Working for Outschool: How to Launch Your Online Teaching Career While Traveling

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Wondering what it’s like working for Outschool as a traveling teacher? You’re in the right place!

In this article, we highlight the best features of our podcast on this very topic as well as offer the podcast links for your listening enjoyment. So let’s jump in!

David Cole, a seasoned education professional with over 15 years of experience in coaching, curriculum development, and public speaking, brings his wealth of knowledge to “The Global Classroom” podcast.

With a track record of successfully designing over 170 ESL lessons and directing large-scale events like the 2023 Global Teaching Summit, he skillfully interviews online educators, sharing valuable tips, tools, and resources.

David’s passion for fostering collaborative engagement and driving educational success shines through as he inspires online educators to reach their full potential for themselves and their students.

Listen on iTunes and Spotify, or watch on YouTube. The Global Classroom Podcast Season 1, episode [#10]!

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Introduction

Have you ever dreamed of ditching the traditional 9-to-5 and becoming a digital nomad who can work and travel? If so, becoming an online teacher may be the perfect remote work solution.

In this blog post, we’ll be exploring how to launch a successful career teaching English online with Outschool while maintaining the flexibility to travel the world. We’ll feature the experiences and advice of Heather, a traveling kindergarten teacher who found her ideal work-life balance by teaching online.

Kindergarten Teacher Turned Traveling Online Educator

Heather has over 14 years of experience teaching kindergarten in public schools. While she loved working with her students in the classroom, she yearned to have more freedom to pursue her passion for travel.

Once I realized it was something that I could do. And the kids were learning…that’s when I got onto, you know, maybe I could teach online.

Heather Horn

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced schools to transition to remote learning, Heather discovered that online teaching came naturally to her. She was able to adapt her lively and engaging kindergarten curriculum for the virtual environment.

This positive experience showed Heather that she could continue teaching online. It would allow her to earn extra income while maintaining the flexibility to travel.

Heather’s Pivotal Experience Teaching Online During the Pandemic

When Covid-19 hit, Heather’s school shifted to fully remote teaching overnight. This massive transition was extremely challenging, as neither teachers nor students were prepared for virtual education.

When COVID first started, we were in school, and all of a sudden we were not in school anymore…We tried to finish the year out by teaching online, and it was very different.

Heather Horn

Despite the steep learning curve and lack of guidelines, Heather persevered and discovered effective online teaching strategies through trial and error. She learned how to keep young students engaged through Zoom sessions, pre-recorded lessons, coordinating hands-on activities with parents, and more.

By the end of the school year, remote instruction was running smoothly. Heather realized that online teaching aligned perfectly with her lifestyle goals. This motivated her to apply to teach with Outschool and launch her new nomadic lifestyle.

Key Tips for Working for Outschool from Heather’s Experience

If you’re considering applying to teach with Outschool, Heather has provided crucial tips to set you up for success:

Find what you’re good at, what you can do, and that’s what you need to teach because everybody that’s on out school isn’t even like a certified teacher.

Heather Horn

• Carefully determine what age levels and subjects you want to teach. Play to your strengths and experience.
• Create engaging video introductions to attract student enrollments right off the bat.
• Develop lessons and activities that translate well to the virtual environment. Incorporate interactive elements like polls, chat functions, breakout rooms, and more to keep students engaged.
• Build up a library of lesson plans and activities to repeat month after month. This saves prep time in the long run.

What You Need to Know About the Outschool Application Process

While getting approved to teach on Outschool may seem intimidating, Heather insists that the application is straightforward. Here’s what to expect:

The hardest thing was the video. I’m, I’m, I’m the kind of girl, I’m like, I just got to dive in and do it.

Heather Horn

• Submit your basic personal details and teaching qualifications. Outschool highlights verified teachers to give parents peace of mind.
• Pass a background check to ensure safety and accountability.
• Create an introductory video highlighting your personality, passions and credentials. Heather recommends keeping it authentic rather than perfect!
• Set up an engaging teacher’s profile to promote your classes. Share details on your lessons, schedule availability, reviews and more.

The Outschool platform handles marketing your classes and recruiting enrollments for you. However, the stronger your profile, the more likely you are to attract students!

Heather’s Travel Blogs: Inspiring Others to Pursue Their Dreams

Heather has fully embraced her new lifestyle as a traveling online teacher. She runs a successful travel blog sharing her adventures exploring new destinations around the world.

Her blogs highlight that teachers don’t have to choose between pursuing their career or traveling the world. Outschool’s flexible remote teaching arrangements allow online educators to earn extra income while discovering new places and cultures.

I enjoy traveling. That’s definitely my biggest hobby and my passion. So I also, um, have started a new side gig, travel agent on the side.

Heather Horn

Heather also runs a side business as a travel agent. This allows her to plan incredible trips for her friends and family while getting paid. Talk about living the dream!

Her message is that we all need to prioritize our happiness and chase our dreams. With online teaching platforms like Outschool, the potential to build your ideal lifestyle is just a click away.

Quit Waiting and Start Teaching Online from Anywhere Today!

If Heather’s experiences resonated with you, it’s time to take that first step toward becoming a digital nomad. Apply to teach online with Outschool and open up a world of possibilities.

You can start by using Heather’s referral code when signing up for Outschool to get a special kickback incentive. She also offers private coaching sessions to guide new online teachers through each step of the application and onboarding process.

Being able to do what I love and then use that free time and save my money to do the other things that I love, you know, it’s really awesome.

Heather Horn

When you can make money doing what you love while exploring the world, why stick to a traditional career and life path? Seize this chance and start manifesting your ideal online teaching and travel dreams today. The opportunity to become a digital nomad is waiting for you on Outschool!

Conclusion

To recap, Outschool provides the perfect remote platform for online educators to teach and travel simultaneously from anywhere in the world. Veteran teacher Heather is now earning income while journeying across the globe and running successful travel blogs.

By following Heather’s experience and leveraging her application tips, best practices for engaging students virtually, and coaching services, you can thrive as a traveling online teacher with Outschool too.

Go explore new cultures and earn extra money by teaching English online! Start your application today.

