Yeah, Jack, the demo I didn’t do was supposed to be during a time when the regular teacher was out anyway–free subbing all day, basically. Another reason I didn’t want to do it. And when I told them I’d been running a high fever all night and morning, they weren’t concerned in the least that I needed to stay away from the little kiddos. Just really wanted me to get my arse on in there.
How long have you been out of the country? When I was first in Taiwan I was too ill to see so my boss sent me off to the doc with a Taiwanese member of staff. After a semi-heated discussion between said Taiwanese and the doctor, he reluctantly gave me an injection of something or other whilst muttering under his breath and doing that strange kind of cat-like spitting thing they do over here when they’re pissed off. Got me back in the classroom, high as a kite, although I could barely walk for the rest of the weekend.
Naive, overly trusting, semi-warm whitey in front of class. Nothing else matters.
MilkTeaJack: You are a god. 
[quote=“Whole Lotta Lotta”]I was thinking this after reading of [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/kaohsiung-dominican-school-evil-across-the-street/61574/1 situation[/url]. It seems with the market crowded with teachers and there not being a high demand for them at the moment, some school owners seem to have forgotten all about basic professional courtesy. An example (not the worst situation, but rude nonetheless) is when I called a school about a job and the conversation goes something like this…
A: Hello. My name is WLL. I heard you were offering a job on Tealit…
B: We found a teacher already. (Click)
A: Well, if you are look… (Then I realize they hung up on me 
)
Other situations can be where they schedule a demo class for you, only for you to come in and they have forgotten their appointment with you and have hired a teacher already. There are other such things. :bluemad:
If professionalism were followed during the job screening process something might occur; They might find teachers who suit the school better and not have to fire them often. At lease the hanging up on me tells me that I don’t want to work there in the first place.[/quote]
Some schools in Taiwan have always been like this and I have been in and out this country for many years since the late 80’s.
That is rude and unacceptable I usually call back and talk to them about something unrelated and then hang up arbruptly mid way through the conversation. Yes that is very immature but it does make me feel better and hopefully makes them think about their actions. A whistle or even an AK47 could be handy too :roflmao: No just joking about the whistle and the AK!
[quote=“MilkTeaJack”]Ah, yes. I remember those demos. I have a trick I use and am happy to pass it on: I always ask to speak with a staff member outside of the class and I ask basic questions. What days do they want me to teach, what English level, etc. Nonsense questions really. Then I thank them for their time and I leave. Sometimes I get harried pleadings to return to the classroom but I am out the door. If they want to meet with me again, they email me.
Case in point: I recently interviewed at a school and they asked for a 30 minute demo. I said I would give exactly 30 minutes and asked for confirmation. They wanted to see the demo before the interview but I arrived half an hour early. They made me wait (of course) until someone gave a half assed interview and then asked for a demo. I walked into a class and immediately sussed that I was subbing for free. No staff member observed the “demo”. I taught exactly 30 minutes, left in the middle of the lesson and found the person who interviewed me. She was completely baffled as to why I was talking with her and not in the class, and literally pulled me toward the class to continue teaching. I left. As the door to the elevator closed, all of the staff were standing and looking at me with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
They called and asked if I wanted to come and do another demo. I turned them down politely. And this is coming from someone who REALLY needs the work.[/quote]
They actually did pay me for half of the demo. (300 NT. Wooh! Hooh!)
It’s always been bad.
I’ve been hired after doing a demo, telling me that I’d start on Monday. I arrive and the lady at the front desk says didn’t anyone call you? The teacher that you were suppose to be replacing isn’t leaving after all.
I’ve been asked to do hour long demos. I told them that everything that they’d need to see could be seen in 15 minutes. Anything longer than that is bullshit.
I’ve had them try to lowball me on the salary after informing them of my lowest hourly rate.
I’ve had one place try to make me write a 2 page essay before they would discuss any terms.
But there are the gems out there too. You’ve just got to be patient and look carefully.
[quote=“kaikai34”]It’s always been bad.
I’ve been hired after doing a demo, telling me that I’d start on Monday. I arrive and the lady at the front desk says didn’t anyone call you? The teacher that you were suppose to be replacing isn’t leaving after all.
I’ve been asked to do hour long demos. I told them that everything that they’d need to see could be seen in 15 minutes. Anything longer than that is bullshit.
