We're excited to announce that PrepYourLesson is upgrading its payment system to provide our valued teaching community with an enhanced payout experience. Starting October 17, 2024, we're transitioning from Wise to Payoneer as our payment provider.
<h2>What This Means for You</h2>
This change brings several benefits to our sellers:
<ul>
<li>Greater Flexibility: Receive your earnings in your Payoneer account and choose how to withdraw them – to your bank account, credit card, or other payment methods</li>
<li>Enhanced Security: Your financial information is protected by Payoneer's enterprise-grade security systems</li>
<li>Global Accessibility: Payoneer supports payments in multiple currencies and to most countries worldwide</li>
</ul>
Please note that with this transition, the minimum payout threshold will increase from $1 to $20. We believe this change, while requiring a slightly higher initial threshold, will be offset by the improved flexibility and reduced fees in the long run.
<h2>How to Start Selling and Receive Payments</h2>
Getting started is simple:
<ol>
<li>Sign up for a PrepYourLesson account</li>
<li>Upload your teaching materials and make sales totaling $20 or more</li>
<li>Go to your Account &gt; Earnings section and click the "Request Payout" button</li>
<li>Watch for an email from Payoneer with account creation instructions</li>
<li>Complete your Payoneer account setup</li>
<li>Your payment will be processed automatically</li>
<li>Choose your preferred withdrawal method in your Payoneer dashboard</li>
</ol>
<h2>Next Steps</h2>
Current sellers will receive detailed transition instructions via email. For new sellers, this system will be in place from day one of your selling journey.
Questions? Our support team is here to help ensure a smooth transition to the new payment system.
Start sharing your teaching materials today and join our growing community of education professionals!&nbsp;

We're excited to announce that PrepYourLesson is upgrading its payment system to provide our valued teaching community with an enhanced payout experience. Starting October 17, 2024, we're transitioning from Wise to Payoneer as our payment provider.&nbsp;

Important Update: New Payment System for PrepYourLesson Sellers

Summer’s over and the kids are back in school. For parents, this is a time to rejoice. For teachers like us on the other hand, this can only mean one thing – the start of another year of setting objectives and tracking progress. While I know our readers are more than prepared for this imminent tsunami of tasks, I thought it wouldn't hurt to include some tips for monitoring student progress throughout the year for some inspiration. 1. Assessment and evaluation 
A good place to start is determining your students’ current language proficiency. This is particularly useful if the student has been out of touch over the summer. As annoying as it is, vocabulary and grammar rules will be forgotten – be prepared to start your fall sessions with fun activities. I always suggest using a game or flashcards as a refresher. Nothing beats Quizlet when it comes to vocabulary retention. 
2. Setting learning objectives 
Once you've gauged your students’ level, it’s time to set those goals for the next year. Goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-specific. I find it helpful to set macro-goals for the whole year ahead and micro-goals for each unit/ section I plan to cover with my students. This way, I can easily track my students’ progress going forward by measuring their end-of-unit quiz results against the learning objectives we set at the beginning. Make sure your students are in on the LOs and are able to contribute to goal-setting. Not only will this serve as a motivating factor, but it will also help your students keep track of their own progress. 
3. Reflect, reflect…
Setting learning objectives is important, but it’s useless if your students aren’t reflecting on their knowledge and reviewing lesson materials. A great way to keep your students focused is having them complete a quick self-reflection at the end of each unit. It’s fine to keep these short and to-the-point. The purpose is not to make an assessment out of it but simply ensure that students are aware of their progress and where they are at since the start of their learning journey. You can facilitate self-reflection by asking your students to fill out a reflection form or engaging them in a short interview about their progress. 
Once you and your students have completed these steps, keep repeating them for every milestone you reach. After all, learning a language is a marathon, not a sprint! Summer's end may mark the beginning of another year of setting objectives and tracking progress, but it also presents us with an opportunity to ignite the spark of curiosity in our students. Through assessment, SMART goal-setting, and reflection, we can guide them on a path of continuous development and self-discovery.

