Time to Apply is March for Thai schools--Tips to Apply--teacher turnover, hours, and attire.

There are several tiers of schools out there to apply for.  The key is to look at the forums on Ajarn and see what people say or just talk to the foreigners out there. 

One key question is to find out about the turnover at schools--how many teachers leave each year?  My first school we have approximately 40% turn over every year.  Teachers would leave anytime of the year--they would leave after working one day, one week, one month, one term, etc.   

Second question is how many teaching hours do you have at your school and what entails a teaching hour.  One of my friends went to an International school in Cambodia that has 15 teaching hours, we currently teach 1, but the teaching hour was 80 minutes while ours were 50 minutes.  That is a significant difference.  

Third question is to find out what the conditions are in terms of students in class, can you leave the campus during your break, air conditioning, smart boards, bonuses, office size?

The time is now to apply--March is a bit late also, but when you go please dress appropriately, some people have come for interviews in short sleeve dress shirts--remember in Thailand and Asia, long sleeve shirt and ties are standard.  Good luck..

How to Post a Video in Youtube and Embed in Blogger

This is a simple but complicated thing to do

How to Make an ONLINE Quiz using Quizziz Homework

The biggest issue for teachers in the modern world is to create something that is interesting and students will go to it.  This is a double edge sword--it self grades and it's kind of fun because it compares the students to each other.




One drawback on the settings at the end is the show answers tab--if you show answers at the end, the student can screen shot it and send it to their classmates.

Motor bike or not?

Most insurances don't cover motorbike injuries.

Before you even consider driving a bike in Bangkok, you must be aware of several things.

1.  The police will hit you up for a fine everytime you come to a police stop so you have to learn to avoid them in general.

2.  Biking is dangerous.  If you must ride longer than ten minutes, don't use a bike.

3.  Rain and bikes are crazy dangerous.  It rains alot in Bangkok.

If you decide to get a bike, I have had one for ten years and have had three accidents.  One I hit something with leg, my knee wasn't quite the same for awhile.  Two, a car hit me as I was going on the road, then it drove off--I scraped my knee and arms.  Three, a car hit me while I was at a stoplight.  Each time, it was pretty random, but it was a revelation.  I try to never bike longer than ten minutes.

It took me a legitimate three months to get decent with my bike, so if you do use a bike, use it after practicing on the side for three months.

DON"T USE MANUAL.  it's just too hard along with the driving

GET A SMALL BIKE.  Anything in the 110 cc range is fine--your bike is small you can weave through traffic.  I once had a 150 cc PCX--so large, hard to turn, and it had a restrictor plate preventing me from going too fast.

If you have a kid, I would just avoid it. 

Finding Housing in Bangkok

Try to live ten minutes away from your school as much as possible.  Traffic in Bangkok is terrible.  Even the BTS will take you somewhere, ten stops takes about 30 minutes in the morning, plus when you exit the BTS everyone will be taking the motorbike taxis.

You can use a service to find housing but they will help you only if you spend more than 20000 baht.  The easiest way to find housing is to walk around and ask people.  This allows you to see the activity in the area.  My friend found a nice place that was above a bar--that he didn't know it was a bar--during the day, the bar was closed.  The bar was open til 4 a.m. so he had to move.

If you are staying in the heart of Bangkok next to a BTS or  MRT stop, the rent will be higher.  As you move away from city center, the rent gets cheaper but then, your transport options change.  A car may or may not help, I live ten minutes away from work by motorbike, but it's literally one hour by car. 

As I wrote before.

The difference in housing is usually based on location, size, and newness of the building.  Things in Thailand are based on meters so a 32 square meter place is normally a decent sized room in USA.  

Question One--What is the function of your room?

Ask yourself how often are you going to be in your room?  If you're just using it to sleep, eat, and rest, then small will be okay, but if it's going to be a major place for you to be, then you need a larger room.

Question Two--do you need swimming pool/fitness room?

Some places have both or none, some places come with a washing machine and refrig.  Air conditioning is a must in Thailand.

