English teacher w/ 3 dependants..HELP!

FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

As I've been doing more research today I am thinking about either doing a double major or double degree in a foreign language. I am interested in it and it may offer me more than a minor.
FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

With doing the 5 year program (getting B.A in English and Master's in Teacher) I do not know if I would be able to double major or obtain a dual degree with a foreign language.

I am going to reach out to my university.

Do you think I would be able to do a double major/dual degree?
ringler24
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 6:25 pm

Post by ringler24 »

I don't know where you're located but the Teaching Fellows program (similar to Teach for America) accepts certified teachers in two cities that I know of (Pittsburgh and New Orleans). I work for them part time so this is where my info is coming from.
FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

[quote="ringler24"]I don't know where you're located but the Teaching Fellows program (similar to Teach for America) accepts certified teachers in two cities that I know of (Pittsburgh and New Orleans). I work for them part time so this is where my info is coming from.[/quote]

I'm in Virginia, but I wouldn't mind relocating at all! I love the south and would love to teach in New Orleans. I will check it out. Thank you!
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Long Reply

Post by PsyGuy »

@Walter

Because its not stupid, and your logic is flawed. walter just doesnt know what hes talking about.

English teachers have about as much demand as social studies/humanities teachers do. Its not really that complex. Yes core subject areas are the largest in a school, but the humanities (including english) have much lower turnover, and fewer vacancies, per year.

@FutureTeacher33

Gosh thats a lot of questions to reply too.

Its going to be hard for you to get your foot in the door with your family situation, no matter what field you choose to teach in. You of course have a better chance at getting into a third tier school, or a school in an undesirable area like the middle east. Really the best option for you may very well be to stay stateside for 5 years building up your experience. If you could do it at an IB school and/or in an AP program that would increase your marketability substantially. Its just so much harder and a more saturated market for those with only around 2 years experience.

You can add other endorsement and certification areas, but generally a certificate only gets you an interview. Schools want to see that you have actual experience teaching. If your an english teacher with 5 years experience and you get an endorsement in Physics, and have never taught it thats not going to overly impress a recruiter. In that situation you go into the same pile as the other newbies. They may need you, but your not going to be a strong candidate. Your best options are to stick with something you do and do well, and show a recruiter/school how those skills and experience will add value to the schools program, and benefit students. Adding complimenting endorsements for english could include drama, speech, journalism. They would increase your marketability at small schools that wouldnt justify a full time teacher. You dont really need any course hours in these fields though to add the certification endorsement. You dont need a certification to be proficient in technology, you could get a technology education certification, but you just need to demonstrate to a recruiter during an interview that you have the skills.

The bulk of marketable extra curricular activities either involve ESL or sports/athletics though. Its the drama ;teacher" that does the school productions, and the music 'teacher' that handles the recitals. The PE teacher usually handles the major sports as well. An extra curricular for an english teacher might be: School paper, yearbook, speech/debate, literary guild, creative writing club, etc.
Many teachers just do english corner or tutoring in their subject area.

Special ed (SPED) is a odd situation. In a number of middle eastern and asian cultures, those with disabilities are not provide opportunities in their culture. Usually these students are taken care of by the family or if the family has money in special schools. The vast majority of ISs are private schools, they dont get government aid, and so they are funded by tuition. Special education programs are expensive, so that means to fund them parents have to pay, and there usually isnt a demand at small schools to justify the expense. the schools that do supply SPED are typically the large ISs and the top tier schools. This means that if your a SPED teacher your much more likely to be hired at a top tier school (one that would have less a problem with your family situation), but the lower end of the market there is almost no demand at all, which means you could find yourself unemployed or unemployable. Even at the big schools, they dont do SPED programs to the standards required by the USA department of education.

Thats the thing with fine arts positions there is demand but you have to have a very special skill set. Yes, you need to be proficient in both 2D and 3D art mediums, to be a credible art teacher. You cant just get by on art history and culture. You have to be able to draw, paint, and sculpt, sorry (and it would help if you could do digital as well).
There is a demand for everything, but field like art which may have trouble filling positions, dont have a lot of demand in numbers. A small school might have only one art teacher, compared to the english department which could have 4 or more. That reduces the odds of getting hired. The major problem though in fields like art and music is that in the states there is zero demand, and without any demand, you cant get a job to build the experience you need to get into an international school. You could be subbing for a decade as an art teacher waiting for a full time position. Art, music, dance and other fine art teachers are essentially artists that need a regular pay check. If its not your thing, your not going be a very successful teacher at it.