Summer’s over and the kids are back in school. For parents, this is a time to rejoice. For teachers like us on the other hand, this can only mean one thing – the start of another year of setting objectives and tracking progress.

Monitoring Student Progress

Summer is a time to relax by the beach, piña-colada in hand. That is, unless you’re a tutor. As we tutors know, while summer might be a time to take a break and enjoy the nice weather for some, for others, it's prime time to brush up on language learning skills. According to PMT education, the summer months can be some of the busiest for tutors. There are several reasons for this. 1. It’s exam season in many schools (in the early months of summer), 2. Most school students are on break, so it’s the best time to get ahead before the start of the semester, 3. People like to take vacation in other countries during the summer months and are looking to polish their Spanish/ French/ German ect. Either way, if you’re a tutor, summer is as busy as it gets! 
With summer being such a demanding time for tutors, it’s important not to get burnt out from the work and have some fun with your lessons. This July, we saw the development of a new craze, dubbed “Barbenheimer” with the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer – two Hollywood blockbusters that took the world by storm. As tutors, we’re always looking for new, fun, and relevant topics to discuss in the online classroom, so why not take advantage? It’s likely that your students have watched either (or both!) and will have plenty of fun insights to share. 
That said, here’s some fun ways to incorporate Barbenheimer in your lessons. 
Descriptive vocabulary – plot and characters 
<ol>
<li>Can you give me a short summary of Barbie/ Oppenheimer? </li>
<li>What is your favorite part of the movie? </li>
<li>What was your favorite toy when you were a child? </li>
<li>What was the plot twist in the movie/ what was the moral of the story? </li>
<li>Can you describe how the character would react in x situation? </li>
</ol>
Giving opinions
<ol>
<li>Who is your favorite character and why? </li>
<li>Can you describe how the character would react in X situation? </li>
<li>What would you do if you were Barbie and Ken did X? </li>
<li>What makes Barbie so popular? </li>
<li>Do you think that dolls are only appropriate for girls? Why? </li>
<li>Do you think the Barbie movie did the Barbie doll justice?</li>
<li>Do you think Oppenheimer did the right thing by developing the first nuclear weapon?</li>
<li>Why is Barbie so controversial? </li>
</ol>
Making comparisons: 
<ol>
<li>Which movie did you prefer, Barbie or Oppenheimer? </li>
<li>If you haven't seen either movie, which one would you watch first and why? </li>
<li>Do you think that Barbie and Oppenheimer are similar in some ways? Can you elaborate? Have fun incorporating these into a speaking lesson or use them for comprehension exercises. And of course, feel free to share your own Barbenheimer materials with our community! </li>
</ol>

This July, we saw the development of a new craze, dubbed “Barbenheimer”, with the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer – two Hollywood blockbusters that took the world by storm.

