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Even with my younger students, I try to avoid simple "give-and-go" rewards (e.g. trophies, etc.) because I don't find them very motivating. Stars are essentially the same thing, and I don't really see the point.

My most successful rewards are interactive. I know this can be challenging due to time restraints - it's hard to teach a student a game or explain something too complex. I have found the easiest way to engage a student is to offer them choices within their reward.

Depending how often I see the student, their gender, and their VIPKid level, I offer students 2-3 options for rewards. My most popular rewards:

Treats for the household pet

Choices: Different colored/shaped treats

My pet dog and rats are now well accustomed to the sound of my "Teacher" voice and come running when I say "It's time for a treat!" I bought some colorful and fun shaped treats (stars, etc.) and students can choose which one they want to feed to the pets. Just make sure this is pretty limited with low calorie treats, because you don't want your pets getting fat! I pretty much reserve this for my regulars, and only for the regulars who seem to really enjoy it. I've actually received multiple requests from parents in the feedback to continue with this because the students talk to their parents about it after the lesson.


Colorforms and Sticker Faces

Choices: Infinite combination of stickers

This is hands down my most popular reward for girls. It's a lot more cost effective to laminate these stickers/face templates, glue magnets to the back, and re-use them on a baking sheet each time. For each reward, I use TPR and say, "Can you choose body part for your girl?" Then I will point to each option and say, "1, 2, 3, or 4?" They get the picture very quickly. There are other sticker templates you can purchase including re-usable sticker kits, etc. The faces are the most popular, however.


Alligator Game (or other similar options)

Choices: Which tooth

This game gets a lot of reactions from students, especially if you make a big deal about it. On the reward slide, I will say something like: "This is the Alligator Game. (Open alligator mouth.) You (point to student) pick a tooth (press on all the teeth until the jaws snap), and one of them bites the teacher! OUCH!" When they get a reward, I point to each tooth instruct the student to say STOP (use TPR) when they are ready. Every time they select a tooth, I make a big deal of looking anxious and terrified, then wiping my forehead and giving a big sigh of relief if it doesn't bite me. They love it.

There are lots of options like this as well. I see lots of things that give me ideas just browsing on Amazon (e.g. Pop the Pig, Shark Bite).


Cootie Bug

Choices: Different shaped/colored body parts

Here's the link for this reward. This one is for slightly younger students, but honestly most of my students enjoy it. On the reward slide, I will say, "We are going to build a Cootie Bug (point to picture on game card). What color body (TPR, point to body) would you like? Blue, purple, red, or green?" This game comes with a neat little die with different body parts on each side. When it comes time to reward the kids, I put the die in a clear jar and shake it and tell the students to say stop when they're ready. The students can choose which style of leg, head, antenna, eyes, and mouth they want.

There are lots of options here. Get creative, go to the toy store. See what weird games (usually I look for simple games aged 3-5) and see if you can adapt it to your reward. All the rewards I suggested cost around $20 (combined) and my rewards get a lot of mentions in the feedback. Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other questions! Good luck!

I've taught adult students while living in China. If she wants to pay you separately for your work, I'd take it. When teaching adults, I found structure to be VERY important. Most of them "just want to talk" but don't really want you to just talk with them. They often have expectations that they are not fully aware of or able to articulate, but "free talk" for an hour or so at a time gets really old really fast after about 3-4 classes. And making up the structure on your own is a whole other job in and of itself. I leaned heavily on external materials to provide structure, and the best materials I found for the job were the "interchange" series. There are 4 or 5 levels. Book 1 is here: https://www.amazon.com/Interchange-Level-Students-Online-Self-Study/dp/131662031X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=interchange&qid=1570551825&sr=8-1 . These are great because they're readily available both in China and in the US. Your adult student can easily buy them from taobao 淘宝. My local library has them, too. Try to see them in person, look at the levels, choose an appropriate one for your student, then have her buy the set (CD, workbook, student book, and mini-dictionary) for the level you recommend on her side.

Wechat is fine. It's really your only option if you want to communicate directly with Chinese students / their parents. It is THE Chinese chat app, even moreso as China locks out other videoconferencing. Download it, set up a free account, and you're good. I mean, it is a Chinese surveillance app, so don't get to ranting about Xi Jinping or expose yourself.

