8 Best Side Hustles for Teachers
Are you thinking about changing careers from teaching? Do you want to stay in education and find ways to make extra money as a teacher?
You’re in luck— so many side jobs for teachers are available today. In this post, we’ll explore eight of the best side hustles for teachers.
I get asked about how teachers make extra money all the time. And while there are plenty of options out there to do things like drive for Uber or work part-time at a cafe, some of the best side jobs for teachers are actually in education.
With one of the following freelance roles or business ideas for teachers, you can use your unique teaching experience to make a difference— and make more money!
8 Best Side Hustles for Teachers
Figuring out how teachers can make extra money doesn’t have to mean finding work outside of education. In fact, some of the best side hustles for teachers in 2023 use your valuable teaching skills and offer flexible, at-home work options that could even turn into a full-time gig!
Explore the possible side jobs for teachers below and consider which ones align with your interests, teaching skills, and goals. You just might find the teaching side hustle that’s right for you!
Curriculum Development
If you’ve ever created a lesson plan, then you’ve done curriculum development. You can leverage that experience into a thriving side hustle that can help you earn extra money as a teacher.
There are so many companies out there looking for curriculum development assistance, from textbook companies and online learning platforms to summer camps, museums and other educational programs.
You could also use your curriculum development skills to start a shop on Teachers Pay Teachers, creating lesson plans and learning resources that you can sell to other educators.
Becoming a curriculum developer is one of the best side hustles for teachers and even has the potential to become a more flexible full-time work option.
Ed Tech Consultant
Throughout your teaching career, you’ve probably noticed an increase in the number of educational apps, online learning programs, and other digital learning tools available. The companies that create these systems are always looking for help from educators to ensure their programs are truly impacting learning.
In this digital age, becoming an ed tech consultant could be one of the best side hustles for teachers!
You could help align an app’s curriculum with the Common Core State Standards. You could review an online learning platform to ensure it is developmentally appropriate for various age groups. Or you could even create lesson plans and exercises for an educational app (using those curriculum development skills again!). You could also help advise companies developing online tools for teacherpreneurs, sharing your unique educational expertise and perspective.
The easiest way to get started as an ed tech consultant is to begin with the online learning tools you already use and love. Look for job postings on the company websites to see if there are opportunities you could do on the side. Or simply reach out to your favorite companies and ask if they need help.
Working as an ed tech consultant is one of my favorite easy side jobs for teachers because it allows you to use the knowledge you already have to make a difference!
Support parents/Families
As an educator, you have a wide variety of expertise that can be used to support kids and families. You could work with homeschooling families or provide support to parents as a parenting coach or an infant sleep consultant.
As a certified sleep consultant, you can help exhausted families get rest while also using your skills as an educator. This work could be done as a side hustle or even turn into a more full-time role.
Education Writer
If you love writing about teaching and learning but aren’t sure curriculum development is right for you, then education writing could be a good fit. When it comes to the best side hustles for teachers in 2023, education writing is one of the most flexible opportunities.
There are so many blogs and websites out there for teachers today, sharing everything from real-life classroom stories to educational research and best practices. If there are websites that you read and enjoy learning from, then check and see if there are writing opportunities available that could make for a great side job for teachers. You could get paid to share your own classroom experiences or favorite teaching strategies!
If writing for an existing publication doesn’t sound like the right fit, starting your own blog is another way to make extra money as a teacher. You can start your own website that shares tips and tricks and also sell items like lesson plans and other resources.
While starting your own blog or website takes work, it’s a great way to share your teaching experience with others and grow a platform that could one day turn into your own education business!
Start An Education Business
Speaking of starting an education business, becoming a teacherpreneur just may be one of the best side hustles for teachers in 2023. While we’re all for staying in education, your side business could really be focused on just about anything— and still use your teaching skills.
Do you love photography? Start a side business teaching others how to use their cameras and take better photos, like Beryl Young of Momtography. Do you love sewing, scrapbooking or other DIY projects? You could start an Etsy shop to sell your creations or launch a course to teach others how to do the work themselves.
And of course, you can always start an education business. There is plenty of demand for educational consultants, online tutors, and online or in-person homeschool teachers. Any of these roles could be a great side hustle for teachers.
When you start an education business— even as a side job for teachers— you open up a whole world of possibilities and opportunities that could lead to some really exciting career moves in the future.
Online Tutoring/Teaching
The world of online tutoring has been growing significantly over the last five years and has only grown faster since the pandemic. This trend isn’t going anywhere, making online teaching one of the best side hustles for teachers in 2023.
