You know, the copyright-friendly way to have driven more traffic to the ideas would have been with a link to the thread where it could be originally found (and added on to). If there are reasons people are more willing to post on the "blog" versus the forum, they need to be looked at.

Incidentally, the blog on best and worst packages is absolutely unreadable by now and a conclusive example of why we no longer use the scroll as opposed to the codex. As a forum thread, at least there would be pages to flip through. By now, it is too long to read in one sitting and there is no easy way of picking up where you left off.

Pleased after the fact is different than being asked beforehand. Should an author be ok with a publisher who says: "But I got you all this greater audience! Aren't you flattered? Check? No, there's no check, did you expect a check when you wrote it the first time? You love to do this, right?" (I especially love that argument, that those who enjoy their work don't deserve to be paid for it. Sorry, I digress.) I am sure there Are people who would be happy in that circumstance, but that doesn't make it obligatory that everyone should feel that way. Especially not if someone else profits in some manner, however indirect it may or may not be.

It was not only one instance of a person's words being used out of context and elsewhere. There was more than one author and more than one blog topic.

Hosting a website does not give moral authority over a created work. As I alluded above, user agreements these days feel perfectly fine asking to enslave the user's grandmother, but that is not equal to What Is Right. Sorry. It doesn't. Would you like to see something you've posted on Facebook to a friend appear in an advertisement of your_least_favorite_product_here? So what if it's still on the Facebook site. It would be out of context and not where you intended.

The fact that TES has its own special way of sucking at times does not change the moral authority over one's own words and where and how they are used.

And the idea that ISR would be entitled to lift anyone's words here because they a.) have legal bills b.) feed poor children in X-landia or c.) they are "good people", I'm sorry. It doesn't work.

Michelle, I am glad that we have a place to name and shame, and I'm sorry that you had a bad time at a school, but there aren't excuses for using someone else's words without prior permission, in a completely different context, just because someone wanted to.

I definitely second (third) what has been said about TES. It gets a lot more traffic, though, which... well, it has its own issues and it is ridiculous the circumlocution necessary there, it's very difficult to use the search function on a school when it has only been described as a rebus. And you do definitely get the feeling there that the teachers are only permitted to say what will keep the paying advertisers (the schools, in the classifieds) happy. The teachers' opinions there are truly of no value other than to tell the advertisers how much traffic there is for them.

At the same time it is really disconcerting to see a thread in this forum just lifted and made into a blog out of the blue. I'm not sure the benefit of that, it kind of splits the conversation, and the original posters posted here, to the thread. I don't know the technical details, but it violates the spirit of copyright, where the initial person to put it into physical form owns where and how it is used, including electronic publishing. Maybe giving those rights away was part of the "user" agreement to this forum, maybe from here on out it will be, but that does stick in my craw a little.

Before someone jumps in and tells me that because some of us are in another country, where ever that might be, that there is no copyright, the address listed on the ISR blog/email is in Florida. And treating others as one would want to be treated should be valid anywhere, anyways.

specialed, it is interesting to hear you have first hand experience of untrue reviews. Of course you can see that some of the reviewers were never going to be happy anywhere and I think we've all worked with people whose advice we wouldn't trust in person, but I've wondered if people have posted negative things to cut down competition for a good school. Maybe I'm heading into conspiracy territory there, but I also have read things on the pay side that have made me say "huh? did this person even work there?"

Qatar Academy Al Khor and Qatar Academy Doha are both reviewed on the other side of the wall. Before accepting a position, you might want to read what's over there. Al Khor does specify that singles' housing is shared. At a minimum, I'd ask if they were comfortable with your getting in contact with teachers there unless you can't see who's on staff and choose yourself who you get in contact with. If you can't see who's on staff, then I wouldn't bother, since they'd be choosing. And it goes without saying to have any conversation Outside of the school's email servers.

Definitely IS the place for positive stories. People are free to go to another forum or post something cranky on the other side of the ISR wall. Incidentally, be sure to post a review, it gets a little unbalanced over there, between the utterly scr3wed and the glowing reports from administrators...

Would love to hear you talk more about the "compound learning curve". Advice? I've never lived on one before.

From a US perspective:
I was researching a school district locally and did a google search looking for a name in HR. What I found were documents instructing the HR folks how to interview. To me, it has a very US feel, but that doesn’t exclude their use elsewhere, they could be used for that very reason in some places. The intro began:

“... Ample research evidence shows that the traditional unstructured interview is very poor at predicting future job success. Yet the interview as a “casual conversationâ€

I don't know if we're allowed to mention TES (Times Educational Supplement) here, but here goes. I think it would be helpful in both directions if there were more traffic between. Especially because ISR and TES have somewhat different focus and TES has a conflict of interest between advertising jobs available and being an open exchange of information. Consequently they don't permit naming and shaming as should absolutely be done when merited. That aside, I bring it up because that's where I got the following & they are a great resource. See the forum section for Jobseekers in particular & Theogriff (maybe I've also seen here?).

Some questions cited from vixenwasp's experience, likely UK perspective:

Tell us about what led you to teaching and then why did you apply to work here?

When have you been part of a team?