For reference, the going rate for such a thing in-person in China is a MINIMUM of 200RMB, about $30 / hr. It can go all the way up to about 600RMB depending on the material, confidence of the teacher, area the student is in, etc etc. But I'd say if you want to be on the safe side, $30-40 USD / hr should be no problem. That brings us to the issue of pay: how will she get the money to you? Don't expect it to be easy -- China has ensured that it will not be. She'll probably want to transfer the money on Wechat, as that is what everyone in China is accustomed to doing. That would work great if you had a Chinese bank account to withdraw the funds to. I'm assuming you don't. As far as I know, Wechat will allow you to connect your US bank card / credit card, but WILL NOT allow you to withdraw funds to it. That means you'd have a bunch of useless money sitting in a virtual wallet in wechat. Don't want that. The other option I know of is for the student to set up a Paypal account on the Chinese side (paypal.cn), and transfer to your Paypal account. You'll lose about 4% in the transaction. There might be other options, but China makes getting currency out of the country rather difficult. It's worth addressing this in advance, because it'll take some research and legwork.

Good luck!

I got these on Amazon! Feeloty - Nice to Meet Question Card Game for Kids - Table Topics Conversation Starter for The Entire Family https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FGFWV5S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_bLgaITEROXlfj They’re kind of pricey for a reward but I like that they have nice graphics on each one for some contextual clues. Some are really easy questions and some are more deep. (They’re color coded to help you pick ones you feel are appropriate for that situation.) Some off the top of my head:
-camping or hotel
-math or reading
-live where you live or somewhere new
-dressing casual or formal
-homework or chores
-winter or spring
-neat or messy
-dance or sing
-board games or video games
Etc

I'm sure it will be fine! As long as you remember to keep them charged and they work well with the system it probably won't matter. Some people use ear buds, etc. You can ask during your interview if you're doing a live one to make sure, or during a mock class. If for some reason it doesn't work out they have some great and inexpensive ones of Amazon that I bought used like new for less than $20. I wear them to teach for 6-8 classes in a row! https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Z3FXBQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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My super nice turtle beach headset that I use for gaming starts hurting my ears after that many classes in a row so I tried these based on the reviews and they are awesome and my ears are never sore!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MJZLMDC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought this for regular use. It does a great job. Also, super easy to adjust and you can easily take it apart and put it back together.

I found a new green screen that I just need to pull a handle up to set up. I'm loving it so far and it takes up very little space which is great because my office is very small.

Neewer Green Screen, 58x72inches Collapsible Chroma Key Panel for Background Removal with Stable Back Support, Wrinkle-Resistant Chroma-Green Fabric, Aluminium Hard Case for Live Game Virtual Studio https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VGHFXF9/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_vlS1DbRWA454P

https://www.amazon.com/Height-Adjustable-Kitchen-Nintendo-Rotating-CounterTop/dp/B078TP511N/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref=yo_pop_d_pd_title

I was worried at first because this is pretty cheap but it’s perfect. Very solid. Adjustable both sideways and tilt if you want. It hold pretty steady. Only a little movement when you write. And it fits the 12.9 iPad Pro.

You can link her this. Wow what a great prime day deal.

For the magnetic letters, the thing that was hardest for me was having to lay them out in order every day so I could easily access the ones I wanted during class. Then I realized I had an extra one of these plastic organizing boxes often used for embroidery thread or beads. I put a couple letters in each box and it makes it much easier to find them!

In terms of other props, it's definitely helpful to have a few animal puppets. They can be used specifically for animal related lessons and also to model conversation. I have also printed out pictures of some of the commonly used characters, clothing, and foods and glued to construction paper backgrounds to use as props without having to spend money.

I've done it quite a few times! I just sit with a blank wall (or the hotel art) behind me. You could also bring a little roll-up poster or something to stick up behind you (good ideas here). I have my phone hot-spot handy, but I've always had good enough connection through the hotel's wifi. I would also buy a little clip on ring light (I have one like this) because hotel lighting is dim.

I love teaching with the iPad, especially for the touchscreen capabilities. I use a Bluetooth headset (Picun Wireless Bluetooth... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D2815VS?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share) and a keyboard. I highly recommend some sort of stand, as I have knocked it over mid-class while trying to circle something. The camera angle is very different than a laptop so be sure to check your classroom set up.

I have this: MPOW and I LOVE it!!

Hey! This is the ring light I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HXTHPXU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it daily for 6+ classes and it is still working perfectly!

I believe this is the model my wife uses, and has been very pleased with it.

Jabra Evolve 40 Stereo UC - Professional Unified Communicaton Headset https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ODRSHZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KAlKDbDCAQ69C

This is my cheap alternative to a laptop stand. I’ve been using it for over a year now. And it’s fantastic.

Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock with Sunrise Simulation, White (HF3500/60) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F0W1RIW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ufLCDb2NQA5P2

This is the one I have. It’s annoying but very effective!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XWG12QS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_m7mKDbE1G7WM0