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Key Takeaways & Timestamps

Teaching Online During Pandemic (00:00:30)

• Schools switched to remote learning with little warning
• Trial and error adapting in-person curriculum for online
• Realized could continue teaching online for flexibility

Advice for New Outschool Teachers (00:10:30)

• Determine your teaching specialty and strengths
• Create engaging class descriptions and info videos
• Build up reusable lesson plans over time

Applying to Teach on Outschool (00:24:30)

• Submit basic personal info and qualifications
• Pass a background check
• Create intro video highlighting your personality
• Optimize teacher profile to attract enrollments

Combining Teaching and Travel (00:35:00)

• Outschool funds Heather’s travels around the world
• Runs a side business as travel agent booking trips
• Teaching online provides location flexibility

Heather’s Blogs (00:43:00)

• Documents adventures teaching and traveling
• Inspires others to pursue dreams and passions
• Offers referral code for new Outschool teachers

The key insights from Heather’s experiences are that the pandemic fast-tracked many teachers’ transitions into online education platforms like Outschool. This allows educators to continue doing what they love while opening up location freedom and opportunities to generate additional income through travel blogging. Heather provides tips to help others turn teaching online into a sustainable, fulfilling digital nomad lifestyle.

Podcast Transcript

[00:00:00] David: Alright, hello everybody. I hope you’re ready to meet Heather. She’s a kindergarten teacher who’s also a travel enthusiast. Heather’s been a kindergartener teacher in public schools for 14 years. Uh, but she’s not only a teacher, she’s a traveler and an adventurer. So, without further ado Hello, Heather. And, uh, can you tell everybody a little bit

[00:00:35] Heather Horn: about yourself?

[00:00:37] Heather Horn: Yes. So, I am a public school teacher. I have been teaching kindergarten for, um, about 14 years now. Um, and before that, I taught fifth grade. So, I went, you know. Very extreme from 5th grade to kindergarten. Um, I also teach, um, online throughout school. Um, I enjoy traveling. That’s definitely my biggest hobby and my passion.

[00:01:01] Heather Horn: So I also, um, have started a new side gig, travel agent on the side. I’m just trying to bring together all the things that I love to do. So many different hats.

[00:01:11] David: That’s so cool. So, how’d you kind of get your start teaching

[00:01:16] Heather Horn: online? Um, I started teaching online, um, after COVID. Um, when COVID first started, we were in school, and all of a sudden we were not in school anymore.

[00:01:30] Heather Horn: So, it was March that year, and We tried to finish the year out by teaching online, and it was very different. Nobody knew what this should look like, what we should do. Everything was in, you know, it was an uproar. I mean, the whole world was in a panic. But, um, I don’t know. There’s something about teaching kindergarten, like, everything’s extra.

[00:01:53] Heather Horn: Extra so we were really like putting ourselves out there and our parents didn’t know what is zoom. What is this all about? How do we download this? So we were recording videos. We had Facebook groups with our families and we’re recording stories to read to the kids a bedtime story every day. We’re doing assignments online.

[00:02:12] Heather Horn: We were doing live zoom meetings with him in their house. And at that time, that was like, Oh, what is this? So, um, When I realized, oh, I can do this. Now I have experience. It leads into the next school year when we were almost the whole school year virtual teaching. And it looked very different from the beginning of the pandemic.

[00:02:32] Heather Horn: Um, once school started in August and we were virtual, we had a lot more guidelines from our school district and things that we were expected to do. And we were a lot more comfortable with what we were doing. So, um, we actually went into work And we were teaching live from our own classrooms

[00:02:51] David: classroom.

[00:02:52] David: So, you still have to go into the class. The kids are.

[00:02:56] Heather Horn: Yes, the kids are at home. I’m like, here’s your classroom. There’s your desk, you know, but nobody’s in it. But yeah, I tried to have, you know, a certain number of scheduled meetings during the day. We would do the story. We would do our reading lesson. We would do a math lesson.

[00:03:13] Heather Horn: You know, just as much like we couldn’t, you know, make it like they were at school and try to keep them engaged. But, you know, they’re 5, they’re 5. Um, they never sat down and done school on the computer. Their parents didn’t know what was happening. So it was very, very challenging. But that was the 1st, you know, 1st of the hoops we had to jump through and after we got comfortable, we got in a routine.

[00:03:38] Heather Horn: It was smooth sailing like our administration was like, wow, you guys are doing awesome. We’re like, yeah, because we’re extra. So, once I realized it was something that I could do. And the kids were learning, I mean, no, it wasn’t the best possible scenario. We would rather have them in person. You know, let’s do our hands on activities.

[00:04:01] Heather Horn: It wasn’t exactly the same, but we made the best we could of it and. From there. Um, that’s when I got onto, you know, maybe I could teach online. I know what to do. So that’s kind of what led me to out school.

[00:04:18] David: Sounds like a, an interesting little, uh, uh, journey from doing the physical course to do it online and then in the online.

[00:04:27] Heather Horn: Yeah. It’s like, Oh, we kind of like this. Yeah.

[00:04:31] David: I get mixed results. Like some teachers like yourself loved it. Some, like my sister hated it. Uh, she, but she’s, she’s high school AP stuff. I mean, it’s a totally different monster.

[00:04:44] Heather Horn: Um, yeah, I mean, honestly, there, you know, there’s no replacement for a full day in school on a computer.

[00:04:51] Heather Horn: You know what I mean? Like, there’s no comparison to having a kid’s in person a full school day. Or on the computer doing work, there’s, you know, it’s not the same, but we did the best that we could, you know, we want them to get their education. We wanted them to learn. So we, you know, we jumped through some major hoops.

[00:05:09] Heather Horn: We really did. We were putting together each week. Um, we would put together paper materials and things like in a packet. Every Friday they would pick it up for the following week. So we did some prep work for it so they had materials at home and, you know, like in class we would use sand trays to learn about their letters and sounds.

[00:05:27] Heather Horn: So at home we were telling their parents, get a paper plate, put some salt on there, that’s their sand tray. So, you know, really had to make do with a lot of those things, but we figured it out, you know, we went through, you know, a lot of things and that really helped me when it came time for me to teach on at school.

