Don't cheap out and buy the Sterilite or "hard plastic" Rubbermaid line. You want the heavy-duty Roughtotes. (They are made of softer plastic that can be banged up without shattering.)

Just one correction to what PsyGuy was saying. I am certified in Michigan, and it's not that difficult to maintain your certification once you have the professional license. (To move from provisional to professional, you have to do a 3-year teaching component, plus 18 hours if graduate work.) I've never heard of the "advanced" license, though. There are several older teachers who have "permanent" licenses, but that's a thing of the past.

You do not have to do coursework specific to each area of endorsement. I am certified in math and history, but I have done coursework or CEUs in only math to renew my license, then only in history the next time, and this renewal will be a combo of both. Similarly, they don't care which subject you teach. They never ask.

[quote="PsyGuy"]@Chemist

Michigan isnt the most friendly state to maintain certification for an IT. Here are the issues:

3) With multiple certifications you may have to do appropriate coursework specific to each certification. Your also going to have to have your schools cooperation to document your teaching experience across multiple subjects. If your hired to teach chemistry and thats all you teach, your not building teaching experience needed for renewal and advancement in math and physics. [/quote]

jboeh2, Just to give you an idea...

I am a secondary mathematics and history teacher with 15 years experience teaching in the US. I have a non-teaching spouse and 2 elementary aged children. When I originally became certified, my goal was to teach overseas, but pretty much everyone wanted 2 years of experience. I got a great job here in the US and 2 years turned into 15 before I could blink. I finally decided to pursue teaching abroad, and have been frustrated.

The bottom line is, as PsyGuy and Mathman say, you're just too expensive. I had several schools that flat-out told me that if my husband taught something (anything!), they would hire us both, and find a placement for him to get me. However, bringing 4 people over for only 1 worker was just a huge financial jump for them, when there were many other single teachers to consider. The truly funny thing is, my husband had considered getting his teaching license here, but the job market in the US is not worth the cost we would have to invest for him to do so.

I have had a few schools that were interested, but due to the fact that they are 7-12 schools only, we couldn't make it work (we're not willing to homeschool my own kids for 2 years or more.) There will be some opportunities, but prepare for a lot of frustration as well.

Congrats to you, teachman! We have similar backgrounds, but had very different experiences. I am also HS math certified, with 14 years experience in the states, and dependents. Did much of the same thing as you did, but stayed at the Hyatt. I think it was actually a disadvantage--they scheduled people staying elsewhere for the Friday interviews, which led to a lot of offers before Saturday interviews were even conducted. I had no advance interviews.

I had 6 interviews scheduled, but 2 canceled because they filled the position before I got there. I expected that kind of thing, but it was disheartening. (One of the directors came to find me personally, and let me know, which I thought was kind, instead of leaving an impersonal note.) Many other schools told me at the Friday sign up that they would not consider me because if the dependents...two of my top ten picks said "you were our top pick until we saw that you have a trailing spouse and kids, sorry!"

I still have one school I'm talking to, and hoping to keep working through the database, but the fair was kind of a disappointment. I did meet a lot of lovely people, and learned a lot about ISs around the globe, so not a total loss!

People seem to be taking the news in stride, but Logan Airport is already closing down, and the T is supposed to stop at 3:30 tomorrow.

Hey, senator. Thanks for your outrage on my behalf. (Or my husband's!)
I personally place a high value on my husband's worth; he's been a stay at home dad while our kids were Pre-school-age, and I fully understand how valuable it will be to me for him to be with me. As I mentioned, I think he's a huge asset to me. However, I understand that PsyGuy's comment was in reference to how a school might assess his worth to them...I didn't take offense because I tried to take the advice in the spirit it was given, and I have WAY thicker skin than that.

As always, thanks to everyone for your advice. My husband will be with me at the fair, but not at the interview unless the recruiter requests it.

