Advice Needed - 3-Year Transition to International Schools

[shadowjack]

Sparkle,

not a naysayer, but a realist. OK - you have all these certs, but no experience. So when you apply, you are all over the place. Or else you only list one certification and not the others, tailoring yourself for a position.

I think looking to get that first experience in Florida is a good choice, and then you have your full certification and can go from there.

2021 is very doable with your two years and the fact that you are older - more experienced in life, which will appeal to schools. Stick with your plan!

[SparkleMotion]

shadowjack wrote:
> Sparkle,
>
> not a naysayer, but a realist. OK - you have all these certs, but no
> experience. So when you apply, you are all over the place. Or else you only
> list one certification and not the others, tailoring yourself for a
> position.
>
> I think looking to get that first experience in Florida is a good choice,
> and then you have your full certification and can go from there.
>
> 2021 is very doable with your two years and the fact that you are older -
> more experienced in life, which will appeal to schools. Stick with your
> plan!

I didn’t think you were being a naysayer at all. Thank you for your feedback and I appreciate your help!

[PsyGuy]

@SJ

Thats true but its not really relevant, the position was first were noob/ ITs with 2 kids and we want to skip the line to the top ISs, and thats not going to happen, but the were intern class ITs with 2 kids who want to skip to the second tier ISs isnt going to happen either. Were looking at around 5 years (4-6 years) before these ITs are reasonably marketable to 2nd tier ISs. Thats not their kids in lower primary or EY/EC its upper primary or lower secondary of having their kids in relatively poor ISs. That factor seemed to be important to the LW.

These credential areas are either over saturated to be marketable or to restricted to be marketable. Theres nothing impressing about a primary DT who hasnt been in a classroom,when there are plenty who have. Nor is there anything impressing to a DS about a health DT (without PE, no experience and isnt coaching)or a middle school English literature DT who has never been in a classroom, theres plenty of those DTs who have seen the inside of a classroom. The only cert thats maybe worth a flyer is the ESOL and thats only if the DT is bilingual, otherwise the LW is looking at a lot of frustration for what is a resource ESOL DT who has never been in a classroom, maybe that flyer is something a title 1 DS has to go with because thats all they can get but IB DSs usually dont have to do that.

@SparkleMotion

Thats not even the worst, an extra year to get there isnt even the worst, the worst isnt even spending your years in third tier ISs. You are still a very expensive hire, and your not going to be reward positive for quite some time, and even then your still competing with a lot of positive reward ITs as well. This isnt a 'one more year' and we get there.

Health isnt a marketable subject without PE. Elementary is highly saturated in IE and DE, and you dont have a background in education, not until you finish the edu Masters. English (Literature) at your age levels is just lower secondary, and you need upper secondary and SLL literature to be marketable. The ESOL is your most marketable, and maybe in 5 years youll be a reward positive IT, but at the tiers of ISs your going to be marketable too, those ISs will just as easily appoint someone local, or a trailing spouse, or something else. Third tier ISs generally dont put a lot of resources into ESOL (unless thats what they are is an ES).
This highlights one of the major problems you have and its that your at the cover letter writing stage, you dont actually have any of this experience and getting a local appointment in an IB DS in what are essentially saturated subjects is a reach, you could be waiting years with a resume thats just ageing and not growing, because there are plenty of middle school English and elementary and health DTs in Florida.

Student teaching, clinical teaching, practicum, internship, its all field work/field experience.

That might be what your saying now, its not what you wrote to begin with. Even in 6-8 years your still an expensive hire, and its still much more likely you wont be at an elite tier IS, lots of ITs are waiting and competing for those opportunities, and checking a box doesnt make it happen, getting into the room, gets you into a very crowded room of other ITs just like you, and many that are cheaper. Meanwhile in 6-8 years your likely to still be at a second tier IS. Two years in lower tier ISs, two years at upper third tier, two years getting SLL, two years getting IB (because IB ISs fill a lot of the second tier ISs and bridge third tier ITs careers to first tier ISs, you dont have to do IB you can get to the first tier without it, since a lot of first tier ISs are NC ISs, but it usually takes longer and means more time at third tier), at that point your hopefully sitting in a second tier IS, but thats 8 years and your still not at an elite tier IS.

To be direct this should all be activities your spouse is pursuing, hes the focus IT, without him your an ESOL IT with a trailing spouse and 2 kids and thats unemployable. Youre essentially his trailing spouse who can teach a few areas, mostly ESOL if thats what it takes to get the contract made, but this doesnt happen at all without him, and his pathway is much more prescribed. He needs to get a credential, then 2 years teaching lower secondary maths so he can figure out the teaching skills (the first 2 years of a DTs/ITs career are lesson planing and classroom management), then two years upper secondary, then two years SLL (likely AP), and somewhere in there IB or else your looking at another 2 years at MYP IB before you get into DIP and then your looking at 3 years for solid DIP scores, that gets him in a solid tier 2 IB IS, and applying for 1st/elite tier ISs. Thats about 8 years (all while dragging you along), and your kids are in senior school.

