Writing tasks: how do you set boundaries on unpaid corrections?

[Ely14]

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice.
I’m an online ESL teacher, and I use materials provided by the company I work for. One of my students struggles with writing and learning new vocabulary. At the request of the parent and company, I now dedicate 15 minutes of each paid lesson to writing sentences, which I’m happy to do.
Recently, I’ve been asked to assign a writing task as homework after every lesson. The expectation seems to be that I’ll review and correct it, but I’m not paid for this extra work. I already check other homework for this student after each lesson (such as vocabulary or grammar exercises), so I don’t feel this is fair.
How do other teachers handle this? Do you assign writing homework, and if so, how do you manage corrections without doing unpaid work? I’d really appreciate any advice or experience you can share.
Many thanks!

 

[emsr2d2]

Are you paid a flat rate by the company? If you're on an hourly rate, I would say you should contact them with details of how much time the extra work will take, and bill them accordingly. If that's not an option, I would review and correct the homework at the beginning of their next lesson. Going through it with them right next to you might even help them understand the corrections.

I suspect some people will tell you that unpaid work is part and parcel of a teacher's life but that's a slippery slope. Once you're asked to do extra work for this student, the company might start thinking they can get you to do the same for others. I would nip it in the bud right at the start. Tell the company you'll happily set extra homework but you'll need to be recompensed if you're expected to mark it at home, in addition to the student's existing homework.

 

[Ely14]

Are you paid a flat rate by the company? If you're on an hourly rate, I would say you should contact them with details of how much time the extra work will take, and bill them accordingly. If that's not an option, I would review and correct the homework at the beginning of their next lesson. Going through it with them right next to you might even help them understand the corrections.

I suspect some people will tell you that unpaid work is part and parcel of a teacher's life but that's a slippery slope. Once you're asked to do extra work for this student, the company might start thinking they can get you to do the same for others. I would nip it in the bud right at the start. Tell the company you'll happily set extra homework but you'll need to be recompensed if you're expected to mark it at home, in addition to the student's existing homework.

Hi, thank you so much for your reply. Yes, I am paid a flat rate. I already correct homework and send it back before the next lesson, but I am not paid for that. What I am considering is to review all the corrections with the student at the start of the lesson.

 

[emsr2d2]

I used to mark homework in my own time too, but it always annoyed me! However, I never sent it back to the student before the next lesson. I used to hand it to them at the start of the next lesson and ask them to have a look through it to see if they had any queries about my corrections.

(I should probably add that all my students were adults and the majority were private students. I only had 4 students through an academy and they were high-level civil servants so they didn't get homework!)

 

[Ely14]

I used to mark homework in my own time too, but it always annoyed me! However, I never sent it back to the student before the next lesson. I used to hand it to them at the start of the next lesson and ask them to have a look through it to see if they had any queries about my corrections.

(I should probably add that all my students were adults and the majority were private students. I only had 4 students through an academy and they were high-level civil servants so they didn't get homework!)

Thanks, that sounds like a much more constructive approach, as it gives students a chance to review their mistakes and ask questions or seek clarification.

My students are young learners, aged 5 to 18, and I usually send corrections to their parents. But in most cases, these aren’t shared with the students. It often feels as though I’m providing feedback for the parents rather than for the learners.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thanks, that sounds like a much more constructive approach, as it gives students a chance to review their mistakes and ask questions or seek clarification.

Yes, that's exactly why I did it that way.

My students are young learners, aged 5 to 18, and I usually send corrections to their parents. But in most cases, these aren’t shared with the students. It often feels as though I’m providing feedback for the parents rather than for the learners.

In that case, I would definitely start taking the corrected homework to the next class and stop sending it to the parents! If the parents aren't sitting their kids down and going through the corrections, it's pointless sending it to them. Also, if the parents don't speak good English, they'll be no help to their kids in that regard.

 

[embertmorton200]

That situation hits a bit too familiar, because once you start correcting extra writing outside lessons, it quietly becomes expected and never really stops. Doing it during class feels like the only sustainable way to keep things fair and still useful for the student. Clear boundaries save a lot of stress long term, especially when parents and companies keep adding requests. Phonexa comes to mind here since structured workflows make it obvious what’s included and what isn’t.