I have been teaching English for four years after I have moved to Spain to earn some extra income and this month I have decided to try a new platform GogoKid.

Why Gogokid?
As this is a side gig, I don’t like being confined to a minimum amount of hours each week. And with Gogokid, there is no minimum requirement of classes a week. Another upside is that it has a very interactive platform which keeps students more engaged compared to non-interactive slides.

Application Process
1. Sign Up – Quick and easy sign up with an email address and password. Afterward you should receive an email to activate your account.
2. Screening – From there you enter some basic information including your English Teaching Certificate. This is a requirement now from the Chinese Ministry of Education that all English teachers who teach Chinese children require a 120 TESOL certificate. Don’t worry. There are some inexpensive options including the website here.

Requirements:

  • Native English speaker
  • eligible to work in the US or Canada
  • completed Bachelor’s degree
  • experience teaching children
  • English Teacher Certificate

3. Booking a Demo – They offer slots at all hours of the day for the next four days including weekends. It is true that once I was given access to book a demo it was completely booked. From there on, I just checked sporadically and later that afternoon one spot opened up. I suggest you review hourly as some people cancel last minute and that slot gets opened back up.

4. Demo – Be prepared!
Luckily, Gogokid gives you a lot of resources on how to succeed during the demo class.

  • Gogokid Demo Lesson Slides
  • Classroom Basics
  • ESL Teaching Tips
  • Performance Guide for Applicants
  • Recorded Demo Instructions

I suggest reading through all of these so you can be as prepared as possible. What I also found helpful is to Youtube Gogokid Interview’s and you can see a candidate go through the process but more importantly the slides and animation beforehand. This will help you with pacing between slides and to know what to expect.

Currently, the demo can be done with a “student” present (which is an adult pretending to be a student) or self recorded. This is not your choice, you show up to class and if no one arrives, it begins recording your demo.

TIPS: You will see in the Demo Lesson Slides there is a section before the demo slides on correction, extension and behavior management. These are NOT additional slides you will have to act out. These should and will be incorporated in your demo slide presentation if you get a live teacher.

What to demonstrate:

  • Intro Slide – Connection with student, ask them an additional question a part from What is your name? Ex. How are you? How old are you?
  • Have a secondary reward
  • Show off your TPR! Get your student to interact. Ex. Show me your arm!
  • Correct pronunciation! Very important as this is what Chinese parents look for the most in a teacher
  • Props – get the student excited with both flash cards, 3D props and white board drawings

They will also ask you what you expect as base pay. So be prepared with a range in mind.

I applied May 9th and got my acceptance May 13th.

Next steps – GogoKid Interview Process Orientation and Self Record Mock Class