Schools and recruiters are too busy to reply to questions that dont involve viable teaching candidates. You may be lucky and get a few brief replies, but they arent going to offer you much in the way of real consideration or building a a relationship.
You should start your job application process at the start of the year you will be certified in at the end of it. So if you are looking for a job in 2013/2014, you should start during the summer of 2012. IS recruiting season starts in November (late October).

Most ISs arent really bilingual (unless your at a specific bilingual school) the vast majority of them the medium of instruction is english. Its important to make the difference that in 'english' there is english literature (which is what I assume you are perusing) and ESL/EFL which is teaching english as a language. They are very different (though have about the same demand in ISs).

Being familiar with technology is pretty important, but at your age I have to imagine you probably already are. There are a number of veteran teachers who barely know how to use word, and check their email. They dont know how to use a projector or word, and a smart board would become an expensive coat rack in their room.
We are moving away from powerpoint and towards video as the new technology standard. educating yourself on the various Google tools, and apple iLife/iWork applications is good advice.

Teach for America and the various teaching fellows programs (programs in Texas, New York, DC, etc), are basically the elite alternative certification programs, they get you certified.
Its possible you could teach in the Peace Corp, but unless you were interested in teaching for DODEA, your preference isnt of much use in the IS market. No more then any other study abroad experience would be. Its not going to add any marketability for you.

When it comes to IB there is a big difference between training and experience. Generally training is better then nothing, but no amount of training is going to equal any amount of experience, and what schools look for is IB experience. You get experience by teaching at an IB school. It would really help you if you could do your student teaching at an IB school, and you should try for a placement at such a school if you can. Getting into an IB school as soon as possible in your career would improve your marketability. If you cant get into an IB school, getting a student teaching placement with an AP english teacher who teaches AP english classes would be the next advice.
There is an IB teacher award which is a sort of 'pseudo' certification. in my experience it doesnt add much to a teachers resume, either they already have IB experience and the award doesnt really help them on their resume, or they dont have experience and it adds very little. A number of schools offer the program as a graduate level certificate, and a few offer it at the undergrad level (there is one in the USA and one in australia). You can take them as part of a certificate program or as bart of a degree, typically in international education (George Mason University in Virginia has such a program), you can find the school list here:

http://www.ibo.org/programmes/pd/award/

Your list of minors is perplexing, my comments are:

1) Computer Science: Even as a minor, you will need to have to do some programing. That means math, and do you even like programing? I sense you dont, so I cant recommend this. Im sure your school already has a computer/technology proficiency requirement, and technology changes so fast, that by the time you graduate what ever coursework you had would be outdated.

2) German, Spanish, French, Portuguese: Like all foreign languages unless you major in it, and are committed to developing and maintaining your language proficiency over a lifetime, its not going to add very much to your resume. Without using it on a daily basis, you will loose any proficiency you gain very quickly.

3) Writing, Creative Writing: Same thing and if you have a degree/major in English you will likely already have a course or two in creative writing. A creative writing minor is really just a minor that says, i didnt have a minor and wanted the easiest possible minor I could do.

4) Philosophy/Religious Studies: Every year there are a couple vacancies at Christian schools for a religious studies teacher, often part time in conjunction with another field. to really be a viable candidate they would have to want you for something else, or else you would need to be a social studies/humanities teacher as well. You could leverage philosophy into a TOK (thats Theory of Knowledge in the IB program), but again thee are only a couple vacancies a year, and are only offered to those who already have lots of IB experience, meaning you need to have taught something else before moving into TOK. Usually the Psychology teacher moves into the TOK position.

5) Foundations of Special Education: This is probably the most marketable one. As a minor youd be OK as an entry level special education teacher, and youd obtain a skill set that would help you in any classroom. Many ITs (international teachers) have undiagnosed, or unserved special needs children in their classroom.