You see a child with bruising in PE and don't believe their explanation, what do you do?

What does a creative curriculum mean to you and what experience do you have of this?

How do you deal with a difficult behaviour?

How would you encourage parental involvement?

How do you assess children's progress? {In IB speak: "how do we know when childeren are learning?" -rr}

What are your curriculum strengths?

Here is our school motto {or mission or vision statement -rr} ..... how would you bring this into your teaching?

{I'm going to break this into 2 posts, as I'm getting a little long here.}

ichiro, I definitely feel your ambivalence about negotiating with a non profit school. Being in a low demand area, last year I was unable to find work here at home and a sudden, fantastic vacancy came up due to a runner. This was at an excellent school & I was really lucky to be in the right spot at the right time. They're definitely non profit. I had no idea what I was doing, but like I said, was very lucky. The school gave me credit for years that were not teaching full time but were in my profession (I wasn't sure if I was going to be applying to colleges or to secondary schools, so the CV was written really for college teaching: professional activity, research, service, etc.). When I asked one other teacher (only) about whether she ever got credit for years that a union at home might not allow, she said in essence, that she considered that the offer that the school was making her. I did not go into specifics with her and decided to shut up. : ) But those years could be justified with professional activity in my field.

I came home last Sept because the position was a temporary one and my local district is giving me credit for exactly ZERO years of teaching, even though they wanted me very specifically for each year that I have taught full time, each for their own reasons. In light of how little I'm working (it's not a full time gig), that money would have meant so little to them. I think they thought they might keep me, and that I'd be fine spending the rest of my career having started from zero with them. I'm not. But I guess this is just to say that negotiating, even with a public school with a salary scale, is a delicate and subtle business but still exists and should be done. It's important. In April I'm still unhappy about it. Hopefully something good will happen for next year.

I just want to clarify that last bit, I don't mean to come across as saying that 5k more than your offer is an unreasonable thing. My point is more that there
are unreasonable people out there. If your doing what you need to do to best look out for your interests makes them upset, better you know NOW.

Random points in no particular order:

In the category of Mistakes I Won't Be Making Twice:
I want to SEE the salary scale and where they say they want to put me before accepting any offers. That one I learned at home, incidentally.

Is it a for-profit school? If you are in Vietnam and not happy with what they've offered you, is it because it is lower than what other schools in Vietnam are paying for the same amount of experience (this seems to be a trend in for profit schools in general) or because it is lower than you can do at home? Because at home can introduce a lot of variability, if you are in a high cost of living place or high need area or inner city vs rural, public, private... You don't have to go into detail about that unless you want advice on the number. Just food for thought.

Whether they are offended by your wanting more pay may not have any relationship to whether your counter was a reasonable one. That's going to depend, I think, more on the personalities involved and could be a red flag. After reading some of the antics of people on the other side of the ISR reviews... An experienced, reasonable person would not be offended by negotiation of pay. They might not have the ability to negotiate much around a set pay scale, but IMHO, a set pay scale would be one mark of a professional operation.

Hey, mandolin,
Being in a LOW demand area and living a town that has earned the distinction of "Poorest Big City" more than once... the crazy thing I've found is that it's easier to get my teaching credentials recognized in another country than it is in another state. However... you don't have to live in another state to apply to get the teaching credential for that state. There could be exceptions to this, but have you considered taking a look at the requirements of other states for their teaching credential? It's a lovely amount of red tape, time and effort but you have a ton of education... it's ridiculous that you should have to go back for another year. Maybe you haven't given enough detail but with a master's degree... aren't you Highly Qualified? If this is something you want, maybe it's worth your while to go through the trouble. But each state is different and it would take a little digging to find one that you fit the requirements for. But not more than what it takes to research good schools from disreputable ones anyway.

Good luck! What you have in experience and education should put you head and shoulders above a lot of other candidates if you can resolve that little detail of a piece of paper.

I'm new with Search, but my associate has been very generous with her time and experience with me. As a relative newcomer (only 1 international school experience), it's very helpful to me to have information for the packages offered. I'm not going to waste my time on a school that claims to "value education" and pay the equivalent of $1,000 a month, I don't care what kind of paradise they think they're in. That kind of pay doesn't value MY education. And there's more than one of those schools.

I'm finding the package is another important clue to how professional & well-run the place is. If I can do better at home, why would I leave? I can find poor management with better pay here. The point is to find both reasonable pay & a well-run school. (Of course there is Significantly more to it than that, these are the points of departure.)

Moving always overwhelms me. Even if it were down the street.

It seems to me that when you're making this change to a culture that is completely new, and possibly dealing with an alphabet you won't know, that you need that initial enthusiasm and excitement about the place you're going. As much as you have of it, the better, I think.

If you can get your nervous energy toward helping you prepare (learning the curriculum if new; reading up on the history and culture of the place and even choosing which travel/tourist books for your destination- you will never have as good a selection to physically look through before buying and carrying as now; language preparation if possible, same story with the book selection) If you can channel your energy towards preparations you'll be in a better place mentally to handle the bumps that come.

Good luck!

Hey, OC!
my email, without the spaces is:
as far as siam @gmail