We have no problem answering the kind of questions Walter is talking about, because I agree, those things are important for schools to know; just like I will have a list of questions about the school, considering it's where I'll be spending the majority of my waking hours for the next few years, at least. I currently work at a school where openness and honesty has treated me very well, but I'm not blind to the fact that some administrators might not be as honest as my current boss. Still, I'll look to the advice of other friends in the international circuit to point out the good/bad/ugly as far as that goes. (and the reviews on ISR!)

That said, my husband will be my biggest asset abroad, so I have no problem with anyone interviewing him, too. I'll make sure he has some nice trousers, PsyGuy--no Captain Underpants!

Well, our plan is for him to either be a house husband or maybe teach ELL on the side, if that's an option. His degree is in International Relations (a mixture of poly sci and econ, really), but he's been working as a substitute teacher in my current school. So I figured that unless a school really wants a good substitute, he's not "adding value" to my candidacy.

I did not sign up for him to attend the social, and Search did not charge me anything for him to attend unless he was going to the social.

I wanted him to be with me more for moral support/quick decision making, because we tend to think better as a pair (another clear head to see things objectively!)

My spouse and I will be traveling to Cambridge next week for the fair. I am a high school mathematics teacher, he is a trailing spouse. We had planned on him spending time visiting with Boston friends while I am busy with the fair, but when I was reading one of shadowjack's posts, he mentioned that he would bring his spouse to interviews even if she were trailing. Should I plan on my spouse attending interviews with me? Is that common?

First, what is your educational background? The requirements for getting your license differ from state to state, so what would be required of you will depend on your background. For instance, in my home state of Michigan, if you have a BS or BA, you can acquire your teaching certificate in about 1.5 years through a university program at the graduate level. (1 of those years is student teaching.)

American - from Michigan - here.

Mick Travis, thanks for the description of the UK's process, something I've been curious about. It sounds somewhat similar to what the requirements are in Michigan. Elementary teachers complete a generalist degree with a specialist minor, and Secondary teachers complete a subject-area degree with a teachable minor as well. Prior to graduation, we also complete a series of education (pedagogy) courses, including a year of working in schools (which we refer to as student-teaching).

After completion of those requirements, teachers are issued a probationary teaching certificate, which is good for 6 years. To renew it, they must complete an additional 18 hours of graduate-level coursework, and three years' teaching experience. At that point, you're half-way to a Master's degree, so it makes financial sense to finish the degree, because the pay jump from Bachelor's to Master's is significant in most schools. (For my school, it was about $4500, and my coursework cost me about $12000, so after three years, I was coming out ahead.)

In Michigan, and in most states, teachers are required to keep taking coursework in perpetuity to renew their state certificate. Here, it's 6 credits every 5 years, which isn't too bad. Professional development conferences and trainings can be counted instead of that, but you have to do about 3 times as much coursework for that, and you have no degree to show for it.

thank you both for the response. I am a math teacher, so while it wouldn't be like an art portfolio, I do have some ideas of how to show my working style and student samples.

I also carry my iPad with me pretty much everywhere, and could easily use that as a video player if needed to show a demo lesson. I can also upload that kind of stuff to a website for potential employers to reference.

heyteach, I hadn't thought of including the presentations I've done at conferences! Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm trying to make sure I have all of my ducks in a row, and am finding conflicting advice about portfolios. Some people say that they're an important tool you should bring to interviews and job fairs, others say no one looks at them. What should be included in them is also up for debate. So, I'm hoping to get some advice from those of you who've been in the market for awhile. When I was a new teacher, I put together a portfolio that included my reference letters, certificate and transcripts, examples of student work, pictures of me in the classroom, and so on.

With modern technology, it seems that a lot more can be done, including videos of lessons, if it's put on a website. I guess what I'm wondering, though, is how important a portfolio is, and what would be the best things to include in it?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!!

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully I can line some things up in advance, and ideally not even have to go to the fair, but this is all good to know!

According to the SA website, invites will be sent out soon (mid-August) for the Cambridge fair. Then you can make a reservation through their discounted block. I don't know how many rooms the hotel blocks for this, but I assume a fairly large number?

I would also love tips for a first-timer, if anyone out there has suggestions.