PsyGuy wrote:
> @Helen Back
>
> Is that really collaboration or just communication between two colleagues
> teaching the same form? It sounds like you two have a shared term plan and
> you just talk about it periodically.

Fair point, although it has been more than that, there have been periods of thrashing it out, but at the end of the day I am more motivated in some subject areas, he's more motivated in others. The motivated one usually dominates, because the motivated one usually has the best thought out ideas. It is what it is. What it isn't is isolationist.

Just to add, for me the place I collaborate most (and I use the term loosely) is not at school at all, but on Twitter.

When I first started fulltime teaching I preferred to work alone, which in fact I did, because I was the only teacher at that grade level. That said I've always been quite enthusiastic about sharing my (very well organised) resources. Nobody has reciprocated to the same level.

As I've progressed I have seen the value of collaboration, but not to the point of it being oppressive. My grade level colleague and I use the same medium term plan, but individually vie off from it at times. The skills and knowledge we teach are generally the same but activities and projects may vary.

The question I would ask him is "where are you at in the unit?" rather than "what are WE doing next?". We definitely swap ideas, but there's no onus to actually do the same (although we frequently do). At my last school all classes at a certain grade level were expected to follow the same unit and activities which had been 'collaboratively' put together. It was demoralizing and oppressive. One of the things I love about teaching is the creation part, like an actor writing his own script. If you restrict my ability to create I end up brain dead very quickly.

My current colleague left in June and in his leaving speech he thanked me for the massive amount of resources I'd given him and the fact that we hadn't had an argument in two years. I'm good with that :-)

Is the goal a masters? Not sure, probably not, to be honest.. I do have Google level 1 and 2, a couple of Adobe certs, MITx Design Thinking and Common Sense Ed. cert. I'm elementary IT coordinator next year and heavily involved in our new maker room. Also teaching, albeit on an intro level, coding as a club, using microbit, makey makey and sphero.

So, at the moment a masters isn't on the cards, at least not at my current school. Hoping to move on next year.

I've done a couple of Edx courses and am thinking about doing an Edx Micro Masters. Are Edx courses recognised and does having the Edx designation mean they have less value?

Although I have a particular career goal in mind (tech integation), I'm really just looking for a new reasonably priced challenge.

This is the course https://www.edx.org/micromasters/instru ... is-program

Thoughts?

My spouse and I studied at a university in China more than 20 years ago. I owned a business exporting from Southeast Asia to North America. We met in North Africa and have lived in five countries (excluding our birth countries, which are different) since the late 90s. We both have degrees from Europe and one each from North America. Our kids are certified TCKs. Neither have lived in a western country for any significant time.

Hopefully this shows adaptability.

Thanks, I figured that's what it was, but I just thought it was phrased oddly. Luckily it does put me in a good light. :-)

I'm re-doing my Search profile and came across this box. What is the purpose of this question?

I'm not totally understanding. This teacher did two contracts and then didn't get their contract renewed for a third. What was illegal?

Congrats. Your job will be very similar to mine (different country though).

How are they geared toward north Americans? They have sections for Brits, Canadians, Americans, Australians and other nationalities. Sensible investing knows no borders, but it might struggle with the vocabulary.

Heliotrope, thanks for the correction, and yes, read the book first.

International pensions have a terrible rep. Dont trust pension peddlers who come to your school. I would suggest reading Andrew Hallam's book, 'poor Expat'. If you really need a financial advisor look up Mark Zoril. He charges a set fee of $96 a year and doesn't work for commission.

Stick with diversified index funds. Both the sources above will show you how to do that.

I would keep looking for option 3.

Is the ISTE teacher certification worth doing for someone who would like to transfer into an elementary or middle school edtech position? It's kinda pricey at $1150. I've being doing other cheap or free courses from Adobe and Google and design thinking courses. Thoughts? I'm ok with paying, I just want to know if it's worth it. Probably heading to Search Bangkok in January 2020.