Search found 49 matches

by Alexandru
Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:52 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: External CV Company
Replies: 8
Views: 9752

Re: External CV Company

I agree with sid. Find a friend or colleague who can do it for you. If you don't know anyone who can do it, pay for someone to do it for you on Fiverr. I did that years ago.
by Alexandru
Wed Oct 28, 2020 11:57 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: US License Renewal
Replies: 3
Views: 4485

Re: US License Renewal

Thank you for the replies. I will look into those options.
by Alexandru
Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:57 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: US License Renewal
Replies: 3
Views: 4485

US License Renewal

So, my Minnesota teaching license expires in six months, and after looking at the renewal requirements, I'm not sure that the international school I'm working at has provided PD for the all of the categories that the renewal requires. Also, documenting clock hours is just a pain in general. I was looking at this site (https://c0arw235.caspio.com/dp/b7f93000 ... 534b8eba0c) to see which states don't require additional assessments for teachers who want to transfer their license, because I don't want to have to do that either. Lastly, I'm wondering if it would be a bad idea to lose my MN license in exchange for one from a different state, even if it would mean that I would only have to pay a fee every few years to renew it. Does anyone have experience doing this or can offer any advice? Oh, I have a four-year Bachelor degree in Education and a Master's degree in Education as well. Not sure if that matters. Thanks!
by Alexandru
Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:33 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: What are 'hardship' cities with good international schools?
Replies: 36
Views: 34602

Re: What are 'hardship' cities with good international schoo

The crime statistics aren't very encouraging, but I don't agree that Sao Paulo is a 'hardship' city. I live there right now, and I have never felt unsafe. If you work as a foreigner at an international school here, you would live in a 'safe' neighborhood and most likely only go out to restaurants and bars in the many 'safe' neighborhoods that the city has.
by Alexandru
Thu Feb 08, 2018 8:30 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Cape Town
Replies: 13
Views: 17961

Cape Town

Just wondering if anyone working at a school in Cape Town has any info about how the water crisis will affect the schools or the teachers working there...
by Alexandru
Wed Sep 27, 2017 4:42 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: What's the Worst?
Replies: 18
Views: 32361

Re: What's the Worst?

I posted this on this forum a long time ago, but here it is again.

My worst experience was at a school in Latin America. We were told by a colleague that a man from a cartel was killed in our backyard, and my roommate took a selfie with the body. That was maybe a month before we moved in. We wanted to move to a different part of the city after hearing that story. After one of my friends begged and begged the director, we finally got moved to a decent place. However, two of my roommates had had enough, so they left the school two days apart in October without telling the school. My boss was a lunatic, and he asked me to take a lie detector test because he didn't believe me when I told him that I didn't know why they left or where they went. I told him that I didn't think it would be professional to take the test. He continued to argue with me about how, if he was me, he would take the test because he would have nothing to hide. Then, he told me that he was going to take extra money out of my paycheck to cover the rent of our apartment since they left. I ended up leaving in December, along with all of the other expat teachers.
by Alexandru
Sat Jan 28, 2017 4:00 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: teaching video for job interview
Replies: 13
Views: 23011

Re: teaching video for job interview

Not sure if that response is a joke. I filmed a standard mini-lesson that I was going to teach anyway. I leaned an iPad up against a student's pencil case to film the video, then I uploaded it to YouTube. It was one of the easiest teaching-related things I've ever done. I didn't attend an international teaching fair, so I thought it would be an important thing to do.
by Alexandru
Sat Jan 28, 2017 3:08 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: teaching video for job interview
Replies: 13
Views: 23011

Re: teaching video for job interview

I am an elementary teacher, and I uploaded a video of myself teaching to my online portfolio. I just filmed a 10 minute reading mini-lesson (I doubt a school would want to watch a whole reading block). The school that hired me for next year said that they watched the video, so it must have been decent enough. I think schools just want to make sure your classroom management, student engagement, and teaching style are good. My lesson catered to an ELL population, which was probably important for my future school as well. In the future, I would like to film a guided reading/close reading lesson with a small group and a math lesson.
by Alexandru
Sat Dec 17, 2016 5:11 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: PYP Job Offer
Replies: 1
Views: 4412

