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The Solo Sensei - Findteacher.Net's Newsletter
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Volume #2 July 26, 2001
IN THIS ISSUE
1. Student Visits Increasing Daily
2. Site Upgrades for You
3. WIN - ¥17,000 Longman Interactive English Dictionary
4. Need a Japanese Teacher? - Get one free!
5. Please Read the new User Agreement
6. POWER TIP - Spice up your "Comments"
7. More Helpful Tips
8. Tell us how to better help you
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1. Student Visits Increasing Daily
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The updated student side of the site (SenseiSagasu.com) has been set up and our advertising campaign to students has begun. Even before advertising however, students had begun accessing SenseiSagasu.com and selecting teachers. Student visits to the site are increasing daily. Keeping your record updated and looking good will keep the students looking at YOUR record.
The name SenseiSagasu.Com was chosen for the student side of the site because it is easy to remember, travels fast by word-of-mouth, sounds nice (at least we think so), and it uses Japanese words (romanized). Besides that, it just feels good flowing off the tongue. Try it.
**** IF YOU HAVEN'T LOGGED IN IN OVER 4 MONTHS - YOUR RECORD IS NOT CURRENTLY BEING DISPLAYED TO STUDENTS. TO REACTIVATE IT - SIMPLY LOG IN.
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2. Site Upgrades for You
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Several new features have been added to findateacher.Net:
A. "Take a Break" Mode ---> ADDED
For those of you unable to take students for an extended period of time (because of a vacation, full schedule, tired of teaching, moving, etc.) you can now log in and click "Take a Break". Then, when you'd like your record to be viewable by students again, simply log back in, make any necessary changes, and it'll be reactivated.
B. Number of Times Your Record has been Viewed Message ---> ADDED
Now, when you log into your record from the http://findateacher.Net home page) you are able to see how many people have viewed your record so far (that is, the full detailed version of your record). This feature was added July 10 so the count shows only views after that. Remember, since we have just begun advertising to students, these numbers aren't going to be too large yet.
C. "This Record Not Updated Since..." Message ---> ADDED
On any record not logged into in over 3 months a warning note is displayed to students advising them to be careful about adding this teacher to their "Teacher List" (similar to an on-line "shopping cart").
The note explains that the teacher hasn't updated their record, may not be in the country or may not be available to teach and generally discourages them from selecting that record. SO please try to log into your record ocasionally (at least once within every 3 months). It will keep that nasty warning note off of your record which, in turn, will increase your chances of being selected.
D. Cleaner Database
Since our start 8 months ago, over 2500 teachers have signed up to offer their teaching services to prospective students. HOWEVER, since it has taken us a bit longer than expected to open to students, many of those records have become outdated.
So...we recently deactivated all records not logged into in over 4 months (about 1300) and have asked those teachers who are still interested in getting students to log back in (to verify that they are still interested). That's the reason you may have noticed that the number of teachers listed the browse page has fallen significantly (but that's OK....it means more students for YOU!)
If interested, see the student browse page:
http://209.35.63.179/cgi-bin/tsearchJ.cgi
(if you bookmarked the old browse page - it will not work now. Use this link instead)
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3. WIN - ¥17,000 Longman Interactive English Dictionary
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One of the first 150 teachers who updates (OR simply logs into) their record will be randomly chosen and awarded a copy of Longman's powerful CD-ROM Interactive English Dictionary (retail price 17,000 yen). It contains 55,000 spoken pronunciations, many encyclopedic entries, and a new interface
ALSO, If you'd like your own free bilingual catalog of Longman Teaching materials (to help you & your students select material) please email me with your name and regular mailing address to: jake@findateacher.Net with "Longman Catalogue" in the subject line. We'll mail you a copy ASAP.
Longman makes some of the best selling and effective ESL books in the industry - including the "Side By Side" and "Expressways" series.
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4. Need a Japanese teacher? - Get one free!
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We decided that since many of you might like to study Japanese, why not give you your own private Japanese teacher? So....we have decided to give away the Japanese teachers to any teacher registered with findateacher.Net for over 2 weeks.
For now, you WILL have to be able to browse the Japanese side of the site (in Japanese) to locate your preferred Japanese teacher. Simply choose the teachers, and when checking-out, choose any payment option (but don't pay). Then, after we verify that you are a registered teacher, we'll send you the contact info for the teachers you've selected. FREE!
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5. Please Read the new User Agreement
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A new Teacher User Agreement has been added to the teachers sign up form. For those of you who have not read it, the most recent version is on-line at:
http://209.35.63.179/disclaimer.html
AND a copy is at the bottom of this newsletter.
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6. POWER TIP - Spice up your "Comments"
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Some teachers seem to have trouble expressing themselves when filling in the "Comments" section (or maybe they are just exhausted from filling out our LONG registration form!).
Use the "Comments" section to explain things not visible in your record - like:
- why your prices are a bit higher or lower than other teachers in the same area
- that you have a car and don't mind driving to your students house
- that you don't if mothers bring their children to you classes
In any case, one way to help your record stand out in students' minds is to have your comment translated into Japanese. Much of the data you input into the findateacher.Net database is translated for you by our built in dictionary. However, the "Comments" section is NOT. Mixing both English and Japanese in the "Comments" section also seems popular.
Also, since many of our student users can't understand English (the default language of findateacher.Net) very well, try to keep your comments free of difficult vocabulary, idioms & slang. And, "for God's sake" (as my grandfather used to say) DO NOT MAKE TYPO's in your Comments. Noone wants a language teacher who can't spell.
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7. More Helpful Tips
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A. MANY teachers don't seem sure how to make multiple selections in multiple choice selection boxes. For example, in order to select more than 1 hobby (because most of us DO have more than one) you must hold down the control key (or apple key on Macs) while selecting. This works for any other of the multiple choice scrolling boxes that are in our form (for example "past schools worked at" and "other industry experience", etc.)
B. If you haven't added a photo yet, your record probably isn't being viewed as often as it could be. You can add one on-line, mail or email it to us. However, a photo isn't required.
C. If your photo is not appealing, students are less likely proceed to view the full details of your record. Please keep your photo updated and as reflective of the "YOU" you'd like to portray. Let your photo work for you - not against you.
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8. Tell us how to better help you.
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This web site is for you - so please let us know how we can make it better for you, if you see something that you think is missing or if something isn't working properly for you.
...anything at all. Please let us know at: admin@findateacher.Net
Good luck! Get lots of students!
Until next month,
Jake Rollins
Solo Sensei, Producer
jake@findateacher.Net
http://findateacher.Net
http://www.SenseiSagasu.com
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