I wanted to write to the French Ministry of Education to suggest some changes that I feel are necessary in the French educational system in regards to the harshness of French classroom culture.
I was a student at an international school in the United States and I noticed some differences between the French system I was immersed in and the American one that were shocking to me. I often felt humiliated in front of my classmates for small things like spelling errors, and I observed a lack of positive comments or praise when I did good work. Considering the national motto is “Liberty, equality, fraternity” I cannot understand why schools are so unaligned with the values of the country. The French system discourages and shames kids for what they aren’t good at instead of...
Education
Imagine walking barefoot through a cow pasture on a moonless night. You can smell the danger all around you but you can't see it until you suddenly step in it. At this point it is too late for you but you can at least warn the others following in your path. Thus you can now understand the purpose of this blog.
For the last 7 years we have been warning people ar our website and at City Weekend magazine but it time to spread the message to every Province of China to save you all time, money, and grief. Be aware that half of all the scammers in China are NOT Chinese, but fellow-foreigners. We start by introducing you to some great websites that name and shame those who prey upon us all in China...
http://reddit.com/r/chinascamcentral
http://chinascampatrol.wordpress.com
http://...
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Those making millions of dollars from the TEFL training industry have been allowing and even instructing their sales reps to lie to new inbound teachers to China by telling them "YOU MUST HAVE A TEFL CERTIFICATE TO TEACH IN CHINA". For the record, this is ONLY true if the teacher applicant does not have two years of previous teaching experience that can be verified.
TEFL certificates do NOT replace nor substitute the mandatory Chinese government requirement for a bachelor degree from an accredited university. Many unethical China job recruiters are now trying to pass off this BS as fact and gullible people are shelling out $199 - $2,999 to take a TEFL course that is not really needed.
Yet other shady China job agents are just selling fake TEFL certificates for $500, and we are...
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in 2016, over 1,200 English teachers working abroad reported being victims of either identity theft or short-term kidnappings as reported by Interpol in their annual report. How many victims did not report their experience out of embarrassment or for security reasons is anyone's guess. Here is a summary of how the scam works and every English teacher in the world needs to pay attention:
The "VIP Tutoring" ads often appear in the following places:
Craiglist.com
Gumtree.com
Echinacities.com
TheBeijinger.com
ESLCafe.com
Sinocities.com
ChinaTEFL.com
Xpatcn.com
The ads generally read like this:
"VIP Family in Colombia needs Native-English Speaking ESL Tutor for immediate live-in assignment to teach family English for 6 months - $50,000"
(Various countries will be cited...
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Dear fellow high-school students and teachers,
Why does everyone in the school systems of the United States seem to be itching for their next vacation? Schools are places of enlightenment and learning – are these things something to dread, something from which to run away and hide? I believe that students and teachers do not dread learning and teaching at all, but instead dread the stress of grades and tests - things of utmost importance to each student and teacher. These are the stresses from which students and teachers continually want a vacation. No one wants to stop learning. It is human nature to want to learn and to be curious. I, as a sophomore in high-school, believe that schools have strayed and continue to stray from what is most important: learning and teaching. Other...
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Want to teach in China? It is a wonderful international addittion to your resume and if you are single without a student loan to repay (or other debts) you will surely have a blast and see the best tourist sites in the world. But look before you leap, because China is famous for ripping off foreign visitors whether you are a tourist or decide to work here as an expat employee. Sadly it is not the Chinese government doing the cheating, but fellow-foreigners who evade the long arm of the law from their homeland authorities. http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/300-china-job-scams-target-expat-foreign-esl-tefl-teachers-check-cftu-blacklists
The scams range from unpaid overtime, having fake taxes deducted from your pay, to being sold fake documents you were not told you can get for free, and even...
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Dear High School Teachers,
Several of you argue that focusing on homework, tests, and letter grades help keep students on track. Indeed, you hand out homework, assignments, and quizzes in abundance in order to make students do better on tests and achieve higher marks. But the workload placed upon students by teachers causes a great amount of stress among teens and young adults. In turn, this stress reduces the physical and mental health of students, and makes them less able to do their work in and out of school. In addition, students often have obligations outside of school that make it extremely difficult to keep up with all of the work that has to be done. As a student, I have seen the harmful effects of stress in my own life and in the lives of those around me.
An article on...
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To Bishop Kelley students and incoming 8th graders,
Don’t be stupid. If you’re not convinced, read on.
First of all, I did not drop out because of any academic probation, to clear up any rumors that I was falling behind.
In fact, now, without the program, I can follow my passions and my dreams. I encourage all of you, on-level or the top of the Honors program, to do the same: follow your dreams and passions. Don’t let an arbitrary title hold you back.
When my sister, Megan Hsieh, joined the Brother Bernardine Scholars Program in 2013, my sister wanted to drop from the get-go. But, our mother always told us that we should stay and not quit too early, which is a good advice, truth be told. Because of what my mother and family said, my sister stayed in the Brother Bernardine Scholars...
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Dear aspiring English Major,
Our minds are wired a little different. Every day and every hour our minds are running with ideas, some connected to others, and some of those ideas make it to paper. We live in different worlds. We live in the same world.
As you approach college, there will be many people that tell you your mind is not strong enough. It's just not good enough for college, because English is an easy degree.
"If you're not going to be a teacher, you won’t make any money."
"English is a useless degree, it's so simple."
I'm telling you what I have heard all year long from people aspiring to be engineering majors, nursing majors, or medicine majors. None of that stuff is true, so please don't think your mind is any less sharp than it is. Those people that doubted me...
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School…The word has always amplified the adrenaline level in me. Be it 10 years back as a student or today as a teacher. There are a lot of memories attached that I reminisce each day I walk in the school corridors and when I step into the classrooms. Sitting on the back benches to escape the teacher’s judging eyes, bunking classes, waiting to attend the school just to meet friends, long queues in canteen, and fights over petty things was a part of our daily routine. And now being on the other side of the table I realize what a nuisance we must have been for our teachers. We’ve all been there and have indulged in such mischiefs and trivia in our school life. Today I do not remember the marks I scored in each class, but yes, I do remember the time I spent with my friends.
Having lived...
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