Job Discussion Forums

[Linda T.]

Does anybody know anything about the Laughing Coyote Schools in Mexico? I noticed there was a thread about the schools elsewhere, but looks like it got shut down for some reason.

Any info would be much appreciated.

[ls650]

The previous threads were of a negative nature, and it appears they have been deleted.

That should tell you more than enough.

[TheLongWayHome]

Yes, seemed like a cowboy outfit.

[dreamon]

I can tell you what I know. I applied this last year and I got hired. I am very happy and they are great people. They are very open communicators and very upfront with everything. They have 8 schools and none of them are closed down. In fact they are opening more. I know 4 more new teachers are coming soon, and I have met 2 new teachers who finish training this month. All of us are very happy and content. I have 5o students in my school. I work full time and that comes to 28 hours a week. NO LESSON PLANNING! I love it. The groups are small. 10 students or less. I am able to really enjoy teaching with the small groups. I know most of the schools all have that or more. I do know that a lot of people apply for the jobs. They are very strict in the hiring process. I went through it. But now I see why. They really involve the students in their program, and protect them and us as teachers. Our safetly is very important to them. They also only hire American Citizens. I have always been paid on time or earlier. I have never felt threatened or uninformed. They give us a computer and cell phone in most of the schools. It is really the most professional place I have ever worked in. I have been in Asia, Europe, and South America.I have seen 6 of the schools. They are very nice and all really organized. The teachers are all experienced, and we get together very often and talk. I have yet to here anything negative. Most schools even have a cleaning service. Our apts. are all very cute and clean. I have seen 6 of the 8 apartments. The Owner is very kind, and generous. The training was invaluable for me and I have a lot of experience in teaching. I think that the statements you have made are unfounded and it sounds like a person who did not get hired. It is comments like these that make us teachers look bad. What is written is simply not true. And by the way, I am not a copwboy but what is wrong with cowboys? That is pretty shallow and judgmental.

[hlamb]

[MELEE]

dreamon has made 5 posts on Dave's.
3 of them have disappeared along with their threads. If they hadn't you'd see that he appears to be much more than just a teacher at Laughing Coyote.

[dreamon]

Who they hire is up to them. The students here ask for American English. The school just gives them what they want. As far as books go, there is no books. This school is nothing but creativity. It is based around Chomsky. That is why I came to begin with. They have the base all set up for us. It is very organized like I said. All of us teachers here are very experienced, and we are tired of books. This is the first school that I can use my creativity. My students are not bored. They have so much fun. As a teacher I have the freedom to spend more time on making my classes fun, than on preparing lessons. I am sure you can talk to other teachers here. The thing is, I am the newest one, the older ones have resigned contracts for like 3 years. My experience has been great. But then, I have had experience all over the world so when I see a good thing, you bet I am going to stay too. Why dont you be honest and just admit that you are jolted and did not get hired? There are more productive ways to vent anger than to write comments that are not true. OR is it because you are not a USA citizen and they did not hire you? These comments are for teachers who are serious and want to know facts. They are not for vengeance. If you do not have facts then why create false ones? I am happy with my job. What more can I say?

[dreamon]

Get real. This is getting old. When someone says something good you accuse them of being more than a teacher. Is that how you try and discredit people? I AM A TEACHER. THAT IS ALL. If i get on here and write all bad things then I am a real teacher? Or if I get on here and lie, then I am a real teacher? Your comments are childish. I do not write often on here because I find a lot of comments on here to be simply not worth my time. I have not been on here long, this is true. The ones that disappeared may of disappeared because someone lied. It had nothing to do with my comments. I will talk to the other teachers, and have them post comment to. If only to show that there are teachers out here that are honest, and happy. Im sorry if you are not.

[Phil_K]

I think MELEE's comments, like everyone's, are based on what she sees. This school appears to be shrouded in mystery. Googling it shows no results except a couple of job ads here on Dave's. These appear to be written in the same style as the teacher's posts (albeit with better English!).

