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The Solo Sensei - Findteacher.Net's Newsletter
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Volume #4 October 3, 2001
IN THIS ISSUE
1. findateacher.Net News
2. Site Upgrades
3. WIN - Longman's Game/Activity 4 Book Set
4. Question of the month - What do students get?
5. Power TIP - Phone number - display or not display?
6. Need something to teach?
7. More Helpful Tips
8. Got an idea?
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1. findateacher.Net News
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Direct development on the findateacher.Net/SenseiSagasu.com sites (and this newsletter) was slower than normal this month due to unbelievable and unfortunate international events.
In spite of this, over 950 teachers contact information has been distributed to potential students and the frequency of orders is on the rise. Teachers of all languages have been signing up at a higher than usual rate. 100 English teachers in the past 10 days.
Thanks for your support and for maintaining your records as well as you have.
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2. Site Upgrades
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A. Teacher Resources page =======> Added
We have put together a collection of links (still growing) that we think will be of help to you as an independent teacher in Japan - including:
I. Easy access to free catalogues from various publishers of ESL material. Just click, add your mailing address and the catalogue will be on its way.
II. Professionally developed on-line lessons (for beginner to advanced students)
III. Insurance option designed especially for people living abroad
IV. Phrases which will help you speak to your students during the first phone call or email AND first meeting/lesson.
V. Other helpful/useful websites
If you need to make use of any of these visit:
http://findateacher.Net/links.html
B. Solo Sensei Archives =======> Added
For those of you unfortunate enough to have missed any of the past action-packed issues of Solo Sensei (this newsletter) we have added the Solo Sensei archives page for your perusal. Enjoy!
http://findateacher.Net/archive.html
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3. WIN - Longman's Game/Activity 4 Book Set (worth over ¥18,000 each)
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This month, TWO of the first 150 teacher who update their records will be randomly chosen to receive the complete photocopiable, 4 book set (from Beginner - Advanced) of Longman's Communication Games Series. The books each sell separately for 4600 yen (not cheap!).
These books are a collection of communicative activities that encourage students to really use their English. Activities include: information gap, guessing games, search games, quizzes, card games, board games, puzzles, & role play simulation. Good luck!
Congratulations to Canada's Richard Anderson AND New Zealand's Sarah Lilburn. Both of those lucky winners of last months contest will each get a fresh copy of Longman's "How to Teach English".
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4. Question of the month - What do students get?
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After students select their 5 teachers then pay 3800 yen they get 2 things:
1. An email containing their chosen teachers' summary contact information (sample below) so they can immediately contact them.
2. Contained within this email is their password - so they can log in and see the complete records of their chosen teachers (including ALL contact and other information provided by the teacher).
Here's a translated sample of what they get:
(Remember, the student side of the site is called SenseiSagasu.com)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sample Email to Students~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi Suzuki-san,
Thanks for using SenseiSagasu.com. Below is the main contact information for the teachers you selected.
Please use the following to log in to view your chosen teachers' full records.
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Email address: student@coldmail.com
Password: y44b
Please log in at:
http://www.SenseiSagasu.com
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Dave Thomas (47)
chhfjd@hellomail.com
(Prefers to be contacted by email)
Ghost Busterz (30)
djg@hyahoo.com
090-9988-8820 (Keitai)
042-777-9911 (Home)
Ray Crock (29)
elydfn@hotmail.com
(Prefers to be contacted by email)
Peter Frampton (25)
tadf@hotmail.com
045-331-0000 (Home)
045-331-0000 (Fax)
Dairy Queen (35)
siy0@hotmail.com
070 9288 9987 (PHS)
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at admin@SenseiSagasu.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Sample Email to Students~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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5. Power TIP - Phone number - display or not display?
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About 20% of findateacher.Net's teachers have decided to NOT have their telephone number(s) display to students - instead having only their email address show (as shown in the "Sample email to students" above).
According to numerous students and teachers we've talked to so far, it seems that the preferred way for students to contact teachers for the first time is by phone.
So What!? Why are you telling me this!?!
Well....pretend you are an excited student and you just got the list above emailed to you. You're excited because you do not have to go to an expensive language school - you have 5 teachers ready to teach you. You want to start NOW!
Look at the list - What are you going to do first? Who ya gonna call?
Most students CALL the phone numbers on the list first. Then, if they are not able to contact those teachers with phone numbers, they write an email.
So...if you are a teacher who has opted to NOT display your phone number...you have to ask yourself.... "Do I want to be among the first or last to be contacted when a student gets my information?" OR "Do I want to wait around for the student to send me an email (if they ever get around to it)?
The point is (finally!), if you want to be contacted first, it may be a better choice to display your phone number to students rather than to just display your email. However, displaying your number is optional and many teachers have good reasons for not displaying it.
To check your own record you can log in at:
http://209.35.63.179
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6. Need something to teach?
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Textbooks, copies, self-made materials, free talking, games, aerobics - findateacher.Net's teachers teach any way they want.
An option for teaching which is gaining in popularity is on-line lessons. A very popular site where teachers can get lessons is English-to-go.com. It offers professionally developed, daily, photocopiable lessons (from Reuters news stories).
Instead of running out to the book store, making copies at the convenience store, (or using NO teaching materials at all!) you can now turn on your computer and download and print out a lesson. Free and fee based memberships are available plus they offer various levels of lessons. Definitely enough to satisfy a hungry English class.
For more info:
http://www.english-to-go.com/English/index.cfm?referer_id=31
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7. More Helpful Tips
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A. Log in to keep your record fresh (at least once every 3 months). (http://209.35.63.179) If not, a note will appear to students telling them your record is not up-to-date.
B. Make sure the places you have chosen to have yourself displayed in is where you REALLY want to be displayed in. Some teachers are listed in REALLY distant places from where they live. For example, one teacher who signed up this week is listed in Hiroshima, Tokyo, Sendai, and Chiba - which besides being impossible makes the teacher look.....well....let just say..."uninformed".
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8. Got an idea?
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Got something in mind you'd like to share with us? If you have an idea that will help us help you we'll try to put it into action for you.
Until next time,
Jake Rollins
Solo Sensei, Producer
Teacher Helper
jake@findateacher.Net
http://findateacher.Net
http://www.SenseiSagasu.com
*** Made for Teachers by Teachers ***