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Just finished an EBook about teaching ESL in Costa Rica. Great read! It's on Amazon.com called Teaching ESL Costa Rica Style or something like that.
Teach away is a legitimate company but they have some very questionable business practices. They do not always stand behind their teachers or help them with issues once the teachers get into country. I registered Nov 2011 and had my initial interview with Una Reid who explained to me that she would be in contact concerning jobs for which I had appl...See MoreTeach away is a legitimate company but they have some very questionable business practices. They do not always stand behind their teachers or help them with issues once the teachers get into country. I registered Nov 2011 and had my initial interview with Una Reid who explained to me that she would be in contact concerning jobs for which I had applied and inform me of other jobs in my interest. I did not hear from here again until I called her in August of this year to touch base. She had forgotten about me and tried to cover up her mistake with a job in Saudi Arabia. She told me it would be teaching English at the international private school, Ideal International School. Come to find out, the name was different and I was forced to teach classes for which I was not trained. I contacted Una about my concerns and she basically told me that I had to honor my contract despite the employer not honoring his side. She had made her commission and wanted nothing else to do with me. Be Careful
I was hired as an English teacher at the Ideal International School, later changed to inspire International. After I arrived, I was asked to teach other classes for which I am not qualified. I was told this would be temporary, but after two months, it was obvious the school had no intention of placing me in classes I was qualified to teach. There was also a power struggle for vice principal and the principal himself refused to intervene. In the end, the only qualified candidate for the VP job was removed and the unqualified candidate was allowed to stay because of his administrative contacts higher in the company.
Discipline is horrible, teachers are asked to change grades to passing and no support is given to the teaching staff.
PLEASE be careful of some scam schools in Italy who exploit and steal from teachers, such as the Morgan Schools. I've worked for Morgan school and they are one the worst schools in TEFL industry. Morgan school is an awful teaching environment. The staff don't care about teachers and don't even pay wages properly or in full. They are stealing and sc...See MorePLEASE be careful of some scam schools in Italy who exploit and steal from teachers, such as the Morgan Schools. I've worked for Morgan school and they are one the worst schools in TEFL industry. Morgan school is an awful teaching environment. The staff don't care about teachers and don't even pay wages properly or in full. They are stealing and scamming teachers from their wages, especially with over-time hours. They are lying on the contracts. The actual working practice of this school is quite unprofessional. They are simply ignorant and disorganised. You need to ask many times for some simple things that are essential for teaching. Morgan Schools are a grim place to work. I'd never recommend this School. They seem to be very good in their poster ads and marketing, but teachers are not happy. Morgan schools are part of a franchise operation and very new. They are desperate to grow and their own training for new directors of schools is non-existent. They are set up with a perfect marketing plan to get students, but they lie about their courses and then they scam the teachers because of the pathetic course they promise the students. The courses are below standard, but they still charge the students full pay. Then teachers are not paid overtime and when they complain then some are dismissed or they are threatened with abusive behaviour from the director. I have worked for other schools before and Morgan School are the worst by far. They are not just dishonest about their work and contract, but abusive and very disrespectful to Teachers. The running of the school is so slack, I can't believe they can call it a school. The person who owns this whole network is a cheating, disgusting and greedy man. He knows very well how to cheat teachers. Morgan School is a shameful environment to work and they are a disgrace to teachers and TEFL industry. If you must go to Italy, then don't work for Morgan Schools. They are a con and pathetic.
Hi! I need to set up a pen pal system for my third graders. Any help on how to do that? Anyone interested in swapping student email addresses?
"There is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education".........The United States Supreme Court, Lau v. Nichols.
This case reaffirms that all students in the United Sta...See More"There is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education".........The United States Supreme Court, Lau v. Nichols.
This case reaffirms that all students in the United States, regardless of native language, have the right to receive a quality education. It also clarifies that equality of opportunity does not necessarily mean the same education for every student, but rather the same opportunity to receive an education. An equal education is only possible if students can understand the language of instruction. Within weeks of this Supreme Court ruling, Congress passed the Equal Educational Opportunity Act mandating that no state shall deny equal education opportunity to any individual, "by the failure by an educational agency to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by students in an instructional program." This is an important piece of legislation because it defines what constitutes denial of education opportunities.
In a memorandum written by the Office for Civil Rights, it states: "Where the inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students."