[00:05:45] Heather Horn: I was like, I don’t know what to do. I know exactly what I want to teach. I know what to tell the parents and, you know, it’s really worked out for me. Excellent.

[00:05:54] David: Yeah, that seems like it’s a good, uh, good preparation for, for that because yeah, you do have to start working with parents. I mean, uh, I worked with the kids in China for the most part.

[00:06:02] David: So it’s a little different. But I still have to work with the parents, find out their expectations. Uh, do you do solo one on one type classes? Do you do group classes? A little bit of

[00:06:12] Heather Horn: both? So I do a little of both. Um, when I first started with App School, um, what I had seen, um, I was following someone on Instagram.

[00:06:21] Heather Horn: That’s how I even got started. I saw this girl who’s teaching online and she was a teacher and she decided to be a stay at home mom with her kids, but she still wanted to teach. And I was like, okay, can I just do both? I need more money. So, I kind of started watching what she was doing, then I started checking out OutSchool, and I was like, okay, it seems like these group classes are the thing.

[00:06:41] Heather Horn: So I started out with group classes, but, um, I wasn’t, you know, for me, my specialty. The little kids that’s that’s my thing. That’s the age group that I love. I love kids of all ages, but that’s what comes most natural for me. It wasn’t a whole lot of extra work, a whole lot of thinking. I knew my lessons already.

[00:07:01] Heather Horn: I could just take what I already did every day straight to the platform. I was like, here’s my lesson plan. You know, it’s ready. So, um. I did some group classes, and then I thought, I wonder how, you know, one on one tutoring will do. And honestly, for me, that’s what has taken off, like, the most. One on one tutoring.

[00:07:21] David: One on one, okay. So, what are your teaching specialties then?

[00:07:26] Heather Horn: Um, Mostly, I do reading classes that seems to be the most popular right now, but I do have like science classes available and usually the science classes are a lot of fun. So the kids like it. We make it hands on. So, um, I had a weekly ongoing class.

[00:07:44] Heather Horn: I’m not doing that right now at the moment, but. I’ve turned them into, like, the monthly holiday themed classes. In the summertime, we’ll do, like, a little camp. So just something to switch up things for them. Still getting in science content. It’s fun. It’s not feeling like work for them, but they’re learning.

[00:08:01] Heather Horn: So, it’s great for homeschool kids, kids that need an extra activity, or just kids that are at home in the summer and need something to do. So, um, reading, science, and I’ve done a little bit of math. And in my kindergarten prep classes, I do teach a little math in that. But reading seems to be the thing that most people are looking for in my age group.

[00:08:23] David: Yes, okay. What do you do for training materials? Like, how do you share your materials? Do you make lessons or what do you do?

[00:08:32] Heather Horn: Um, like the materials I use in the class.

[00:08:35] David: Yeah. Do you screen share? Do you use books? You make a PowerPoint? What are you trying to

[00:08:40] Heather Horn: do? I do screen share a lot. Um, I don’t do a lot of PowerPoints.

[00:08:45] Heather Horn: Um, mostly because a lot of these kids that I’m the first out school class, you know, they’re like, no, I have never done school on the computer. But then again, you also get several kids that are homeschooled. So this is what they do. They’ll take a class here, a class there, and that’s kind of like some of their extracurriculars for the week, things like that.

[00:09:06] Heather Horn: So, um, a lot of times I actually have materials like letter cards. I do I have a slide show that, you know, does the letter cards and I have 1 for blending to read words, but also try to find moments to have real materials in my hand. Because for them to see my movement, it’s a little more engaging than them just seeing a side show going across the screen and they’re like, this is boring.

[00:09:36] Heather Horn: They don’t tell me that, but that’s how I feel.

[00:09:38] David: I get it. I get it. Yeah. Uh, there’s, there’s so many different ways to teach and present materials. When I, when I first started with the ESL, yeah. Flashcards, holding up my card or, you know, my, my stick figures. Cause I only did like level, level one, basically entry level, zero level stuff.

[00:09:56] David: And so they were all the three to five year old kids, too. You had to be very animated.

[00:10:02] Heather Horn: Yes, animated, anything with a song. Um, you know, just, they love to be recognized. They love you to say their name. Um, ask about what, I mean, especially when you get in a group class. You know, how was your day? And then everybody tells you what their dog did and what their brother did.

[00:10:19] Heather Horn: And, you know. Definitely.

[00:10:23] David: So now that you’ve, now that you’ve been doing out school for a bit now, what kind of advice would you give somebody first starting out as a online teacher?

[00:10:32] Heather Horn: Um, I think first starting out, the biggest thing is trying to narrow down what you want to teach. And sometimes it’s, it’s a bit of trial and error.

[00:10:41] Heather Horn: Um, and even now I’ll throw out new classes on there. I’ll be like, Hmm, I’m going to try this. Um, like I’m not really an artist. At all, but I try to throw out some things with some art activities, like directed drawings and things like that. Um, sometimes, you know, it’s, it’s just things come and go people have an interest and then it drops off.

[00:11:02] Heather Horn: So I often throw out new classes, but it’s finding what you’re good at. Because what you’re good at, what’s going to work for you and the way I see it, you don’t want to work harder. You want to work smarter. So find what you’re good at, what you can do, and that’s what you need to teach because everybody that’s on out school isn’t even like a certified teacher.

[00:11:24] Heather Horn: You know, there are people on there that are artists and they’re teaching art classes or someone that’s a musician doing music classes. So it’s really amazing to see how broad it is on there. I mean, there are so many classes, things you wouldn’t think about. Um, and I have a little brother, he’s 13 now, but he.

[00:11:41] Heather Horn: There are classes that he takes on there, and so that’s a whole other category for me, but I love to like, he doesn’t like me to be in there, but I like to peek in and listen to his classes. What’s that teacher doing? Or what’s she teaching? Or, you know, that sort of thing. He was in a language class. He’s really interested in foreign languages.

