27 Best Side Jobs For Teachers

It’s a well known fact that teachers are underpaid.

As a result, many teachers see out side hustles to help make ends meet or to get ahead financially.

But with so many options out there, it can be overwhelming to even have an idea of what jobs to consider.

In this post, I share with you the best 25 side jobs for teachers.

These ideas can be done either as summer jobs or as part-time work in your spare time during the school year.

Some can be done year round.

The goal is to help you find some side gigs you can start making a few hundred to a few thousands of dollars extra income from.

27 Best Side Jobs For Teachers

#1. Become A Tutor

side jobs for teachers

Given that you already have extensive experience as a teacher, a proven track record of your abilities, and experience working with others, it’s only natural to mention tutoring first on this list.

The best place to start is within your own district.

Reach out to other teachers to see if they know of any students who need help getting up to speed in certain subjects.

And don’t limit yourself to your school.

If you are a high school teacher, reach out to the middle school and elementary school too as you never know who needs help.

From there, you can expand your search to other local districts and even online tutor.

Although tutoring can be conducted in-person, there are plenty of great online opportunities as well.

Think of all the students out there and how many need help they aren’t getting.

You with a simple video meeting, you can help these kids.

#2. Create Online Courses

Numerous teachers have discovered that they can put in the work needed to create an online course, release that course, then continue to profit off of it after they’ve marketed it to the students who would benefit most.

Online courses are often far less intensive than face-to-face tutoring, although you can certainly combine them both to make more money during your free time.

If you have plenty to say about a subject, some editing skills, and a webcam and microphone, you can use a platform like Teachable to post your new content and start bringing parents and children in.

You could also supplement this with your own YouTube channel to direct traffic to your courses and earn ad revenue along the way.

And don’t limit yourself to teens either.

Maybe you are an economics teacher and enjoy personal finance.

You can create courses on basic personal finance and sell it to adults who are looking to improve their finances.

#3. Sell Lesson Plans

Here is a great side hustle for teachers that you can profit off of the work you already did.

Are you someone who puts together great and effective lesson plans?

If so, you shouldn’t let that skill go to waste.

There are plenty of teachers who are willing to pay for lesson plans and other resources as it saves them time in their own day-to-day life.

Educational marketplaces like Teachers Pay Teachers make it really easy to sell all of the plans and resources that you have created.

It will take some elbow grease to be successful, but many teachers have made hundreds of thousands just selling the items above.

#4. Offer Babysitting Services

babysitter

If you really love children and don’t mind taking a break from education, one of the best side hustles that you should consider is babysitting.

You can work this gig on weekends or just during school breaks.

Childcare is a must is for any working parent and day care is expensive.

Fortunately, it has become easy for you to both list your services and for parents to find you.

Platforms like Care.com will help you get set up and source clients in your area.

Just make sure that you do more to stand out, such as noting that you have CPR or first aid certifications.

There may be quite a few babysitters in your area, and it’s important that you stand out!

#5. Grade Papers Or Tests

Not tired of grading exams or book reports? Great!

You can actually make money grading tests and papers.

Companies like Pearson will actually pay you around $10 to $12 to grade papers for their organization.

The pay for this one may not be the best, but if you only spend a couple of hours a day grading, that’s still extra money coming in during your summer break or other times when school is out.

#6. Start Your Own Blog

Teachers often have quite a few stories and experiences to share.

If you can relate to this, you may want to consider creating your own blog.

Whether your blog is about teaching and education or about another topic you’re passionate about, blogging allows you to build a passive income stream that will continue to pay you as long as you have the traffic coming in.

Just remember, blogging is often far more work-intensive than some will believe.

You have to know how to write, optimize, code, and market your blog, or find someone who can do all that for you.

The reality is most people quit after 6 short months.

If you can stick with it, you can earn a decent income and eventually even outsource most of the work.

#7. Become A Freelance Writer

Maybe the idea of starting your own website is too much for you.

A related idea and a great way for teachers to earn some extra cash is to become a freelance writer.

When you have a special skillset like teaching, there are plenty of organizations looking for you to help them with content that they’re looking to publish from an experienced teacher’s perspective.

You will ideally pick up a wide variety of jobs as finding solely academic jobs can be difficult at times.

Additionally, make sure that you check the job description, as some jobs may be writing essays for others or tackling schoolwork instead of writing for a company.

