How To Earn Extra Income As a Teacher

Over the years, there have been many who have insinuated that the teaching profession is a low to mid income profession. There is some truth in that since the pay of teachers in most countries is not considered high. Thus, there are many teachers who are looking for ways to earn some extra income. In this post, we will be exploring some of these ways of how you can make some extra income with a bachelor's degree in education or just as a teacher.

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Private Tutoring

Private tutoring is one of the more lucrative ways to earn some extra income. This method is especially effective in eastern countries such as China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. These countries are rather exam oriented and thus, there is a huge market for teachers to better prepare students for exams.

If you happen to be teaching in an exam-oriented country, you can start by first advertising your services. After that, do consider who your students are. In general, students come for tuition either for remedial or enrichment purposes. Thus, if your students require remedial work, do consider helping them out in what they have been taught in school. You can help fill the gaps for difficult concepts that they may not understand in school.

If your students are already doing rather well in school, you can enrich their learning experiences by giving them content that is outside of their school syllabus. Such content, of course, must be built upon what they are learning. You can focus on helping them apply concepts that they have learned in school in real life. Thus, teaching them how to apply what they have learned not only for exams but later on in their life.

Write a Book

If you have been teaching for as long as I have, you will have a lot of stories to tell as a teacher. I have been teaching for the last ten years and I have nearly a year's worth of stories published on my blog. Shameless promotion, I know. However, why not consider publishing your stories in a book? Your stories may be able to inspire the next generation to take up teaching as a profession.

You could also publish methods on how to control your class. This is especially valuable for new teachers who are seeking ways to control their class. As a teacher trainer, I find that more than 90% of the time, new teachers are stumped when it comes to controlling their class.

Another idea that is worth pursuing is to write a book understanding complex concepts in your area of expertise. If you are a good mathematics teacher, you probably have many ideas on how to help students navigate the complexities of algebra. Why not put that in a book? I am sure this would help many teachers and students. I even wrote one on my own.

Pursue a Postgraduate Degree

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I find that education is a field where the more qualified you are academically, the better the opportunities. One great advice I was given when I started teaching was to pursue a postgraduate degree. I did not see any value in it. This was partly due to my view of what a good teacher should be. I felt that all I had to do, was teach.

However, what convinced me to pursue a postgraduate degree was the fact that having a masters or a Ph.D. helps in opening more opportunities. If I wanted a promotion of any kind, a postgraduate degree was a prerequisite. Also, if I wanted better pay in another institution, a postgraduate degree does help in commanding a higher pay and thus, extra income.

As such, why not try pursuing a postgraduate degree. There are many types of postgraduate degree ranging from coursework to research. With the right fit and a bit of sacrifice, you may just change your financial future for the better. Sacrifice in this case, of course, refers to money and time.

Write a Module

A postgraduate degree may be prerequisite for better job opportunities, however, it leads to so many other great opportunities for extra income. That comes in the form of writing modules. Modules, in this case, refers to course modules for university or college.

In order to achieve this, you will have to do some self-promotion. You can do so via blogs, LinkedIn or through word of mouth. It will not be long before you get noticed. Of course, I do recommend attending conferences relating to your field. It is through that you may get connected to colleges or universities looking to hire writers for writing a curriculum for a new course. It is through writing such modules that you can get paid a bit of an extra income.

Alternatively, you can try writing and producing modules of your own. Platforms such as Teachable are excellent for promoting courses of your own. You can sell your courses for some extra income. If your modules are good, I am pretty sure that word of mouth would spread pretty quickly.

Become a Consultant

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If you have written some form of a module or if you are in a position of authority, you can consider becoming a consultant. As a consultant, you may be approached by education startups or companies for advice on all things education. Your input is valuable in helping these companies design education products that will sell. In the process of doing so, you may get paid some extra income for your troubles.

Now, there is, of course, no hard and fast way to achieve this. Not only will you need some sort of qualification, but you will also need to know those who are working in these education startups. Do consider asking those who are working in these education startups for a cup of coffee, share your thoughts and ideas with them. Even if you are not hired, at least you would have gotten to know someone else in the industry.

Alternatively, do consider starting your own consultancy online. You could promote your services and even blog about certain problems and solutions in education that you are passionate about.

Coach (Sports)

Now, if furthering your studies is not something that you aim to do, perhaps you could consider a side hustle as a coach or trainer. You can take a quick course in a sport and get certified. After that, you can start a class training students for some extra income. I believe that being a coach in any sport can earn you some extra income.

However, I do find that swimming is one of the few sports that pay rather well. Of course, I may a bit biased since I am a swimming coach myself, but many parents see the importance of swimming as a form of precaution. Some may send their children after hearing of a drowning incident in the local community. Morbid, I know, but these parents just want the assurance that their child could save themselves if they happen to fall into a pool.

As a swimming coach, you can start your own classes or promote your services to a school. If you get hired or manage to find students to teach, your business will grow rather quickly and thus earn you some extra income. I remember starting my coaching gig at a local community center. I was a competitive swimmer so I was hired immediately. However, they were also hiring adults with some swimming experience just to teach younger children.

Coach (Debating and Public Speaking)

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Alternatively, if you are quite good at debating, singing or public speaking, there are many schools who are looking to hire you. I remember a time when money was short and I had to plan for my wedding. Planning, in this case, means my wife plans and I would pay. Thus, I promoted my services as a coach in debating and public speaking on a local community site. The response I received was pretty good. I even got a call from a local oil and gas company to train their staff.

Conclusion

All in all, no matter what side gig you aim to get in, you just have to put in the time and hard work. It is through persistence and building a brand for yourself that you will be able to make some nice side income.

I always see the teaching profession as a job where you have to be an expert in something but know everything as well. That is why there are many training courses and conferences for you to attend in order to learn a new skill. As such, keep learning, keep exploring and while you are at it, build a nice side income stream.

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