[00:11:59] Heather Horn: Me? I don’t know any foreign languages. I’m from Kentucky. This is what I got. But he’s so interested in that. So we’ve done some foreign language classes and, you know, that’s something that I could never teach to someone else because I don’t speak that. But it’s just amazing to see someone that, you know, might not be a Spanish teacher or a French teacher or a Russian teacher, but that’s what they’re good at.

[00:12:24] Heather Horn: So they have created this course and they, you know. figured out how to teach this to children. So

[00:12:31] David: it’s really awesome. Yeah, OutSchool is really cool. We enrolled our son in some, uh, classes there. He’s done arts, had fun with his group art class and doing these art projects and stuff like that. So it’s cool.

[00:12:44] David: Um, I like, I like OutSchool. Um, and there’s a lot of different programs out there for people that are looking for that type of teaching. Yes. What about like some of the realities like prep time for you for these types of courses or getting, uh, finding and sourcing students and stuff like that? Did you get a lot of students right off the bat or are you that lucky person or did you really have to work for

[00:13:08] Heather Horn: it?

[00:13:09] Heather Horn: Some people it just seems like they’re like, I have a full class and I’m like, but, um. And some people I don’t I live in a very small town, very rural area. So I don’t have any locals in my class. And I know there are some people that have kids that are in their area that they take their class. I don’t have anyone local, and I have actually had my niece and nephew in my class a few times.

[00:13:35] Heather Horn: They join my science classes sometimes, but otherwise like I don’t really try to advertise locally. Um, and part of that’s teacher guilt. I feel like that’s my job, you know, at school and I would feel terrible, like, charging my students, so I, but I haven’t had anyone ask me either. And they’re having people reach out to say, you know, would you like to tutor so and so in the summer?

[00:14:01] Heather Horn: I’m like, well, I teach on out school. If you’re interested, here’s my link, that sort of thing. But, um, yeah, that’s that is a little tricky for me. Um. But yeah, starting out some people just seem to look into students. I just started, um. With my classes and I was like, you know, what do I know? What am I good at?

[00:14:19] Heather Horn: So I started out with a reading class, science class, and I posted it. And pretty quickly I got a student or two and kind of got things going. And like, one of the kids would be like, I’m going to have my friend come to the science class next week. I’m like, yeah, you should. So sometimes that happens and it grows.

[00:14:39] Heather Horn: I mean, it was a slow growth. It wasn’t like I got anything major, but. It’s just really amazing to me, like, it just happened, like. I’ll get new enrollments and it’s never a kid that I know they’re from all different places in the country in the world. I have students from Australia. I mean, it’s just mind blowing to me.

[00:15:00] Heather Horn: It’s just really amazing. I mean, and, like, the time zone changes and, you know, I’ve got this kid in Seattle and this kid in New York and the kid that I’ve got some kids in Australia. So, in my mind, I’m like, do you have kangaroos in your backyard? And she turns her camera around to her window and she’s like.

[00:15:18] Heather Horn: No, I live in the city. Oh, but yeah, but yeah, I think it’s just different for everyone starting out. Um, I’ve never really tried to advertise. I have a little put it out there, but nothing major and usually from the summertime, my camps in case there are local kids that might know me that are looking for something to do in the summer.

[00:15:42] Heather Horn: Just something I can offer to them.

[00:15:46] David: Very good. And, um, so are there, like, how about prep time for those courses and stuff? Like, do you have to do a lot of

[00:15:52] Heather Horn: prep or? Um, I try not to. So, at first I did, and I think that’s the big thing is once you know what you’re going to teach, um, and you prep for those lessons, um, a lot of times when I have ongoing courses, like my science courses, um, it’s like a rotation.

[00:16:12] Heather Horn: I actually had enough science lessons, 52 for the year, and then I’ll start back over. So once you have it done, it’s made, you know, you just keep that. It’s a bit different with like one on one tutoring because I tutor kids from ages 4 to 9, 10 years old. So that’s a little bit bigger of an age range and all kids on different reading levels.

[00:16:34] Heather Horn: So, um, it’s more, you know, what they need. But, um, not, I’m not bragging, but I’m a seasoned teacher, so it’s like, I always write down, you know, I have notes on each kid. So that way the next week we can pick up where we left off and I know what they need to work on. So it’s not a lot of prep work for me. I know what we’re doing.

[00:16:56] Heather Horn: We have a similar routine in our tutoring classes. So it just kind of comes natural. But things like keep a spreadsheet for mine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, when it comes to something specific, like the science classes, though, it definitely needs a lesson plan. And, and, like, I have to do more prep work as far as list of materials, making sure the parents know ahead of time what they need and making sure I have what I need because, you know, things have come up before and I’m like, oh.

[00:17:26] Heather Horn: I’m out of vinegar. What am I going to do? Yeah, I’ve had five minute runs to the grocery store. You,

[00:17:36] David: you are like a travel enthusiast as well, so I’m curious for you, I’m always on the road, so my life is a little different with teaching, so I’m really used to teaching and traveling, but for someone with a home base like yourself and a day job as well, how does, how does this teaching and traveling work for you?

[00:17:59] Heather Horn: So, a lot of I try to always stay on my schedule. So, a lot of times, if I know it’s a travel day for me, like, I’m going to be at the airport or something, and it is probably going to run into my class times. I try to let my parents know ahead of time and get things rescheduled, especially with the 1 on 1 tutoring classes, because it affects just 1 family.

[00:18:18] Heather Horn: And it’s likely they have chosen that time slot for a reason. So that will give them opportunity to reschedule later in the week, and we can work all that out. But for the most part, I haven’t had any issues. If I do go on a big trip, like if I travel internationally, and I know that I’m going to be in Paris, and maybe I just need a week off, you know, I’ll plan for that ahead of time.

[00:18:41] Heather Horn: So, but for the most part, if I’m in the States, I try to keep on schedule and do everything as I normally would do even right now. I’m not at home. So this week is my spring break week. I’m not even at my own house. But I’ve kept all my out of school schedule, you know, normal this week and been able to teach all my classes and it’s funny, um, the kids that I have every week, they notice.