I’ve had them try to lowball me on the salary after informing them of my lowest hourly rate.
I’ve had one place try to make me write a 2 page essay before they would discuss any terms.
But there are the gems out there too. You’ve just got to be patient and look carefully.[/quote]
What was the essay supposed to be on?
[quote=“archylgp”][quote=“kaikai34”]It’s always been bad.
I’ve been hired after doing a demo, telling me that I’d start on Monday. I arrive and the lady at the front desk says didn’t anyone call you? The teacher that you were suppose to be replacing isn’t leaving after all.
I’ve been asked to do hour long demos. I told them that everything that they’d need to see could be seen in 15 minutes. Anything longer than that is bullshit.
I’ve had them try to lowball me on the salary after informing them of my lowest hourly rate.
I’ve had one place try to make me write a 2 page essay before they would discuss any terms.
But there are the gems out there too. You’ve just got to be patient and look carefully.[/quote]
What was the essay supposed to be on?[/quote]
I honestly can’t remember. It must have been about 10 years ago, when I just got here.
I suspect the topic of the essay wasn’t the important thing. They would have been looking for problems with spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Or the owner’s son needed an essay for school.
I had the same thing, too. :loco:
Yeah, but I was interviewing for a kindergarten position.
kaikai: Strange, at first glance. However, they probably didn’t have a clear idea about what exactly they needed to be asking you, but figured they needed to be asking you something. So, they probably thought, “Well, how do you test someone’s English? Ah! You get them to write an essay.” Of course it’s way off the mark, but like I said, they probably couldn’t have articulated what the something was, only that it was better than nothing (which in this case, it wasn’t). They probably thought, when in doubt, project thoroughness and concern, and you look professional.
Maybe it was something like that?
Yet again, sine students didn’t show up for my class and I was told that I’d have to teach them at the same time as a different class. 
I really lucked out. When I did my demo, there were minor bumps like not being told exactly what I needed to bring (of course I got the call while walking down a busy street in Kowlong on an emergency trip to HK to get my visa reinstated), but having been a teacher for ten years already I already had some things ready in my “job kit” when I came in. When I came in to sign the contract the next day, I got mobbed by the kids I had demoed with who wanted hugs and attention from me. That made a great impression on the staff.
I have yet to meet anyone important from the HO yet, but the directors of my branch have been discussing how I can keep all the classes I have now for next school year with one class graduating from the immersion program and one class going into junior high and still keep one buxiban class that will be going into 6th grade next year. The biggest issue: none of the parents will be happy unless I am the one who will be teaching their kids next year.
That said, I can tolerate the hiccups. That’s any school and at my branch they do work hard to make the program full for the kids within the limits of a buxiban chain. Even though it’s a pretty big chain school, I have once again been given leeway in what I do with the curriculum because they have seen what I’ve been doing and how well it works (to the point that they have their veteran teachers come into my class to get teaching pointers from me on how to enhance the curriculum). All of this was only two months into my contract with them. Of course the same thing happened around the two-month mark at my last school, too. My 5th graders paid me a great compliment yesterday when I overheard them talking about how they used to hate the school until I came along.
What pisses me off are other “teachers”, like the crazy germophobe who freaked out in the middle of a demonstration to my class and ran out of the room (after breaking the spine to my book and ruining the tip of one of my own personal whiteboard markers) and left my kids wondering what they had done wrong, the guy who quit because they wouldn’t let him take a six-week vacation right before CNY, the guy who quit in the middle of the semester because he was only using the school for an ARC to run his bar and no longer needed their sponsorship (and claimed he loved the kids who he left crying in his abrupt absence 
), and of course the guy who didn’t show up or answer his phone for orientation and the first week of school and then finally showed up one day for work and got mad that they had given his classes to me. I won’t even go into the strings of other so-called “professional” teachers I’ve had to deal with… and yes, even ones with teaching licenses back home who are teaching in a cram school (as opposed to a school back home, a local public school, or at an international school) because no real school would want them and would quickly see how crap they are if they did get a job at one.
I think we get treated the way we do because of these people. I’ve not had a problem myself with anyone I’ve worked with long term simply because I don’t tolerate it anymore. Just like I wouldn’t accept like behavior from my students.
