Humdrum to happiness

Fed up with our humdrum lives in the UK we've decided to up sticks and go in search of a better life. I'm an ICT teacher and Justine, my long term partner, is a manager at one of Europes largest exam boards. Its January 2010 and we're currently living in a small village just south of Cambridge in the UK. I've started applying for a number of international teaching posts. Where we'll end up who knows...

Saturday, 10 April 2010

Finally nailed it...

At last, finally got my telephone interview technique nailed - managed to bag a job at the Bluewater International School on Koh Samui, Thailand. As I suggested in the previous post, preparation is everything - prior to the interview I gathered together:
  • A detailed 4-phase lesson plan template comprising learning objectives (key ideas), vocabulary, resources, and ideas/notes regarding each phase;
  • A detailed list of plenaries (informal assessment);
  • List of formal and baseline assessment techniques;
  • A couple of schemes of work with supporting lesson plans and printouts, etc;
  • Techniques surrounding teaching ESL students.
Despite all the preparation I actually think that what nailed it for me was my sheer enthusiasm for the subject. The lessons and schemes of work that I chose to describe during the interview were one's that I'd developed during my training year. As well as being very well planned, they were also very innovative. In talking about something I was passionate about and proud of my true character was able to shine through. Anyway, next job is to sell the house and start preparing for the big move...