[00:19:05] Heather Horn: They’re like, where are you? You are not at your house. And I’m like, how do you know?

[00:19:12] David: Yeah. Yeah. I don’t use, I don’t really use digital backgrounds either. So they, they know. Why is your background different every week?

[00:19:22] Heather Horn: Wow. Why are you in a different room? And, um, There was 1 day, um, I had 1 class that evening and it was a 1 on 1 tutoring class and I really wasn’t feeling well, but I really, I thought I could just pull through get this class done.

[00:19:39] Heather Horn: Then I could rest and I have been sitting on the couch and there wasn’t anything that I needed to be at the desk for, like, spread out. And it was, it was a reading tutoring class. And for that, I use some online reading selections and things. So, um, I sat on the couch, but you could see, like, pictures on the wall behind me.

[00:19:57] Heather Horn: And that little girl, which, uh, she’s been in my class for so long, and she was like, are you in your living room? Why are you in your living room? I said, well, why are you laying in your bed? She was like, I guess. And I was like, that’s the beauty of it.

[00:20:16] David: It definitely is. Oh, yeah. We, we, we take care of what we do house sitting.

[00:20:21] David: So we take care of a lot of people’s animals. And so I have a different animal pop in my lap every week sometimes or every month. And so the students are always like, wait, is that your dog? And I’m like, yes or no, because sometimes it’s hard to explain it when they don’t speak English very well. Um, so some of my students think I have like 20 different animals,

[00:20:44] David: but yeah, so traveling can be interesting, but I’m trying to really, uh, like. I’m really wondering, what is like the weirdest place you’ve had to teach from since you travel

[00:20:55] Heather Horn: all the time? Probably the airport. And that’s always a tough one to like, you’re like, it’s my layover going to be on time. Is it going to, you know, is the plane going to be late?

[00:21:07] Heather Horn: That sort of thing. And I’m like, Oh, I think I can, I could squeeze it in. I can do this. So I’ll just try to find a spot, pop in some AirPods and teach. There

[00:21:15] David: you go. All right. So that would be, yeah, that’s interesting. I’ve never had to teach from an airport.

[00:21:25] David: Um, so what do you think are some of the best things about teaching without school then?

[00:21:32] Heather Horn: Um, definitely just being able to teach from anywhere. Um, I enjoy being able to teach from home. Um, I mean, I do work all day, but it gives me an opportunity to make extra money doing what I love. I’m not like, you know, I don’t have a side gig that I hate and I’m like, I got to sell this weight loss thing.

[00:21:52] Heather Horn: That I don’t really believe in, but I’m not knocking anybody that does that, but I’m just saying, like, that’s not me. That’s not my thing for me. It’s teaching. That’s what I enjoy. It’s what I love doing. It comes natural to me. So, when you do enjoy it, I mean, there are events I’ll go home and I’m tired, but.

[00:22:10] Heather Horn: Just to be able to be on the computer with kids for 30 minute classes. I usually do 30 minute classes. Um, you know, I enjoy it. It’s fun. And after it’s over, I’m like, so awesome. I love spending time with them. So it’s, you know, it really is amazing. And it’s nice. I can make some extra money on the side. And I can teach exactly what I want to teach.

[00:22:33] Heather Horn: That’s the beauty of it. Um, nobody’s told me what I have to teach. Um, I don’t have to go by any certain curriculum. I can do whatever I want. You

[00:22:44] David: definitely seem to have a lot of pluses for out school. What would be some of the challenges for teaching without school?

[00:22:52] Heather Horn: Um, I guess challenges will be, I think the biggest challenge is just finding the class that works for you.

[00:22:59] Heather Horn: Um, I see some people that struggle with that, um, just getting started, just deciding what to teach. And, um, I don’t know if that’s something at all age levels, um, because I’ve really stayed with the younger kids and with the 1 on 1 tutoring, it’s allowed me to expand a little up to 9 and 10 year olds, which is really awesome because I get whole, like, different conversations and a perspective on their lives and what’s going on at school and.

[00:23:28] Heather Horn: You know, all of that, but I think it’s the hard thing is just narrow, narrowing it down to decide what you’re going to teach what people actually want to learn, you know, because you’ve got to sell it to the parents. You have to have a class that some people are on there just for a fun extracurricular class.

[00:23:46] Heather Horn: So you may be able to offer that fun extracurricular class to them and it may. Be great for you, or you have some that really want that education. They want the content. They want, you know, all all those things. So you’ve got to be able to present that. So it’s just finding those people that are interested in you.

[00:24:05] Heather Horn: And once you get started and. Um, you have a class and you get some reviews. It really like things seem to grow. Um, it always shocks me whenever I get that email that says you have a new learner.

[00:24:20] Heather Horn: That’s always exciting for me.

[00:24:23] David: Oh, that sounds so cool. So then, all right, from your perspective, then, uh, I know you’ve worked with some people helping them get on board without school. What’s the application process like?

[00:24:35] Heather Horn: Um, I think it’s changed a little from when I’ve applied. Um, but not a whole lot. It’s your basic information and you have to make an info video and um, I think mine is quite hilarious.

[00:24:49] Heather Horn: That was back then. I was new to the teaching online thing, and I still do not enjoy videos of myself at all. So, when I made that video, I have not changed it since. I was like, we’re just going to stick with that for now, but you have to do a video and now I think you can actually submit your credentials in the beginning if you have a teaching certificate or any degrees and outskill labels you differently.

[00:25:15] Heather Horn: And so parents can see that because I know there are since online teaching has become such a thing. There are people that are at charter schools and their grant programs and they can get classes paid for and that you have to be 1 of those teachers that, you know, has a certain credential or whatever and out school will kind of label you.

[00:25:33] Heather Horn: So that is something else that can help you get, you know, certain classes. Um, and get some students in there. Yeah.

[00:25:41] David: So then what would be some advice for applying? And like, what’s, what’s the, what’s the hardest thing that you, or for you, at least when

[00:25:49] Heather Horn: you apply? For me, the hardest thing was the video. I’m, I’m, I’m the kind of girl, I’m like, I just got to dive in and do it.

