Thread: Other English Teachers

Hello Jacq!

I teach English but I also teach social studies, math, science, health, cursive handwriting, spelling, and composition. I'm a jack of all trades - a 41 year old elementary teacher in Missouri City, Texas. I teach 4th grade.

I've worked with New Zealanders before. There were two New Zealanders on the faculty when I taught at the American Community School of Beirut in Beirut, Lebanon. They were traveling around the world - using their teaching certificates to find jobs at various international schools. If memory serves ACS Beirut was their first overseas school. I have often wondered what happened to them. (I lost touch with most of the teachers after I left Beiriut in the summer of '99 - which was less than one week after the city was bombed by the Israeli Air Force).

Regards,

David Chin

David,

Thank you for your response. It sounds like you have had quite some career to date. I hope that the Kiwis you were working with gave you a good impression of the rest of us.

My husband and I are hoping to get on the 'International Schools Circuit' (he is a History/English teacher) next year. We have a six month old baby so we realise that we probably will not have the pick of the jobs. It will be an adventure though.

Did you work in any other International Schools? Highlights? Lowlights?

Jacq

Originally Posted by Jacq

David,

My husband and I are hoping to get on the 'International Schools Circuit' (he is a History/English teacher) next year. We have a six month old baby so we realise that we probably will not have the pick of the jobs. It will be an adventure though.

Did you work in any other International Schools? Highlights? Lowlights?

Jacq

Hi Jacq,

In addition to working at ACS Beirut for one year, I spent 7 years in Saudi Arabia working for the Saudi Aramco Oil Company. Saudi Aramco was a top notch school - but I'm sorry to say that they only hire certified teachers from the United States.

ACS Beirut was interesting ... but there was some tension. The expats were paid more than the Lebanese - which led to a certain degree of resentment. Since most expats also moved on to other overseas jobs, there was also some additional resentment because the Lebanese teachers weren't as mobile as the expats from the U.S. Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. There simply isn't a demand for Lebanese teachers outside of a few private (Arabic) schools in the Middle East.

Since Beirut was also recovering from a 17 year civil war, the school was going through some adjustments. During the war, the school lost most of the expat staff - so the school became more Lebanese and lost a lot of its international flavor.

Things HAVE CHANGED. I understand that the school has a K-12 curriculum. When I taught there each teacher taught there, things were less organized. I was one of three third grade teachers. There was a Brit. There was a Syrian. I was American. Each teacher taught what third graders would be taught in his/her country of national origin. Since each of us came with different educational philosophies and training, there was quite a bit of divergence regarding what was taught.

The housing has also changed. Some expats lived in comfortably furnished apartments with air-conditioning. The rest of us lived in a converted dorm with no A/C. (Beirut can be really hot and humid). It is my understanding that expats now have more consistency regarding the quality of their housing.

Since you have a young child - you might be interested to know that ACS Beirut had an EXCELLENT day care program. It was free for staff and was located on-site at the elementary school - which was just across the street from the secondary school. Now that I think about it, I knew two couples from New Zealand. The younger couple lived "off campus" but the older couple had a young child and an infant. They lived "on campus" in a refurbished dormitory apartment. (They even had the luxury of air-conditioning). When I asked them why they lived on campus they told me that they had 24 access to the Day Care. Even though Day Care personnel weren't available on-site 24 hours a day, the play room, the toys etc. were all there!

The school was also in a good location - just one block from the Corniche, the broad avenue that parallels the Mediterranean. I used to enjoy having a nice cup of coffee at one of the coffee shops on the Corniche. I'd sit with some expats and watch the sun set over the Med while drinking coffee and eating these really wonderful french fries - which are quite popular in Beirut.

I think you might find the experience at ACS Beirut to be worthwhile. While I was in Beirut, I used to travel with some of the other teachers. During the Christmas break a group of us went to Cairo. We spent Christmas Day touring the Giza pyramids and we spent the the following week crusing down the Nile on a river boat.

We also went to Syria and got to shop in the souqs in Damascus. There were some really good buys in Damascus and if you ever head that way I would recommend the printed table cloths that sell for a couple of bucks each and the hand carved mother of pearl inlaid boxes.

But be careful of the clothes. A British friend bought a dress shirt for a dollar. After a long day of touring through Damascus, he took the shirt off and found that his sweat had caused the dye to stain his skin! He looked a bit like an old-fashioned Celtic warrior with mottled blue (tatooed) skin! (GRIN)

Anyway - I had a good experience overseas but I have to admit that there's no place like "home." Having said that I'll also tell you that this is my third year back in the States and I'm ready to head back overseas again!

There are a lot of great places to visit ... and having a teaching certificate is a wonderful way to see the world.

So your husband will be teaching history/English. What about you?

Most international schools WILL TURN CARTWHEELS for a married teaching couple. (Married teaching couples tend to have more employment longevity than singles). The young couple I mentioned? They were both first year teachers from New Zealand!

ACS Beirut has a website. Check it out at: [url]http://www.acs.edu.lb/[/url]

If you have any questions about Beirut - drop me a line or post a reply to this thread.

Regards,

David

Hi Jacq,

I'm a high school English teacher in Michigan (U.S.A). I currently teach Early American Literature and Advanced Placement Literature. My classes are all upper level classes, with mainly juniors and seniors in them. I have taugh English for eleven years, and I hope to continue teaching for many more years. Keep posting here. I'd be glad to chat with you about teaching English sometime.

Skye

Jacq,
Hello from Louisiana. I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th Language Arts in a small rural school here in Louisiana. All this talk about traveling and teaching around the world sounds exciting. However, I am 58 so all that traveling leaves me out. I'm sure they want younger people.
For the most part, the students whom I teach generally don't like school so I spend most of my time trying to make them laugh and enjoy the activities. Some do; some don't. Can't reach them all nowadays.
Anyway, I just wanted to share some English sites with you that I have collected over the past many months. Hope they will be of some help. I'm not certain the links all work, but most probably still do. Good luck with your quests to teach around the globe. The attachment is in Word, if that's helpful or even necessary.
Bob

Jacq,
Here is another attempt. Sorry if this is not working.
I will copy and past next time.

Bob