Sure you could reference your practicum. How much teaching did you actually do? If you did real teaching as in "your" classroom for the year, then just call it a year of teaching. In which case your not reping it as a practicum, its just teaching experience now.
Sure they count, especially the one from your principal. Coworkers not so much, especially in the absence of a supervisor reference.
How Marketable am I/What are my chances of finding a job?
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Hi Lastname_Z,
are you so wedded to Toronto that you wouldn't move to Thunder Bay, Espanola, Chalk River, North Bay, Timiskaming, Timmins, or anywhere else where you would more likely land a job.
Honestly, unless you are going to SA's fair where they handle interns, you won't get accepted to an SA job fair. At Queens and Uni, you would be up against more qualified candidates.
You will have a masters, but no experience, which makes it harder.
You have no spouse with experience (and why do schools prefer teaching couples? (a) They are viewed as more stable; (b) they are cheaper to hire (two people, one housing allowance, married medical which is slightly cheaper than two single medical); (c) you fill two spots with basically one interview), and you have no experience. Your certificate in SPED with no experience will count for nothing. Schools can hire SPED people with 5 or more years of experience who have proven their salt.
So, not to go all negative on you, what to do, what to do.
Forget about Search Associates. Sign up for TIEonline. They have a ton of third tier schools just coming out of the woodwork and still posting jobs. The pay will be crap, but barely livable, often in China or Central/South America, but...it will get you your first two years on the ladder after which you can go forth and find a better job at a slightly more decent school (or a decent school where the head wants to surround himself/herself with young, cheap teachers).
As a Canadian teacher who came out in the early 90's when there were no jobs and secondary enrollment had not started expanding again, I feel your pain. However, I know that if you are willing to relocate (and not necessarily to a reserve school), there are jobs out there, and lots of subbing too. Most of my graduating class stayed in the city - most are out of teaching now, too. The ones who went rural got jobs.
are you so wedded to Toronto that you wouldn't move to Thunder Bay, Espanola, Chalk River, North Bay, Timiskaming, Timmins, or anywhere else where you would more likely land a job.
Honestly, unless you are going to SA's fair where they handle interns, you won't get accepted to an SA job fair. At Queens and Uni, you would be up against more qualified candidates.
You will have a masters, but no experience, which makes it harder.
You have no spouse with experience (and why do schools prefer teaching couples? (a) They are viewed as more stable; (b) they are cheaper to hire (two people, one housing allowance, married medical which is slightly cheaper than two single medical); (c) you fill two spots with basically one interview), and you have no experience. Your certificate in SPED with no experience will count for nothing. Schools can hire SPED people with 5 or more years of experience who have proven their salt.
So, not to go all negative on you, what to do, what to do.
Forget about Search Associates. Sign up for TIEonline. They have a ton of third tier schools just coming out of the woodwork and still posting jobs. The pay will be crap, but barely livable, often in China or Central/South America, but...it will get you your first two years on the ladder after which you can go forth and find a better job at a slightly more decent school (or a decent school where the head wants to surround himself/herself with young, cheap teachers).
As a Canadian teacher who came out in the early 90's when there were no jobs and secondary enrollment had not started expanding again, I feel your pain. However, I know that if you are willing to relocate (and not necessarily to a reserve school), there are jobs out there, and lots of subbing too. Most of my graduating class stayed in the city - most are out of teaching now, too. The ones who went rural got jobs.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
One other thing - doing your masters could possibly put you up a category in Canada, still with no experience, who would then be competing against other teachers who have the same skills, but are cheaper (because honestly, a masters in history is not going to make that much of a difference in your classroom practice, and the depth of knowledge it will give you is not required in the classroom).
So, why are you wasting your time doing the masters now, instead of waiting. Rather, join TIEonline and start searching their database for schools still hiring for the next school year if you are determined to get out of Canada.
So, why are you wasting your time doing the masters now, instead of waiting. Rather, join TIEonline and start searching their database for schools still hiring for the next school year if you are determined to get out of Canada.
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Lastname_Z
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 12:17 pm
[quote="shadowjack"]Hi Lastname_Z,
are you so wedded to Toronto that you wouldn't move to Thunder Bay, Espanola, Chalk River, North Bay, Timiskaming, Timmins, or anywhere else where you would more likely land a job.
Honestly, unless you are going to SA's fair where they handle interns, you won't get accepted to an SA job fair. At Queens and Uni, you would be up against more qualified candidates.
You will have a masters, but no experience, which makes it harder.
You have no spouse with experience (and why do schools prefer teaching couples? (a) They are viewed as more stable; (b) they are cheaper to hire (two people, one housing allowance, married medical which is slightly cheaper than two single medical); (c) you fill two spots with basically one interview), and you have no experience. Your certificate in SPED with no experience will count for nothing. Schools can hire SPED people with 5 or more years of experience who have proven their salt.