[00:25:57] Heather Horn: It was pretty basic as far as, like, personal information. You do have to pass a background check, which, you know, for me, I wasn’t concerned. I was already a public school teacher, but the background check is just you fill it out online and they, you know, let, you know, when it’s complete and I think it does take a few days, maybe up to a week and then you make that intro video and you have, like, a whole.

[00:26:20] Heather Horn: You have a profile, so you want to make that look, you know, enticing. You want to make it look good to parents. Um, some people list on there if they have degrees. Um, if I have a bachelor and something, or a masters, um, even though you submit those to out school, they’ll put that in their headings or with their name.

[00:26:40] Heather Horn: So, you know, it makes you look a little more professional and especially when you get in the upper grades and you have, you know, those more specific classes, you’re teaching science or languages or technology, any of those things, you know, you can show I have the degree for this, I’ve been trained in this, and then they can read your, your info about what you’ve taught before and that sort of thing.

[00:27:00] Heather Horn: So, I mean, for me, it didn’t seem like a hard process because I was already a teacher. It’s, yeah. It’s about what you do. So I already had, you know, that experience list on there.

[00:27:14] David: Do you want to show us your profile? Show people what you’re talking about and how it’s laid out.

[00:27:19] Heather Horn: Um, I guess I could.

[00:27:23] David: Last time I looked at an outskirt profile, showed some of the lessons that you taught and stuff like that too, correct?

[00:27:29] David: Parents can kind of see what you teach.

[00:27:30] Heather Horn: Oh, wait. And there’s two sides, like, if you’re an educator and you have kids with classes. So, you have a parent profile and an educator profile. Let’s see. Now I’m nervous. Oh, don’t be.

[00:27:49] David: Don’t be

[00:27:50] Heather Horn: nervous. I don’t know what my profile looks like. Ah, see? There we go. Oh, it’s showing the parent side again.

[00:27:58] Heather Horn: Let’s see.

[00:28:03] Heather Horn: Okay. Oh, there’s that video . There’s your video. Gosh, look how animated you’re, it looks like an Instagram Bachelor degree. . So, yeah. Um, and they can message you directly And I get a lot of messages, parents asking about the class, or is this class good for my child? They’re having trouble with, you know, whatever in reading or math.

[00:28:28] Heather Horn: And is it a good fit? Yeah, you couldn’t let them know they can follow you. So they see if you post new classes and here’s my little about me. Well, it looks like a long about me and there’s my calendar with some of my classes and just when I joined. So they are how long you’ve been on there and I like having a bank account with your chicks

[00:28:53] Heather Horn: and reviews are on here. So. Yeah,

[00:28:57] David: look at all those

[00:28:59] Heather Horn: and they show your account so they can see kind of what you have going on. Um, and I think I’ve. I’m going to explain, like, I’ve got my summer calendar been working on, so it shows our classes and a lot of these are camps, like, kindergarten prep and people are looking for something a little more long term.

[00:29:17] Heather Horn: So, like, and feel their child summer, but yeah, very cool.

[00:29:23] David: On the classes and groups, different activities. Okay. That’s really cool.

[00:29:30] Heather Horn: It does give them a lot of insight on what you’re teaching and I get an idea about who you are and how silly you are.

[00:29:41] Heather Horn: I told you that video was rough. Making

[00:29:47] David: videos is a. It’s a challenge and it’s a skill that people have to learn. And as a Public school teacher, I’m sure they didn’t teach you, you didn’t really have to do a video for your job.

[00:29:59] Heather Horn: No. This is like, and that’s, that’s definitely a challenge for me. It’s a new thing and um, you know, some people it comes natural.

[00:30:06] Heather Horn: They’re like, okay, yeah, whatever. And I’ll do much better with it now. Like at school. Um. We have done some things then we are like posted bedtime story for the kids at Christmas time. And I’m like, sure, I’ll make a video of me reading a story and post it. No big deal. You know, it’s like that now. And I’m like, oh, I can record one time and I’m done.

[00:30:25] Heather Horn: But you know, it’s, it’s easy also to watch yourself and pick it apart.

[00:30:30] David: It’s really easy. Try not to watch all my old videos too much.

[00:30:34] Heather Horn: Exactly.

[00:30:37] David: Um, but so, okay. I also know that you, you have your, you have your two blogs, um, and your travel with me stuff. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Um,

[00:30:47] Heather Horn: so I started out, um, with a teacher blog and I had started it right before the pandemic started and then the pandemic happened and I was like.

[00:30:56] Heather Horn: What kind of content am I gonna post now? So it definitely got a little tougher, um, but I started, I posted about things that we were doing online and how we were doing things with our kids because there are people that, you know, teachers that were really struggling and they’re like, what can we do to reach these families?

[00:31:12] Heather Horn: How can we reach out to these kids? So, and everyone had different guidelines and restrictions and luckily, you know, I’m in a small town. So, We were able to, you know, have those materials ready. We would set up a table outside and our parents could pick up material. So we were still able to do those activities and then I can write about it and post about it.

[00:31:31] Heather Horn: So things look very different. Um, but I started out, you know, just with the teacher blog, and I was post about activities in the classroom. And then, um, things slowed down a little for me, um, with the teacher side of the blog when I got COVID myself, I was very sick, uh, ended up hospitalized, um, luckily I survived, here I am, but I was, um, off work about four months.

[00:31:57] Heather Horn: Because of COVID. Wow. On the third day of school, that year, and it went through our whole classroom, like everyone had it in kindergarten. It was terrible. It was an absolute nightmare. I mean, I was in the hospital, um, close to my deathbed, and I was worried about, you know, those kids. I was like, are they sick?

[00:32:17] Heather Horn: Are they okay? Are they in the hospital? And, you know, worried to death about them. But, you know, luckily I’ve made it. I came home and I slugged down a little. Then I was like, you know, when it’s time, I’ll pick it back up. And, um, it was definitely having code was a life changing event for me, um, gives you a whole new perspective on things.