Barbenheimer Lesson Ideas

Wouldn't it be great if you could build a base of interested buyers who return to purchase your amazing materials over and over again? Well, I have some news for you – this scenario is not too far off from reality! While starting out selling your materials to others in the community can be a bit of a challenge, there is a way that you can attract new customers quickly. The secret lies not in paying for advertising or mass sharing your content on instagram, but rather in the way that you price your materials. Yep, I’m talking about uploading some free content! Website users can use the filter system on our website to search for materials by price. Many new users and tutors who are unsure of what they’re looking for are not as willing to purchase materials they haven’t seen themselves and will use the function to filter for free materials. This is your time to shine – by making some of your best materials free, you are giving your potential buyers a generous preview of your whole library of materials, allowing them to familiarize themselves with your style before taking the leap and purchasing more. Still not convinced that this is a surefire way to retain buyers? Maybe the numerous reasons below will change your mind.
1. Gives potential buyers a preview of your work.
No matter how great you’re gotten at creating ppt slides on google docs, potential buyers can still think twice about purchasing from a seller they hadn’t previously bought materials from. While the preview may be enough in some cases, it’s always better to have a full demo, don’t you think? Giving your customers (and fellow tutors!) the opportunity to actually engage with some of your work before deciding to commit to purchasing more is a great way to earn their trust. Who knows, maybe this will be the determining factor that pushes a user to actually come back for more (this time, paid) content!
2. Great way to build loyalty
As a tutor yourself, you probably know the value of a good source of resources. Sure, you may experiment with different websites and textbooks, but you’ll still have that one trustworthy grammar site or vocabulary textbook that you can always return to, come rain or shine. If you have a consistent style and generate a lot of content that is similar in design and format but on different topics, your marketplace might just be that dependable source that buyers always return to. Yet, in order to build that sort of relationship, you must first give – after all, loyalty starts from reciprocity! You can even go ahead and point out that the free material is a gift in the description, but that you normally charge for materials of this quality. Existing users will be grateful for free content that they have already validated, and new users will be more likely to buy materials in future. Everyone loves a freebie!
3. Free content = free marketing
Yep! This one’s a shocker. Rather than spending money on instagram ads, you can simply reshare your own content (specifically, a link to your store along with a preview and hashtags). You’ll be surprised at how effective this can be. Potential future buyers who see your content will be prompted to access and download it (it’s free, after all!) and if they like it, they may be back for more!
4. Own your expertise
By sharing free content, you are essentially demonstrating that you are expert enough in your field that you aren’t afraid to get out there and share your products with the community. It shows that you know what you’re doing as a tutor and are happy to lend a helping hand to tutors who might be struggling. By doing this, you are positioning yourself as an expert and adding to your credibility as a tutor and community leader. Now isn’t that great news for personal branding?
Offering free content can be a powerful tool to attract new customers and retain existing ones. By providing a preview of your work, building loyalty, and leveraging free marketing, you can grow your reputation as a trusted source of educational resources. So why not give it a try? Upload some of your best materials for free and see how it can help you build a base of interested buyers who return to purchase your amazing materials over and over again. Good luck!

The fastest way to attract new buyers.&nbsp;

Why you should share some materials free of charge 

It’s one thing knowing how to keep your student engaged for a whole hour, it’s another thing to make the lesson so interactive and fun that you risk going overtime. Intrigued? Well, today I’m going to introduce you to a (now fairly well known) tool that you can easily utilize to make your lessons the highlight of your students’ day. 
If you’ve ever struggled with maintaining your students’ full and unconditional attention during your tutoring session, you might just want to try this one out. But wait, first, read our blog on <a href="https://prepyourlesson.com/blog/post/increasing-student-engagement" target="_self"><ins>How to Increase Student Engagement in Lessons</ins></a> to learn a couple of tutor-tried-and-trusted methods of piquing your student’s interest session after session. Once you’ve done that, keep reading to discover a revolutionary tool that’ll help you wave ‘goodbye’ to dull lesson materials forever. 
Introducing AI image generator exercises. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s that image generator tool that allows you to input some text into a search bar and in turn generates an image based on the text inputted. 
From Beyonce building sandcastles on a ski slope to a floating bagel answering the telephone — AI image generator tools will let you create the craziest of images – the more absurd, the better! AI tools such as Dream by Wombo, Deep AI, and BigSleep can help you recreate scenes from your wildest dreams (or simply help you overcome that hassle of finding relevant stock images!). 
Ok, you’re probably thinking, all of this sounds great, but how is this relevant to tutoring? 
Well, the AI image generator function can be used in various ways throughout your lesson. You can start by incorporating some AI image generator- based games and exercises into your warm-ups, or use them during the lesson when you see that your student needs a break from the imperfect subjunctive. 
Here are some examples of cool exercises that you can try for yourself: 
1. The letter game 
One idea for a warm-up exercise is getting your students to come up with as many words as possible beginning with the same letter for different categories. Once you’ve run a letter through the list of categories below, have your students create a sentence with the words and then get them to input the sentence into the AI-image generator to see what comes out of it. This works especially well for group lessons, you can have a competition to see which student comes up with the most creative combination of words and generates the most amusing image. 
Here are some examples of categories that you can use for this exercise: 
Person:
Something you find in an office :
Verb:
Adjective: 
Place:
Animal: 
Food: 
Here is an example with the categories Person, Something you find in the office, verb, and adjective, and the letter ‘P” – the President prints purple paper. 