PYP Job Offer

I was offered a job at a school that has uses the PYP. I don't have any PYP experience, so it's great that they still considered me for the position. My concern is that, once I finish the contract and have two years of PYP experience, will I basically need to continue teaching in IB schools so that my experience remains current? And would only two years of PYP experience open a lot of doors for me in the future? I know that this job would look good on my CV, but I don't necessarily want to limit myself to teaching in IB international schools. Thank you in advance for your advice!
by Alexandru
Mon Oct 31, 2016 11:35 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Applying through ISS or school's email
Replies: 2
Views: 7199

Applying through ISS or school's email

Hi, I finally finished creating my ISS account and uploading all my documents. Should I apply to schools that I'm interested (for the next school year) through the ISS website, or should I send some of my documents and an email to the school's job inquiry email, instead? Does it make a difference? I know some schools specify, but one of the schools I'm interested in didn't.
by Alexandru
Tue Sep 27, 2016 9:35 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Joining ISS
Replies: 5
Views: 10032

Re: Joining ISS

I've bookmarked all of the schools in Latin America and Eastern Europe that I'm interested, so I can check their websites to see if there are vacancies. I'm not interested in going to a fair because my salary doesn't allow it. I don't have IB/PYP experience, so I'll probably just cross my fingers and hope for a Skype interview. Thank you for the responses, everyone. PsyGuy, so do you think it's worth the money to join TIE just for the confidential references?
by Alexandru
Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:13 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Joining ISS
Replies: 5
Views: 10032

Joining ISS

I'm starting to think about the next school year, and I'm wondering if my qualifications are suitable for finding a job through ISS. I'm a single, young, American, male, elementary teacher with a Bachelor's and a Master's in educational fields. I also have a teaching license from the United States. I have been teaching for five years, exclusively in American international schools. I would like to teach in Latin America or Eastern Europe.

With my qualifications and experience, is it worth the money to sign up with ISS? Or should I sign up with Search or TIE? I would rather not spend the money to go to any international teaching fair or even pay to sign up for a school database, but I've heard that applying to schools through ISS, Search, or TIE is better than just sending an email through a school's website.

Any advice is appreciated!
by Alexandru
Sat Jan 10, 2015 7:22 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Mexico City
Replies: 5
Views: 8034

Re: Mexico City

I have friends who work at ASF and Greengates in Mexico City. Those are the two best schools. Both of them have good compensation packages. ASF is in the center of the city, which is great. Greengates has more of an international flavor in terms of student population, but it's pretty far out of the city. I love Mexico City and would like to live there, but I wouldn't settle for any other schools there. Let me know if you need any more information.
by Alexandru
Tue Oct 21, 2014 7:29 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: American School Foundation of Monterrey
Replies: 3
Views: 5918

Re: American School Foundation of Monterrey

I didn't work at ASFM, but I worked in Monterrey. I've heard that ASFM is a great school, and they really have their stuff together. And the pay is supposed to be pretty good, too. Monterrey itself has its ups and downs, but it's not really unsafe anymore.
by Alexandru
Wed May 14, 2014 6:53 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Venezuela
Replies: 6
Views: 9214

Re: Venezuela

I looked at a few blogs yesterday from foreigners who live or have lived in Venezuela, and they confirm what the previous poster said. Here are two quotes from one of those blogs (posted in February this year):

"The feeling of insecurity is not based on stories from the news; it is based on the fact that my friends have been robbed in so many different parts of the city at any hour of the day. When I walk outside, or when I take the bus or even when I take a taxi, I am always alert. I know who is behind me at all times and constantly taking precautions no matter what I am doing. The insecurity is definitely the hardest thing to deal with living here."

"The food stores lack the basic groceries like toilet paper, milk, butter, oil, flower, soap and the list goes on. This forces people to get in line whenever a store receives these products. The stores puts restrictions on how many products one person can buy. This consequently makes entire families go to the supermarket during work and school hours in order to get food on the table. I have not been in the supermarket the last two months because every time I am there the line continues around the building."