[00:32:37] Heather Horn: So that’s kind of when I started the travel side of the blog to, um. I started traveling a lot more. It was something I always wanted to do, but it was also one of those things that I just, I kept putting aside and I had that realization that you have one life to live and I’m going to live it. So, um. I booked my first trip to Greece and I was like, let’s go.

[00:33:04] Heather Horn: So I’ve been out of the country, like to the Caribbean, but for me, um, flying across the ocean was a, you know, pretty big feat. And, uh, started out, it was a solo trip. I met up with a group there. So of course everyone thought I was crazy. I was like, no, I’m just going to Greece. I’ll be fine. I’m meeting people there.

[00:33:24] Heather Horn: They’re like, oh, so you know, the people going, I’m like. No, I don’t, but I met lots of lifelong friends still talk with the, um, still travel with the, um, it’s definitely led to other trips, which is really awesome. So it was an awesome trip and that’s kind of when my travel blog started and I was like, I want to write about this.

[00:33:44] Heather Horn: I want to share about it. Um, just because you’re a teacher and you’re not rich doesn’t mean you can’t travel. That’s also, you know, a hard thing. I mean, when you’re a public school teacher, we’re not rich. We’re not getting rich. So out school definitely funds my travel, um, which is really awesome. So I try to, you know, travel, um, a couple, I do some domestic trips throughout the year.

[00:34:08] Heather Horn: And then I try to do my international trips in the summertime when I have more time, which is really awesome. And that’s another perk to being a teacher. Um, you know, people don’t get that time off and I couldn’t imagine any other job, you know, I might find a job that would pay me more money when I get my summer off.

[00:34:28] Heather Horn: Yeah, that’s the beauty of it. Um, but yeah, that’s kind of where my travel blog started and, um, I changed things with my Instagram and I’ve posted a little of my teaching and a little of my traveling and been going a little back and forth and I really love planning trips. So, um, then I tossed in the travel agent business.

[00:34:48] Heather Horn: I was like, what is something else I could do that I really love? And so I started the travel agent business. In addition to teaching, um, lots of people that I know, uh, local families have been like, Hey, can you help us book a cruise? I’m like, yes. I can. Yeah. So that’s been really awesome. Um, people that have seen me travel, um, and I love that they support me.

[00:35:12] Heather Horn: Like, they’re like, I’m so glad that you are just living your life. I’m so glad to see you happy. And I’m like, thank you. Like, I so appreciate that. That means a lot. And they’re like, I love seeing your pictures because that’s always something that’s tricky for me. Like, You know, everybody doesn’t get the opportunity to travel, but people they’re like, we want to see where you went.

[00:35:33] Heather Horn: We want to see what you ate. We want to see what you did. I’m like, okay. So on my Facebook page, my personal page, I always share my travels and I always get, you know, positive feedback. Um, and they’re always like, we love watching where you go. Will, now, will you help us book a trip? I’m like, yes, I would love to.

[00:35:52] Heather Horn: I will plan everything. So, and I think that’s another thing teachers love to organize and plan. So, it all goes hand in hand. Sure,

[00:36:01] David: that’s true. Yeah, I, I was looking at your travel blog. It’s really cool. I like the, uh, travel with me or let’s travel with me part. That’s pretty cool that you can kind of mix the two.

[00:36:13] Heather Horn: And, um, and I’ve started, um, doing like some group trips and a lot of people that go are teachers, which is awesome. I’ve met so many teachers that are traveling and I’m like, you’re a teacher too. So it’s really awesome. Um, I was in Atlanta at the airport, um, a few days ago, and I met a lady that was a retired teacher and she was like, Oh, I’m a retired teacher.

[00:36:35] Heather Horn: I’m like, really? I said, what did you teach? She said, kindergarten. I said, Oh my gosh. So that’s really awesome. And she had traveled to so many amazing places. So we talked about all the things, all the kids and all the places she traveled to, and it was really awesome. So. I mean, I’ve met so many people and just the connections and, um, several of the teachers I’ve still traveled with.

[00:36:58] Heather Horn: Um, and there’s actually a teacher that works in my building and she’s several years younger than me. So like we didn’t ever go to school together or college or anything, but, um, she went with me last summer when I went to London, Paris and Rome and she was on that trip. And then a few months later, she was like, Hey, do you want to go to Ireland for fall break?

[00:37:20] Heather Horn: I said, yes. She said, really? That easy. I said, yeah. I said, I want to go to Ireland. And she was like, I found this really good deal. And I was like, okay, let’s see it. So she showed me the trip and I said, let’s go. So we booked it.

[00:37:35] David: That’s awesome. What would you say is your most amazing trip so far then? Um,

[00:37:42] Heather Horn: probably, uh, I don’t know.

[00:37:46] Heather Horn: Greece was really amazing. Greece was a place that I didn’t. No, I needed to visit until I was there. It was so funny how that happened. Um, it was never on my radar that I need to go to Greece. Greece is where I need to go. I never, I don’t know why. I just never thought about it and, um, I was going through personal things in my life.

[00:38:10] Heather Horn: I went through a divorce and, um. That’s the first trip I booked. I was just, I was scrolling through Facebook one day and in a group, it was a teacher group, a girl I didn’t know posted about the Greece trip and she was like, you know, any teachers out there interested in going to Greece? And I was like, me, me, and she messaged me and I said, okay, let’s book it.

[00:38:33] Heather Horn: It was, you know, a very spontaneous thing, and I don’t think of myself Spontaneous person, but she showed me the itinerary and everything and the pricing and I was like, I’ve got time to make payments. Let’s do it. And she was like, okay, so that was really for me. I mean, I felt like that was really when I got to spread my wings and I really, you know, got to try it out.

[00:38:56] Heather Horn: And I was like, I really do love to travel. This is really what I love to do. And so then, um, actually my flight home when I was in Greece. We had a layover in Paris and Paris was another place like, yeah, the Apple tower towers there and it’s amazing, but I didn’t know I wanted to go there like, so bad, but when I landed in Paris and, you know, had a very short layover, like an hour and they were doing construction and I had to run through the airport.