So, not to go all negative on you, what to do, what to do.
Forget about Search Associates. Sign up for TIEonline. They have a ton of third tier schools just coming out of the woodwork and still posting jobs. The pay will be crap, but barely livable, often in China or Central/South America, but...it will get you your first two years on the ladder after which you can go forth and find a better job at a slightly more decent school (or a decent school where the head wants to surround himself/herself with young, cheap teachers).
As a Canadian teacher who came out in the early 90's when there were no jobs and secondary enrollment had not started expanding again, I feel your pain. However, I know that if you are willing to relocate (and not necessarily to a reserve school), there are jobs out there, and lots of subbing too. Most of my graduating class stayed in the city - most are out of teaching now, too. The ones who went rural got jobs.[/quote]
Oh I was under the impression that there weren't any full-time jobs up North in Thunder Bay, Espanola, etc either. If there are, I'm more than happy to relocate there and get the two years experience.
I will try TIE online.
As for the masters, I guess my main reasoning is that it will bring me up the payscale in Canada. So it's a long-term vision. I already talked to vice-principals at schools and they said that my being more expensive is irrelevant since they don't pay the wages, the government does. The other thing I found is that it actually does help in the classroom. The more comfortable you are with the material you teach, the better you will be at creating lessons. Plus, as an English teacher, writing that much will also be an asset to me in that it will improve my writing. I saw this with one of my associate teachers who had his PhD. Lastly, I can afford to take the year to do it now. Who nows how I'll be financially years from now, especially if I have a family.
Thanks for the advice though. I'm definitely reconsidering my position on these things.
are you so wedded to Toronto that you wouldn't move to Thunder Bay, Espanola, Chalk River, North Bay, Timiskaming, Timmins, or anywhere else where you would more likely land a job.
Honestly, unless you are going to SA's fair where they handle interns, you won't get accepted to an SA job fair. At Queens and Uni, you would be up against more qualified candidates.
You will have a masters, but no experience, which makes it harder.
You have no spouse with experience (and why do schools prefer teaching couples? (a) They are viewed as more stable; (b) they are cheaper to hire (two people, one housing allowance, married medical which is slightly cheaper than two single medical); (c) you fill two spots with basically one interview), and you have no experience. Your certificate in SPED with no experience will count for nothing. Schools can hire SPED people with 5 or more years of experience who have proven their salt.
So, not to go all negative on you, what to do, what to do.
Forget about Search Associates. Sign up for TIEonline. They have a ton of third tier schools just coming out of the woodwork and still posting jobs. The pay will be crap, but barely livable, often in China or Central/South America, but...it will get you your first two years on the ladder after which you can go forth and find a better job at a slightly more decent school (or a decent school where the head wants to surround himself/herself with young, cheap teachers).
As a Canadian teacher who came out in the early 90's when there were no jobs and secondary enrollment had not started expanding again, I feel your pain. However, I know that if you are willing to relocate (and not necessarily to a reserve school), there are jobs out there, and lots of subbing too. Most of my graduating class stayed in the city - most are out of teaching now, too. The ones who went rural got jobs.[/quote]
Oh I was under the impression that there weren't any full-time jobs up North in Thunder Bay, Espanola, etc either. If there are, I'm more than happy to relocate there and get the two years experience.
I will try TIE online.
As for the masters, I guess my main reasoning is that it will bring me up the payscale in Canada. So it's a long-term vision. I already talked to vice-principals at schools and they said that my being more expensive is irrelevant since they don't pay the wages, the government does. The other thing I found is that it actually does help in the classroom. The more comfortable you are with the material you teach, the better you will be at creating lessons. Plus, as an English teacher, writing that much will also be an asset to me in that it will improve my writing. I saw this with one of my associate teachers who had his PhD. Lastly, I can afford to take the year to do it now. Who nows how I'll be financially years from now, especially if I have a family.
Thanks for the advice though. I'm definitely reconsidering my position on these things.
Strongly disagree with Shadowjack regarding the likelihood of being invited to a Search fair. I was invited to the Toronto Search fair while midway through my B.Ed degree, with no "real" teaching experience (I had taught ESL for a few years, but that doesn't count for much). I had three interviews, and was offered (and accepted) a teaching position from a 3rd tier (but well paying) school in Shanghai
I knew a teaching couple who attended the fair, both of whom were also midway through their B.Ed degree, with no classroom experience. They were interviewing with pretty much every school at the fair - schools from Egypt, Sudan, etc - and ended up receiving SIX job offers! They ended up in a fairly good school in Bangkok.
