Nikkor good call! CA had 8 cities today with AQIs higher than Beijing (at current time AM Thursday). Grant it I can drink the water back home and I'm not too worried about food, CA has days of what they call spare the air days...sure no where near what China can pull but certainly dangerous levels for anyone with respiratory issues. Last winter I experienced 13 straight days of haze in the SF Bay Area...was never that bad growing up there. But extreme congestion and lack of quality public transit gets you smog, even in "sunny CA"!

I think you you either hate China or have a strange love for it.

@psyguy you're right on this. Marin County in SF Bay Area has one of the highest concentrations of breast cancer in our country. Rich white women who 1. Don't work, 2. can afford all "organic' and healthy food, 3. have access to the highest quality medical care and funds for preventative care (fitness and food) and still the cancer persists. Go to a poor, under served community across the bridge...asthma and diabetes are the main issues. Go figure.

Great packing ideas! Thanks for sharing. Never thought of the tub idea, but have a few trusty ones in storage and these may be my go to in the future

Not sure where the quote of $14k is coming from. It's as quick as a 10m program (standard track:out of state/country) coming in under $7k and while it's about double what other induction programs cost, if your school district doesn't pay BTSA or induction program fees you're stuck paying them anyway. This is becoming a common trend. Clear and fast track through UCLA are both under $5k (total for 3 quarters).
Perhaps you were quoted for the actual credential program which would easily cost $14-$25k depending on the school (state/UC/private) but that's a 2-3yr process while paying graduate fees.

@leipanga you are welcome to PM me for more info as I've jumped through the CA hoops. Can also forward you the info you may need. I can connect you to colleagues who went through a variety of induction/clear program routes for CA.
As you mentioned you can do all of the exams from your location in Korea. Lots to think about for sure and glad to give you relevant info.

Exams are fairly easy but taking any standardized exam is annoying. CBST is easy, CSET sub tests are not difficult with brushing up on 4-8th grade curriculum and then the RICA is the one some folks have struggled with. It's an all or nothing exam (CSET are sub tests) and it's very heavy on academic vocab, theory and applying skills to case studies. Passable for sure, but more intensive for studying.

Good luck in whatever path you choose! Lots of things to consider, but im sure you'll find the right program for you!

@psyguy
There ARE online induction programs to clear your CA credential. SDSU, UCLA...

@leipanga
You do not have to live in CA to clear your credential in CA. Yes the majority of the induction programs offered through the Universities require in state teaching, but some do not and SDSU is online as is UCLA. UCLA offers three tracks for teachers to clear their credential. One of those tracks is for out of state AND out of country teachers. It is all online.

I'm not sure what additional requirements you might have to apply in CA as I think you mentioned a link with peace corp/CA. There are a number of mandatory courses for teaching ESL to receive a BCLAD cert (now embedded in the credentia if coursework is completed) and we all have to pass the RICA exam for teaching reading/writing. It's hoop jumping & $! These requirements are about to change again though based on some rumblings back in CA. seems like every ten years or so they add more crap to take/complete so if you're remotely interested in clearing it via CA, now may be a good time. Renewing is not rocket science, take your PD courses (IS schools make this pretty easy AND you can do any CA required ones online), send in your fees and you're renewed.

I attended the SF ISS to check it out (had a contract via Skype) and noticed it was mostly high school positions (I'm primary) and quite a few schools either cancelled presentations or attendance altogether. Quite a few Middle East schools were there. I got the feeling I would have walked away empty handed or offers with schools I wasn't really interested in working at unless I was just desperate to go abroad.

I worried about it being the "last stop" on the recruitment tour so I focused quite a bit in contacting my desired schools directly as soon as jobs were posted and even contacted schools who had not posted.

I considered the UNI as I thought it had the most variety of schools attending and Boston as well as I've heard it is well attended by schools but travel/time off would have been way out of budget. Absolutely glad I didn't do Boston because I probably would have gotten stuck with their weather issues.

Perhaps you'll lock in interviews before and won't need to worry about a conference!

Congrats! Now you can breath and dream of two whole years of NO snow.
Not sure if this tip will work in SE Asia but tea tree oil products were my friend in Belize's jungles. Only thing that seemed to work.

