(Para português, clique aqui)

If you teach online there are a couple things you don’t necessarily need, but which are definitely worth getting.

Here are three things I now find essential but would have never thought of buying for my online classes a while ago:

1. A waist trainer

Ok, that's a weird one, right? Actually, no. Teaching online is basically going to ruin your posture. You will spend countless hours sitting in front of a computer designing materials, interacting with students, marking homework and drafting documents. I started getting terrible back pains, until the day I got a waist trainer. My goal was to actually wear it to exercise, but it turns out it's awful running with it on, but it works wonders on my back and forces me to sit upright. I definitely recommend it (and thank Kim kardashian hehe) as mine cost 7 quid on amazon and I always have it on whilst in the office. 

2. Graphic designer apps

If you use a tablet in your classes, designer apps can work wonders on your handwriting. I definitely recommend you look into duet display and astropad. I am not sure how creating classes in them would work, but they definitely allow your experience with a tablet. I reached that conclusion after countless hours trying to figure out how to get my computer screen to be mirrored on my iPad. With a graphic designer all you will be able to do so and also get neat handwriting, which is ultimately what we all need when writing on a board. I recommend Astropad and Duet display for iPad pro users. 

3. A TV + an HDMI cable

We all teach on the computer, I know. But did you know if connect your lap top to a TV you can actually have two screens and choose which one of them to share with your student? This will certainly give you more space to work with several different tabs and windows in class. Additionally, it will help you separate your student's video from the board and other tabs you are working on. Here are a few things you can do:

1. Open Word or Pages and take notes on your student's mistakes,

2. Have your lesson plan open during class and refer to it whenever needed without having to stop looking at your student.

3. Talk to your student while you look up pictures to help you in the clarification process (multi-tasking yay!)

Want to see more posts about teaching online? There you go: