Graduated college with a degree and teaching license in Elementary Ed. Went to a SEARCH fair as an intern candidate and got a job at a small international school in Western Europe as basically a classroom TA. I loved it, and the way the kids were learning and working in multiple languages really fascinated me. I decided, at that point, that I would eventually go back to get my masters in ESL.

I stayed at that school as a TA for just one year. I returned to my home country to get 2 years of teaching experience that I knew most schools would want. Did my two years, then I took some time off to go to grad school for that MEd in ESL. Went back to SEARCH, got a job at a 2nd tier school in the ME as a homeroom teacher. Most of the kids at that school were 2nd language learners, so my graduate degree got a lot of use, even though I wasn't hired as the ESL teacher.

Then I decided to move on. Went back to SEARCH, got an offer at a tier 1 school in East Asia as an ESL teacher this time. Now I'm itching to get back to classroom teaching!

I just had to deal with this problem last year. My state is a stickler for the proof of residence part. You can't use just any bill that gets mailed to you; it must be a bill that proves residence, like an electricity bill, mortgage, etc. So a cell phone bill or credit card bill won't work. The only thing I had that would work was the prior year's tax return with the address on it. And now I don't have to worry about my DL again for 10 years!

I'd say the workload is the same, but my time is split a lot differently. Back home, the majority of my time was spent on prepping, making materials, setting up displays and lessons, grading, managing, and planning how to manage my kids. Now some of the reason for it was that I was a young, new teacher, and some was because it was quite a challenging school for student behavior.

Overseas, I feel like a lot more of my time is devoted to a ton of different meetings. And a lot of time is devoted to things that have to do with the teacher leadership roles I've taken on. Now that I have more experience, I don't have to spend so much time planning. And I have a TA to do a lot of materials prep. Plus my kids take a language each day, in addition to art, music, PE, etc., which gives me an extra prep period I never had back home. Oh, and the kids are better behaved, so less time on classroom management.

I'd say "the middle of nowhere" is a bit exaggerated. It might have been true years ago when ISB first moved out of the city and into the 'burbs (called Shunyi). But 1) Shunyi has been built up quite a bit as a suburban area, 2) most single teachers live in the city and take school-provided transport out to school each day, and 3) WAB is also out in the same area, just slightly closer to town (and again, many of WAB's teachers live in the city and ride school buses into work each day).

For me, personally, I would pick WAB if I was IB experienced, or wanted IB experience in the PYP or MYP, and I would pick ISB if I was DP and/or didn't care about the MYP or PYP.

It's hard to answer this for me, because I don't have experience with British curriculum schools in Dubai, though I do have experience with other curriculums. If my time in the Middle East has taught me anything, it's to not work for a for-profit school. So while there are dozens and dozens of "British" schools in Dubai, very few of them are nonprofit: Dubai College, Dubai English Speaking School (DESS), Dubai English Speaking College (DESC), and Jebel Ali Primary School are the only ones I know of. I wouldn't work for anything less than 12,000Dhs per month + housing or housing allowance. And the housing allowance would have to be at least 55,000Dhs. You could make do with less, and I know people who do, but that would be my line.

ISB's benefits + salary package is the best in Beijing, but WAB's is really good too. WAB has a much more open admissions policy, while ISB has a more selective policy. ISB's curriculum is more American-style with some international influences and the DP while WAB is IB all the way through. The old stereotype (from about a decade ago) was that ISB was the kind of school where you'd see the teachers in suits and ties and WAB was the place with teachers in flip flops. The stereotype was never 100% true, as stereotypes often aren't, and the school cultures have shifted a bit over time too.

I highly recommend reading the reviews on the paid side of the site, as both schools have many reviews that span many years. But the bottom line, IMO, is that if you are willing to deal with Beijing, either school would be a fine choice.

Hey Marv, don't let your first year get you down; it can be a killer. I don't know tons about the requirements for NQT because I come from the American system. However, my state has a program for new teachers' induction year that can add a lot of work and stress. In addition to trying to learn the ropes as a newbie, plus working at the worst elementary school in the state (so much poverty and violence), I had to attend a bunch of seminars, get observed by everyone and their brother, and complete some assignments. I probably worked 65-70 hours per week that year. But never since.