[00:39:27] Heather Horn: It was crazy. Anyway, I was like, I have to come back. I have to come back and see the Apple tower because I could see it when I landed, but it was so far away. So. That’s what led me to last summer’s trip, London, Paris, and Rome. So it’s totally, I don’t know. I’m just trying to, I’m just, I just go with it sometimes.

[00:39:46] Heather Horn: I’m like, okay. So this summer I’ve got my, had my trip planned when I came back. Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. So as soon as we got back, I was like, okay, this is where I’m going next. Who’s in?

[00:40:00] David: Nice. So yeah, well, it sounds like you’ve got an adventurous life. And you can use the teaching to pay

[00:40:08] Heather Horn: for it.

[00:40:09] Heather Horn: Exactly! That’s, yes!

[00:40:13] David: And you don’t have to spend all day at some place you hate just to finance doing, you know, just living.

[00:40:18] Heather Horn: Exactly, because I do, like, I love the kids. I couldn’t imagine not teaching. Um, that’s, that’s something that fills my cup. It lights me up. I love the little kids. I do. I mean, I love kids of all ages.

[00:40:30] Heather Horn: I coached volleyball and That always gives me a little dose of the older girls. And then I’m like, wow, this is why I teach kindergarten. But yeah, I mean, just kids are just amazing to me. So being able to do what I love and then use that free time and save my money to do the other things that I love, you know, it’s really awesome.

[00:40:54] Heather Horn: That

[00:40:54] David: is really awesome. Well, do you have anything you’d like to share with some people that are thinking about getting into out school or any of this other stuff?

[00:41:04] Heather Horn: So, let’s see, I’ll go back to my school. So, and I’ll share this link later and we can put it in the files. But, um. Anybody I can use my referral link and to sign up on out school and there will be a personal link or there’s a referral code 11 RKG HXS crazy code.

[00:41:27] Heather Horn: Um, but this is something that they can use my referral link to sign up and, um. When they earn their 1st 100 dollars, it just gives me a little kickback for it. But also, in the meantime, it’s a way that I can help them get started and they can contact me and we can do a 15 minute like a coaching call and I can help them get started to fill out the application or if they’ve done the application and they’re struggling, like.

[00:41:53] Heather Horn: What do I do now? You know, just help them narrow it down, figure out what class to teach, what’s going to work for them, that sort of thing. Um, because I just, I love helping people too. Like that’s the other part of it. I mean, it’s just helping other people get started and, you know, just seeing them have a happy life and be successful and do the things they enjoy doing.

[00:42:13] Heather Horn: That’s what it’s all about. It

[00:42:15] David: really is. And for those of you that are watching that are, uh, on the test, do you want to do this, you not want to do this, uh, cry it, uh, they grew up on her offer with the code and, and some of her time. When I first started, I had my own back and forth, back and forth for months, hesitation.

[00:42:35] David: And it was because of a mentor like Heather here that I was able to get past that and actually get into it and become super successful teaching with children online. And if it wasn’t for like people that are like Heather here who are willing to give some of their time to help you pass those hurdles, it would be a little bit more difficult.

[00:42:54] David: There wouldn’t be as good of teachers out there. So this gives you that opportunity to just be successful from the jump.

[00:43:02] Heather Horn: Yeah, and I mean, it’s always a good thing when you have someone that has done it to bounce your ideas off of. I mean, just like I found this random girl on Instagram. I didn’t know her, you know, I was able to, she helped me get started.

[00:43:16] Heather Horn: You know, I was able to message her and be like, what did you do in this situation? You know, that sort of thing. And it was really awesome just to have someone to talk it over with and. Talk it through and feel confident that you’re doing the right thing. So, yeah.

[00:43:29] David: How about people who want to follow you on your travel blog or anything like that?

[00:43:32] David: How,

[00:43:32] Heather Horn: where can they find you? Yeah, I’ll show my travel blog. So it is the tall traveling teacher. com. Um, and this is kind of. The newer website, that was 1 of my favorite parts of the Eiffel Tower trip. We, when we went, um, there were 5 of us girls and we all 5 did the pictures together. So it was really awesome.

[00:43:56] Heather Horn: Um, it’s just a really cool experience, but, um, got some posts on there. Um, just some info about me. It does show my Instagram things at the bottom too. Which I think is really cool. And if you want help planning a trip, I’ve got links here, a way to contact me, and then the teacher blog side is here. And I have several posts.

[00:44:23] Heather Horn: Going back, you know, just to see things I’ve, I’ve got some travel things and that this is about when I thought I need to travel blog. I need something different. So, but, um, I love posting. I see these pictures of myself. I was trying to get to something with kids.

[00:44:41] David: I don’t know. I just saw the 1 with you holding all the money.

[00:44:43] Heather Horn: Yeah, right. That was the 1st time I had euros and I was like, and a lot of this was during covid. Well. But it sorts it by month. So I do have like activities and oh, they’re like art.

[00:45:02] Heather Horn: Some of the teachers that I worked with and we talked about activities that we did. Um, we had a little video. This was during COVID and just, you know, things like that. Things I actually do in my classroom. Um, I’m not like all glamorous like some of these people on the internet. I just, I’m like, here’s what we really did.

[00:45:21] Heather Horn: It was awesome. The kids loved it. So yeah,

[00:45:28] Heather Horn: and I’ve got a little about me. Um, things about travel and I think the freebies. Yeah, about school, just helping you design your own after school course. So just a little help there. Yeah,

[00:45:44] David: that’s very good. All right. Well, um, do you have any parting words for anybody today? Um,

[00:45:52] Heather Horn: I wish everyone the best. Do all the things that you love that make you happy.

[00:45:57] Heather Horn: And if anybody’s ready for out school, just let me know.

[00:46:02] David: Sounds great. Well, thank you for being with us today, Heather. It was excellent and great to get to know you. I’m sure some people are going to be reaching out to you for more information, traveling, teaching, all of the above,

[00:46:15] Heather Horn: all of the things,

[00:46:17] David: all of the things. All right. Well, thank you very much. And we will, uh, we will be in touch.

[00:46:23] David: All right.

[00:46:24] Heather Horn: Thank you. Thank you.