If i understand correctly, your asking if your husbands career can afford all the expenses of your family, would that effectively reduce the number of dependents, and make you more marketable?
It may make you more marketable, but from a recruiters point of view I would say no, because i only see two ways it works:
1) Your husband gets posted overseas, and your applying as a local hire really, thats doable. The issue though is then your following your husband, and really only have the local schools to choose from, if they need an english teacher, then they may consider you, but then you dont really have a recruiting job search issue anymore.
2) What your really offering is to under cut or under bid the other applicants. At some of the third tier school that might work, but at the other schools such a strategy would work, and would cause problems when the other teachers find out (and they will). The other issue is that you would really be negotiating away benefits that have out of pocket value. Basically your dependents cost more to a school in the following categories: Airfare, Tuition, Insurance, and Housing. Airfare is the easiest, as you could absorb the cost of flying out your family yourself. Tuition isnt really feasible. where are your kids going to go to school, and can you pay tuition at the school yourself. That could easily come out to 1-2 months salary per child. Can you work for free for half the year just or the job. Insurance is the same, you need insurance for your family and you cant really do without it. Youd have to pay out of salary to the school for the premiums. Housing is the same, usually schools give a fixed amount, or provide a certain size apartment. All youd be doing is subsidizing the difference our of salary.
In all those situations what your really doing is just offering to do the job for the school at a lower salary then a comparable candidate. Even so there are some things like visas, the school cant get around, and as other posters have said, the only real message you would be sending to the school is that your desperate.

When it comes to tiers in rating a school, they are only helpful when comparing schools within the same region. So you can compare the schools in Lebanon (Beirut) to one another and there is going to be a tier one school among them, but you cant compare a tier 1 school in Lebanon to a tier 1 school in Italy, or South America and say that they are the same.

South/Central america is friendlier when it comes to families, but in general the salaries are low, about $15-$20 thousand a year. Its fine on the local economy, but it takes forever to save, and you end up leaving with very little.

Search does accept interns and many of them are paid. Its similar to student teaching, accept in student teaching you work with another teacher on a daily basis for a semester. Your kind of like an assistant teacher, and do a lot of teachers aid type things. An internship (being an intern) is a year long position where you are mentored by another teacher but you pretty much run your own class, or perform other duties independently.
Mathman
Posts: 175
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:18 am

Post by Mathman »

It's simple economics isn't it. Large supply of English teachers( throw in a whole bunch that are uncertified and teach in language schools). Demand will drop off as people want to hold onto their jobs.

Supply of Math and physics teachers that specialize in their subject area first and are certified later are a much rarer breed. I'm personally sick of colleagues that are incompetent at math, but they are common since they only Study teaching and don't learn their subject beyond the syllabus.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Ugh

Post by PsyGuy »

*Ugh* I feel the same way, but its true in EVERY subject. I know so many teachers that know the material for the course very well, but anything beyond that and they are completely loss. Its not just new teachers either, its the veteran teachers, who never restudy or approach their subject again. I have to blame schools for some of it though as well, the bulk of PD tends to focus on teaching (methodology/pedagogy) and not content.
Walter
Posts: 325
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:39 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Dave Psyguy gets better - or worse

Post by Walter »

"English teachers have about as much demand as social studies/humanities teachers do. Its not really that complex. Yes core subject areas are the largest in a school, but the humanities (including english) have much lower turnover, and fewer vacancies, per year."
When in doubt invent a supposed statistic. So tell me what is your empirical evidence for such a statement? I've been leading recruiting for well over 20 years in high caliber schools, and I have never seen anyone make this assertion before. Tell me who told you this. Don't prevaricate; don't obfuscate; don't dissemble. The truth please.
What I can tell more sensible readers is that in my present school (and all the others I have recruited for) we would expect the same proportionate turnover in all subjects. There is no evidence that I have ever seen that English and Social Studies teachers cling onto their jobs, while math and physics teachers move around.
I can also tell you that I am just as interested in having high quality English and social studies teachers as I am in math and physics teachers. Good schools don't hire fillers to work in these positions, and who wants to work in a school that isn't good.
vaellteacher
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:32 pm
Location: va

Post by vaellteacher »

I have noticed over the years that there are more job openings for Math and Science positions than English and Social Studies.
If I asked around my state side school employees what are the needs area they would also say Math and Science and there are fewer jobs for English or Social Studies. As we can see when we go to our school district website and the posted job openings.
In fact, I THINK there are loan programs that will forgive part of your school loan if you teach in a high needs area which I DO NOT THINK includes Social Studies and English.
Now in the states there are more openings for Reading Teachers which is different that English Teachers.
When I went to the IS job fair this year the posted postions behind the schools were mostly for Math and Science and English and Social Studies were just a few. There were Economics positions. I do not recall any Special Education postions but there also seemed to be a need for Elem teachers. Of course I do not have the actual data to support any of this, just the experience in the school system and at the IS job fair this year.
FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Re: Long Reply

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

[quote="PsyGuy"]@Walter

Because its not stupid, and your logic is flawed. walter just doesnt know what hes talking about.