There are countless opportunities to teach online via platforms like VIPKid or Dada, which typically connect you with students overseas who want to learn English. This type of side hustle for teachers usually offers very flexible work hours in the early morning or evening hours, so you can earn extra money while still working your classroom job and being with your family.
And if you want to change careers from teaching, online tutoring can even become a full-time gig, with more and more opportunities opening up for virtual teaching and tutoring jobs all the time.
Online Teacher Coaching
Tutoring isn’t the only way to use your education expertise online. Online teacher coaching, or instructional coaching, is also one of the best side hustles for teachers.
Instructional coaching for teachers is often done in the classroom, but more and more schools are looking for virtual coaching options for teachers and need experienced educators to take on these roles.
When you coach teachers online, you meet with teachers to plan a lesson and then observe the lesson the teachers planned. This could be done live with a camera set up in the classroom or pre-recorded so you can watch lessons and provide feedback on your own time. Then, you provide the teachers with your feedback, offering advice, tips and tricks to improve their instruction, their lesson plans, and their classroom engagement.
Online instructional coaching is one of the ways to make extra money as a teacher, and it’s definitely one of the most rewarding! By doing online teacher coaching, you can use your own educational expertise to help other teachers and have an even broader impact on students.
Create an Online Course
One of the best side hustles for teachers doesn’t even involve applying for jobs. Creating an online course is a great example of how teachers can make extra money while staying in the classroom and also has the potential to become a full-time career.
In my own career, starting my online course for teachers who want to work beyond the classroom has been such a life-changing experience. And no matter what you’re passionate about— whether it’s education or something completely unrelated— your experience as an educator puts you in a unique position to launch a successful online course.
The world of online courses has exploded in recent years— and will only continue to grow. You can truly create an online course about anything you enjoy teaching, from curriculum development and virtual teaching to cooking, gardening, woodworking, and more. The sky is seriously the limit when it comes to creating a course online.
So what makes starting an online course one of the best side jobs for teachers online? Courses can be run asynchronously, meaning you can create them in your free time, and students can access them 24/7. They’re a great example of what is often called “passive income” because you can pre-record lessons, and people can learn from them time and time again.
Which of the Best Side Hustles for Teachers Is Right For You?
There are so many options out there for side jobs for teachers today. As a result, it can be a little overwhelming to figure out which of these ways to make extra money as a teacher is right for you.
My advice? Consider three primary factors when choosing the best teacher side hustle for you: your interests and experience, your goals, and the lifestyle you want to have.
Consider Your Interests & Experience
What lights you up? What are you passionate about? What do you have a lot of experience in? Whatever your answer, this would likely make a great teaching side hustle.
If you have a lot of curriculum development experience and it makes you excited to sit down and work, then look into becoming a freelance curriculum designer. If writing is your passion, working as an educator writer or starting your teacher blog could be a good fit. If you want to leave the classroom someday but still love working with kids, then online tutoring might be your best bet.
Not quite sure what you want to do? Explore options at SideHustles.com, a side hustle search engine.
Consider Your Goals
Do you want to stay in the classroom forever and just explore ways to make extra money as a teacher? Then consider something with a lot of flexibility, like virtual tutoring.
Do you hope to change careers from teaching one day? In that case, a path with more long-term earning potential— such as virtual instructional coaching or curriculum development— might be a better fit.
If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, then creating an online course or starting an education business might be a good side job.
Consider Your LIFESTYLE
Discovering how teachers make extra money doesn’t have to mean you’re working many more hours than you already are in the classroom. In fact, some of the best side hustles for teachers are extremely flexible.
When finding the side job for teachers that’s right for you, it’s important to consider the kind of lifestyle you want to have. Are you planning on doing this work on the side long term? Then you’ll probably want something you can do in off hours, such as in the evenings, early mornings, or weekends.
Do you want a teacher side hustle that can be done in just a few hours a month? Developing an online course that you can build at your own pace may be a better option.
The good news is, no matter what your lifestyle goals, there is a side hustle for teachers out there for you.
Getting Started with Side Hustles For Teachers
If you want to find your own ways to make extra money as a teacher, then exploring some of these teacher side hustles is a great place to start. Not sure you have what it takes? Sometimes you just need to do a little digging to realize just how many marketable skills you truly have.
If you’re ready to get started on a teacher side hustle or are even considering leaving the classroom altogether, then make sure to check out the Educator Forever Network, a course and community designed to support you to work beyond the classroom. You’ll learn more about the opportunities for education work outside of the classroom and get help identifying your transferable teaching skills.
Be sure to also sign up for our newsletter, where we share flexible job leads each Saturday.