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smurfetta
Joined: 14 Nov 2010
Posts: 38
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 Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 6:35 pm Post subject: Re: Same situation! |
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| MarcyG69 wrote: |
| Hello, I am in the exact situation as you! I completed my Masters in elementary ed. last yr and I got a first yr teaching job however I would really like to experience another culture and travel. I have been doing a lot of research as well and it seems that international schools are the way to go but I am finding it very hard to get in contact with them. I emailed dozens and have heard nothing back. I am wondering if it is worth it to join a recruiting agency?? Have you decided where you would like to go?? I thought about Asia since you can save money and I hear they are hiring. |
Hi Marcy,
It may be worth it for you to sign up with iss or search to attend one of their late fairs.
Asia is definitely a good place to look for an international school. China seems to be a good place to start your international teaching career. Also, look at schools in Eastern Europe. Be flexible about where you want to go and I think you should be successful. If you haven't signed up for tieonline already, then I think you should.
Another thing to think about is that it may be a good idea for you to di one more year teaching at home and get that 2 years experience that a lot if the international schools require. Then start your search in this fall for jobs starting in 2012-2013. Just a thought... |
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coledavis
Joined: 21 Jun 2003
Posts: 1838
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| I believe that there is a shortage of people with the skills to teach English to really young children, although you would still do well to get a general TEFL certificate so that you are not limited to that. After that, it is still a case of working out which country you want to work in. |
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smurfetta
Joined: 14 Nov 2010
Posts: 38
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| Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Marcy- I just checked tieonline and there are a fair number of classroom teacher positions posted. Check it out if you haven't already. |
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in_need_of_advice!
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you everyone for contributing to this post!!!
As I continue on in my journey, I have some more questions.
The good news is that out of the ten schools I've applied to, I've received about 8 replies back. 
So I have quite a few phone/skype interviews coming up, and I would appreciate some advice, not surprisingly.
What are the interview questions like? Are they similar to interviews that I've had over here in the States? IE questions about philosophy, classroom management, techniques, lesson plans?
One email asked "Have you ever been doing homeroom duties?"
My inclination is to think that they are just talking about being an inclusive classroom teacher, correct?
Just teaching all subjects to one grade??
I also had the question "What courses do you prefer, more science or more humanities?"
By this, they are talking about science and math vs reading and writing??
Any advice on what do/prepare for in interviews is truly appreciated.
Also! Having adopted 2 war refugees from Burma into my parent's family in the last 5 years has really opened my eyes. Having heard first hand accounts about civil war, guerilla tactics, and being a boy soldier makes me leery of that 3rd world violent situation.
That being said, does that pretty much put all South American/South African/Middle East countries out of the running for me? I don't want to teach somewhere surrounded by razor wire and sawed off shotguns. I've seen enough of that being in the army.
Is it better in Asia, like in Taiwan, China, Thailand, etc?
Also, is Mongolia freezing cold?
Thank you for your help. |
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010
Posts: 738
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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| in_need_of_advice! wrote: |
. . . Having heard first hand accounts about civil war, guerilla tactics, and being a boy soldier makes me leery of that 3rd world violent situation.
That being said, does that pretty much put all South American/South African/Middle East countries out of the running for me? I don't want to teach somewhere surrounded by razor wire and sawed off shotguns. . . |
I am somewhat bemused to find South America equated with Africa and the Middle East in terms of armed conflict. The DRC war alone (Africa's "World War") took over 5 million lives, almost half of them children, involved 7 African countries--including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Namibia, and Zimbabwe--and lasted well into the mid-2000's. Within the past decade, Angola, Nigeria, Central African Republic, and Liberia have seen civil war. Conflict is still ongoing in Somalia, Sudan, Chad, and the Ivory Coast. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. (Oh, yes, Libya.) Many think that Zambia is poised for civil war following the October 2011 election.
By contrast, Colombia is the only country in South America with an ongoing "civil war," now in its fourth decade. In 2010 Ecuador had its "attempted coup" by protesting police forces trying to remove Correa, but it seems to have lasted only a few days. You are probably in more danger in Ecuador from gnashing your teeth over visa laws than you are from armed conflict. Brazil has a history of land conflicts in its very remote areas over issues of land ownership including indigenous land demarcation, and "factual" vs. "paper" ownership rights. But none of these conflicts come anywhere close to the widespread violence in Africa, and I think if you read the Latin American board, you will not find that teachers are preoccupied with worry about violence in South America.
