Читать книгу Start & Run an ESL Teaching Business - T. Nicole Pankratz - Bodner - Страница 19

ESL schools and tutorial services require ESL products in order to conduct business. They not only need textbooks but also a wide variety of learning materials and resources, such as maps, picture dictionaries, books, flash cards, props, CDs, videotapes and DVDs, and computer programs. Schools and tutorial services may also be in the market for premade curriculum materials, particularly if they are in the early stages of business development. Or they may be looking for everyday items they can use to market their business, such as pens and writing paper printed with the school’s logo and contact information.

Once your school or tutorial service is stable, you may want to consider venturing into other industry-related areas. You might decide to create your own textbooks, which will ultimately save your business money on resources. Or you might create, patent, and sell one-month programs to schools overseas. Here are some other cool and unusual products you could use yourself and sell to others.

Classroom props for role plays could include —

• costumes that represent different social or economic roles (e.g., a nurse, a server in a restaurant, a police officer),

• household items in exaggerated sizes made out of cardboard or foam,

• backdrops for skits, and

• traffic signs.

How-to videos and documentaries that demonstrate important aspects of the international-student experience and that are helpful to ESL teachers include —

• how to stay safe in the city,

• student biographies,

• homestay problems and solutions,

• tips on classroom management, and

• ideas for working with students with disabilities.

Promotional materials include —

• calendars featuring pictures of and/or artwork by students,

• clothing and accessories with pictures of and/or artwork by students, and

• video clips of students demonstrating various speaking abilities (to be posted on the school’s website).

ESL-related publications include —

• short stories and novels written at levels appropriate to ESL students,

• stories and poems written by ESL students, and

• a newspaper for ESL students.