Search found 80 matches

by ringler24
Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:19 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Foreign Language Teachers out there?
Replies: 30
Views: 31059

Also I'm not sure where Psy Guy is getting that you don't need any language courses in order to be state certified on a language. That's not true of my state. You need more than just oral and written proficiency. You need language coursework.

Like I've suggested before, do your undergrad in the language and your masters in teaching (Elementary or Biliimgual Ed).
by ringler24
Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:15 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Foreign Language Teachers out there?
Replies: 30
Views: 31059

Psy Guy- I said 25 years when I was factoring in the fact that she just started under grad, wants to teach French abroad, as well as teach in an immersion school for the time needed to gain the experience to open a school. If she focuses only on the immersion school it would take her 10 years less than that. You also didn't address the issue of her having no primary teaching experience. In order to lead an immersion school she would need an extensive background in immersion teaching as well as primary teaching.

You cant teach in an immersion classroom without fluency in a second language. Depending on how proficient you are now, without doing the French major I don't see how that's going to happen. Why major in English then? Also why teach secondary anything if you're ultimate goal is to lead a primary school?

I know Psy Guy always speaks with authority but take into account Futureteacher that he speaks with authority on EVERYTHING to EVERYONE. He constantly contradicts those who actually have experience or expertise when he does not. I would be wary of taking his advise. He just told you what to major in and the course you should take going only on people he knows who have charted a similar course.

I have a background in dual language/immersion teaching. I know people who have started dual language schools. I was part of creating this kind of program in my school. I have a Masters in Bilingual/Bicultual Education from a top school and I'm only tooting my own horn because he is speaking to you as though he is the authority on this subject and that frustrates me. If you want to email me with directly with more specific questions please feel free: ringler24 at yahoo dot com
by ringler24
Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:09 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Foreign Language Teachers out there?
Replies: 30
Views: 31059

The issue isn't so much the degree as it is gaining the experience teaching in the kind of school you want to open. In order to open your own immersion school you will need probably at least a decade teaching in an immersion program which will require an elementary certificate of some kind. You'll probably only be able to get that with the needed coursework. You'll need to move up the ranks in that program taking on leadership roles. You'll also need a degree in school administration which you can only get after completing a set number of years teaching. As I'm sure you know teaching in an immersion program is totally different than just teaching the language itself on a secondary level. You need to decide which way to go knowing that opening this school is a at least 15-20 years down the line for you. If its what you really want to do I think it would be a mistake to take the time first to teach a language internationally, unless opening your school in 25 years from now would work for your time frame. I'm guessing not.
by ringler24
Mon Sep 03, 2012 12:05 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Foreign Language Teachers out there?
Replies: 30
Views: 31059

I think you need to figure out what you really hope to do. To be completely honest with you I think you're being overly ambitious. What you need to ask yourself is whether you want a career as an international teacher or to open an immersion school. For the most part I don't really think there are international immersion schools the way there are in the US. The language of instruction is English there and languages are taught as foreign languages. If your ultimate goal is to open an immersion school you need to refocus on US teaching both to build your experience and credibility as well as for the location of your school. You won't be ale to go and teach French abroad for a set number of years and then just move back to the States and open up an immersion school. In order to fulfill that dream you will need years of experience teaching in immersion programs. If that is truly what you want to do here is my suggestion (This is my exact background for your frame of reference):

Major in your target language (in your case French) as an undergrad. Go ahead and do the double major with English Lit if you want. Study abroad and do everything to master the French language. (This is good in the event that you change your mind or still want the option of international teaching)

After completing your BA do a Masters program in Dual Language/Bilingual Education as a preservice student (meaning you will do your student teaching whie completing the program). This will certify you to teach elementary Ed as well as dul language elementary and likely ESL on all grade levels. It takes about 18 months full time.

Work as a teacher in an immersion school for a good chunk of time.

Open your school.

In the event that you change your course at any point you could always apply to teach abroad through DODEA which is an amazing opportunity and one that I'm hoping for. You'll be qualified to teach French, ESL, and Elementary and if you got a position you would have a very stable financial situation for your family. They also don't care about how many dependents you have so that's a huge plus for me and for you as well.
by ringler24
Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:36 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: What's Your Dream Job, and Why?
Replies: 25
Views: 28474

Psy Guy has gone silent about his DODEA job since he would have supposedly been expected to be in his location. He's ignored questions here and elsewhere about how it's going. Interesting no?
by ringler24
Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:56 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: What's Your Dream Job, and Why?
Replies: 25
Views: 28474

Ugh Psy Guy so arrogant! Regretsky seemed to be asking about kinds of places, school environments, or locations to better inform themself about what to look for. I don't think they were asking for a list of schools and certainly not your kind of response.
by ringler24
Thu Aug 23, 2012 8:29 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: To PsyGuy: Thanks for your help. One more question
Replies: 13
Views: 12921

That's great about study abroad. I'm not seeing any info about the JET program sponsoring visas for an entire family. If they do pass info my way as I'd be interested. But I'm pretty sure they usually only accept singles or couples with no kids. Likewise with Language schools.
by ringler24
Thu Aug 23, 2012 1:18 pm
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: To PsyGuy: Thanks for your help. One more question
Replies: 13
Views: 12921

I know this post wasn't directed at me, but I thought I'd just ask one clarifying question to help Psy guy in his response to you. You mentioned in your post that you have two young kids and a husband. Were you planning on having them accompany you on all of these experiences (study abroad, ESL teacher)? I think it's a big question because realistically while all of the experiences might be great for your resume they might not be feasible to be done with your family in tow. International schools can sponsor visas for dependents but I'm thinking straight language schools and programs like Jet are not geared towards families.
by ringler24
Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:29 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Completely new to int'l school app. process - please advise!
Replies: 34
Views: 34557

Go ahead and have your last word as you always feel the need to. I'm out.
by ringler24
Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:28 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Completely new to int'l school app. process - please advise!
Replies: 34
Views: 34557

Where you and I disagree is if there can be any sense of altruism at all if one is being compensated in any form. I believe there can and in this case should. The parents of your new students are being paid for their military service. Do you actually believe they only risk their lives for a paycheck? If you do, then you are most certainly walking into a position ill suited for you.
by ringler24
Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:07 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Completely new to int'l school app. process - please advise!
Replies: 34
Views: 34557

The grey exists for those who are compensated for their work, but actually care about the chidren they're working with. You're on one end of the spectrum where you're just working to get paid and could care less about the kids. The other end would be someone volunteering their teaching skills. A lot of us fit in the grey area. You've never implied that you do.
by ringler24
Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:45 am
Forum: Forum 1. From Questions About ISS & Search to Anything and Everything About International Teaching
Topic: Completely new to int'l school app. process - please advise!
Replies: 34
Views: 34557

Again making it totally black and white. Because for you it's just about the money so you can only see it that way.