Before staying home with my kiddos, I was a 5th-grade teacher barely making enough money to cover my expenses and always looking for ways to add to my income.
At that time, there weren’t many options for teachers to make money from home unless you had an advanced degree to teach online at the collegiate level.
Fast forward just a few years later, and now there are a TON of options for teachers to work successfully from the comforts of home.
If you love teaching and want to make some extra money from home, this list of money-making opportunities is for you!
1. Make Extra Money Tutoring Online
As video conferencing takes center stage, tutoring online has never been more accessible! Many families are now well-versed in using tools such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, and, even better, most kids now have the experience of virtual learning under their belt.
Another major benefit of tutoring from home via video conferencing is the immediate availability to speak with parents and students.
Below are a few ways you can start tutoring from home:
- If you currently teach: Inquire with your district about allowing you to offer pay-based tutoring from home for your students who may be struggling.
- Advertise Locally: Put your tutoring services out there via Facebook groups (mind the rules of these groups before you advertise), Craigslist, or other local spaces where you know parents may frequent.
- Care.com: Create a tutor profile, set your hourly rate, and advertise your amazing teaching services!
- Chegg: Hires independent contractors to tutor students in middle school, high school, and college on a variety of subjects. Tutors have a flexible work schedule and earn approximately $20 per hour.
- Coursehero: Connects students with tutors to get help with homework in a variety of subjects. No teacher certification is necessary, but certain credentials are.
- Tutor.com: A service of the Princeton Review, offers 24/7 tutoring on a wide variety of subjects and testing, including K-12, higher education tests, and business subjects. Tutors can set their schedule but must work a minimum of five hours per week. Pay is based on the subjects you teach.
2. Create and Sell Printables From Home
Turn those amazing worksheets and printables you make for your students (or your own kids) into passive income. Once just a perk to being a teacher, one of the things I absolutely loved was creating engaging resources for my students. Little did I know that I can make a good side income from doing so!
Teachers Pay Teachers is an online community where you can post and sell your printables and other resources. One thing to remember is that this teacher-to-author-based platform is all about sharing and quality work.
While the very first item you post must be listed as a freebie for the community, it sets the stage for your account to grow and opens the door to pricing out your other work.
Simply create a profile and begin selling those beautifully designed printables to start making money from home – even while you sleep!
Here’s how:
- Create your profile on Teachers Pay Teachers (it’s FREE depending upon the type of commission you want).
- Post your first, free worksheet or resource on the platform to get started. Make sure the product you’re offering for free is still high-quality and worth paying for.
- Create or find resources you’ve already created to post as a mixture of paid and free items. The recommended ratio is publishing one free resource for the community for every 8-10 paid products you post.
- When you post your paid items, be sure to check their guidelines; you want to get paid for all of that hard work!
- Watch your account grow! Over time, these little printables will bring in big cash. Sell page-by-page or create entire packets to post at a higher price.
Want to learn more about creating and selling printables online? Check out the E Printables Side Hustle Course!
3. Make Money Scoring Test Papers Online
During the school year, I would often do most of my correcting at school before or after the students had come and gone.
I knew that usually by the day’s end, I wouldn’t have the energy to correct papers after a long day of lessons, meetings, and the like.
So, you can imagine how excited I was to find that I could earn extra money on the weekends, over the summer, and on other seasonal breaks scoring papers.
With this opportunity, I could grade assessments in the wee hours of the night or during the day in my yoga pants while making money from home!
If you like correcting papers and assessments, this money-making opportunity is definitely for you. Here are some other specifics about this work from home gig:
- Teaching experience is not required.
- Many companies look for an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree as a prerequisite.
- You may need to take a qualification test ahead of time.
Here are some companies you can check out if you’re looking to get your feet wet in correcting papers from home:
- Write Score: This company uses assessment data to promote learning. As a Write Score contractor, you’ll read and score student responses. You’ll need to have a 2-year college degree and pass individual requirements.
- Literably: Offers another flexible position where you can set your own hours. As a Literably scorer, you’ll evaluate oral recordings of elementary students, much like that of a transcriptionist. You’ll listen to student audio recordings and transcribe errors. Pay is based on your performance, speed, and accuracy.
