So I started teaching on Outschool last week. To say I was nervous is an understatement. My "classroom" is a card table in the basement while Cody continues to work from home at my real desk. Our basement is probably about 10-15 degrees cooler than the rest of the house and when I'm not teaching, I'm FREEZING! My first classes were all with high school students (AHHHH!)
It's exciting and nerve-wracking and wonderful all at the same time. I had so much fun putting together this 1 hour class for high school students that are interested in babysitting and brain-dumping all my knowledge into this short power point presentation.
I grew up babysitting. Literally, one year I was going to "daycare" and the next year I was working there. I just transitioned from being one of the kids to helping take care of the little kids. It all came pretty naturally to me because this is all I've ever done (and to think I wanted to be an architect), so it seemed pretty natural to have this be my first class, as well. It was requested class and as soon as I saw it I thought, "I could teach that!" And then I did.
To be honest though, it really wasn't quite that easy. After applying, I submitted my class. It didn't get approved. And then I changed 2 minor things and submitted it again. And one more time before I took the "Writing Class Descriptions" class on Outschool. I revised it one more time (a lot) and submitted it again. This time it was approved and I was so relieved!!!! At one point I had considered giving up, seriously. I'm a pretty competitive person and sometimes when things don't come easily I just want to give up, rather than admit defeat. Not my best attribute, I know.
I'm so happy that I did not give up, and my co-worker (that's what we call each other as we work next to each other in the basement) told me it was probably just some minor detail that they want done a specific way and it really had nothing to do with my teaching ability. Of course, he was right, but don't tell him I said that.
My first section had one learner. Thank goodness it wasn't 8. I legit could not have handled all that. My next section was supposed to have 3 but only 2 showed up. And my last scheduled section had 1 learner. I have 14 "saves" for that class, so I'll probably schedule more in the future, but not quite as often as my first 3. I got a 5 star review, and a couple of "thank you's" after the class was over, and even a request for more classes like this one. I have no idea what I would do next for high schoolers.
Next week I start "Kindergarten Boot-Camp" for my Pre-K babes that will be heading off to Kindergarten in the fall. I am way excited for this because this is my zone. It is literally what I have been doing for the last 10 years of my life. I have it scheduled for 45 minutes 4x a week for 2 weeks (so 8 classes) and I know I have a ton of stuff planned, but I HOPE I can keep them engaged the whole time. It's a long time for 4-6 year olds, but I have lots of songs, movements, and activities planned. It'll be my biggest classes with 4 learners in each section (they're almost all full now) and my youngest on Outschool. Fingers crossed everything goes as planned!
Also, one more first: I GOT PAID!
Not much, really nothing like the picture, but it's a start!
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