professors. Not long after that, they would send me messages whenever I didn’t open my slots or got penalized again, as to when I would open my slots so I can edit their work etc.. And that became one of my biggest breaks!
As to how I got an employment here in Japan? “Opportunities multiply as they are seized,” and I just couldn’t stop seizing!

So, go start grabbing as much shit as you can and turn them into fertilizer now!
Cheers! 😉