Question Three--Transport

How will you get around?  Do you plan to use motorcycle taxis or walk?  I would never take a bike longer than ten minutes, it gets too dangerous as you travel longer.

Question Four--Long term or short?

A two year lease will usually get you a smaller rental fee each month, but if you break it, you will lose your deposit.  Foreigners usually pay three months deposit.

Question Five--Location

I would prefer to live in the Theprasit area or Jomtien, but if your job is in the heart of Pattaya such as by Central then you must live closer. I would stay away from beach road and first as those areas are 24 hours a day busy.

Finally, take a walk around the area you plan to live at different times to see what it's like.

The biggest difference in Bangkok are the options.  You can live across the river and have a large place, but then, you deal with transport coming back from across the river at night, dealing with the traffic.

Look around and see. 

Finding Housing In Pattaya

To find housing in Pattaya, which is smaller than Bangkok, I would use a service such as Pattaya Sunny Rentals--they are good at finding affordable places. In Bangkok, they will help you if you pay more than 20,000 a month.  In Pattaya, your housing should be about 10, 000 baht a month. 

The difference in housing is usually based on location, size, and newness of the building.  Things in Thailand are based on meters so a 32 square meter place is normally a decent sized room in USA.  

Question One--What is the function of your room?

Ask yourself how often are you going to be in your room?  If you're just using it to sleep, eat, and rest, then small will be okay, but if it's going to be a major place for you to be, then you need a larger room.

Question Two--do you need swimming pool/fitness room?

Some places have both or none, some places come with a washing machine and refrig.  Air conditioning is a must in Thailand.

Question Three--Transport

How will you get around?  Do you plan to use motorcycle taxis or walk?  Pattaya doesn't have the mass transit options that Bangkok does.

Question Four--Long term or short?

A two year lease will usually get you a smaller rental fee each month, but if you break it, you will lose your deposit.  Foreigners usually pay three months deposit.

Question Five--Location

I would prefer to live in the Theprasit area or Jomtien, but if your job is in the heart of Pattaya such as by Central then you must live closer. I would stay away from beach road and first as those areas are 24 hours a day busy.

Finally, take a walk around the area you plan to live at different times to see what it's like.

Teacher Interview

The key things for the interview are your appearance, demeanor, and the questions.  Dress appropriately and be polite.  You would think this is basic, but we had interviews where the candidate dressed very poorly and wasn't very nice. 

The key questions are the same:

1.  What's your teaching philosophy?

2.  What's your discipline plan?

3.  What are you comfortable teaching?  This last question be honest, we had people say they can teach anything and that was just not quite what we wanted.

How to Get a Teaching Job

There are numerous agencies that hire teachers, but the key to getting a teaching job is to figure out what is your end goal.  If your end goal is to be on the International School circuit, there are International schools all over the world--when you try to become an International School teacher--you have to get two additional certifications and normally, have to work five years at a lower tier school--teaching said curriculum--some International Schools are U.K system and some are USA system.  I don't qualify for UK schools as I never taught in that systme.  The second thing is then you go to Search Associates--registration 300 usd, apply to seminar 200 usd, and then, try get a job--nothing guaranteed.  Most schools are two year contracts and then, you go see the world teaching in different countries with a rather good salary.

However, if your goal is to stay in one country.  You go through an agency, just email blast the schools in that country, or find a job fair.  In Thailand, there are government schools that don't really pay well and private schools that pay from not too well to very well.  The government schools are the easiest jobs to get, but often, you have large class size and small salaries with no air conditioning.  It's standard to provide lunch at schools and a housing allowance, some government schools have housing right next door.  

What I did was just email blast every private school in Thailand, and was lucky enough to get a job interview by phone.  Agencies are good but normally, the pay is medium.  Job fairs are also good, but there is a lot of legwork.  

In Asia, it's very common for them to ask you uncommon questions--how old are you? are you married?  can we have a picture of you?  The laws are not the same as USA so just realize this is what living in another country is all about.

read our article about interviews