Some of your points are well taken: chilling and relaxing expectations. I miscommunicated about the “speak your peace” part of what I was saying though and it led to a misunderstanding. What I saw was the exact same arguments being repeated over and over again and it was the second time that I’d pointed it out. What I should have said was that that just wasn’t serving anybody or accomplishing anything. I wasn’t trying to claim any authority over anyone here because you’re right that would be ridiculous. Regarding moderation, I don’t exactly share your views about where the line should be drawn as I’ve been a part of great forums (in my opinion) where when an off topic argument totally derailed a thread and/or the original poster said they got what they needed the thread would be closed. Seems to be a reasonable policy to me and not overmoderation, but this isn’t my forum to decide anything of the sort. Just my thoughts on the matter. Thanks for your reply.

I hope this forum is moderated so that this nonsense can get shut down. This is ridiculous. This is my first post to this forum; what an impression you guys give. I even asked if people could act like adults and kill the petty arguing and it continues for pages and pages detailing the thread completely. It is a shame to see as this could be a really positive and helpful place to get information. I hope the posters here can see this and change because you all are obviously quite invested in this forum and yet it seems like nobody can give up the last word in an argument that is doing nothing but detracting and going nowhere. Speak your peace once by all means, but then drop it when it’s done being spoken. For example, what I’m doing now. I’ve gotten what I can out of this thread and am done with it now. Hopefully if I need to come here again I can just get some straightforward help without personal bickering.

Guys, I appreciate the different perspectives. I’ve taken Psyguy’s PASS as a general guideline from someone who knows a lot more than I do about this, and others’ rebuttals as pointing out that in reality things are a lot more nuanced. So thank you for those contributions.

What I’m more vexed by is the arguing that sounds a lot like a “yeah huh” and “nuh uh” that I expect I’ll be hearing when I do have school aged children.

Thank you both for the helpful info!

Both of you asked about what math I teach. Unfortunately, I’ve only taught lower HS maths so far: Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 (all for 4+ years). I hope to pick up a Precalc class not next year but the year after. That will likely help me, right? I don’t see Calculus being possible at my current position as we don’t even teach it some years due to low demand and a more experienced teacher always gets it when we do.

Does this modify your answers about my marketability?

I have some typical and one atypical question/s.

The typical is this: I’m a Board Certified HS Math Teacher with 6 years teaching experience in the States. I have a Masters in Teaching with endorsements in Math and ELL. I’m interested in teaching at an International School and have no experience thus far with teaching internationally but have done some traveling that I can point to. I’ve heard that for your first international school job you can’t count on getting a job in a “good location” or at a “good school.” I’m not sure what this means exactly as locations that are good/interesting for me might not be the same as they are for someone else. I’m most interested in South America and Southeast Asia (ex: Columbia, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam with a few other scattered countries that interest me like Spain and maybe South Africa). Can someone explain the types of job I should expect to be able to land and help me understand the distinction between opportunities I might expect to be open or not open to me based on my experience? Also, I like the idea of an international school best, but are there other options I should/could consider for finding a job internationally teaching math?

Atypical: I have a bit of a family in tow. I would have a trailing spouse and baby (maybe school age by the time I am looking to work, maybe not). Moreso, we have a German Shepherd. If it were only up to me I would leave the dog behind but my wife doesn’t have the heart to. She says the dog comes or we don’t do it which I can understand given how important the dog is to us and with this breed you only get to enjoy like 10 years anyways .i don’t know if international schools give a stipend for family and you can shop around or if they have specific apartments they put you up in. Which is more common? Or are both? The former I imagine would allow me to locate a spot where we could have a dog, vs the latter I imagine we would be subject to rules which exclude the possibility. Also, how would you modify your answers above about my marketability based on these circumstances? I know we need to find a location that would allow our family To live off a single income so while I would love to teach in Western Europe, I’m assuming it would be too expensive in most countries (except possibly Spain?)

Very much appreciate any advice and insights!

Stephen