28/03/2024
10 LIFEHACKS OF RECRUITING TEACHERS FROM ROBBO (PART 2)
5. PREPARING A TRIAL LESSON
In case you have doubts about the teacher’s qualification, suggest they prepare a trial lesson for new students. Input the lesson target duration, topic, purpose and objectives. Have the teacher lead the lesson for you and other teachers first, give your comments and recommendations on how to improve it. Then attend the actual lesson with the potential customers, see how the teacher behaves around children.
6. SUPERVISE STUDENTS' RESULTS
Even though there are no strict tests or exams in after-school classes as usual, still knowledge control is extremely important. Either the business owner or the students’ parents need to be sure the children get new skills and improve their level.
ROBBO organizes a festive lesson after each topic study for this purpose. We sum up the results, give a light testing (up to 10 tasks), have children exchange ROBBO coins or ROBBO stickers for presents. The festive lesson is always a positive event: children do not get any marks, only ROBBO methodologists can see their actual results. In case they are low, the business owner and a teacher get informed of that, so they can find out a way of solving the issue.
7. COMPETITIONS FOR STUDENTS
Nothing can motivate better than achieving results and winning competitions.
ROBBO holds at least two events every year. These are the International Scratch Olympiad of creative programming and the ROBBO FEST of engineering projects. A teacher acts as a mentor helping students prepare projects for the contest. As they win, there is a great celebration organized in a ROBBO club, honoring the students and their teachers. Therefore, it is a perfect motivation for either of them to stay within the after-school center to reach new heights in future.
8. MOTIVATION
Even though the teacher is sought to be a vocation rather than profession, still the teacher’s work is the nuts and bolts of modern society and therefore must be paid really well. Obviously, any business aims to increase the motivating aspect of salary. Apart from sales positions, for instance, it seems not that easy to find the proper motivation scheme that would drive teachers to do their best and not ruin the business plan.
ROBBO experience in China is an example. We provide a number of bonuses, such as the overwork perk, a bonus for doing trial lessons or even for the students’ 100% attendance within a month, so as to motivate teachers to perform well, and even better.
9. COMMUNITY AND TEAMBUIDLING
Any employee works way better if they are an integral part of a group. It is crucial to create a positive atmosphere and sense of common involvement. The best way to unite them is to make events together or have them gathered in a virtual space.
ROBBO has created a special teachers’ community chat where they share experience, help preparing for lessons, discuss novations or simply support each other.
10. RATING AND AWARDING
If an after-school center encounters a considerable number of teachers, then the Board of Honor can be another source of motivation. Indeed, the Month’s Best Teacher means a cherished role model for admiring and aspiring to be alike. They receive a monthly bonus and compete for the Year’s Best Teacher to award at the New Year celebration. And of course, they are placed at the Honor Board accordingly.
To make the game rules clear for everybody, there should be standards of work. The better a teacher corresponds to these standards, the higher rating they get. And the more chances to get to the Honor Board, for sure. Some may think the work principles are obvious and there is no necessity to document them. However, as psychologists say, what is unnamed, does not exist.
