The ESL teachers or coordinator usually administer the test here. I do not know if the current counselor is a certified psych as he just arrived. I have been at schools in which I was the one to adminster the admissions test. I am neither an ESL teacher nor a counselor. Does everyone else admit special needs kids? Who tests if so?

As they are private operations, my schools have partially solved the problem of special needs kids by not accepting them (Mm-hmm...). That reply may bring on a firestorm...

willinphil,

Not to be vulgar, but pee breaks are important. Can’t be getting them regularly with such a schedule! Good luck with the coming year.

Oh, no! Do you think people can actually figure out who I am? Anyway, thanks for the comments. I thought I was the only one who would say, "Well, it's not reviewed on ISR. I guess if no one feels passionate enough to write, it must not be too bad." Even as I say that, I recognize the lack of logic. My school year ends this week and I will fly out this weekend. Once out, I’ll write a review of my current position. Or maybe I need to wait until my final paycheck is posted? Unfortunately, the review will include true anecdotes that will not be positive. PLEASE! Someone balance it out with a fantastic review of your school!

Other than the obvious, that discontented teachers are more likely to write reviews than contented teachers, is it possible that the happy teachers do not even know the forum exists, as they are not looking to leave their state of contentedness?

I have also seen the phrase "corporate-ran" and the word "proprietary" as descriptors of for-profits. I suspect there are several good for-profit schools out there, but, as has been stated above, the bottom line for a private school generally IS the bottom line...Nice to see that ichiro and IBRULES are on speaking terms again.

I received a written offer in October, too. Much too early, so I declined!

It's hard to change one's writing syle and word choice. I have read every review on the ISR website at least once. Repeated postings by the same persons occur for several schools. It's fairly easy to spot them with little practice. It may be little comfort to you, as one's reputation is intensely personal, but I ignore those particular entries, recognizing their intent. I suspect most others who spend any time in the reviews do the same.

Congratulations! Now you are obligated to use your new experience to guide others! Not really, but do help keep others informed about your experiences. Everyone has their own point of view and it helps me to hear as many as possible. I may wish to teach in Mexico one of these decades. :)

I DO have a question on which some of y'all out there may have advice, though. It does deal with teacher quality, too. I have taught in schools where parents come to me to complain about other teachers. I have always told the parents that I cannot be involved in such an issue, that they need to go to the administrator if they have concerns. I then stay out of it, and do not even tell the involved teacher(s). I have been the administrator the last bit, so I have dealt with the issues directly, but I am now returning to being a fellow colleague. If this arises again, how should I deal with it? Continue to deflect and stay out of it, or approach the teacher(s) about whom the parent(s) has a concern, at least to let them know about the concern? Maybe I am inviting worry and I will not be in such a situation in my new school!

Gosh, you caught me! I'm one of those lower-quality teachers at one of those lower-quality schools...

The schools that pay better attract far more applicants than do those that do not pay as well. (Yes, it's my subjective opinion!) They are then more readily able to pick up the teaching couples that the lesser-paying schools would also like to hire. I do have to agree that better teachers DO tend to make for a better school! Thank goodness, the schools that have hired me have had ME to teach their kids. :)

Is there a single teaching female looking to get married so I can catch on with a top-tier school?

There are many other sources for job leads, but many of them are limited to whatever the school decides to post. Some are pay sites, many are not. They are truly a mixed bag. You can always try them, though: teachanywhere, educatorsoverseas, tes, k12jobs, schoolspring, teachersoverseas, topschooljobs, ibo, liveteacherrecruiting. There are others as well. Most are dot com; a couple are dot org. JoyJobs is another thread on this board. I do tend to like them as they simply capture job openings from school websites and post the announcement with a link to the school's employment page. It's a pay site, though. Best of luck.

There I was, about to blast the postings concerning the boring, slow forum, thinking that I might draw interesting comments by accusing the posters themselves of being boring. Unfortunately for my purposes, I've read all the "seinfeld" comments and they are pretty informative.

I do disagree with the most commonly-held view that schools are losing students. My own impression--and the impression of others whom I press until they give it thoughtful consideration--is that the current enrollment in my school and many others is going to remain stable. The companies here had already sent home the families that they did not want to keep and were already down to the bare bones on staffing BEFORE the job fairs this year. I could be wrong, but I suspect that several schools are going to be making a bit on overcrowded classrooms this fall.

A former colleague who is now in Mexico had the past two weeks off. The school reopened this week. They added an hour to the schedule to catch up for the lost time.

I do not know if this will be of any interest at all, but AAC is featured in an ESL project at

http://eslblogs.englishclub.com/film/ca ... n-morocco/

and apparently there is a Facebook network for the school. Maybe some current teachers belong? If you want to email cold, the faculty emails are listed on the school's website...