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smurfetta
Joined: 14 Nov 2010
Posts: 38
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| 1. What are the interview questions like? Are they similar to interviews that I've had over here in the States? IE questions about philosophy, classroom management, techniques, lesson plans? |
Same as home I've found. I've gotten questions such as: Why do you want to teach in x country? Why do you want to teach at our school? What are your strengths and weakness? How do you deal with a student who is misbehaving? Walk me through a 75 min class of yours. What would you do if you found a student cheating? Have you ever lived in another country? What kind of assessments do you use? (The big assessment for learning question.) How good are your math skills?
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| 2. Any advice on what do/prepare for in interviews is truly appreciated. |
Make up sample questions and answers. Do some mock interviews.
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| 3. Also, is Mongolia freezing cold? |
Check out this site for info about living in Mongolia.
http://sites.google.com/site/ublifeisu/home |
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in_need_of_advice!
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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@AGOODSTORY- thanks for your input.
@smurfetta- website was great, thanks.
Still have questions!
"Have you ever been doing homeroom duties?"
Does that mean being an inclusive classroom teacher or is that something different??
Also, "science or humanities"- should I assume humanities in this situation is just arts/reading/writing/etc?
psssttt ttompatz any input? |
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smurfetta
Joined: 14 Nov 2010
Posts: 38
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| Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Homeroom duties... During my first practicum, my school assigned a homeroom class to each teacher. The homeroom class was composed of a mix of students from all grades. They would meet up for 15 minutes and this is where school announcements were made and short activities were done. I think the purpose of this was to create a better school environment and teachers would have the time to check in on the students and see how they are doing.
Another school that I observed had homerooms for their students. This was a middle school and students moved from class to class instead of staying in one classroom. The homeroom students had their lockers in their homeroom and would go to their homeroom first thing in the morning. They would listen to the morning announcements on the tv and hand in any forms that the teacher needs from them. They would also eat their lunch in their homeroom. Again, I think the purpose of creating a homeroom is do that students feel like they are part of a community and have a teacher that they really get to know. The homeroom teacher duties are to spot the at-risk students and keep the admin informed with how they are doing. Plus, if a student in a homeroom has a health issue then the homeroom teacher will know all about it and be able to pass on any information regarding the student to other teachers. For example, if a student has epilepsy, the parent would provide all the necessary info that the teacher would need. Overall, I think homeroom are used in schools to make sure some students won't fall through the cracks and get the help that they need.
The science/ humanities question: maybe they are trying to see how versatile you are in terms of what subjects you can teach. Humanities to me is history, sociology, languages etc... Sorry, I'm not very helpful with this question. |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 1:29 am Post subject: |
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| in_need_of_advice! wrote: |
| psssttt ttompatz any input? |
I have found most of the advice so-far to be pretty much on the money.
To touch briefly on some of your questions:
In our schools, "home room" teachers are a combination of an inclusive teacher (g1-6) and are responsible for other duties, including but not limited to attendance, report cards (for their class), room layout (stuff on the walls, etc) but we are a K-12 school and not a "language center".
In the upper levels (7-12) they are also (specific) subject teachers but the room is theirs and the students come to them.
Humanities would be anything but Math or Science and again would largely depend on what level you would be teaching. In our schools we offer 2 program streams once they hit the G7-12 level: "intensive" which is MORE focused on the maths/sciences and the "Language Arts" which focuses more on the "other" subjects and has a larger focus on English.
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010
Posts: 738
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| Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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| in_need_of_advice! wrote: |
"Have you ever been doing homeroom duties?"
Does that mean being an inclusive classroom teacher or is that something different?? |
The term "home room" is most often used in middle and high schools where the students change rooms between classes. The home room is more or less their "address" for the school year, the room they come to every morning before the first class, perhaps at lunch, and again at the end of the day. In our school the function was largely administrative--as tttompatz said, the teacher takes attendance, gives the students messages/information from the administration, perhaps reviews school rules and regulations, etc. If you are given "home room duties," in addition to the classes you teach, you will have a group of home room students whom you do not teach, but oversee in the morning and at the end of the day as described. In some schools you may also supervise them during lunch. In our school , the K-6 classroom teachers were not referred to as "home room teachers." |
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