What's more, Ray Sparks, the Toronto associate, had a special deal where B.Ed students could attend the fair for only $50 (vs. $200) for a "partial" Search membership. I don't know if this deal is still available or not, but it was pretty sweet at the time.
Bottom line - if you present yourself well, and are flexible about location, you WILL find a international school teaching job, whether through Search or otherwise.
I knew a teaching couple who attended the fair, both of whom were also midway through their B.Ed degree, with no classroom experience. They were interviewing with pretty much every school at the fair - schools from Egypt, Sudan, etc - and ended up receiving SIX job offers! They ended up in a fairly good school in Bangkok.
What's more, Ray Sparks, the Toronto associate, had a special deal where B.Ed students could attend the fair for only $50 (vs. $200) for a "partial" Search membership. I don't know if this deal is still available or not, but it was pretty sweet at the time.
Bottom line - if you present yourself well, and are flexible about location, you WILL find a international school teaching job, whether through Search or otherwise.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Lastname_Z - Again, not going postal on you, but have you made any inquiries about positions outside Toronto? Did you do one of your practicums in a smaller center, or did you stay in town? One of the best things I did was to go to a rural center for my practicum just to experience it and see if I would be comfortable living in such a setting. That helped when I began applying for jobs in late March, as districts were interested in someone who had taken the initiative to get out of the city. However, I can only speak about my experiences in a different province a few years ago :-)
Danny's experience sounds much more promising - so when you are ready to go overseas, contact Ray and see if you can get an invite. As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
However it works out, good luck on your job hunt this coming year or next.
Danny's experience sounds much more promising - so when you are ready to go overseas, contact Ray and see if you can get an invite. As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained!
However it works out, good luck on your job hunt this coming year or next.
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Lastname_Z
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 12:17 pm
[quote="shadowjack"]Lastname_Z - Again, not going postal on you, but have you made any inquiries about positions outside Toronto? Did you do one of your practicums in a smaller center, or did you stay in town? One of the best things I did was to go to a rural center for my practicum just to experience it and see if I would be comfortable living in such a setting. That helped when I began applying for jobs in late March, as districts were interested in someone who had taken the initiative to get out of the city. However, I can only speak about my experiences in a different province a few years ago :-)
[/quote]
Thanks for the advice shadowjack. I think I'll give the rural areas a deeper look. I usually just skimmed those sites. I'm also considering Northwest Territories but that's a whole other topic.
Btw, I realize I might have sounded defensive. That wasn't my intention so I'm sorry about that. I really do appreciate the advice that you, PsyGuy and others have given me in this thread. :)
[/quote]
Thanks for the advice shadowjack. I think I'll give the rural areas a deeper look. I usually just skimmed those sites. I'm also considering Northwest Territories but that's a whole other topic.
Btw, I realize I might have sounded defensive. That wasn't my intention so I'm sorry about that. I really do appreciate the advice that you, PsyGuy and others have given me in this thread. :)
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
The NWT pay is amazing, the best place to teach is Yellowknife (but also, I think, the hardest to get into). You want to try to get into a school that is on pavement (ie, you can drive to it all-year), as opposed to fly in/on ice road (for example, Colville Lake is a fly-in school/community, but you can drive out in the winter time.
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bilinguallearner
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2012 8:12 pm
- Location: USA
- Contact:
Hi Lastname,
I'd also recommend that if you have any chance to add an ESL/TEFL cert to your resume (if you don't already have one), that can be very helpful. In some cases, this is easy- for example, here in Texas, teachers only have to pass the ESL state test to get the certification added to their teaching certificate... whereas in Maryland, you actually have to have the ESL masters degree to get the certification. Maybe the Canadian states offer as much diversity in teacher certs??
If you do have some sort of ESL certification, talk that up in the interview, since many, if not most, of your students will probably be second language learners to English. This was a big part of what landed me four job offers at the first international school fair I went to.
Good luck!
Stephanie
Check out the educational and counseling website @ www.bilinguallearner.com!
I'd also recommend that if you have any chance to add an ESL/TEFL cert to your resume (if you don't already have one), that can be very helpful. In some cases, this is easy- for example, here in Texas, teachers only have to pass the ESL state test to get the certification added to their teaching certificate... whereas in Maryland, you actually have to have the ESL masters degree to get the certification. Maybe the Canadian states offer as much diversity in teacher certs??
If you do have some sort of ESL certification, talk that up in the interview, since many, if not most, of your students will probably be second language learners to English. This was a big part of what landed me four job offers at the first international school fair I went to.
Good luck!
Stephanie
Check out the educational and counseling website @ www.bilinguallearner.com!