How to become a certified teacher
I have spent many hours researching my options to become a licensed teacher. I have now had a few job interviews that went very well until we got to the fact that I am not currently certified....
View ArticleIn search for an overseas teaching position
One of the draws for a career in international teaching is the fairly low expectation of retention. This isn’t for positions “teaching English” to anyone that’s hoping to improve their English. This...
View ArticleOverseas teaching job search statistics
In early 2011, Pepper and I (ok, it was largely pepper doing the work) began the process of looking for teaching jobs overseas. I dug up the list of positions we applied for or sent inquiries to and...
View ArticleWoe is me
I teach health. This year, one lesson I have planned for my 8th grade classes is about the importance of good oral hygiene. I plan on soaking teeth (animal teeth that I collected during fall break)...
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National Dress Day in Mongolia
It is Mongolian National Dress Day. Mongolian students of all ages are wearing dels and other traditional clothing. People from other countries are also wearing traditional clothing from their...
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Decoding those big scary tests
I am a bit of a cynic. I feel like there is a huge disconnect between education and the real world. We have students spending a year studying logarithmic, radical, polynomial, and rational functions....
View ArticleFinding school textbooks
SlugBooks is a neat tool that can be used to find text books for college. The best part is that is does a comparison of a number of sites that offer text books and then shows the lowest price – even...
View ArticleKids today…
During the elementary lunch break it is somewhat depressing at times to see a long row of kids playing on their cell phones and tablets. Yes, there are just as many kids playing table tennis. And...
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Simulated parenthood
I have had our 10th grade classes carrying around a fake baby for over three weeks now. The body is a bag of flour and then there is an egg taped to the bag as a head. Everyone has a partner that they...
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Jordan in a chess tournament
Yesterday and Friday after school the International School of Mongolia hosted a tournament that our students and students from Elite school (also in Ulaanbaatar) participated in. Events were for...
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National Archery in the Schools Program
Thursday I completed the National Archery in the Schools Program instructor training. Teachers from the International School of Ulaanbaatar were also present. It was a day-long course that...
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ASU middle school dodgeball tournament
Saturday there was a middle school dodge ball tournament at our school. My 11th and 12th grade Recreation Leadership class helped put it together. We had 30 students on 5 teams. They were mixed by...
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We’re featured on the Cornerstone for Teachers blog
Angela Watson has written books on classroom management and maintains a great website with resources for teachers. She send Pepper and I a few questions about working and teaching internationally to...
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Staff vs. girls soccer team soccer game
Last Thursday I gave the girls soccer team some game practice in a soccer match vs. the ASU staff. Jordan took all of these great photos. Pepper played. I refereed and coached.
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Why I coach
The truth is, coaching sucks. Much of the time… It means much longer hours than most peers. You might drag yourself to a practice more than an hour before most of your peers were even in the...
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I took seventh graders bowling
Our flight from Mongolia to Beijing was delayed last Wednesday. It was supposed to depart at 11:50 AM but didn’t until nearly 11 hours later, As a result, our players could go to classes instead of...
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Quartz
One of the things we did last weekend was find cool quartz crystals while hiking. I found this huge block with a resemblance to a crystal shape. I grabbed a much smaller piece of smoky quartz too....
View ArticleGood timing
Today was my last class with a group of students. They are all really good kids but have had a couple of incidents where it is clear that some of them need to work on some interpersonal skills. So...
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International teaching lifestyle: cleaners and drivers
In the US, I never considered having a person clean my home. I also owned my vehicle and drove myself where I needed to go. When Pepper lived in China she had a woman that came to her house daily....
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Discovering India
I’m not just a high school PE teacher. I also serve as the coordinator for the school’s Discover India program. This is the school’s week-without-walls experience where all high school students...
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