Michelle wrote:
> Today I received an email from my new school. They are asking me to DHL my
> passport to them so they can get my work visa stamped into it. This sounds
> very suspicious to me. I didn't find this job through Search or ISS. I'm
> afraid this is a scam. Has anyone heard of such a thing? Help!

@Michelle
Just curious: how did this play out?

CeeCee1 wrote:
> He has been released.

Glad the U.S. government ultimately recognized that he was wrongfully detained, and got him freed in a prisoner swap.
I can't imagine the hardships he had to endure. I'd rather be in a Scandinavian prison for 12 years than be in a Russian prison for 4.

zenteach wrote:
> As my financial literacy grows, I am curious about how others are planning
> for the retirement. If you'd like to join in the conversation, please
> share:
>
> 1) How do you save for retirement when working outside of your home
> country?
>
> 2) What percentage of your salary are you able to save towards retirement?
> What would you ideally like to save?
>
> 3) Do you have a teacher pension in your home country (if you have worked
> there) and if so, what will it look like?
>
> 4) Do you have any passive income streams, and what are they?
>
> 5) What are your best tips about finances and retirement?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To answer the above questions, I am using Interactive Brokers and index
> funds to save for retirement while living abroad, and save 30% of net
> monthly income. I'd like to increase this to 40%, and that will take a lot
> of focus to do. I do have a teacher pension in my home country with about a
> decade of service, and I am still investigating what this means. I do rent
> out a house in home country, and one day hope to maybe purchase a second
> property if I plan well. My tip is to remember that it is never too late to
> get into finances, even if you feel you have lost some time!

Currently saving around 30k USD per year, without any additional income streams. I have no intention to alter my lifestyle or switch schools to save more. All of it goes towards my portfolio of globally diversified ETFs, also using Interactive Brokers for that. Nowadays on average that portfolio yields a lot more annually than my teaching income, but I don't have a teacher pension back home so I plan to continue teaching until I hit my financial goal (2.5 million) that allows me to retire the way I want to.
I feel too young to retire anyway, and I still very much enjoy teaching. In 5-10 years when I hit my target I'll have to see if I feel like retiring then, and I have until then to figure out where I actually want to retire (my short list is way too long).

My only tip is too start investing early.
First apply for jobs in undesirable locations that allow you to save and invest, so that compound interest can do its thing. Starting early will mean you can retire early. It's advice that few will take though - most teachers start investing later and have to work for more years than they want.
When you're still young it's too tempting to go for more attractive locations, which are usually so competitive that you will have to settle for a school where savings will be minimal. The realization that saving for retirement is important usually comes to teachers in their late 30s.

@PsyGuy
I assume they mean to be 'overseas' in both scenarios, with 'closer to home' likely meaning a country that is a shorter (and cheaper) flight to their home country.

But @zenteach, please correct me if I'm wrong - it's not 100% clear from your post, although you would have probably written 'back home' instead of 'closer to home' if you meant to move back to your home country. I could be mistaken though. Either way, I would just calculate in which location you would ultimately save more.
I imagine that moving closer to home would would cause you to lose out on more in savings potential than that 10K in travel expenses. Plus you would still spend money on travelling home even if you would move closer, and cost of living might be higher along with the lower salary.

Long flights are indeed a hassle (I know from experience), but it's only once a year (plus return). Also, being in a great region and at an excellent school that you and your children are happy at makes you very, very fortunate, in addition to the economic stability you mentioned. I would count my blessings if I were you, and just accept the hassle of long annual flights. Maybe look into using HomeExchange(.com) to cut down on costs - some homes even include the use of the owner's car.

PsyGuy wrote:
> I disagree with @Heliotrope , not strongly, because it sounds very
> reasonable in a sort of made for television way that depicts edus and
> students. My issue is that this is a crime, and likely in a region with
> heavy penalties just for drug possession, and that this type of behavior is
> a violation of the ISs policy somewhere. Not reporting it has serious
> negative implications for the IT and theres no benefit to the IT for, at
> the very least not report it to leadership. Assuming they word the report
> in such away as to not indicate they ignored the behavior in the past.
> Theres a lot of risk of serious downside consequences and no upside for the
> IT. @Heliotrope is arguing AGAINST CYA, and an IT should always be thinking
> and acting towards first CYA.

