Both IC's STRESSED that they would never tell the principal or HOS if you were not doing your job or were teaching poorly. They stressed confidentiality. They both seemed sincere but my experience was that no one trusted them anyway.

I've worked with 2 IC's

The first one was basically the assistant principal but they made him the IC so they didn't have to pay an admin salary. Only teachers on probation worked with him. He basically evaluated them and helped them in a non evaluation way. He did an after school book club that was "voluntary" in a way that you had better show up unless you wanted him to "help" you improve in your classroom.

The second IC didn't do much. She helped her friends and was really nice. She realized she wasn't doing much and hooked everybody up with lots of goodies like chocolate and was always willing to get people stuff at Starbucks.

Both IC's had more duties and did the hard duties that other teachers don't exactly like.

Warriors will win it all. LeBron will make it to the Playoffs. Celtics will make the finals.

Here in China, a lot of schools have close to 100% Chinese kids with the only foreign kids being teacher kids. Obviously the best schools in China still have an international population but below that your teaching all Chinese kids.

What will Houston do to replace Ariza?

@ Chris 16 Have you thought of going through a recruiting service like Search Associates? Maybe you could explain your situation to them and see what they say?

Have any of you ever requested a certain teacher or requested not to have your child in a certain class? I always imagined I would not want my kids taught by a first year teacher.

thank you. Glad to know its not just my school

Thanks sid! As far as I know none of my colleagues have had major changes. Just small ones 1st grade instead of third grade etc.

So my school started last week and we had about 10 teachers not show up because of visa issues. (I've been told its way better than last year) They've been slowly trickling in. I'm curious is this a problem on China's end? Are other schools having this problem?

I'm at a new school and have noticed that several people are in different teaching positions than what they thought they would be teaching or that was stated on their contract. (I'm lucky that I'm teaching what was stated on my contract but school hasn't started yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.) So it got me thinking: When is it okay to make a stink and fight for the position you thought you would be teaching? When do you let it go?

Thanks for the advice everyone. Sounds like choose your poison. Wet or stinky. I don't think I can handle the linens. Maybe I'll try a bit of both and see what works for me.

@ psyguy

I guess I got sidetracked so lets go back to becoming a better teacher:
Actually the classes from Learners Edge were good. I learned a lot and the professors sole focus was to tailor the assignments so you were being self reflective and applying what you learned to your classroom and/or your practice. That is why I took the classes and why they were valuable. That is why they were recommended at my school which is a decent not great american school. As teachers we've all been to pd sessions that were bad or taken classes that were useless. However, if you take the attitude that classes and/or pd are junk and useless I don't see how you can grow and/or improve as an educator with that attitude

As far as the next job:
I was applying to jobs and getting no replies. I did research and hired a resume writer who focused on teaching not corporate resumes. I got replies and I got interviews. The sole purpose of the resume is to get interviews. Mission accomplished. It might still be horrible advice to hire one but thankfully it worked for me.

@ Thames Pirate: I get why you should have a portfolio but no one has ever asked me for one either.

So I always assumed materials like polyster were the best for humid weather. The ones they advertise that dry quickly. But I was reading that some people say cotton b/c it breathes better. (You know Cotton, nicknamed death cloth because it doesn't dry out) What do people prefer? My wife tells me I should just go with the techy materials and that I will have to resign myself to being hot and sweaty all the time no matter what I do.

Hi psyguy,

Thanks for taking the time to post a thoughtful response. I appreciate it and your advice was helpful. A lot of this seems like commonsense you just have to be aware of it. For example, I know I should have copies of my passport but when you wrote that I was like "Oh yeah I need to do that." Thank you.

So I was in a similar situation when I was younger. I was in a tier 3 school that was decent but eventually realized I wanted something better. I took a few years and took the Joe30 route. By that I mean I was still a good teacher I just was content to teach, travel and save money with little thought of improving as an educator.

Then I went back to the states and taught and realized I was behind the times because I didn't have a growth mindset. So similar to you I had to improve a lot if I wanted to come back overseas and find a decent school which I did.

So here are some things I would suggest: (Keep in mind I'm not an administrator or someone from HR and I don't have all the answers:)
* Pull a runner. Just kidding!
* Figure out what PD will get you a better job. In my home state we have to take classes every so often to renew our teaching license. I went with a company called learners edge where they offer self paced courses for masters credit you can do online. They offer a variety of classes that teach you things based on current trends in education I'm sure their are other companies/course that offer these things. These classes were actually helpful, were up to date, and helped me improve as a teacher. The teachers of these courses helped me identify things I could work on and improve as an educator. This might be more convenient then flying somewhere and taking a weekend course or seminar.
* I'm guessing the answer is no but if you have an instructional coordinator at your school work with that person and have them observe you and give feedback. Or videotape your classes and see if you can spot things you can do better if your school allows this.
* Continue to network with other teachers at other international schools if you can. One of my favorite books "What color is your Parachute" says that a lot more people find jobs by networking then by responding to job postings. BTW continue to respond to job postings as well:)
* Hire someone to write your resume. You have to do some research and find a good company otherwise your just wasting your money. I consider myself a good writer and I did this. Before when I submitted my resume just crickets chirping. Afterwards schools were contacting me and I had a few interviews before I found a job.
* Look it's not okay to be a bad teacher and just pass out worksheets. However, at your current job you might want to focus on just being a good teacher instead of a super teacher so you have time to improve for your next job. Find a balance, btw this keeps you from also burning out as a teacher as well.
* When you get to the interview stage be prepared to have specific examples and/or an online portfolio Instead of "I believe all kids can learn" For example, I increased students writing scores this much by doing ..... Or I can tell my students showed growth b/c of this...
* If you want to do an after school club or mentor students great. However, I'm skeptical this is going to get you a new job. I'm guessing a good school that pays well is not going to be like "You ran the after school debate club? Great! When can you start?"

Thanks Cattalus. Love the new toy idea. Senator I only wish I could sew them to their clothes.