Our carrier provided COVID cover and we received very specific details about when it would and when it would not apply. It was done and handled very well and everybody was relatively happy and understood. The school's proactivity in this was well-received.

FV2020 wrote:
> If they are MYP curriculum, it could make sense; the standards are the
> exact same for grade 9 and 10. Otherwise, it would take a lot of curriculum
> planning in order to do it in a meaningful way. Typically, the grade 10
> students would read more complex material and write about more complex
> topics, and the grade 9 students would need direct instruction for things
> that the grade 10s should already be familiar with. Ultimately, it’s just a
> whole lot of work for that teacher beyond normal differentiation. It’s two
> separate classes in one space. If the school is in financial trouble and
> doing this out of necessity, then there’s your answer.

I would disagree on your point that the standards are 'exactly' the same. While there is some overlap in language, MYP 4 is NOT assessed (and should not be assessed) the same as MYP 5. It needs to be holistically assessed in between MYP 3 criteria and MYP 5 criteria. I would hate to be an MYP 4 student being assessed and held to MYP 5 standards and expectations.

You're just graduating as a teacher. What is their policy? I suspect, if they are like most International Schools, it is 2 years experience. So get some domestic experience, and then apply. Don't be surprised that, if you have some connection locally, like spouse of passport, that they pass on hiring you. Hiring a domestic teacher can bring a lot of grief when two year contracts end and the teacher then puts in a labor case. Not saying you would, but at some schools this becomes problematic.

@PG - $1.00 a day - but there's 5 people. That's 5X20 a month - $100 they don't have to spend. $1,000 extra a year in their pocket, roughly.

sid wrote:
> I prefer hours to percentages. Percentage adds in another variable:
> percentage of what? Of a forty hour work week? Of a forty five hour work
> week? Of a thirty five hour work week?
> Or is it a percentage of the available teaching time, which is generally
> less than the total working hours?
> With straight-up hours, we see how much actual contact time people have.

Sid - 20 x 80 minute classes a week = 1600 minutes. 5/8 - 1000 minutes a week or 16.66666666666666666666666666666666666 hours a week.

So roughly 3.3 hours a day. That does not include other assigned duties such as School activities, assigned supervision, student free period supervision, lunch or recess supervision, school functions, etc.

But those are distributed and tend to be light-ish in nature where I am.

That also doesn't include marking, prepping and planning :-) Thank goodness for small class sizes!

angelica1981 wrote:
> shadowjack wrote:
> > Most of my schools the load has been 3/4 daily, or 75% overall at
> > secondary. My present schoo is 5/8. My very first post awhile in the past
> > was 4/8.
>
> Sorry, does 3/4 daily mean three or four periods per day, or does it mean three
> fourths of the available class periods per day? So, for example, 6 out of 8 daily
> class periods?

This means that out of 4 80 minute periods, one day you will teach 3, the other day 2. My first post, before the nature of International Education changed, was 2/4 each day :-)

Most of my schools the load has been 3/4 daily, or 75% overall at secondary. My present schoo is 5/8. My very first post awhile in the past was 4/8.

PsyGuy wrote:
> @fine dude
>
> Which was every single one of us who started their career in edu with their
> first contract, which likely was a year and every IT I know with a career
> in IE started out with a 1 year contract.
>
> The cost of living is usually going up, and not everyone pays health care
> premiums. Not everyone has student loans and mortgages to pay off. Sounds
> like a lot of self projection.
>
> @Heliotrope
>
> Its just a job, and ITs are responsible to themselves as well.
> We disagree.

@PG apart from last minute pick ups due to necessity, I have never been at a school or known anybody to come in on a one year contract. At the level of schools I have always worked at, that is NOT the norm and NOT expected.

I think it is a win win for a small school if the classes are smaller. If you have 5 of each, combine to ten. Rotate your curriculum over a two year cycle so that it doesn't matter who enters which grade it will be new material. Pitch your expectations high to the grade 9s and higher to the grade 10s. I think you might be pleasantly surprised how students push each other and what the mix does for student discussion, confidence, etc...

If you only have a year left, in this time of COVID, I would bite my tongue, tough it out, and go recruiting next year.

Most schools I have been at, counsellors don't manage the master schedule. However, they do run or co-run the advisory program.

falconeer wrote:
> There is always that one fateful morning when it is different. You wake up
> and you don't want to go in and that sentiment comes from a deeper place.
> We all need blinders on to a degree, but that voice hits when the blinders
> come loose and we don't want to put them back on again.

Agreed Falconeer. It's great until it isn't. Everybody's mileage varies, but when it's time, you know it. And that can come in the space of a month, a week, or even a day.

I've been around awhile and never heard of this. I think it is a gimmick this company is using to try and set themselves apart and get business.

One day, you might be at a school you love. You might want to stay. You might then get a new administrator or director, who, when perusing HR files, notes you have no QTS. That might be a reason for non-renewal of contract as you do not have teaching status in your home country.

One day, you might be at a school you love. You might want to stay. You might then get a new government directive from someone in the ministry who thinks that all UK-trained teachers should have QTS. That might be a reason for non-renewal of contract as you do not have teaching status in your home country.

In the UK, you really get one shot at QTS. My advice - it's like believing in God. The only way you lose is by not believing, so it is more rational to believe. The only way you lose it by not having QTS. As things continue to change in international education, the less reason you have for standing out in a way that makes it easier to non-renew your contract, the better.

I don't touch staff or students, with some exceptions, like coaching when the team comes in for a strategy huddle during time out, or a punch on the shoulder (not a real punch, you know, a soft knock, as if to say, great job), or when a player has a melt down, I might put my hand on his shoulder, but not for anywhere near 30 seconds. But strangely, when I look at it, all are shoulder touches ...

Apart from that - nope.