English teachers have about as much demand as social studies/humanities teachers do. Its not really that complex. Yes core subject areas are the largest in a school, but the humanities (including english) have much lower turnover, and fewer vacancies, per year.

@FutureTeacher33

Gosh thats a lot of questions to reply too.

Its going to be hard for you to get your foot in the door with your family situation, no matter what field you choose to teach in. You of course have a better chance at getting into a third tier school, or a school in an undesirable area like the middle east. Really the best option for you may very well be to stay stateside for 5 years building up your experience. If you could do it at an IB school and/or in an AP program that would increase your marketability substantially. Its just so much harder and a more saturated market for those with only around 2 years experience.

You can add other endorsement and certification areas, but generally a certificate only gets you an interview. Schools want to see that you have actual experience teaching. If your an english teacher with 5 years experience and you get an endorsement in Physics, and have never taught it thats not going to overly impress a recruiter. In that situation you go into the same pile as the other newbies. They may need you, but your not going to be a strong candidate. Your best options are to stick with something you do and do well, and show a recruiter/school how those skills and experience will add value to the schools program, and benefit students. Adding complimenting endorsements for english could include drama, speech, journalism. They would increase your marketability at small schools that wouldnt justify a full time teacher. You dont really need any course hours in these fields though to add the certification endorsement. You dont need a certification to be proficient in technology, you could get a technology education certification, but you just need to demonstrate to a recruiter during an interview that you have the skills.

The bulk of marketable extra curricular activities either involve ESL or sports/athletics though. Its the drama ;teacher" that does the school productions, and the music 'teacher' that handles the recitals. The PE teacher usually handles the major sports as well. An extra curricular for an english teacher might be: School paper, yearbook, speech/debate, literary guild, creative writing club, etc.
Many teachers just do english corner or tutoring in their subject area.

Special ed (SPED) is a odd situation. In a number of middle eastern and asian cultures, those with disabilities are not provide opportunities in their culture. Usually these students are taken care of by the family or if the family has money in special schools. The vast majority of ISs are private schools, they dont get government aid, and so they are funded by tuition. Special education programs are expensive, so that means to fund them parents have to pay, and there usually isnt a demand at small schools to justify the expense. the schools that do supply SPED are typically the large ISs and the top tier schools. This means that if your a SPED teacher your much more likely to be hired at a top tier school (one that would have less a problem with your family situation), but the lower end of the market there is almost no demand at all, which means you could find yourself unemployed or unemployable. Even at the big schools, they dont do SPED programs to the standards required by the USA department of education.

Thats the thing with fine arts positions there is demand but you have to have a very special skill set. Yes, you need to be proficient in both 2D and 3D art mediums, to be a credible art teacher. You cant just get by on art history and culture. You have to be able to draw, paint, and sculpt, sorry (and it would help if you could do digital as well).
There is a demand for everything, but field like art which may have trouble filling positions, dont have a lot of demand in numbers. A small school might have only one art teacher, compared to the english department which could have 4 or more. That reduces the odds of getting hired. The major problem though in fields like art and music is that in the states there is zero demand, and without any demand, you cant get a job to build the experience you need to get into an international school. You could be subbing for a decade as an art teacher waiting for a full time position. Art, music, dance and other fine art teachers are essentially artists that need a regular pay check. If its not your thing, your not going be a very successful teacher at it.

Schools and recruiters are too busy to reply to questions that dont involve viable teaching candidates. You may be lucky and get a few brief replies, but they arent going to offer you much in the way of real consideration or building a a relationship.
You should start your job application process at the start of the year you will be certified in at the end of it. So if you are looking for a job in 2013/2014, you should start during the summer of 2012. IS recruiting season starts in November (late October).

Most ISs arent really bilingual (unless your at a specific bilingual school) the vast majority of them the medium of instruction is english. Its important to make the difference that in 'english' there is english literature (which is what I assume you are perusing) and ESL/EFL which is teaching english as a language. They are very different (though have about the same demand in ISs).

Being familiar with technology is pretty important, but at your age I have to imagine you probably already are. There are a number of veteran teachers who barely know how to use word, and check their email. They dont know how to use a projector or word, and a smart board would become an expensive coat rack in their room.
We are moving away from powerpoint and towards video as the new technology standard. educating yourself on the various Google tools, and apple iLife/iWork applications is good advice.

Teach for America and the various teaching fellows programs (programs in Texas, New York, DC, etc), are basically the elite alternative certification programs, they get you certified.
Its possible you could teach in the Peace Corp, but unless you were interested in teaching for DODEA, your preference isnt of much use in the IS market. No more then any other study abroad experience would be. Its not going to add any marketability for you.

When it comes to IB there is a big difference between training and experience. Generally training is better then nothing, but no amount of training is going to equal any amount of experience, and what schools look for is IB experience. You get experience by teaching at an IB school. It would really help you if you could do your student teaching at an IB school, and you should try for a placement at such a school if you can. Getting into an IB school as soon as possible in your career would improve your marketability. If you cant get into an IB school, getting a student teaching placement with an AP english teacher who teaches AP english classes would be the next advice.
There is an IB teacher award which is a sort of 'pseudo' certification. in my experience it doesnt add much to a teachers resume, either they already have IB experience and the award doesnt really help them on their resume, or they dont have experience and it adds very little. A number of schools offer the program as a graduate level certificate, and a few offer it at the undergrad level (there is one in the USA and one in australia). You can take them as part of a certificate program or as bart of a degree, typically in international education (George Mason University in Virginia has such a program), you can find the school list here:

----://www.ibo.org/programmes/pd/award/

Your list of minors is perplexing, my comments are:

1) Computer Science: Even as a minor, you will need to have to do some programing. That means math, and do you even like programing? I sense you dont, so I cant recommend this. Im sure your school already has a computer/technology proficiency requirement, and technology changes so fast, that by the time you graduate what ever coursework you had would be outdated.

2) German, Spanish, French, Portuguese: Like all foreign languages unless you major in it, and are committed to developing and maintaining your language proficiency over a lifetime, its not going to add very much to your resume. Without using it on a daily basis, you will loose any proficiency you gain very quickly.

3) Writing, Creative Writing: Same thing and if you have a degree/major in English you will likely already have a course or two in creative writing. A creative writing minor is really just a minor that says, i didnt have a minor and wanted the easiest possible minor I could do.

4) Philosophy/Religious Studies: Every year there are a couple vacancies at Christian schools for a religious studies teacher, often part time in conjunction with another field. to really be a viable candidate they would have to want you for something else, or else you would need to be a social studies/humanities teacher as well. You could leverage philosophy into a TOK (thats Theory of Knowledge in the IB program), but again thee are only a couple vacancies a year, and are only offered to those who already have lots of IB experience, meaning you need to have taught something else before moving into TOK. Usually the Psychology teacher moves into the TOK position.

5) Foundations of Special Education: This is probably the most marketable one. As a minor youd be OK as an entry level special education teacher, and youd obtain a skill set that would help you in any classroom. Many ITs (international teachers) have undiagnosed, or unserved special needs children in their classroom.

If i understand correctly, your asking if your husbands career can afford all the expenses of your family, would that effectively reduce the number of dependents, and make you more marketable?
It may make you more marketable, but from a recruiters point of view I would say no, because i only see two ways it works:
1) Your husband gets posted overseas, and your applying as a local hire really, thats doable. The issue though is then your following your husband, and really only have the local schools to choose from, if they need an english teacher, then they may consider you, but then you dont really have a recruiting job search issue anymore.
2) What your really offering is to under cut or under bid the other applicants. At some of the third tier school that might work, but at the other schools such a strategy would work, and would cause problems when the other teachers find out (and they will). The other issue is that you would really be negotiating away benefits that have out of pocket value. Basically your dependents cost more to a school in the following categories: Airfare, Tuition, Insurance, and Housing. Airfare is the easiest, as you could absorb the cost of flying out your family yourself. Tuition isnt really feasible. where are your kids going to go to school, and can you pay tuition at the school yourself. That could easily come out to 1-2 months salary per child. Can you work for free for half the year just or the job. Insurance is the same, you need insurance for your family and you cant really do without it. Youd have to pay out of salary to the school for the premiums. Housing is the same, usually schools give a fixed amount, or provide a certain size apartment. All youd be doing is subsidizing the difference our of salary.
In all those situations what your really doing is just offering to do the job for the school at a lower salary then a comparable candidate. Even so there are some things like visas, the school cant get around, and as other posters have said, the only real message you would be sending to the school is that your desperate.

When it comes to tiers in rating a school, they are only helpful when comparing schools within the same region. So you can compare the schools in Lebanon (Beirut) to one another and there is going to be a tier one school among them, but you cant compare a tier 1 school in Lebanon to a tier 1 school in Italy, or South America and say that they are the same.

South/Central america is friendlier when it comes to families, but in general the salaries are low, about $15-$20 thousand a year. Its fine on the local economy, but it takes forever to save, and you end up leaving with very little.

Search does accept interns and many of them are paid. Its similar to student teaching, accept in student teaching you work with another teacher on a daily basis for a semester. Your kind of like an assistant teacher, and do a lot of teachers aid type things. An internship (being an intern) is a year long position where you are mentored by another teacher but you pretty much run your own class, or perform other duties independently.[/quote]

Thanks for your response! I wasn't expecting one person to answer all of my questions, but it is appreciated.

5 years stateside isn't too much longer, I may consider doing that. And that is great advice to do my student teaching in an IB school. I will look into that right away! I have an Introduction to Teacher Prep course this fall where we get introduced to teaching as a profession and complete 10 hours of classroom observation. So, I will research some IB schools in my area and decide on one to do my student teaching and observation, that way I can build a relationship with them and possibly better my chances of securing a job there!

As far as special ed, these are the requirements to be certified in my state:

8VAC20-22-540. Special education – general curriculum K-12.
Endorsement requirements: The candidate must:
1. Have graduated from an approved program in special education – general curriculum; or
2. Have completed a major in special education – general curriculum or 27 semester hours in the education of students with disabilities distributed in the following areas:
a. Core coursework: 12 semester hours distributed among the following areas:
(1) Foundations – characteristics that include knowledge of the foundation for educating students with disabilities;
(2) Foundations – legal aspects that include an understanding and application of the legal aspects, regulatory requirements, and expectations associated with identification, education, and evaluation of students with disabilities;
(3) Assessment and management of instruction and behavior that includes an understanding and application of the foundation of assessment and evaluation related to best special education practice; of service delivery, curriculum, and instruction of students with disabilities; and of classroom management techniques and individual interventions; and
(4) Collaboration that includes skills in consultation, case management, and collaboration.
b. General curriculum coursework: 15 semester hours distributed in the following areas:
(1) Characteristics: 6 semester hours. Skills in this area shall include the ability to demonstrate knowledge of definitions, characteristics, and learning and behavioral support needs of students with disabilities who are accessing the general education curriculum at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, including but not limited to, students with learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, mental retardation; developmental delay; autism; other health impaired; traumatic brain injury; and multiple disabilities;
(2) Individualized Education Program Implementation: 6 semester hours. Skills in this area include the ability to apply knowledge of assessment
58
and evaluation throughout the K-12 grade levels to construct, use, and interpret a variety of standardized and nonstandardized data collection techniques; to make decisions about student progress, instruction, program, accommodations, placement, and teaching methodology for students with disabilities who are accessing the general education curriculum and the standards of learning; and to demonstrate the use of assessment, evaluation, and other information to develop and implement individual educational planning and group instruction with students with disabilities who are accessing the general education curriculum across the K-12 grade levels.
(3) Transitioning: 3 semester hours. Skills in this area include the ability to prepare students and work with families to provide successful student transitions throughout the educational experience to include postsecondary training, employment, and independent living which addresses an understanding of long-term planning, career development, life skills, community experiences and resources, self-advocacy, and self-determination, guardianship and legal considerations.

So, with minoring in Foundations of Special Ed, I do not know if I will meet the requirements to be fully certified. But then again, you did mention that the requirements here in the U.S. are not the sam for international schools. So, do you believe a minor would be enough for me to be able to work as an entry level special ed teacher internationally?And do you think it's a good idea to emphasize this to a recruiter/during an interview that many ITs (international teachers) have undiagnosed, or unserved special needs children in their classroom to make myself more marketable as a hire w/ dependants? Or would saying something like that just make them upset?

This is what the minor entails at the university I'm attending (copy/pasted from the official website):

The minor provides an opportunity to explore the field of special education and disabilities, for focused investigation of human behavior within the context of educational institutions or explorations related to possible or real career needs. Completion of this minor does not result in licensure or endorsement for teaching in the commonwealth of Virginia.

The minor requires a minimum of 21 semester hours. If one or more of these courses is taken to satisfy a general studies requirement or a major requirement, it may also be counted toward the minor.



EDUS 300 Foundations of Education

3



EDUS 301 Human Development and Learning or EDUS/PSYC 305 Educational Psychology

3



TEDU 330 Survey of Special Education

3



Selectives (select any four):•TEDU 444 Introduction to Learning Disabilities
•TEDU 531 Collaboration and Special Education Law
•EMOD 400 Characteristics of Children/ Adolescents with Emotional Disturbance
•MNRT 400 Characteristics of Children and Youth with Mental Retardation
•HPEX 431 Adaptive Physical Education
•TEDU 541 Infants and Young Children with Special Needs

And as far as my subject specialty, yes, I am pursuing english literature, not ESL. However one day, I may work towards obtaining my TEFL certificate.

As far as minoring in religious studies, I know there are other international schools that are religious based, would that minor put me at an advantage in those sorts of schools? Also, there is a minor that I forgot to mention that is Arabic studies or something like that. Do you think that sort of minor will put me at an advantage since I'm looking to secure a position in Beirut? Aside from that, being that Lebanon is in the middle east, do you think in general I have a good chance of being accepted that? Or do they receive more applicants that I may think?

When I mentioned my husband, I was not saying that! No way! There is just a misunderstanding here, lol. I am saying that if a school offers this package that is not 'family-friendly' and wishes not to hire teaches with multiple dependants because it's a burden on the school financially, then I was proposing that I accept the offer as is and anything that is NOT covered by the package, my husband and I can provide for ourselves. Like, if the kids are not covered under health insurance at the school, we can take care of that. Do you understand what I'm saying? I know we're communicating by typing so I know things can get misunderstood.

In addition to student teaching at an IB school here in the States, it sounds like I great idea to do an internship with an agency like Search. But with doing an internship, would that also be hard for me to accomplish because I will still have my family who would need to come with me?

Thanks again!
FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Re: Ugh

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

[quote="PsyGuy"]*Ugh* I feel the same way, but its true in EVERY subject. I know so many teachers that know the material for the course very well, but anything beyond that and they are completely loss. Its not just new teachers either, its the veteran teachers, who never restudy or approach their subject again. I have to blame schools for some of it though as well, the bulk of PD tends to focus on teaching (methodology/pedagogy) and not content.[/quote]

What subject do you teach, if you don't mind me asking?
ringler24
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 6:25 pm

Post by ringler24 »

You should contact Search directly for a solid answer on this but I would think doing the Sarch internship might not be possible with children because their are visas involved. Even if you fully covered the expenses of having your kids with you they still would need a visa to reside abroad and I'm doubtful schools would sponsor dependents if it's only for an internship.
FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

[quote="ringler24"]You should contact Search directly for a solid answer on this but I would think doing the Sarch internship might not be possible with children because their are visas involved. Even if you fully covered the expenses of having your kids with you they still would need a visa to reside abroad and I'm doubtful schools would sponsor dependents if it's only for an internship.[/quote]

Ok, I will do that. Thank you!
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Comments

Post by PsyGuy »

I am a junior administrator (Academic/IB coordinator), I do not really teach at the moment. Well, I teach one class, our school requires admins to teach one class. I teach/mentor the MYP 5 project course. Our MYP class is very small as its the first year of the gymnasium program, and the preference here is to enter that program.

Starting to build a relationship at a IB school early is a wise idea.

I was going to comment on the requirements for Virginia licensing, as they are pretty hard and essentially either require a lot of experience or credit hours. Based on my review I would recommend that even if you do get your initial certification in Virginia, you move your certification to another state, that allows 1) Certification through testing, and 2) No Professional Development (PD) hours for renewal, or lower renewal requirements.
It would be much easier to add all these extra areas of certification (foreign language, SPED, etc) in a state like Florida, California, or Texas where you only need to pass the certification exam to add an endorsement. Its far cheaper, and requires much less time and planing, especially if you are over seas. Ideally you will want a state (such as California) that uses Praxis tests, as they are offered in a number of countries abroad.
Virgina does offer limited routes of adding endorsements with some areas (examples being special education and languages (option 3),

