Search found 15 matches

by inspired
Sat Feb 05, 2022 7:15 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools
Replies: 50
Views: 88179

Re: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools

secondplace wrote:
> For MYP I would suggest investigating the underlying pedagogy and thinking
> about how your experience and approach to teaching and learning aligns with
> it.
>
> Also, there is an emphasis on collaboration and curriculum creation so
> showing your experience in those areas would be good.
>
> Good luck!

Hey hey! I am already in an IB school at this moment. Do not think it is a top tier school, though. That's why I am asking about how many years I need to get under my belt before higher level schools consider us.

Thanks!
by inspired
Sat Jan 22, 2022 5:41 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools
Replies: 50
Views: 88179

Re: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools

secondplace wrote:
> By IB experience, do you mean teaching the Diploma Programme? Or experience
> in other IB programmes - e.g. PYP and MYP?
>
> Experience in with the PYP or other inquiry based programmes is certainly
> desirable if looking to teach in the PYP.
>
> I would say the same, but to a lesser extent, for MYP.

Hello Secondplace!

I am hoping to teach in the MYP. Partner is keen on DP and MYP for some subjects that I have read on here are in demand.

Thanks!
by inspired
Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:53 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools
Replies: 50
Views: 88179

Re: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools

Heliotrope wrote:
> 3-5 years seems about right. The rest of your CV needs to tick other boxes
> as well of course, and of course there are always exceptions where someone
> got into a top tier schools with less IB-experience, so don't hesitate to
> apply already. And of course there are top tier school that don't do IB.

Thanks for your suggestion! What other boxes does a CV need to tick? Could you elaborate on this idea a bit?
by inspired
Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:02 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools
Replies: 50
Views: 88179

Years of IB Experience for Top Tier Schools

Hi!

How many years of IB experience do my partner and I need to be eligible for top tier schools in South East Asia? Do we need to have consistent experience in our subjects?

Thanks!
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:38 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Education Book Suggestions?
Replies: 8
Views: 8150

Re: Education Book Suggestions?

milesaway wrote:
> Quiet
> Susan Cain
>
> Changed my entire approach to teaching


Many thanks!
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:36 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Should I get Vaccinated?
Replies: 14
Views: 17468

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

secondplace wrote:
> The reality is that it will get harder and harder to either change jobs, or
> even remain in a current job, with being vaccinated.
>
> The country requirements are not going to get less restrictive in terms of
> vaccine requirement any time soon.
>
> Then there will the added complications of travel if you're not vaccinated
> - either you won't be able to, or there will be lots of quarantine.
>
> That's the reality of the situation and your choice, really, is to accept
> it or work/live in another place/job.

That's interesting, but my reality is not the same where I am at in China. In China, Western vaccines are not loaded onto the application you use as a foreigner in my particular city to show your green code. Only the Chinese vaccine is displayed. Having both vaccines or neither does not limit travel. If you come from a city that is high risk, then that's extremely important.
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 6:12 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Should I get Vaccinated?
Replies: 14
Views: 17468

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Thanks for your honesty and summarization, Sid! Appreciate it. Gives me lots of wisdom to consider.

Might be time to take the jab.
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:18 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Moving Home Success Stories?
Replies: 16
Views: 25884

Re: Moving Home Success Stories?

I have a friend that left a third tier school in China and is extremely unhappy with his choice to move back to the USA. He is really upset about how Covid is being dealt with and the quality of his child's education not being up to snuff.
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 3:13 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: US Citizen - Retirement Saving...?
Replies: 12
Views: 20069

Re: US Citizen - Retirement Saving...?

Mentioned already, but I wanted to add some Ideas:
1) Index funds are excellent. We like to use Fidelity as our main investment platform.

2) All your income that was taxed inside the USA, can be used to buy Fidelity indexes that have next to no fees and no management expense ratios. This means if you worked as a teacher in the USA, and were taxed, then you should be able to put some of that into your index funds, like the FZROX. Hire a tax accountant to double check this. Index funds that have no fees are the best in my opinion and have been extremely lucrative for us. Other income that isn't taxed in the USA should be planted inside other indexes or ETFS. We really like the SPDR. We prefer to avoid mutual funds.

