Being a teacher is a tough job that doesn’t pay nearly enough for the value you provide to your 20-plus students each day. Keep reading for the best summer side hustles that will actually give you a break from the classroom.
Freelance Writing
As a freelance writer, you might write anything from web content to e-books. Pay ranges from a penny per word to hundreds of dollars per article/book. Small Biz Trends also suggests editing and proofreading services as options for teachers. You can get your name out there by guest blogging or writing your own self-published book.
Selling Lesson Plans
You’ve no doubt heard of Teachers Pay Teachers and other sites that allow teachers to share their work with like-minded educators. These websites are online marketplaces where you can showcase your expertise and make a respectable income simply by sharing work you already have to do. If you have a knack for developing engaging and sustainable lesson plans, sell them. You might even become the next teacher-millionaire.
Professional Narration
You spend your entire day talking to a crowd and you’ve mastered changing your tone and inflection to get attention. Something you may never have considered is that this has been on-the-job training for a vocation in audio production. Believe it or not, there are companies out there right now that will pay you to read and record everything from books to magazine articles. ACX is an online marketplace that walks you through the steps to becoming an audiobook actor.
Online Tutoring
You may not want to spend your summer with your students (no matter how much you love them), but you can still use your education degree to rake in a few extra bucks. Payscale.com notes that college tutors make up to $24 per hour. You can even tutor from the comfort of your own home and choose the subjects -- and age range -- you’d like to cover.
Resume Polisher
They say the devil is in the details, and that’s never truer than when trying to write a resume. College grads, stay-at-home-moms re-entering the workforce, and even longtime professionals often need a helping hand pulling the right details out of the bag to showcase on their resume. You can help these people and charge $60 to $500 to take their resume from bland to grand.
Translator
If you’re a language teacher, you can put your ability to speak, understand, and decipher foreign tongue to use as a translator. You might translate audio recordings from English to Spanish for ESL adult students, translate children’s books from Italian to English, or work with your local news station to translate broadcasts in a different language. Income potential varies by where you live and your skill level but many translators make $46,000 or more full-time.
Dog Walker
If you like dogs and like to exercise, then a side job as a dog-walker is the right gig for you. Dog walkers, sitters, and boarders open their homes and hearts to pups needing an extra bit of company throughout the day or when their pet parents have to leave town. You can set your own schedule and make $10 per hour simply by spending time with a few furry friends.
Before you get started earning your after-hours income, make sure you have an organized desk and all the equipment you need. Most jobs will require a computer and distraction-free workspace, but if you want to narrate, for instance, you’ll also need a microphone and decent recording software. One last piece of advice: set a schedule and only work during those hours.
While teachers shouldn’t have to resort to working two, three, or more jobs just to get by, educator salaries aren’t rising anytime soon. Until they do, these part-time income opportunities are a wonderful way to add to your bank account.
Special thanks to Joyce Wilson for submitting this post for publication.
Picture provided by Pixabay
Freelance Writing
As a freelance writer, you might write anything from web content to e-books. Pay ranges from a penny per word to hundreds of dollars per article/book. Small Biz Trends also suggests editing and proofreading services as options for teachers. You can get your name out there by guest blogging or writing your own self-published book.
Selling Lesson Plans
You’ve no doubt heard of Teachers Pay Teachers and other sites that allow teachers to share their work with like-minded educators. These websites are online marketplaces where you can showcase your expertise and make a respectable income simply by sharing work you already have to do. If you have a knack for developing engaging and sustainable lesson plans, sell them. You might even become the next teacher-millionaire.
Professional Narration
You spend your entire day talking to a crowd and you’ve mastered changing your tone and inflection to get attention. Something you may never have considered is that this has been on-the-job training for a vocation in audio production. Believe it or not, there are companies out there right now that will pay you to read and record everything from books to magazine articles. ACX is an online marketplace that walks you through the steps to becoming an audiobook actor.
Online Tutoring
You may not want to spend your summer with your students (no matter how much you love them), but you can still use your education degree to rake in a few extra bucks. Payscale.com notes that college tutors make up to $24 per hour. You can even tutor from the comfort of your own home and choose the subjects -- and age range -- you’d like to cover.
Resume Polisher
They say the devil is in the details, and that’s never truer than when trying to write a resume. College grads, stay-at-home-moms re-entering the workforce, and even longtime professionals often need a helping hand pulling the right details out of the bag to showcase on their resume. You can help these people and charge $60 to $500 to take their resume from bland to grand.
Translator
If you’re a language teacher, you can put your ability to speak, understand, and decipher foreign tongue to use as a translator. You might translate audio recordings from English to Spanish for ESL adult students, translate children’s books from Italian to English, or work with your local news station to translate broadcasts in a different language. Income potential varies by where you live and your skill level but many translators make $46,000 or more full-time.
Dog Walker
If you like dogs and like to exercise, then a side job as a dog-walker is the right gig for you. Dog walkers, sitters, and boarders open their homes and hearts to pups needing an extra bit of company throughout the day or when their pet parents have to leave town. You can set your own schedule and make $10 per hour simply by spending time with a few furry friends.
Before you get started earning your after-hours income, make sure you have an organized desk and all the equipment you need. Most jobs will require a computer and distraction-free workspace, but if you want to narrate, for instance, you’ll also need a microphone and decent recording software. One last piece of advice: set a schedule and only work during those hours.
While teachers shouldn’t have to resort to working two, three, or more jobs just to get by, educator salaries aren’t rising anytime soon. Until they do, these part-time income opportunities are a wonderful way to add to your bank account.
Special thanks to Joyce Wilson for submitting this post for publication.
Picture provided by Pixabay
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