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fattycat
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject: advice on bahrain schools |
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I would like some insight into schools you believe are the best and the worst to work for and why (people to work for, hours you work, package, etc). I am looking to work in Bahrain next year. I have just reciently graduated with my teaching degree and a double major in Visual Arts and Psychology. In Canada I would be qualified to work at the Junior/Intermediate level (grade 4-10) but would probably be looking at teaching any subject for grade 4-8 but I could teach art to pretty much any grade.
I reciently had some interest from Al Hekma but after looking into it and finding BAD reviews of the school and realizing that it is next to impossible to plan the art programs for all the students from grade 1-12 I am not persuing it. I also have family working at a school in Bahrain and a headhunter looking into jobs for me.
I hope this is thuro enough as I read the posting that one person put up earlier with a more vaige write up and the responce that they got. |
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Miss TESOL
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 47
Location: TESOL
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| Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 6:46 pm Post subject: R U a tchr? |
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R U a tchr? Yer spllgns atrowshiss!
Miss T. (no relation to Mr. T) |
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sprightly
Joined: 07 May 2003
Posts: 136
Location: England
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 10:32 am Post subject: |
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sadly, the current attitude towards spelling in the canadian school system goes something like this, "forcing children to spell properly stunts their creativity, and besides, they'll pick it up as they go along."
my sister went through this (she's 21), and despite being an avid reader, her spelling remains atrocious. |
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fattycat
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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Wow. I really appreciate that help that both of you have provided me help with the problem I posed.
Yes, I am a teacher. No, my poor spelling has nothing to do with the "Canadian School System". The truth is I have a learning disability. I can not spell. No matter what I do I can not spell. Nor could my mother or my grandmother. This is something I have worked on every day of my life. (currently crosswords) This is a recognised learning disability and all through out my life I've had to put up with comments like yours. (Ie. a high school teacher's mother asking if I was illiterate)
With in the first couple of days I tell my students of my problem and ask them for their help. This shows them that even the teacher makes mistakes, it is ok to make mistakes and that we can work together to find solutions. When both the students and I dont know the spelling, together we explore different resources to find the answer. It also gives confidence to students in the class who have their own learning struggles and shows them that their own learning limitations need not stop them from achieving their goals.
I use my learning disablity to teach my students, have been commended for it and thanked by my students. I doubt the way you singled me out and made fun of me has the same effect in the classroom. Yes, I could have typed this up in a different program and spellchecked it but I thought that my question that I had asked would have been the focus. Yet, not one person has responded to the question at hand. This seems to be a theme in the Bahrain forum. (incase anyone is keeping track in my last posting I had 6 spelling mistakes, 2 of them were the same word. In this one there is about 4 or 5...which I am not correcting out of spite.) |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Yet, not one person has responded to the question at hand. |
Probably because there are few posters who work in Bahrain or know the system. we wouldnt want to provide you with false information.
Good luck in your search. |
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sprightly
Joined: 07 May 2003
Posts: 136
Location: England
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| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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before i say anything further, i should point out that i'm very aware of capital letters, but having injured my wrists a while back, i don't like the movement required to hit the shift key. i save it for my papers.
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| With in the first couple of days I tell my students of my problem and ask them for their help. This shows them that even the teacher makes mistakes, it is ok to make mistakes and that we can work together to find solutions. |
then why not do that here? it's one thing if you're a regular and everyone knows that spelling is not your thing, but you can hardly expect empathy from a group of strangers when what you show on here is not reflective of the job you want to do. i didn't attack you--i referred to a pervailing attitude in our national education system.
if you look around these boards, you'll see crappy grammar and spelling from people who should have a wonderful grasp of the language. it's one thing for a non-native speaking teacher to make errors, but for a native speaker? if they can't use their own language properly, how can they be expected to help others manipulate it?
[/threadjack over] |
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fattycat
Joined: 19 Jun 2005
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| it's one thing if you're a regular and everyone knows that spelling is not your thing, but you can hardly expect empathy from a group of strangers when what you show on here is not reflective of the job you want to do. i didn't attack you--i referred to a pervailing attitude in our national education system. |
I never asked for empathy. I just posted my message to make a point that before people make judgments they should think. (i must admit that my response was aimed more at the other person who made a post and not so much to you) There are many reasons why a person may be doing something. No, you didn�t "attack me" but I do resent the implication that I am a product of the "Canadian Education System�s Attitude"...which I am not.
As for several spelling mistakes being "not reflective of the job I wish to do". Who ever said that a teacher must be proficient in spelling in order to teach? Are our gym teachers all Olympic athletes? How many times have we had to teach subjects, which were not our specialty? To be a great teacher is not to be an expert in that subject. We teach our students what we know yes, but a truly good teacher teaches the students how to find their own answers so that they can continue their own learning. My spelling ability in no way reflects the "job I want to do" because being a good speller and being a good teacher are independent of each other.