Being assertive, but understanding and flexible is key to getting treated professionally, from my experience here. Of course that’s also how I run my classrooms. It’s just like teaching kids - if you don’t let them know what your expectations are, they will run roughshod over you trying to work out what you want and seeing what they can get away with, but if you let them know just where you stand and what you expect, then the onus is on them to meet it.
[quote]I think we get treated the way we do because of these people. I’ve not had a problem myself with anyone I’ve worked with long term simply because I don’t tolerate it anymore. Just like I wouldn’t accept like behavior from my students.
Being assertive, but understanding and flexible is key to getting treated professionally, from my experience here. Of course that’s also how I run my classrooms. It’s just like teaching kids - if you don’t let them know what your expectations are, they will run roughshod over you trying to work out what you want and seeing what they can get away with, but if you let them know just where you stand and what you expect, then the onus is on them to meet it.[/quote]
Great post, ImaniOU, I agree completely.
I had the same thing, too. :loco:[/quote]
I had one place make me spell perhaps thousands of flash cards. They said the previous teacher had problems spelling and the students were noticing it. Of course it was easy for me to spell ‘cat’ or ‘dog,’ but try spelling thousands of those words in rapid succession without making mistakes 
. Eeh Gad!
I left a school that I had taught at for more than 4 years because they cut my preparation time (30mins) for the class (3 hours). It’s a high level class which I was teaching without any curriculum or lesson plans. I was ok with this, because I like preparing my own activities for the students. Anyway, the new director had a fantastic new vision for the school. No desks or computers in the classroom for the teacher. No chair for the teacher and a whole load of other great ideas. Being such a fantastic director, she forgot to order books for my class (and many others in the school), so for the first 6 weeks of the semester I was teaching with nothing. Again, this was something that I was able to put up with. The final straw came with the cut in prep time which I wasn’t told about until I received the money in my bank. I walked out 5 minutes before the class was due to start.
Last Friday, I get a call from one of the parents from my previous school. She starts telling me that the new teacher has been swearing in the class and once came to class drunk. On Monday, I went to see the new school manager about taking that class again, because the parents are refusing to pay tuition unless I return to the school. The new director seems better, but she insists that the prep time will not return. I just can’t get my head round this. I know that I shouldn’t have walked out, and I feel really bad that my students have had to put up with this new teacher, but I will feel pathetic if I let the school do this to me. The drunk, swearing teacher hasn’t been sacked yet. They are more worried about saving $300 a week.
Am I being too stubborn about this?
Hey Alec.
I would probably feel as you do in a similar situation. You don’t want to deal with all the BS with administration, but you feel you owe it to the kids and parents. It presents an awkward position.
After total reflection, I would probably decline to return. It is pretty low class to cut your money for prep time without telling you in advance. When they lose a ton of clients over this, they may reconsider their cheapness.
I personally would sincerely apologize to the parents for any letdown to them, and perhaps explain the situation to them. And look for a better gig IMO.
[quote=“alecinwonderland”]I left a school that I had taught at for more than 4 years because they cut my preparation time (30mins) for the class (3 hours). It’s a high level class which I was teaching without any curriculum or lesson plans. I was ok with this, because I like preparing my own activities for the students. Anyway, the new director had a fantastic new vision for the school. No desks or computers in the classroom for the teacher. No chair for the teacher and a whole load of other great ideas. Being such a fantastic director, she forgot to order books for my class (and many others in the school), so for the first 6 weeks of the semester I was teaching with nothing. Again, this was something that I was able to put up with. The final straw came with the cut in prep time which I wasn’t told about until I received the money in my bank. I walked out 5 minutes before the class was due to start.
Last Friday, I get a call from one of the parents from my previous school. She starts telling me that the new teacher has been swearing in the class and once came to class drunk. On Monday, I went to see the new school manager about taking that class again, because the parents are refusing to pay tuition unless I return to the school. The new director seems better, but she insists that the prep time will not return. I just can’t get my head round this. I know that I shouldn’t have walked out, and I feel really bad that my students have had to put up with this new teacher, but I will feel pathetic if I let the school do this to me. The drunk, swearing teacher hasn’t been sacked yet. They are more worried about saving $300 a week.
Am I being too stubborn about this?[/quote]
I would not have walked out 5 min. before class started–but I also would not return if I wasn’t going to be paid for that prep. For 1200 bucks a month savings, they could keep their drunken teacher; any of my former students who were interested, I’d take on as privates.