And if you enjoy writing about other topics, like gardening or cooking, you can find websites looking for writers in these niches too.

In fact, websites in all niches need quality writers to help them produce content.

You can make a few hundred dollars starting out and this increases with experience.

If you decide to go this route, I encourage you to check out Freelance To 5K.

It’s a freelance writing course that will set you up for success.

The reason I suggest it is because writing for the internet is different than writing for academia and this course will help you to hit the ground running.

Freelance 5K

#8. Act As A Test Administrator

Many schools need administrators to watch over students as they take their tests and make sure that everything is going smoothly.

You can either look out for these opportunities in your own school district and apply when they become available.

Another option is to use a platform like ProctorU to find opportunities outside your district more easily.

#9. Travel And Teach

Here is a unique summer job for teachers that most people overlook.

If you plan on going on vacation during the summer months and don’t mind using your degree while you’re abroad, this can be a great way to have fun and make some extra money.

Out-of-country teaching opportunities are in abundance, and you can generally find one in a country you’ve been looking to visit.

You might even search for opportunities first and then decide to travel to that country as a result.

See what’s out there and make your trip an opportunity to make money as well!

#10. Adjunct Professor Positions

Community colleges looking for professors will pay their teachers fairly well, making this the perfect side hustle for those who have the necessary education and experience.

Look into these kinds of opportunities at institutions near you to see what they require.

In most cases, you don’t need a masters degree, just a bachelors.

If you can get in, you may be looking at a couple of thousand dollars per course, depending on length and difficulty.

This isn’t a bad profit for a couple of hours of your time!

#11. Coach Sports

Coaching youth sports can be a rewarding way to work with children without having to teach.

If you have a child of your own or if you know of a nearby organization that needs some extra help, you can reach out to them to look for paid opportunities.

And if you don’t find a coaching position in a sport you like, you can consider becoming a referee or an umpire.

Most of these side gigs make around $100 per game.

#12. Become A Summer Camp Counselor

Another similar option is to become a camp counselor for organizations running summer camps.

The great thing with this option is more and more camps are popping up all the time.

And most of them are on the shorter side.

This means just a couple hours a day for one or two weeks at a time.

You can make some extra money and still have your summers mostly free.

#13. Write Your Own Book

Whether you have some great stories to sell or some insightful advice to provide to others, writing your own book has never been simpler.

Platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing make it easy to create your book, sell it online, and continue making money from royalties.

Will it be hard? Not really. It just will take a good amount of work to write it and edit it.

However, if you’re passionate about your writing, now is the perfect time to publish your book.

#14. Sell Printables And Crafts On Etsy

sell crafts

Selling on Etsy is a great side job for people who are creative.

Etsy has made it easy to open your own online store without having to go through the hassle of setting up your own website.

Some great ideas to start with include printables, which are digital products that customers can buy and then print at home.

This could include things like planners, tutoring worksheets, childcare worksheets, and beyond.

If you have awesome concepts for helpful teaching tools, this is the perfect place for your creations as well.

#15. Find Summer School Gigs

Unlike traveling and teaching abroad, summer school gigs are close to home if you really feel the urge to keep teaching.

As per the suggestions above, reach out to your school district to see if there are available positions and what you need to do to get in.

It may not be the most exciting way to spend your summer, but it does help you bring in the extra income that you are looking for.

#16. Watch Houses For Others

Watching houses is a very simple way to make money without exerting too much energy.

Even better, you can often pair this side hustle with some of the remote opportunities that we’ve listed above to further boost your income.

House sitting jobs can be a bit harder to come by, but there are platforms out there that can connect you with available opportunities in your area or areas that you may be willing to travel to.

Just a couple of recommendations to start with include HouseSitter.com and MindMyHouse.

#17. Become A Translator

Are you a teacher with a degree in a specific language or strong knowledge of another language?

The good news is that knowing a foreign language opens you up to a wide variety of translator positions.

Whether this means interpreting for others, translating whole papers, or transcribing audio files, a quick Google search will put you directly in contact with a host of side hustles for translators.

#18. Teach English To Foreign Students

If you don’t want to translate but want to teach, teaching English to foreign students is a great option.

There is a strong demand for Chinese students looking to learn English as a second language.

And you can teach them and make money.

One of the most popular sites to do this is VIPKid.

You create your own hours and make between $18-$20 when starting out.