Sure you can make it work, but where you want to be is likely going to take a decade, not a year there, a year here and maybe one more year. You (your spouse) should understand that the US system is rather unique among IE, there is no AP Algebra, or AP Trig, or AP Geometry or other math its calculus and statistics only. The rest of the main IE curriculum (most notably A levels, IGCSE, and IB) have integrated approaches to maths that bundle the pure and classical maths studies of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, with mechanical and statistics based maths all into a full course, courses arent discreet as they are in the US where they typical 4x4 sequence of math for the college prep sequence is: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra/Trigonometry, Calculus. Thats a lot, and ISs, especially high tier ISs dont put maths ITs into SLL subjects where exam scores matter unless they are absolutely certain that the IT can deliver.

[SparkleMotion]

shadowjack wrote:
> Sparkle,
>
> not a naysayer, but a realist. OK - you have all these certs, but no
> experience. So when you apply, you are all over the place. Or else you only
> list one certification and not the others, tailoring yourself for a
> position.
>
> I think looking to get that first experience in Florida is a good choice,
> and then you have your full certification and can go from there.
>
> 2021 is very doable with your two years and the fact that you are older -
> more experienced in life, which will appeal to schools. Stick with your
> plan!

Also - wanted to add that I totally agree with making sure my resume is tailored / focused on one grade level. I’m planning to pursue one of the IB PYP schools here and package those three years of experience with the K-6 license and the M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction I’ll finish in 2021. I don’t plan on touting ESL experience / credentials unless it becomes relevant to the school. I understand there are a million elementary school teachers out there so I’ll need to make sure I have references and a portfolio that shine. I’ll be making a concerted effort to lead some extracurricular activities once in place here to help round out what I can offer. Do you have any recommendations as to valuable extracurricular leadership / coaching areas?

[PsyGuy]

@SparkleMotion

I dont see what there is to tailor in your resume, you dont have any grade level experience, you are as qualified for any one grade as you are for any other grade. You should be open to any grade you can get, and its not like there is any space to save, your resume is a note card as for as IE/DE is concerned.

Your references arent going to matter much, at best those corporate references are going to show is that youre a good employee, and beyond that there isnt anything more to communicate.

For primary there arent any really valuable ASPs, you dont coach anything.

[SparkleMotion]

So, you're saying there are no extracurricular activities in primary schools abroad? My school had various clubs and programs, and the school I attended was no gem. I'm hoping to get involved with / begin activities revolving around community involvement, children's theatre, chess, etc.

I have next three years to tailor my resume and you literally know nothing of my prior experience, so how can you say there is nothing relevant? I do have relevant experience and I have three more years to polish. I will have more than corporate references by then as well, three years worth. In those three years, I can make sure that I do have experienced in one grade level. Will they carry the weight of an experienced, career teacher? No. But I can put my best foot forward. That is what I'm interested in - creative ways to put myself in the best position possible at this juncture.

I understand that you will scoff at whatever that outcome will be; you've made that clear. I have been trying to be polite, but I am really not interested in what you have to say. If you could please allow others with constructive feedback to offer help rather than clouding the thread your lengthy and unfounded opinions, the conversation would be much more productive for me.

[sid]

He generally keeps going forever. You can block him from your feed; you wouldn’t be the first.
Don’t let it worry you. Take the good advice you’ve gotten and move forward. You seem to have your priorities straight and your thinking clear.
Good luck.

[SparkleMotion]

sid wrote:
> He generally keeps going forever. You can block him from your feed; you
> wouldn’t be the first.
> Don’t let it worry you. Take the good advice you’ve gotten and move
> forward. You seem to have your priorities straight and your thinking clear.
>
> Good luck.

Thank you! I didn’t know that was an option but I figured out that feature now. Moving forward :)

[PsyGuy]

@SparkleMotion

No, there are lots of ASPs in primary, there just arent any that have value outside of a few limited coaching programs. Chess is int h same category as other games, theater is probably going to be done by the drama/theater specialist assuming your IS/DS even has one, but its just going to be another activity, the same as a community service club, they re all just equally marketability duties as part of the job.

We know your experience you told us in your opening post. Relevant experience in IE is based on KS/K12 teaching, tutoring, ESOL, cram, hagwon, eikaiwa, lecturing at a Uni, corporate training, etc. none of those really count (under some limited conditions they can).

Its more marketable to have experience over multiple grade/year levels in primary then it is to have it only in one grade, its all primary, but the former is more likely to allow you to say "yes, youve taught grade X".

In addition to the previous fixes, anad again really your spouse should be the focus of your combined placement search:

1) You need to look into adding all of secondary Literature.
2) You have a great deal of corp[orate experience how comfortable are you with teaching business and specifically economics? You could likely spin your corporate business experience as a business/economics IT which would permit you to bring in some of your industry experience.
3) Really, my top suggestion is that you pivot into SPED/SEN/LD, you seem to have some affinity for ESOL, and the skills used in teaching ESOL are highly transferable to teaching SPED, its all special populations. This will provide you several benefits.
A) You dont have to be concerned about getting SLL experience.
B) Lower third tier ISs dont have SPED or their SPED program is little more than lip service, this allows you to spend less time in lower tiers.
C) SPED isnt IB or curriculum specific, prior curriculum experience is less of an issue and need.
D) Youll gain experience across year levels much more swiftly.
E) SPED is far less saturated than the subjects you have listed.
F) FL only has one SPED generalist credential area.

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[shadowjack]

I would recommend STEM, STEAM, IT, learning technologies, and any other area like that. Get up to speed, take a course or two to bolster your practical experience, or do PD if available, attend local conferences, go to ISTE, etc...