If I worked in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia and overheard two local students outside my classroom window say they think the prophet Muhammed made it all up and Islam is a bunch of nonsense, would I report this, knowing it might lead to a death sentence?
Hell no.
Nobody knows I overheard it (just like the OP, who says they saw it from their classroom window, and I'm assuming they were by themselves but the OP can correct me if I'm wrong), which means my ass and the OP's ass are both covered.

If the OP makes a remark to that student that they smelled an odor resembling cannabis in that area but that they haven't seen who actually smoked it but just wants to warn him that it is illegal since they know that that student hangs out in that area sometimes, and then say that should the student ever be tempted to smoke pot they should resist that urge given the strict laws in place, then that would still not put the OP at risk since they're not saying they actually witnessed anything illegal, but it could lead to positive change in student behavior (or at least be more careful about where they smoke it).
They could tell SLT that they have smelled pot, without needing to report specific students. Ass covered and no unnecessary victims.

newtothisgame wrote:
> I am inclined to approach one of them I know best and suggest they at least
> not smoke on campus.

This what I would do, sort of.
I'd tell them I'd smelled it but wasn't able to catch them in the act, but that is not allowed on campus, or anywhere (in their country).
I wouldn't tell them to smoke it elsewhere, I'd just tell them to not smoke it on campus.
I wouldn't try to be relatable by saying you're actually ok with smoking weed or that you have done it yourself (although it would convey the scary idea that smoking pot might lead to a career in education), just simply state that if someone catches them in the act they will have a big problem. Nearly getting caught might scare them enough to stop doing it at school.

popgirl wrote:
> Heliotrope wrote:
> > Some schools will try to obtain a certain accreditations because they think it's
> the
> > better one and having it will reflect their commitment to education to parents
> and
> > other schools.
> > Sometimes a school will go for the easiest one, just so they can say they're a
> certified school.
>
>
> So which ones do you think denote quality ?

Lots of great schools have one or more of the following: WASC, CIS, NEASC
But that doesn't mean that if a school has one of these that it's definitely a good school. It just makes it more likely than if they don't have any of them.

popgirl wrote:
> so why might a school choose one over the other ?

Some schools will try to obtain a certain accreditations because they think it's the better one and having it will reflect their commitment to education to parents and other schools.
Sometimes a school will go for the easiest one, just so they can say they're a certified school.

tangchao wrote:
> Just make sure you have a reference already.

Part of checking the references can also be a call or email to your last employer, so getting a reference before you take legal action isn't a way of having your cake and eating it too.
It will however enable you to prove the bad things an admin might say about you in such a call/email are because of the lawsuit you brought against them, since they said different things in their written reference.

Aoibhneas wrote:
> Could you tell me the name
> of the biggest fair in Lomdon to attend ? thank you! Aoife

That would be the Search Associates Fair. You would need to be registered with Search to attend.

interteach wrote:
> I can't discuss actual schools, but my references were excellent and I've
> taken advantage of PD to improve my work, either through what the school
> offered or an allowance (if provided). I was pretty well set up to get
> interviews.
>
> A number of schools were known for being fast-paced and expecting a fair
> amount of work from teachers, but I enjoy that.

I actually meant the non-teaching jobs ("education-related work"), but I misread and thought those were the high-paying jobs.

interteach wrote:
> IB Math

May I ask what kind of high-paying jobs you landed, and how you liked them?

applecake wrote:
> Wondered if we were looking for a throwback to the 80s where we had family
> neighborhoods and kids biking in the streets reminicent to Stranger Things
> - which schools / cities would be best to take a closer look at?

This sounds a lot like how other teachers have described the housing compounds for some schools in Saudi Arabia (Aramco, KAUST, AIS Riyadh, AIS Jeddah, probably a few more).

I think there's an assessment-only pathway to certification. Not sure if this is true for all US states, but it's worth looking into. Then you'd only have to pay the exam-fees. Not sure what the qualifications for this is, but Google and learn.

Very few people visit this forum.
If I were you I'd post it on the main forum, you'll get more answer there.