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/li ... ements.pdf

and is further documented in regulation "8VAC20-22-70. Additional endorsements" (bottom of page 14):

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/licensure/#regs

If you stayed in Virginia for your certification, it would appear that majoring in special education would qualify you for the SPED certification, and then since you can "test out" for english literature doing a minor would probably suffice in providing you the content competency to pass the state exam (and Virginia uses the Praxis exam). You should contact your state department of education and ask what options are available once your certified in adding endorsements. I would be cautious about asking your school, in my experience they are in the business of always advocating more courses and classes, because thats how they make money. They may say you "need" this and that to qualify for your initial certification, but they may very well try to sell you on the idea that to be a 'good' teacher you need to take more classes and coursework to add endorsements, and that may very well not be true.

It can also be quite difficult, expensive and/or time consuming to earn acceptable PD credits for renewing your license. States generally accept college credit hours, or PD/CE credits from certain recognized agencies. That can be hard to do at an overseas school. States like California have no PD requirements once you have a clear credential.

Im sorry if I wasnt clear, when I was referring to SPED, i meant that the services provided to students are not to the same level of standards overseas as they are in the states. You must still fully meet your states certification requirements in SPED, to be certified.

Dont mention the role of SPED to a recruiter unless your interviewing for a SPED position, and then bring it up in the course of the discussion. You want to appear knowledgeable, but not accusatory. Its a sensitive subject for many schools and recruiters.

Third . TEFL certificates are pretty worthless in IS teaching, you would need your states ESL endorsement.

I cant say if a minor in religious studies would give you an advantage in teaching it. Its seldom a full time position on its own, and is typically part of the social studies program. Having experience teaching religious studies is going to have a far greater influence on your marketability then a minor in it.

Arabic if you actually learn the language and they need an Arabic teacher (not all that common, and even so they would prefer a native speaker), may help.

Not to be rude or offend you again, but your family situation is going to be a major challenge anywhere you go, to varying degrees depending on the country. I cant really say i would see you having a "good chance" anywhere, though some places you would have better probabilities then others.

If you are really interested in majoring or minoring in a foreign language, you may want to consider an american school that has a branch campus overseas in another country. You still qualify for financial aid, and you will really build fluency in the language. Spending a summer, semester or year really isn't going to allow the language to really 'stick'. Finding a school with a sister or daughter school would leave that option available to you if thats what you decided to do.

I realize what your saying but the net effect is that your still offering to undercut other teachers in the same situation. Your saying that you would absorb the extra costs associated with your family and just take the "single teacher" package, but since you need those things, you end up paying for them yourself, but your school provides you with the money to pay those expenses. The school cant really charge you for your health insurance for instance and have you right them a check. Its too complicated with the accounting, and how it would ultimately work out is that the school would provide you the insurance, and reduce your salary to cover the costs, and all that really is is just paying you a lower salary then other similar teachers. Thats not going to go over well at all.

It depends on how the internship is arranged, and what role your school plays with it. Generally interns if they are paid get the standard single person package, and if they have family, the intern (teacher) pays the added expenses for additional family members.
Visas for dependents whether based on a work visa, or student visa are the same, assuming the country permits it.
FutureTeacher33
Posts: 59
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:59 pm

Post by FutureTeacher33 »

[quote="vaellteacher"]I have noticed over the years that there are more job openings for Math and Science positions than English and Social Studies.
If I asked around my state side school employees what are the needs area they would also say Math and Science and there are fewer jobs for English or Social Studies. As we can see when we go to our school district website and the posted job openings.
In fact, I THINK there are loan programs that will forgive part of your school loan if you teach in a high needs area which I DO NOT THINK includes Social Studies and English.
Now in the states there are more openings for Reading Teachers which is different that English Teachers.
When I went to the IS job fair this year the posted postions behind the schools were mostly for Math and Science and English and Social Studies were just a few. There were Economics positions. I do not recall any Special Education postions but there also seemed to be a need for Elem teachers. Of course I do not have the actual data to support any of this, just the experience in the school system and at the IS job fair this year.[/quote]

Hmm, interesting. Do you think it would be better for me to land a job as an elementary teacher in stead of secondary? I heard some ppl say elementary teachers ar enot in demand, but then some websites say the job outlook is good and projected to grow. Any info on that?
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