For elementary teachers, one of the nicer things about international schools is more prep time than back home because the kids have a special plus a language class each day. I can get more done during the school day. I still work after school, but less than back home. I also spend less time on classroom management and more on teaching. On the flip side, I feel like I have 5 times the number of meetings to attend than I did back home.

Keep slogging through; it does get better!

As for Higgs, his posts make me laugh. Some I can't even believe because they're so ridiculous. But even if he's totally serious and truthful, oh well. I love my profession and treat it like a career. So Higgs' (or other teachers) lack of professionalism doesn't change a thing about what I would do.

Thanks for explaining more about the Canadian system.

In my experience, your last paragraph is true. I have yet to run into teachers who are teaching wildly outside of their certification/training area at international schools, with one exception: language teachers. When I was in the ME, some of our Arabic teachers were actually science or math teachers. But our school, unfortunately, would not hire locals for these positions, so if they wanted to work at our school their only option was Arabic. That same principal also thought that being an English Lit major meant you could teach ESOL. I haven't seen this elsewhere, so it may have been isolated to that one school.

Good luck on Monday. I really do feel that, for most teachers, we have an age range that best suits our personalities, talents, and abilities. Not too many teachers can teach both 8th grade and Kinder with equal effectiveness and joy. I'm sure there are a few who could, but they would be the minority. I believe that's why about 10 years ago the state where I'm licensed stopped giving out K-8 certs and now forces teachers to get either an early childhood, elementary, or middle years license.

It seems like you know what you want, so I hope Monday goes well for you.

I didn't land my dream school until my 3rd contact, and I had to go home for a bit after my first IT job to get some more experience and get my M.Ed. Did I want to go home? No, but it was the right decision for me, even though it meant taking an IT break for a few years.

Forgive me for sounding ignorant, but I don't know how the teaching education and credentialing work in Canada. Would the degree alone make you qualified to teach the subject? In the US, at least in the couple of states I'm familiar with, it's not enough to have a degree in a subject. There are other requirements in order to be certified for that subject and have it listed on your teaching license. This usually involves taking a test like the Praxis with a certain passing score.

My advice is to do whatever you need to do to get certified to teach the subjects you want to teach. Experience helps, of course, but there are many top-tier schools that won't hire you if you're not actually certified for the subject, either because of their own policies or because of the country's visa requirements.

First, thanks Medellin, as a primary teacher I appreciate it. I always save my special kudos for MS teachers. I've never taught that age range, but I have coached at the 6th and 8th grade levels. Lovely kids, but holy hell! I found their attention spans worse than first graders, but with all the added angst of puberty. I think it takes a special person to teach MS.

I hope your year improves, but I say that as someone with a special love of elementary, specifically 2nd-4th grades. If you have specific questions or want help, I'm sure people here would be happy to help. Good luck!

According to my teacher friends of color, racism is definitely still alive in Europe, especially Central and East. And those are the parts of Europe where packages are best.

If you need sunny weather, and you're not willing to try a UV lamp (which I would highly recommend as a fellow SAD sufferer) then I think you're limited to the south: Portugal, Spain, maybe the south of France, like Marseilles, and Italy. You're not going to make much in any of those places.

I reluctantly agree with wldtrvlr123. Reluctant not because I think he/she is wrong; reluctant because I hesitate to send anyone to polluted China. However, you can do things to mitigate the damage like masks, expensive air purifiers, and doing one contract to get experience and then getting out. But there's not much you can do to mitigate a revolution. I have a friend who was in Cairo a few years ago during the initial turmoil, and it sounded scary. And it's not like stability has improved tons since then.

Beatrice, I would say ACS (American Community School) has the best reputation.

I've been at 3 different schools that were all different introductory experiences, but there were some common threads that I think hold true for many schools:

1. At all 3, I was met at the school by admin and other staff and taken to my accommodation where there was a welcome basket of food, delivery menus, a few cleaning supplies, TP, etc. Two of those places were school-owned accommodations and 1 was an extended-stay hotel the school paid for for a couple of months while we looked for our own housing.

2. The shopping trips out to stores to buy food, household goods, phones, etc. sometimes done by a school mentor couple and sometimes done by volunteer teachers.

3. The PD days for newbies. Not really PD, but a getting to know the school and culture kind of thing. This is when all 3 of my schools also brought in bank people to set up accounts. And in the 2 places where English was not spoken, some local staff members began to offer some language lessons at the school.