As you gain experience, you get bonuses and can make $22 an hour or more.

Since you will be teaching on their time, most work this job early in the morning or late at night.

Because of these, is a great way to earn extra cash both during the summer and the school year.

VIPKid Button

#19. Edit Resumes

As an educator, you understand just how important resumes are.

If you know how to write resumes for hiring managers as well as applicant tracking systems, you have a skill that is in high demand, making it a lucrative side hustle.

Post your services online and reach out to local colleges and universities career centers.

You also should reach out to local unemployment offices too, as they have a large client base that needs help with resumes as well.

#20. Become A Proofreader

If you are an English teacher, you already have the skills needed to start your own business as a proofreader.

The most challenging part will be in finding clients.

Luckily you can join Facebook groups to connect with others to help with this.

You can also consider the Proofread Anywhere course.

This online course will walk you through everything you need to know about being successful with this idea and give you amazing tips to more easily find clients.

The creator of the course earns close to $50,000 a year with this side hustle.

Click on the link pic to learn more.

Proofread Anywhere

#21. Retail Arbitrage

Reselling items for profit is a great business to get into.

On a local level, you can buy things at yard sales, clean them up, and resell for more.

Or you can find valuable items priced cheap and resell for a profit.

You can also do this on a larger scale.

Using Amazon FBA, you can sell to anyone, anywhere.

And for a small fee, Amazon will do all the work for you.

You can easily make a few hundred a month without much effort.

But if you put in the extra effort, you could make a full-time income working part-time hours.

Amazon FBA

#22. Become A Life Coach

Does it excite to help people find their purpose in life?

Have you considered becoming a life coach?

While there are programs out there to certify you, this isn’t a requirement to get started.

All you need is an online presence so people can learn more about who you are and how you can help them.

From there, it’s all about finding clients.

In the beginning, you can offer free or discounted sessions just to get feedback and clients.

After that, you can charge $25 an hour or more per one hour session.

#23. Virtual Bookkeeper

If you are a math or finance teacher, you can use these skills to start your own virtual bookkeeping business.

There are tons of small business owners who hate keeping their books.

It’s either not of interest to them or they need to focus on bringing in revenue and not on the books.

This is where you come in.

For a few hours a week, you update their financials and keep the business owner updated on where things stand.

Many successful virtual bookkeepers make $80,000 a year.

Below is a great guide to help you get started and be successful at this side gig.

Bookkeeper Button

#24. Voice Over Actor

Making money as a voice actor is more and more popular these days for a variety of reasons.

You have voice over on animated YouTube videos, audio books, radio commercials, podcasts, podcast commercials, and more.

As a result, there is a huge demand for this service.

The best place to get started is ACX where you can list a profile and have authors reach out to you to record you reading their book.

Pay varies depending on the length of the book and the type of gig you are doing.

You can earn anywhere from $100 to a few thousand dollars.

#25. Write Book Reviews

If you enjoy reading books, you can get paid to review them.

There are a number of sites out there that pay anywhere from $10 to $100 to review a book.

And you can choose the books you read, so if you are into indie books, you can get paid to read this genre.

#26. Get A Remote Job

Thanks to technology, working from home is easier than ever.

And if you don’t want to leave home in the summer or go on vacation and earn some cash, getting a remote job could be for you.

More and more remote job listings are popping up but it’s hard to know which ones offer remote work.

This is where FlexJobs comes into play.

They only list remote work from reputable companies.

You can pick from full-time positions to part-time.

The downside is you have to pay to see the search results, but it’s only a couple bucks.

Click the link below to learn more.

Flex Jobs Button

#27. Take Paid Surveys

Finally, you can make money taking online surveys.

The income from paid surveys won’t break the bank, but if you are just looking for a little extra cash to cover some expenses, it doesn’t get easier than this.

If you take 30 minutes a day completing surveys, you could make $100-$200 extra a month.

The trick is learning the secrets to make the most of your time.

I explain my secrets in the post below.

There are a lot of survey sites out there and that post walks you through the best ones.

If you are short on time, here are the ones I highly recommend:

Wrapping Up

There are 25 side jobs for teachers to bring in extra cash.

As I said at the beginning, whether you are trying to stop living paycheck to paycheck or get ahead financially, these ideas will help you.

The key is finding something you enjoy doing so it won’t feel like work at all.

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