Job Discussion Forums

[tillymd]

Lizzie,

I think you are asking very good questions concerning books and curriculum. All I read day after day are posts about visas, salary, recruiters, housing, etc. I have not read one post on how to motivate or teach Saudi students. Is this an ESL teacher website or what? Telling someone they sound like they have never taught before just because they asked about text books is ridiculous! Even a 20 year teacher can still improve on their skills as an educator. Some teachers may be coming from Asia and need help adjusting to students who already speak but cannot write. I think these are legitimate questions.

I'd like to hear from the people who have actually received their visa and plane tickets, including the woman who ate McDonalds by the swimming pool. What happened to her?

Thanks, Tillymd

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Whew! Lotza emotions going on here! lizziebennet on top of everything else, I'm thinkin' that the frustration that people are feeling here is like a firefighter trying to put out a white phosphorus fire...it don' matter how much water ya put on it...it jes' won' go out.

Seems that a lot are on the edge and that only intensifies when some show up reporting success...

NCTBA

[Middle East Beast]

[lucreziaborgia]

Lizziebennet, My approach may be of help to you.
I only take my favourite sartorial friends around the globe. If I have to provide my own resources to do the job, I expect my employer to inform me andpay for the cost of transporting them.
I will not keep a dog and bark.
I have only been teaching English for a little over 3 years but during that brief time, I have realised that you can be treated with scant respect by employers. My position now is: I am an English teacher and you have needs for English teachers. It is your responsibilty to provide an appropriate environment and infrastructure. If you don't, live with the consequences. I am not a mobile resource centre.
I was an eager beaver for about a month into my first job and soon realised that nobody gave a stuff. Then I realised that I have a wealth of life experience and an education that combined, gave me all the inspiration for delivering stimulating lessons. Better than Swan et al. As a previous poster commented: you will have access to the Internet and a photocopier. That is all you need.
If you are earnest (as opposed to effective) you will be exploited. You have taught longer than I have and I applaud your ongoing commitment to the task. After Korea, I am doubly impressed.

[Middle East Beast]

[lizziebennet]

If you've been teaching for 6 years you should know what to bring.

Sorry sweetie, but I think you have misunderstoof the question, I have loads of resources that work. I just can't fit them all in my luggage. As I said before I made the mistake fo bringing along all those books and more to Singapore and not needing them because the school had all those resources available.

I always like to add more though which is why I asked the question about new maybe even unknown but good resources that people may have come across. As much as I love Murphy and Swan etc... it would be nice to have something different.

The books I mentioned are usually to be found at any decent esl school except they didn't have many of them in Korea (the Korean teachers taught grammar with books published by Korean publishing houses). I don't know if this is the case in Saudi. That is why I am asking...

You should know what works and you should know good websites. (although you should never rely on website for your lessons)

As far as eslprintables goes,have you ever used it? It is a resource sharing website. You cannot download other people's work until you have produced your own work. And you work has to be something that people would download in order to get points. It is not as easy as print and go.

I know which websites to use but there is always space for me to learn about new websites that I may not have come across.

�There are no foolish questions and no man becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions�
Charles P. Steinmetz quotes (Prussian Engineer and Inventor, 1865-1923)

[lizziebennet]

[polly1]

I've been a teacher for a many years and have develpoed many resources and I found that other teachers, knowing that, were always asking me to share my resources and I used to be free with giving them out. However, I found that those same teachers never shared anything of theirs and just rode on the back of my hard work. So, while I spent hours of my own time developing and researching resources, others were getting a free ride on it and cruising through their job while I was burning out. Some of them even took credit for my work!

Maybe Kalima has had the same experience and that's why she's shocked! This forum I found is, unfortunately, full of people with very little scruples (as middle east best pointed out) and I'm not going to share my hard work with them. I've a wealth of resources, incuding internet sites, but until I know someone really well and am certian of their integrity I'm giving them zilch!

In other words, I'm not making them public to anyone, until I know them and Im sure that they're not a lazy, incompetent s*its! (And don't go all sensitive now thinking that I'm accusing you of that - I simply don't know you). I've worked with a lot of teachers and I've met many who've become ESL teachers because they think it's an easy ride! When they discover it's not, they try to make it one.

And I'm sorry, but I still think you're a bit of a princess. You put so many posts up (and some are quite long and some even silly - 'hair straightening?!') as well started numerous threads, so it's clear that you've got time on your hands -may I suggest you use some of that gathering some resources or, as lucriciaborger stated, the institute you work for should provide the necessary stuff - and I agree. I got sick of carting almost a suitcase full of stuff around with me. So now, all I have is a good dictionary and few markers. If the employer is serious about teaching their students then they will also provide the necessary materials.

[Stephen Jones]

The reason we are annoyed is that Lizzie is asking questions she should be asking her employer. It's her employer who has the information to answer her, not us.

[Cleopatra]

[Kalima Shahada]

[lucreziaborgia]

I think the only salient question that Lizziebennet needs to ask is one to her employer. The question is: "Do you have a profession ESL library?'
Personally, I find the notion of dragging anything other than myself and my best sartorial friends around the globe not only a drag - but - unimaginable. My teaching methodology and resources are so quirky nobody could possibly use them. Or want to. I invent at the time depending on circumstances - and my mood.

[cmp45]

If in doubt, leave it out! No need to pack a whole lot of resources- travel light and you will find that most of what you need will be provided by your employer and vetran colleagues. As stated before if you must, bring the resource books that you use the most...usually that is one or 2 books. You can order books online if you feel the need.

I also brought too many resource books and for the most part never used them as the curriculum was set and the college provided all the books to use in the classroom. Also there really wasn't all that much class time where one was able to use additional resources.

Relax, if you have your visa and are on your way...no need to bring a whole lot of stuff...most of what you need you can get in KSA. Unless you are stuck in the boonies then you may have to make the odd trip to the bigger cities near by on the weekends????

The bottom line is you will be fine without alot of "stuff" ...these days the internet is the most handy resource available.

[veiledsentiments]

I think this thread gives a very good cross section of the average faculty room. I was hired to do one semester at a well-known ME university when I was traveling through. During the interview, I was told that there were tons of materials in the files since I pointed out that I had none of my things with me. But once I accepted and came back the next week, those files were nowhere to be found... and I was assigned to someone on the staff as a mentor. She wouldn't even let me have a copy of her syllabus, not to mention any of her materials. There was a cabinet in the hall of texts, so I just grabbed a few of them that I knew and started breaking copyright laws. There was no assigned text for this advanced writing course. I had taught similar courses previously so it was just a matter of fitting my experience into their goals - which were not entirely clear to me as yet.

The next day I stopped in to another teacher's office and he said... all my materials are in that file cabinet... help yourself anytime... and I hadn't even asked. I asked if I could see his syllabus and he said that he changed his course each semester and let me see his file of different approaches he had taken.

Rather reminds one of this board...

VS

(here's a question... when you are being hired by these recruiters, can you even get an answer to a question like this? Will they even know? Will they tell you the truth?)

[JacoMaloney]

Lizziebennet: