This is a guest post from one of our group members, Nik. You can find a lot more information on the BlaBla Commentz website. We do like what Nik and his team have created and we think you will too. This is a fantastic resource for those of you that are so tired of writing and comment after comment after each class. The automated process that they developed is simply incredible. We give it a five-star review.
How can BlaBla Commentz increase your productivity?
There is no doubt that online job opportunities are growing rapidly. Recently taken surveys have shown an enormous increase in the number of teachers who choose to teach from the comfort of their homes. To be more precise, the number of Online English Teachers is on the rise and all of us have one thing in common. We are all required to write a comment for each student and complete class evaluations.
It does not have to be an essay or a novel, but a short description, no more than five or six sentences. The teachers have to type out their impressions, highlight critical issues and encourage their students to continue learning. It requires three to five minutes of their time. If you think about it, it is not so bad, right? Let’s do the math: 5 minutes per report, with an average of 150 reports per month gives us 750 minutes or 12 hours and 30 minutes of typing, typing, typing…
First of all, after you finished your class you don’t really feel like writing something that’s supposed to be encouraging, professional and clear. Teachers are tired of talking and teaching so they would rather spend their break relaxing and preparing for their next class. The problem is, we want to finish this task as fast and effortlessly as possible, but we can’t just copy-paste old reports and just change names, that’s unprofessional and companies won’t allow it.
How does it work?
The first thing you need to do is register your account at BlaBla Commentz. After email verification, we encourage you to check out the Quick Guide on the left-hand side. You may create or edit sentences and then place them into categories for easy access. Once you create them, they will remain a part of your collection. There is also an option to save your favorite combination of sentences. You can sort them by giving them unique names and star ratings depending on your student’s performance. The student name and Today’s Vocabulary will be updated automatically. The ability to re-arrange sentence blocks will also come handy if you are feeling creative today. What is most important there are no limits on the number of reports you can create.
5 Reasons Why BlaBla is Worth the Monthly Subscription
By Jessica Paredes – Online ESL Teacher
It’s that time again. You’ve just rocked another morning as an online ESL teacher, but now it’s time to write feedback to each individual student. Yikes. Whether you teach one or multiple students at a time, that’s a lot of feedback! That’s why using BlaBla is so beneficial when it comes to saving time while still being professional and constructive. Here are five reasons why it is worth it to pay the monthly subscription to BlaBla Commentz.
1. Time is Money
On average, a decently written feedback form may take anywhere from 2-3 minutes to complete. If you teach four students at a time and teach four classes a day, that’s 16 evaluations each morning. That means you could be sitting at your desk for over half an hour just to finish! There goes your last class’s pay! With BlaBla, it takes me about 15-30 seconds per feedback! That cuts out over half the time, which leaves me with more time to tend to my other duties. I’m saving time without skimping on quality.
2. Save Student Information
Have you ever stared at a student, trying to figure out if you have taught them before? I know I have! BlaBla has a great feature that allows you to not only choose which company you work for but also input the student’s ID number so you can see if you have written previous feedback for that student. This also helps to ensure you are not sending out too similar feedback, and each one they receive from you will sound unique, professional and sincere.
3. Save Class Information
Tired of writing out the same vocabulary words and lesson information to each student? BlaBla saves you the trouble! Simply type in the lesson code, and if it has been entered into the system the information will be filled in for you in the feedback. If it has not been entered, you can quickly add in the lesson title and vocabulary words, and it will be saved for the next time you teach that same lesson. Game changer!
4. Unique Sentences
While some information you may want to add to each student’s feedback in general, other information is more specific to that student’s needs and performance. BlaBla has a great set of sentences created for different topics such as participation, speaking, attitude, and even your impression of the child! What’s more, you can create your own sentences and save them into the given categories to use them later. Simply click on the sentences that make sense for the student and build your feedback within seconds.
5. Save Your Favorite Feedback
Have a favorite way of saying things? Save your set of sentences into a comment for future use! I love using this feature because it allows me to have the template of the general things I want to say, then I can go in and quickly write a sentence or two to make it personal for the student. It is so quick and easy!
Feedback and evaluations are so important for the student and the parents to know what the child needs to improve on at home. BlaBla has made it possible for me to save so much time writing each feedback out while still personalizing each one to fit the needs of the students. Worth. Every. Penny.
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