One of our functions here is to inform potential teachers of what is good, bad and indifferent in various schools. If we have only the word of one teacher who adopts a strident tone when defending his school, what are we to think?

I'm not saying you are not telling the truth, but if this is such a good school, can we have some independent evidence to support the claim?

[dreamon]

Fair enough. How can we as a teacher, give you independent feed back if you only want to think we are "more than a teacher". Mysterious is a very good comment. Is it because no one really knows anyting about the school.Why does that force people to think that it is a bad place to work? Why is it that if we as teachers, feel good about our job, and positive, that it is not "independent" enough? I will suggest you do what I did. I also, knew nothing about the school. I came down here and visited them, and I also sat in classes and talked with other teachers. I am an experienced teacher. I have the income freedom to do what I want, so I did. I expected the worst. Especially after reading some of the comments. It was more than I expected. They were happy to invite me down, and supplied a place to stay while I visited them. When I was researching them I ran into the same problem. I could not find anything. But, I realized that does not mean they are not good. I found that they are not pushy, or desperate for teachers. They are very personal, and treated me with respect. They are very private people. I can tell you, they do not care about any sites. I told them about some of the things being said, and they told me "That is the first ammendment." I was upset, and felt the need to speak up. So, that is why I did, and now I see why it is not really worth it. No one believes what anyone says.

[geaaronson]

We have so little information to go on and you are not helping us any with so little feedback other than a glowing report about the school. Give us some details about the school`s programs, the textbooks it uses, how many in the classes, how many students are currently attending and who is teaching there (ie from what countries).

And what about your own personal biography. Where are you from, where were you trained, where have you been, where have you taught and what have you taught. Perhaps when you answer these questions, then and only then can we form a better opinion about you.

[geaaronson]

Sorry, but didn`t read all your posts. You answered the question about the number of students previously. I see that you say ^There are fifty students in my school^. Am I to take that literally. Is it really just your school and you are the dueno?

[MELEE]

It's very common on this board for business owners to pose as employees of said buisness. You're old posts are gone, so I can not show you the comments that lead me to put you in that class, but maybe if you take a look at posts by Julieanne you will see what I mean.

The name it's self adds to the mysteriousness of it.
Coyotes are symbols of mischievousness, evasiveness, decietfulness and greed. This coyote must be laughing all the way to the bank!

Next there are those reports of the "strange" interview process.

While there are some posters on the forum who seem to enjoy attacking others, I really don't think I'm one of them (come the rest of you, tell me if I'm wrong, 'cause I don't want to be that way). I think I believe most of what people say on here and I hope most people believe the things I say.

Maybe I'm inexperienced because I've only worked at one school in Mexico. But during that entire time I've been active on this forum and I try to remember what people have said about the various places they have worked. Laughing Coyote has only recently come to our attention and it does seem as Phil said, rather mysterious.

BTW, I am a US Citzen, but I certainly do not support a policy of only hiring US nationals as teachers. English is an international language, and should be taught as such.

[Samantha]

It's pretty obvious the moderators were able to determine that dreamon and imbabyj are the same person. The latter name is a known recruiter for this school; that much is clear during a google search.

dreamon wrote:

[dreamon]

"There are fifty students in my school^. Am I to take that literally. Is it really just your school and you are the dueno?"


Yes it is my school. In the philisophical sense of the word. What happens is once I finished my 4 week training with them, they put me in a town with my own school. NO it is not my ownership school, but I am the only teacher at that school. Just like baby j is at the school in Las Varas, and so on. The only school that has more than 1 teacher is the main school in Tepic. There are over 100 stuents at the main school I believe more or less. That is where we do our training. They want us to treat the school as our own. So, I do. I call is my school, I call in my classes, because I am the one here. The owner is Mexican of all the schools. As I stated before they hire only people from the USA.