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One of the first things an online teacher needs to do is figure out how they are going to manage their schedule. This can be especially tricky when working with students in different time zones! Here I will break down how and why I personally use Google Calendar for scheduling online classes for students in China.
My choice to use Google Calendar for scheduling online students seems to be fairly unique among the online teaching community. Perhaps my method isn’t what is best for you, and that’s okay. Maybe you can still find some helpful ideas here anyway.
It’s possible that at some point in the future I may change my scheduling system, but for now, this is what has been working for me since I started teaching independently. There are many options out there for scheduling online classes, and perhaps in the future, I will write a more in depth article comparing some of the most popular ones.
Key Features
It’s important to identify what features your want most in a scheduling system. For me, I really wanted a system that would be able to show at least 2 timezones simultaneously, can show a decent amount of info at a glance, and is free.
Having a system where my parents can schedule classes on their own was not a top priority for me. This is important to note since the Great Firewall of China blocks all Google sites/apps. I am content with just sending a screenshot of my calendar to parents for scheduling online classes and having them tell me what time(s) they would like to book. Oftentimes, parents will just ask about available times during a certain day of the week. I am then able to limit or expand my availability on demand via a conversation instead of having to edit my official schedule.
Google Calendar Setup
I originally began using Google Calendar in a very basic manner. As my needs have changed, I’ve added more ways to use it. Below is a screenshot from my calendar and the breakdown of how I set it all up and what everything means.
Settings
First things first, I looked through all of the settings (from the gear icon in the upper right corner). I added the secondary time zone under the ”Time zone” section. You can see these on the left side of my calendar. There is a prompt to label the time zones. You could use a label like ”China” since you’re able to use up to 7 characters for each label. I tried using flag emojis in that area, but they don’t show them on the desktop version.
I was able to change my week start day to Monday in the ”View options” section. Having a Monday start day is much easier for me based on my personal schedule. This section is also where I found I was able to add the Chinese simplified text in the ”Alternate calendars” drop-down option.
3 Main Event Colors
I started out with using 3 main colors: blue, dark green, and yellow. Blue is the default event color on Google Calendar so I leave that color when first scheduling a class. I change the color to dark green once the class has been paid. Yellow events show my available time slots. I titled those with Beijing Time and made each of them recurring once per week at the same time. This makes it really simple to just change the title and color of an available slot when a student books it and will lock in that day/time for them.
I added the lemon emoji to the available event titles since it’s relevant to the registered trade name for my business, Lemon Learning Club. It also makes it better for anyone who may be color blind to see my availability easier since I let them know, “the yellow lemon times are available and show Beijing Time.”
Pro Tip: If you want to use emojis, make those edits from your smart phone!
Additional Event Colors
I’ve added in additional colors as needed. Since my Chinese parents have to communicate with me to schedule a day/time for classes, they get their same time slot every week. I use pink to note the times that a student has cancelled or rescheduled a particular time slot but have paid for the same day/time in the future. This way I can see that those particular times are only available for a limited time, so I don’t accidentally book a recurring appointment in their time by mistake.
I’ve used light green to note which payment requests I’ve made and sent out. This helps me keep track of where I am when doing my billing since I have so many students.
I’ve also used another different color to note brand new trial classes.
Letter Codes
The letter/number before a student’s name notes which curriculum/level they are in. I use an asterisk (*) to note a trial lesson since I don’t know the student’s level yet. Sometimes I also use a different color to mark a trial lesson if I want it to stand out more. I primarily use RAZ-Plus since most of my students are able to read independently. RAZ uses the alphabet to differentiate their reading levels.
- Side notes on RAZ-Plus:
- RAZ-Plus is a combination of Reading A-Z and the RAZ-Kids app, which is accessible in China.
- RAZ levels G/H are the rough equivalent of CEFR Level A2 or VIPKID Level 4.
- Use my promo code NB4073 for a $5 discount!
The letter at the very end, after a student’s name note whether they pay for classes weekly (W) or monthly (M). The letters between the W/M and the student’s name are just to help me differentiate households and/or students with the same English names. For example, ”Tony TYJ” and ”Tony WLH” are from different households, and those 3 letters are from the pinyin of their Chinese names. Another example: ”Jacky JJJ,” ”Jenny JJJ,” and ”Julia JJJ” are all siblings from the same household, so I use one payment request for all of their classes. I don’t use emojis on their names here since I prefer using my computer to make scheduling changes.
One of my students, Kayden, has the letters ”ZM” after his name. This is because he has family in the USA who pay for his classes via Zelle every month. (Please note that Zelle only works between bank accounts in the USA, and it is generally not recommended to use Zelle for business transactions since there’s a lack of additional protections in place for both parties.) All of my other students in China pay in RMB using WeChat Pay, UnionPay, or AliPay via NihaoPay.
Using Google Calendar When Class Times Overlap Dates
During school breaks, I like to offer some classes during the morning in China. However, since I’m in the US, those times are actually still the night before for me. Scheduling online classes for students during those instances can get really confusing!
There’s not much to see here since I didn’t mark all of my availability during this time. I relied on Dateful, a date/time converter to double-check that I scheduled things correctly. I simply added the date in China after the student’s name and the BJT time in the title of each event. Between that note and the secondary time zone on the left, I’m able to see what date/time the class is scheduled for based on the student’s time zone.
Additional Customization Options
It’s possible to add your availability events to their own calendar. This may be useful if you want to toggle your settings to only show those events when sending a parent your calendar. I use my students’ English names which provides them with a sense of anonymity already, so this hasn’t been a concern for my parents. There have been times when parents have seen when my first class is scheduled and asked if I could be available for the time directly before that. I imagine that showing only the available time slots could reduce this. However, I wonder if it could also make parents more likely to ask about booking the blank slots since they can’t see that they’re already booked.
There is also a setting to show a ”World Clock,” which will show the current date/time of the time zone(s) you select directly under the month calendar. This is on the left side of the weekly schedule, but was cropped out of my screenshots since I don’t use this feature.
Conclusion
There are a lot of ways to customize a free Google Calendar to manage scheduling online classes for students in a different time zone from your own – even in China. It’s also possible to fit a lot of information into the event title so that you can see it all at a glance without clicking through each appointment. Being able to quickly see 2 timezones simultaneously is especially useful when a parent wants to reschedule the class they have booked since they will refer to their classes in their own date/time.
What system are you currently using for scheduling online classes for your students? What are the key features your really like about it? Did this article help inspire any ideas you may want to use? Let us know in the comments below!