2. The description game 
Rather than having your student come up with the words, you can create an AI-generated image yourself, then ask your student to describe everything that is going on within the image to you verbally. This is a phenomenal way to practice new vocabulary with your student. For this exercise, you might even want to avoid making the images too unusual and stick to setting up conventional scenes with words that are closely associated with each other to help your students build on their cognitive skills. For example, ‘A barista makes a cappuccino for a customer in the cafe.’ 
3. The blind artist 
This is a fun game to play with younger students, but is also great for beginner learners of any age. Show your student a photograph of a famous landmark, place, or scene, then hide the image. The student’s task is to then describe the image in text and input it into the AI-generator to see how close they can get to recreating the image. 
These are just three examples of some ways that you can experiment with the AI image generator tool in your lessons. Have fun creating your own games and of course, feel free to share them with the PrepYourLesson community! In fact, we challenge you to create your own AI image-generator exercise materials. Before you upload your lesson material, make sure to use the tag ‘fun with AI’ and we’ll send you a small gift!

The cool new AI tool that lets you add a little spice to your lessons.

An answer to battling online-classroom boredom?

Anyone who’s had experience tutoring children knows, parents can be a tutor’s best friend or worst nightmare. It’s always to have a parent heroically swoops in during a lesson to quell the whines of a disgruntled five year old, saving you the stress of having to take on the task yourself. But not so nice when your second-grader insists on you being wrong about something because “my mom told me so”. For better or for worse, parents are often a student's first teachers, and they play a critical role in their child's education. Learning to work with your young students’ parents effectively can thus be an important aspect of your students’ learning experience and academic success. 
 Establish Open Communication: The first rule of working with young kids is to have establish effective, two-way communication with the child’s parents. After all, the child is not mature enough to track his or her own progress, and the child’s parents will be very interested in how the child is faring in your class. Communication can be established through regular check-ins, progress reports, and brief feedback sessions. This can help keep parents informed and involved in their child's education.
Set Clear Expectations: It’s a good idea to set clear expectations with parents from the start of their tutoring relationship. This can include discussing goals, timelines, and expected outcomes. You should also be clear about your availability, scheduling policies, and any fees or costs associated with your services.
Collaborate on a Plan: Some parents will come to you with a specific learning request for their child. You should work with parents to develop a plan that supports their child's academic success. This plan can include setting academic goals, identifying areas of weakness, and developing strategies to address those areas. It can be a good idea to involve parents in the planning process to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goals.
Share Resources: Remember to share resources with parents that can support their child's learning outside of tutoring sessions. Feel free to recommend books, online resources, or educational apps that can help reinforce concepts learned in tutoring sessions. Also, make sure your student’s parents are aware of the homework you’re setting – they can help ensure that your student stays on track in completing it. 
Celebrate Success: Lastly, celebrate your students’ successes with their parents! Parents naturally take a lot of pride in their offspring’s achievements, so make sure to notify them when your student achieves a goal or makes progress in their academic journey. Pointing out your collective achievements paints you in a great light as a tutor and makes parents more likely to recommend your services to their peers. 
While working with parents can be a challenging aspect of a tutor’s job, it’s definitely worth it. Including parents in the student’s academic journey ultimately benefits both your students’ success, and you as a tutor. Let’s face it, it’s great to have someone monitoring in-class behavior and ensuring homework is completed on time. When tutors and parents work together as a team, students can thrive and truly achieve their full potential.

Anyone who’s had experience tutoring children knows, parents can be a tutor’s best friend or worst nightmare. Learning to work with your young students’ parents effectively can be an important aspect of your students’ learning experience and academic success.

Find the perfect materials for your next lesson!

Earn passive income with your tutoring materials

Become a member of our exclusive community of private tutors

Explore the latest teacher-approved teaching materials for your subject

Sell your own teaching materials and earn passive income

Connect and collaborate with other tutors

Our Mission

Our blog