- ETS: Hires part-time scoring professionals for a variety of testing programs. As a scorer, you’ll evaluate samples such as written and verbal responses. Their hiring process varies during the year.
For more opportunities to score papers at home, check out this post.
4. Teach ESL Classes From Home
Regardless of any previous experience as an ESL teacher (English as a Second Language), as long as you’re fluent in English, you can easily extend your teaching reach while making money from home as an ESL teacher.
In general, each company hiring to teach English from home has different requirements (some have very few). Here’s the overall scoop on this work from home teaching opportunity:
- For teaching conversational English online (you get paid to simply talk to others), a degree or certification may not be necessary.
- Not all companies require dual language skills, but teaching experience and certain degrees (Bachelor’s or above) may be required.
- Some companies allow you to start with a provision that you obtain a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) or TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate in a specified time-frame.
- Pay will vary from company to company, but on average, the rate is about $15-$20 per hour.
One of the many benefits of working from home as an ESL teacher is the experience you’ll gain working with students from around the globe. There are a variety of possibilities for making money from home as an ESL teacher.
Here are some companies looking for individuals to teach students English from home:
Cambly: This unique platform pays you to simply talk with students privately. While you chat with students, Cambly automatically tracks the time you tutor. The pay is $0.17 per minute, which comes out to about $10.20 per hour, and money is delivered every Monday via PayPal. To begin, you’ll need:
- To be a native English or Spanish speaker from the US, Canada, UK, or Australia.
- A webcam and internet connection.
HAWO: Hires individuals from the United States and Canada to teach English to Chinese children. You need a Bachelor’s degree or to be enrolled in a university. Here are some other specifics about this position:
- You’ll need to work a minimum of 10 hours per week.
- You must commit to teaching group classes for 10 weeks.
- Master teachers earn up to $22 per hour.
Lingoda: An online language school that uses a virtual classroom where teachers connect with small groups of adult students. Lingoda provides your teaching materials, and you can take advantage of a flexible schedule that works for you. Teachers must be a native language speaker and certified teacher. Pay is based on skills and experience.
VIPKID: Founded in 2013, VIPKID joins up with qualified teachers in the United States and Canada to teach English to children in China. You must have a Bachelor’s degree and one year of teaching experience (or equivalent). As a VIPKID teacher, you will:
- Work as a contractor in six-month increments.
- Work at least 7.5 hours per week.
- Get paid monthly via direct bank deposits.
5. Get Paid to Answer Questions Online
Want to get paid simply for what you know? Putting all of that knowledge to good use can pay off more than just in the classroom.
Whether you’re an expert in a particular subject, love to help others find solutions or both, you can make extra money from home by answering questions online.
Here are a few sites that will pay you to do so:
- JustAnswer: This site pays you to answer everyday questions that are posted online. One major benefit of working with JustAnswer is flexibility. They operate 24/7, which means you can answer questions whenever it works for you and your schedule.
- PrestoExperts: Get paid to answer questions related to health, technology, business, and more. Sign up as an expert, and PrestoExperts will connect you with individuals who need help with or have questions about your subject. You can choose to answer questions by email, chat, or call. You’ll be able to set your fees and accept the work based on your availability.
- Maven: Allows you to monetize your knowledge via short online consultations. You can answer questions online or on the phone.
- HelpOwl: Answer questions and earn points for completing specific tasks. With HelpOwl, the point system converts into gift cards you can exchange online.
6. Start a Blog
Do you love to write? Why not start a blog? Creating a blog around a niche you love (perhaps a teaching blog on a particular topic or age group), can certainly bring in money over time. You can make money with a blog through:
- Affiliate links
- Sponsorships
- Ad revenue
Want more information on how to get started? Check out this article for a detailed peek inside the makings of starting a blog and making money from it.
7. Create an Online Course
Another great way to extend your teaching expertise and make money from home is through online course creation. Have a solution to a problem that others could benefit from? Create a course and make money from it! Online course platforms such as Udemy and Uscreen are great places to start, but you can also check out this article for more resources on creating your own course.
Conclusion
With a surge of work at home opportunities for teachers, it’s a great time to get started earning money doing what you love! From online tutoring, course creation, scoring papers, and more, you can choose from an array of different income generators to supplement or replace your teaching income.