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it's one thing for a non-native speaking teacher to make errors, but for a native speaker? if they can't use their own language properly, how can they be expected to help others manipulate it?
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I actually have been teaching others who's first language is not English for years with great success. I have taught in schools where 70% of the school's population spoke a primary language other than English and when my students have asked me "Miss how do I spell this"? sometimes I have to tell them I don�t know. So what do we do then? Have the class throw out ideas where we could find the answer, try different recourses and compare which worked better, have discussions as to strategies each of them uses to learn a new word etc. As someone who has had to struggle with this part of the English language myself and find my own strategies is it not possible that perhaps I am in fact a better candidate to help them manipulate it than one who has not had to go through the same struggles? |
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Rhea lynn
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Posts: 1
Location: canada
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| Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Avoid Al Hekma!!! I was there 3 months too long!! |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: |
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| Only a reactionary neo-fascist of the worst kind would expect a teacher to be able to read, write and spell ! |
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Nashledanou
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 64
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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| fattycat wrote: |
| Who ever said that a teacher must be proficient in spelling in order to teach? Are our gym teachers all Olympic athletes? |
If you teach chemistry you cannot tell the students that water is H3O. If you teach history, WWII didn't start in 1956 with the killing of archduke Frankie Goes To Holliwood. So if you teach English, you are not supposed to misspell words, for that is your specific field of knowledge.
And no, our gym teachers are not all Olympic athletes, as well as TEFLers are not all bestselling writers. On the other hand, few if any gym teachers are paraplegic, right?
Nothing personal. I doubt not that you are a decent teacher. I just dislike seeing this beautiful language mangled. It even pains me when I see teachers use abbreviations such as "B4 U came it was a GR8 place", and I find it obnoxiously irksome to see "it's" instead of "its".
I know, it's my problem. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:56 pm Post subject: |
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Considering that this post is from 2005, I doubt that the person is around to read these reviews. 
VS |
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Nashledanou
Joined: 14 Apr 2007
Posts: 64
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:55 pm Post subject: interesting |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
Considering that this post is from 2005, I doubt that the person is around to read these reviews.
VS |
You break my heart man. I always think that what I write is SO important...  |
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qas419
Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 32
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| Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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I think posting an idea on this forum either by a native speaker or non-native speaker is meant only to present a view; this forum is not a platform for writing academic English, it is not a thesis or a dissertation to be examined by other posters. If I were you , Fattycat, I would not give in.
Now, let me answer your question without any digression. Hekma school is owned by a rich lady called Dr. Mona (MOD edit), She also owns Gulf University. Most of my expat. friends who worked for her, found her administration unacceptable: heavy schedules with a minimal pay. She has very few Europeans; most of her staff are Egyptian. Very few of her staff would complete their contracts; most of them would leave or run away before the end of the academic year. The best private schools in Bahrain are AlBayan, Ibn Khuldoon, Sheikha Hessa, Al-Majd, St. Christopher, and Al-Raja. These are all managed by school councils. Al-Raja is administered by American Mission Hospital. These are all well managed and the pay is very good. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:17 am Post subject: |
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| qas419 wrote: |
| Now, let me answer your question without any digression. |
This person hasn't posted since 2005, so I doubt that they will ever see your answer, but it is nice to have some up to date information on Bahrain. It is hard to get here.
VS |
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lall
Joined: 30 Dec 2006
Posts: 358
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| Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:53 am Post subject: |
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| Nashledanou wrote: |
| fattycat wrote: |
| Who ever said that a teacher must be proficient in spelling in order to teach? Are our gym teachers all Olympic athletes? |
If you teach chemistry you cannot tell the students that water is H3O. If you teach history, WWII didn't start in 1956 with the killing of archduke Frankie Goes To Holliwood. So if you teach English, you are not supposed to misspell words, for that is your specific field of knowledge. |
I fully agree with you on the above, Nash.
I'm back in Bahrain for a few weeks' stay.
That Blues Bar sounds interesting, though I'm not a blues fan. Hope some more inf. comes up in response to gharwell1's post.
Thought I'd liven up the scene by reviving this old thread.
| fattycat wrote: |
| This seems to be a theme in the Bahrain forum. (incase anyone is keeping track in my last posting I had 6 spelling mistakes, 2 of them were the same word. In this one there is about 4 or 5...which I am not correcting out of spite.) |
The 'out of spite" stuff, as in the above made me chuckle. She needs to re-orient herself in her attitude towards her disability.
Since she was aware of her disability, all that was necessary was to run her text through any spell-check program, (programs like which, I guess, are primarily designed for the such-challenged).
Or, maybe, she could have mentioned it upfront. |
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