As the TEFL World Turns...

Things have been...well, pretty great lately. I'm working an all-time BIG number of hours a week for me (28.5...the average number of hours per week for a TEFL teacher is around 25). And while the busy schedule doesn't leave much time for essential activities (eating lunch, for example), my American nature of "work work work" allows me to cope remarkably well. It's like what everyone says: give me just one important task to complete in a day, and I somehow won't find the energy to get it done; give me twenty, and I'll knock them all out, one-by-one, and still have time to cook and eat a nice dinner. It feels good to be productive, and I'm learning little tricks like preparing an energy-packed lunch to take with me before I leave the house on days when I don't have any breaks between classes [side-note: 3 days a week now, I'm teaching for 7 hours straight, with not even 5 minutes between each class to stop and pee or wolf down an apple]. The plus side is that time flies by on class days, and payday is SWEET :)

The increase in my teaching hours comes from one or two classes that I picked up from a teacher that left our academy last semester, plus two others which represent milestones for me: private classes taught OUTSIDE of established English schools. I was really nervous, for some reason, when one of these students first approached me about classes at his apartment. My mind raced with questions: is it a good idea to have class in the student's home (especially when the student is an adult male)? is there any way I might get screwed here (in terms of getting paid in full and on time)? am I going to burn bridges here with the two academies that I feel unexplainably loyal to? In the end, I went with my gut and arranged these two classes privately with the students, and they're going SO well! Not only do I receive 50% more money for teaching these classes (I don't have to give a "cut" of the profits to an academy), but the students pay me less than they would pay an official English academy - everybody wins, and I think my private students appreciate my time and efforts more than the students I teach in schools.

Around the time that all this was getting started (about a month ago, over the Christmas holidays), I coincidentally talked with a friend and former teacher at my main academy who's now running his own "school" - which basically means he's got his own business cards and teaches all in-house, private classes, exactly what I'm doing with the 2 students now. Apparently, he's got so many students wanting classes, he's outsourcing now and "hiring" other teachers to manage the overflow. A light bulb went off in my head as he passed me his card: this is what good, smart TEFL teachers do - they run their own "mini-business". But don't get me wrong here - I'm glad that these past two years I've spent my time working within the system, "paying my dues" as a relatively inexperienced TEFL teacher. I've learned a lot from putting in my time in the established schools, but next year I think I'll be ready to start downsizing the hours I put in at academies and accepting "independent" teaching ventures as often as possible. Especially when you consider the fact that my salary is 50% less per hour at the academies, PLUS the fact that without an official contract there I'm losing money that would cover my healthcare and citizenship costs, it just doesn't make cents or sense to keep shoveling TEFL manure in the schools.

Professionally, 2010 is looking good ;)