Hello, Here's wishing you a great year in teaching! I have just published my first children's book, and using my talents as a Reading Specialist have developed interdisciplinary activities, as well as before, during, and after reading activities for the classroom. There are vocabulary activities and opportunities for your students to write to me ab...See MoreHello, Here's wishing you a great year in teaching! I have just published my first children's book, and using my talents as a Reading Specialist have developed interdisciplinary activities, as well as before, during, and after reading activities for the classroom. There are vocabulary activities and opportunities for your students to write to me about the book and its characters. I am glad to respond to those letters at your request. A physical disability permits me from teaching in the classroom anymore, so I am reaching out to students this way. The main goal of this book is also the part of my job I miss the most: instilling a love of reading and learning in each student. I can visit your classroom by Skype, if you wish, and our website is about to go online. There, you will be able to access the acitivities I spoke of earlier. The obok is called Harley Hits a Homer, and I am so pleased with the positive way it is being received in the classrooms where it is being used. I'd love to hear from you if you think we could work together on this project. I'd love to hear from your classes and to interact with them. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Let's keep them reading, Tena
I did research on how I could earn a Minnesota license after graduating and gaining my Indiana License, but I learned that Indiana is not a recipricol state. My academic advisor, from what he understood, was that I could have to take a significant amount of classes in MN in order to earn the license. He said that they will compare transcripts and see what classes I do not have that the MN Communication Arts and Literature Education degrees require. Does caliber of school or coursework not count towards anything? From what I understand, MN considers a degree from any college in a recipricol state to be better than a Honors degree from a university in a non-recipricol state? (Although some websites say that MN has no recipricol states and others, like this one, list 40: [link removed])
Has anyone graduated with an Indiana Teaching License and moved to Minnesota?
I am very confused too, because different websites give contradictory information. They also do not clarify if they are talking about how to gain MN licensure if you have licensure with a recipricol state or a non-recipricol state. I know that there is a human relations course and state tests that I will have to take, but can anyone tell me how much other work is required?
Also, my advisor suggested transferring now, before completing the Indiana program in order to graduate from a MN university. From reading other people's posts on here, it seems like they have tried to gain full MN licensure and struggled to get their degrees to be considered the same as a MN degree.
Or would completing my Purdue degree and then obtaining my master's degree in MN be a better route?
The American Turkish Society's Education Program is pleased to announce the availability of Curriculum Development Grants for 2011.
The program, which was initiated by The Society in the spring of 2010, offers funds to elementary and secondary school teachers to develop innovative curricula, projects and other classroom activities about Turkey. The Society’s first Curriculum Development Grant was awarded to Harry A. Dawe, former Headmaster of Robert College in Istanbul and current history teacher and college counselor at the Fieldston Upper School in Bronx, New York. Mr. Dawe received support for History 181: East Meets West, for which he developed course material and two chapters of a history text book for use with eleventh and twelfth graders.
Grants vary between $250 and $2,500, and cover the costs of research, materials, speakers, and other expenses incurred by the school or the teacher. The amount of each grant is determined by the project’s scope, the availability of total funds, and the number of projects selected through a competitive process. The American Turkish Society encourages all applicants to identify additional sources of funding where possible. Once selected, grantees will be free to develop their proposed projects without editorial input from The Society. They will, however, participate in follow-up activities for evaluation purposes and will be asked to share any teaching plans, materials and activities with The American Turkish Society for future dissemination.
Application Process: Spring Semester, 2011
Application deadline: November 1 Notification: December 1
Please submit proposals including:
1. A 2-page summary of the proposed project detailing the tools, materials, and methods to be used; the objectives and anticipated impact; and the teacher's relevant qualifications; 2. A project budget, including a detailed breakdown of costs and the grant amount requested; 3. The teacher’s CV; and 4. A letter of support from the teacher’s school.
Interested parties should send proposals to The American Turkish Society at [email removed].
For questions and additional information, please email [email removed].
In these difficult financial times, the solution towards finding jobs may not be within the states. From March until August, I spent most of my financial resources driving around the United States in search for a teaching job. Unfortunately, most school districts were laying workers off. To make matters worse, if they had any openings, they were going to give the jobs to the teachers who were recently fired. The only jobs that were available to me were as a teacher assistant or a substitute teacher. That is all fine and dandy. However, unless I wanted to spend a few years living with my parents, I could not financially afford this.
If you are in the same boat, the solution to the problems is teaching abroad. However, what I found was that most teaching jobs overseas are paying teachers far less than they did a few years ago. Initially, I looked into South Korea because they paid me 30,000 USD a few years ago. Now, the average is around 20,000 USD. China paid around the same amount of money. However, they paid more in Hong Kong. Taiwan was trying to attract teachers with a teaching degree, but I could not get them to agree to anything over 25,000 for the year. Japan was willing to pay me 25,000 USD. However, with the high cost of living, 25,000 USD means you will not be able to save any money in Japan. When I was living in Japan, if I did not go out for the month, I could possibly save around 500 USD. I was also looking to teach in Europe. However, it is difficult to find a way in unless you belong to one of the EU countries. The salaries in relation to the high cost of living were also low.
I have discovered that the solution is in the Middle East. There are three countries that continue to pay a high salary are as follows: Kuwait, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. If you have a TESOL degree, many years of teaching experience, and are an English major, Kuwait and the UAE would be your best choice. However, if you lack those credentials, it is difficult to find your way in. Saudi Arabia is currently becoming the hot spot for native English speakers. For example, my company over here pays over $25,000 in benefits including the following:
• Base monthly salary, tax-free; paid vacation and holidays • Discretionary bonus based on fulfillment of the full term of the contract and performance • Quality and secure shared housing, with amenities including utilities.
• Fully paid medical benefits, including dental and optical coverage, in accordance with the plan • Transportation to and from home and work locations • Round trip transportation to and from Saudi Arabia from your home country
The greatest thing about the salary is that it is around what the average teacher is making in the United States. However, the teacher’s only cost is food. In addition, not only are your benefits not taxed, but your salary is not taxed either. If a teacher is not saving 80% of their paycheck, they are doing something wrong. The food over in Riyadh is significantly lower than the costs in the United States. The greatest problem most teachers are afraid about when traveling overseas are the cultural differences. There may be differences. Although, when you live in the compound, the culture is similar to the culture in your native country. Saudi Arabia is filled with many different types of foreigners. Every compound is like visiting another country. There is a Latin compound where you can learn how to salsa dance. There is an American compound where you can drink homemade beer. The culture outside of the compound is definitely Saudi. However, the compounds are a home away from home. I have multiple reasons for writing this letter. First of all, I know the great pressure in trying to find a job in the United States. Second, I am trying to recruit for my college called CTI. We desperately need at least 20 new teachers who can come into this program. My college had to turn away 4,500 Saudi students because we lacked available teachers. If you are friendly, have any BS degree, are a native English speaker, and have a passion for teaching, please send me your resume and I will forward it to our HR person at the college. Hopefully we can work together and ride out the financially difficult times in Saudi Arabia. Good luck in your search and I hope that your job search was not as difficult as mine was.
If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email. [email removed]
The site asks teens to offer their first name, year of birth and zip code and submit. It also invites the pledge taker to share the pledge with peers via social media. We are not asking anyone to register or capturing e-mail addresses. We have no way to contact pledge takers, and the pledge does not ask for anything beyond its pure intentions.
If you are a teacher and would like a packet of posters, pens and pencils for your class to encourage them to take the pledge, I'd be more than happy to send one to you. Just e-mail me your mailing address to [email removed]