Mine has specifics in it. Everything we discussed via Skype, email and in person was in the contract. I'm guessing there's a deadline to sign, ask for clarification first highlighting the verbal commitments.

Amen to that Psyguy!
My previous public school district in the SF Bay Area is cutting teacher salaries by 4%, increasing class sizes to 32, decreasing yet again school budgets, laying off 14 teachers, and this is all after they raked in $31m from the sale of a school property. The teachers haven't had pay raises in over 10yrs...not even a basic cost of living to match the county recommendation. Kids are actually pretty well behaved and the parents are supportive of their schools, they're just poor, working class and have no real power over their kids school District.
And don't get me started on the mess that is Common Core and its poor implementation, lack of teacher training about it, no relevent text books, etc. a disaster. Who is winning? Pearson. Who loses? The kids, again.
No thank you!

Won't know officially until I'm handed the keys, but likely guess, yes H area.
Thanks again everyone for the great feedback. Looking forward to the adventure

It's not common anywhere. Males tend to not teach in the lower grades and its a shame whether they don't feel comfortable or hirable who knows. I'm just thrilled the staff I'll be working with have bucked the "system" because the male teacher's kids and their female peers benefit from the different perspective. I guess you can say it's similar to women not going into sciences or math as frequently as their male counterparts. Interest, skill, desire or even comfort being part of what is viewed as a "boys club" could be factors. Great though when there's a variety of staff at all levels.

Helen & Psyguy thanks for posting.
Pollution is a huge concern and will be the entire time I'm there. ive heard positives (ok more like "it's not THAT bad" or Beijing is worse!") to its horrid and intolerable. I will also be meeting new colleagues who've now been in Shanghai for years and have no major complaints...one is a marathon runner. I may have to update the thread next Feb after the "bad" season winds down with my own update.

I do appreciate both the opinions and folks keeping it professional.

Since my school provides housing the first year, I won't waste any time tge first week in town stressing about this...but next year I'll need to find my own spot. Tips on " best" neighborhoods (tell us why it's the best in your opinion), rental tips and any other Shanghai rental adventures would be great, humorous, scary maybe.

steve416 wrote:
> That was a really thorough reply. Definitely different than I expected as
> well (I mean this in a good way)!
>
> I have a couple quick questions about the diversification section, the SOTA
> approach I need to give some more thought.
>
>
> Would I be more marketable teaching upper primary (exit level primary). I
> am currently teaching a 4-5 split (I taught grade 3 for for the previous 2
> years) and will later this year be working on my first exhibition. There
> is opportunity for me to do exhibition training later this year as well.
>
>
> Would staying in Grade 5 and doing exhibition training be a better idea
> because it is a more specialized skill set?

If you are happy at your school and have an opportunity to gain the additional experience of exhibition training, why not give it another year? If you're in a supportive environment and are enjoying teaching that age, stay and grab that training.


If you do decide to explore younger years, do consider some of the ECE coursework even as a fresher of developmental stages. The school I will be joining next year does have at least one male teaching in every grade level from K-5. That's unheard of to have that many stateside, so I'm thrilled there will be that diversity of teaching staff at my IS. As a longtime child development teacher (early years for IS world), I can tell you the field wishes more men would break the stereotypes and teach in the younger years. I've had the pleasure of working with two men at the toddler/young 3s and they were incredible educators as well as nurturing and supportive. I have a colleague who directs a co-op school for 2-thru kinders in the Seattle Washington area. "Teacher Tom" is beloved by his students and families.

Good luck this year and on. You've got some good problems to solve I think! Feel free to PM me if youve got an early years questions.

All great info and the credit union has confirm they do not have the international number and the steps needed to wire which seemed like a pain and that's why I began to research other options and posted here as well.
There's an HSBC close by so I will investigate their services.

Thanks again all!

Any tips on seeing $ home? Reading mixed reviewson just how easy or what a pain in the ass the process is. Being paid in RMB, sending funds home to US.
One suggestion was transfer from bank (China) to PayPal then to home bank
Wiring (no thanks)
I do use online banking now and my credit Union has indicated this won't be an issue on their end (to receive) but it seems like getting it out may be more problematic.
Thoughts? Experience?