Entries from March 2008 ↓

Wow, I sure had a nice vacation. It was nice to just get away from everything for spring break and Easter. It sure felt nice not having to worry about all of the hassles that can come around. My husband and I went away. Sure he kept trying to do work, but I think it was one of the best vacations we have ever been on.

It was a nice trip to beach. I really like the beaches here in Washington. We were able to go down the Washington coast and then the Oregon coast taken in the sites as we went. We came back the same way. I loved it!

I am seeing an increasing trend of schools to fight back when a teacher makes a complaint. They send out a troop of so-called happy current or even former teachers. They might engage someone to do mudslinging against the person making the complaint and even the site making the complaint.

Here is a comment that I have gotten here making a post talking about a particular entity.

Avoid Teachers in Latin America, it is the organization that is owned by the poster, Guy Courchesne. There are two girls in Playa del Carmin who attest to the poor treatment they received from his organization. And, now he is on the internet trashing every competitive organization out there. Avoid and dont believe anything Guy Courchesne has to say. He has taken his assault to far, he is too personal in his attacks and frankly everyone is getting tired of it. He doesnt add anything to the discourse. He just says bad things about everyone except his company. Hmmm thats funny. How is that only his organization is the best. TEFL Institute is doing a fine job there is nothing bad on the company by any legitimate organization. They do a great job over there. The course is great, its offered at a fair price, and even better you won’t ever find the people of TEFL Institute on the web saying bad things about other people. I am tired of seeing what Guy Courchesne has to say about everyone else. Go away Guy, grow up and find a real job!

Don’t worry, I already shared this with Guy and a simple trace led it back to a certain entity in Chicago. We all know Guy and know this is all a bunch of trash talk, but it just shows the lengths that schools will go to in order to kill a messenger.

Take a look at what Alex Case is going through as well. Bad schools.

It’s a good thing to think about when a teacher is wrong, but even more important is when a school is wrong. In fact, if a teacher is wrong, the worse that can happen is that a good teacher chooses to teach elsewhere and goes for a different job. If a school is wrong, a teacher can not only get stuck in a bad job, but might also have their name slurried in such a way as to never be able to work again in their chosen field.

I find a lot of strength in the scriptures. I means a lot to be able to look into the holy scriptures and see eternal truths being given and eternal truths triumphing over evil. It’s these scriptures that give me the strength to know that no matter what bad things may try to bother me, I know I will be ok and I know that with our Heavenly Father’s help, I will be able to endure to the end.

In times of trials and uncertainties, it is a good idea to turn to scriptures for guidance and help. I really urge you to look for the answers when you have questions. It is something I have long encouraged my students to do. You may find answers to your questions in many different places depending on your questions, but for eternal questions, I have found the scriptures to the best place for me.

You’ll find the answers that give you strength if you just look for them.

It looks like the TEFLWatch Forums have changed to a different location. Now, you can find the TEFLWatch Forums in at their very own domain, www.teflwatch.com. This means that you can stil find all of the great discussions that are important for EVERY TEFL teacher without being compromised by advertising dollars.

I think this is a positive change for TEFLWatch and reflects a growth in the right direction, especially now that the forums are separated from the main pages. It means that there should be even more freedom to speak out and give information on schools.

Some people often talk about the TEFL lifestyle and how it affects our families. One of the big issues is the education of our kids. It seems like it is impossible to give them the quality of education that they would be getting back in our home countries without spending out a lot of money.

Fortunately, we are teachers and we can give them a quality education experience. There is nothing to prevent us from taking charge and teaching them at home. We can put together quality lesson that will help them find academic success. The responsibility is on us as teachers.

I have long been donating money to worthy causes, but sometimes it just seems too easy to donate money and then forget about what it is that I am doing. It’s as if the money is more important than anything else and I think that’s wrong.

In fact, I have begun donating my time towards worthy causes in addition to donating money. I think it is good to put your money where your mouth is, but it is also important to put your action behind your ideas. If you spend all your time in thought and make other people put things into acting, you are ignoring your own power to help change things. That change comes from doing and that means donating your time.

For Christmas, I got the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo from my husband. He wanted me to improve my English by reading good books that will increase my vocabulary and understanding. It worked. The story was very engrossing and kept my interest from start to finish, but that’s not the best thing that it did..

The book did something more than to make me think. I really did notice that it helped my grammar and vocabulary and increased my understanding. I really suggest reading good books for my students as well. I think there is no better way to improve your writing than by reading good books.