3) Avoid sharks. Highly discourage leadership from allowing sharks to visit schools. Do not take any investment from an outside source that visits your school.

4) Get Andrew's book titled poor Expat.

5) Live in a location for a few years to make seed money, for example, China is a good choice. Relatively low cost of living if you avoid expat bubbles. There are probably better locations than China, but I know China best, and its been amazing for us. If you are an experienced teacher, then you can work at a high level international school and get paid a ton of money, and probably move out of China after 3 years with a massive bump on your retirement.

6) Commit to saving a certain percentage of your income each month. Get a reliable way to send money home so that it can be invested.

7) If your school offers a ROTH or 401K match, then absolutely TAKE IT and match it. It is basically free money.

8) Make a plan and ensure you and your spouse (if you have one) are on the same page with that plan.

9) We liked Dave Ramsey's get out of debt plan and have modified it a bit for our investing.

10) Get onto an app, such as Mint, or Everydollar, and start documenting where your money is going. We prefer to use Google sheets, but before that, I was a huge Mint fan. Track all of your spending so you can plug leaks. Also, make a budget and stick to it on that Google Sheet, Excel document, or on Mint.

11) Read more books on investing or get onto a podcast. We like Dave Ramsey's podcast. I also liked reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which is a great intro book on assets and liabilities.

Any stress you may be feeling about retirement will evaporate when you get everything onto an app or program that you can understand. Once you have a good spending diary, you can then make a plan for 5-10 years out, and see when you will be at a certain net worth to retire. Once that plan is established, all retirement worries go away ;).
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 2:57 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Should I get Vaccinated?
Replies: 14
Views: 17468

Re: Should I get Vaccinated?

Dear Sid,

Thanks for your response and yes, you are right on providing more context. My mistake! I am just a bit hesitant to share too much on here because I do not want my identity to be discovered...

Here's the meat:
My wife is vaccinated, but with a Western vaccine and does not plan to get Sinovac unless she absolutely must to increase the possibility of her returning to China when she goes back to her home country to see family. Tentatively, our plan is to have her return next summer. My wife is also an international school teacher and she teaches in demand subjects.

I am not vaccinated at all and prefer to keep it that way, but I am worried about a few things, such as the following:
1) Marketability-- my wonder is that getting vaccinated may make us more marketable to international schools in the future. For example, perhaps a vaccination could help me or us skip quarantine, which lowers our costs to a potential future school, which makes us more attractive hires. We eventually plan to leave China and my main reason for getting vaccinated would be increase employability opportunities in other Asia countries, such as Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, etc....

2) I am the weaker link in our teaching couple application, because I teach subjects that are easier to hire for. Vaccine=potential slight increase in my application, maybe?

3) If I also choose to return to my wife's home country with her next next summer, my thinking is that having a Sinovac vaccination will increase my chances of getting back into China in the future.

Thanks!
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 2:12 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Education Book Suggestions?
Replies: 8
Views: 8150

Education Book Suggestions?

Dear educators and leaders,

With the hope of improving my practice as a teacher, I ask the community the following question:

What are the best books you have read on education?

Books that focus on teaching English literature, the IB, or language acquisition would be of help!

Thank you for your time!
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:55 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Should we pull out of China move?
Replies: 30
Views: 31622

Re: Should we pull out of China move?

Huge risk. Does the school have credibility with the government? How do you know that? Ask HR, but even that cannot be true.

I would not stop your search. Has the school asked you to sign a contract that states you will be terminated if you do not get into China? I have heard schools that do this and are at least transparent. I also know a teaching coupled that waited for a school and were fired in August 2020 cause they couldn't get in and then they had to do VIPKid cause no jobs.

Be careful!
by inspired
Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:49 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Should I get Vaccinated?
Replies: 14
Views: 17468

Should I get Vaccinated?

Hello everyone!

Should I get inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine in China?