Under the No Child Left Behind in New Jersey, the Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook clearly states: "LEP students enrolled in the bilingual, ESL, or English language services program shall be placed in a monolingual English program when they have demonstrated readiness to function successfully in an English-only program." If you look at what has been happening in some schools across the country today, the opportunity for ESL students to adjust to American culture and to learn English, is rapidly diminishing when it is ESL teachers who are being forced to "push in" and teach portions of a "balanced literacy" reading program which teaches to guess at words instead of actually reading them. NCLB wants ESL students to learn English while learning this curriculum, then, after one year, pass the test. Many states are crying "Foul!" recognizing that it can take as long as seven years to achieve academic proficiency in a new language.
I have been a teacher of English as a Second Language for twenty-nine years. I have literally been a voice and advocate for my students throughout the years. Working mostly in sub-standard rooms and conditions with my ESL students, I have still managed to beat the odds and succeed in teaching students of many languages, to speak, read, and write in English. Many of my former students have gone on to become doctors, engineers, lawyers, and teachers. I am proud of the achievements of each and every one of them, and I keep in contact with many of my former students until this day. Their success is my success.
For the past twenty-nine years, I have been pulling my students from their classrooms and teaching them English in my ESL classroom. This year, the ESL Department in the school I work in, was told to "push in". To my understanding, "push in" means to go into the rooms my students are in,support the classroom teacher in whatever subject matter he or she is teaching, and to look over the shoulders of all the students in the room, not just ESL students. Naturally, I questioned this method along with my colleagues, but to no avail. I asked, along with the other ESL teachers, how this could possibly help our students acquire English any faster, and no administrator seemed to have an answer for us. They just wanted what they wanted.
Being a person of curiousity, I began researching the subject of "push in" vs. "pull out". I've discovered that no substantial research has ever been done on this subject. The interesting part of this that I did find out for myself, is that schools which have been utilizing this method, have significantly scored lower on standardized tests.
So where is this all coming from? Who invented this "push in"/"pull out" for ESL learners? Why do school administrators follow blindly without knowing or understanding the end result? Why is this being implemented at all? And lastly, why do administrators and educators go along with it?
Interestingly enough, as my research continued, a variety of culprits became clear to me. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, there has been a giant step backwards for the children it purports to help. Buzz words such as "accountability" have arisen and administrators are running scared. Unrealistic achievement targets and punitive sanctions are pushing all the "left behind" groups even further behind. Today, schools with an ELL "subgroup" are being labeled and punished for failure. "Balanced Literacy" reading programs have only succeeded in pushing test scores further down, and ESL teachers in my district are being forced to become "guided reading" teachers instead of teaching their students English first. Through my research, I have learned that this isn't about ESL at all. This is about pushing "balanced literacy" programs which are failing students around the world. ESL teachers are currently being used as extra bodies in classrooms in order to implement this "balanced literacy" agenda whose theories have fallen short. It used to be that ESL programs were being promoted to be part of the solution. Today, instead, we are being forced to be part of the problem. The demoralization of students and teachers is rampant throughout the country. This is educational malpractice in every sense of the word. What is happening in America?
How is it explained that in some suburban school districts today, they are still teaching spelling, phonics, and all the rudiments of English grammar? How is it explained that these same suburban school districts are passing the test and ESL students are achieving as well? How is it explained that reading programs in these suburban school districts have actual workbooks and REAL books (instead of dittos) for their students to read and absorb? Naturally, there is better teaching and abundant learning happening in these schools because they are using proven methods of instruction.
Back in the day, ESL students test scores on English achievement tests weren't counted into the mainstream. ESL teachers were told to administer the test for practice, but it was clearly understood by all that there was no way the majority of these students could pass a standardized English test, as long as they were students in an ESL class. Today, these same students are being fed a steady diet of test- prep, worksheets, and other "skill building" exercises from a menu mostly reduced to reading and math. Their language- learning needs are increasingly being neglected by the marginalization of bilingual and ESL instruction, while the more advantaged students are studying art, music, and foreign languages. All the "frills" have systematically and routinely been denied to children whose test scores have become life-or-death matters for educators' careers. Ironically, No Child Left Behind, along with sub-standard "whole language" reading programs, are increasing the achievement gap, and with it, an equal chance to succeed in life.
After twenty-nine years of teaching, I know from experience that looking over a students' shoulder, or "guided reading", can in no way help my students successfully acquire English. We are the "highly qualified professionals" in the methods of teaching a second language, and these methods have been proven time and time again, to work. I do not in any way accept the rhetoric that I have not done my job. I am, frankly, tired of the finger-pointing and accusations that ESL teachers, along with others, have been forced to listen to. We have a job to do. We are the experts at language acquisition. We, as ESL teachers, must be the advocates for our students who cannot express themselves. We must take affirmative steps to rectify this "push in/ pull out" debate. THIS is the American way!
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