Oh the places you'll go
It’s that time of year again for International Teachers. Contracts are do in one month sign it and you stay on for another year or don’t sign it and look for a new country, and new job. It is a time I think can only be explained by living it. In the international world you have to turn in, or not turn in as the case may be, your contract before you have another job to go to. Schools need to know what positions they will have to fill before the career fairs, and if you are looking to move on you need to be at the career fairs and need to know which schools have positions for you. It comes down to one big jigsaw puzzle. Between hiring teaching couples who can fill two positions for you and making moves within the school to have the right opens in the right areas is difficult. From now until the end of February the administration team takes part in one big school wide puzzle. Making sure all the needs are filled and at the same time trying to fulfill the requests of those who want to transfer internally.
My wife and I are unsure what we are going to do. OK, so it’s not my wife and I as much as it’s me. Don’t get me wrong I love our school and love the administration and love living in Shanghai, but there is something tickling the hairs on the back of my neck and I can’t quite put my finger on it. This past year and a half I have done so much learning, thanks in part to this edblogosphere. I’m sure you’ve heard it before and if you are new to this world, just wait…it will hit you soon enough.
When I left my school in the states to start this overseas adventure my staff gave me the book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go. They were right, some 20 countries later and not teaching the same level or same subject for more than a year for the past five years has been an adventure. But so has been the adventure into this new digital world, into my own learning and my own rethinking of education. There is something inside of me that is unsatisfied, like I should be doing more, doing something different. It could be just this time a year with the excitement that comes with having the opportunity to try something new, live in a new place, start a new adventure. But this time it feels different. I don’t know if I can explain it, this digital social-network has changed me, made me think which in turn has made others think, one month to decided on your future for the next two years, and if you decide to take that leap of faith, then it comes down to three days at a career fair. Three days to decide what you’re going to do and where you are going to live for at least the next two years of your life.
No pressure.
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