otherstuff1957

One of my cousins wrote jokes for that show.  I think I heard a few of these during family get-togethers at Christmas and Thanksgiving!

I recently had this discussion with the management where I work (as my retirement plans went up in smoke).  There is no maximum age for getting a work permit renewed.  As long as your boss (or you if you own the company) keeps you on, you can keep working.

I usually submit a map showing where the house is, a copy of the rental contract and signed copies of the landlord's id and tabien baan.

This is a link to an English version of the Thai MOE curriculum.  Beginning on page 48 you will see the knowledge and skills (Strands, Standards and Indicators) that a student should have learned for each grade and each subject.

To make a curriculum you need to list the Strands, Standards and Indicators for the 4th grade and then make a detailed plan showing how you will teach your kids these.  You should include the materials you will use and a plan of lessons for each subject, along with your planned assessment.

http://act.ac.th/document/1741.pdf

Good luck!

Prawit is in charge of security?  

... I feel safer already! ????

^ Yes, this happens a lot too.

Why would a school pay thousands or tens of thousands per month to an agency rather than hire a teacher directly? 

First, hiring a teacher directly usually involves a certain level of English that many school administrators do not have.  They would struggle to write an ad, they wouldn't know where to post it and they wouldn't be able to read any responses. 

If they did call someone in for an interview, they wouldn't be able to ask them questions or understand the answers.

Secondly, if they did succeed in writing an ad and scheduling an interview, they would find a long line of Filipino and Nigerian applicants standing at their door.  Westerners with University degrees are rare and dying breed here.

Finally, if they did hire someone and he turned out to be one of those teachers who call in sick every Monday morning, they would have to figure out how to fire him and find a replacement. 

It's easier for them to just all an agent and tell them to send another warm body over if the first one doesn't work out.

I currently teach Science at an all EP private school.  I can also teach Math if need be.  Native English Science and Math teachers are always in demand, so I'm sure I could get another job if I left this one.

If I was a regular TEFLer I would be worried about staying employed though.

^ Sanooki, I took the St. Roberts course and got a Teacher's License shortly after my 60th birthday.  The way that I look at it, is that it's better to keep as many options open as possible.

Women from 3rd world countries are much less likely to know how to swim than men.  Unfortunately, these overcrowded boats seem to capsize frequently.  The non-swimmers aboard are usually doomed.

I'm sure that biometric ids will be used in addition to the regular paperwork, rather than replacing it.

^Remember that foreign men and foreign women do not have the same rights under Thai immigration laws.  A foreign woman married to a Thai man does not have to show any money in the bank to get a 1 year extension.  She just needs to show that they are still married and living together (though my info is several years old and things may have changed since then)

I would think that a foreign mother will also have fewer requirements than a foreign father.

A bit off-topic, but when I got married my Thai boss asked me how much Sinsot I was paying.  When I said zero baht, he smiled and shook my hand! ????

Every contract between an agency and a school is negotiated separately, so each agency's pay is different.  However, as a general rule of thumb, agencies will be paid about 10 - 20% over the amount they pay the teachers.  Often, though not always, they get paid for 12 months of the year, while the teacher gets paid for the 9 to 10 months that they are at the school.

My wife is from the south, were sinsot is not a big dearl.  Her first husband only paid a nominal sinsot (8000฿).  By the time we married both of her parents were already dead so I only paid for the wedding. (Actually, my father paid for the wedding and since it was a village wedding, it only cost about 50,000฿)

17 hours ago, LuckyLucas said:

my new school applied for a new work permit (pgcei letter of enrollment included) which was rejected by TCT today.

Was the Work Permit rejected or the Teacher's License Waiver rejected?

Normally, you get the TL or TL waiver first, and then apply for the WP, as they are issued by different offices.  The TCT issues TLs and Waivers and the Dept. of Labor issues the WPs.  If your new school has not hired a lot of foreign teachers, they may not understand how the process works and may have tried to do things out of order.

The U of Nottingham PGCEi is definitely good for getting a TL, I've known 4 people who have done it and gotten TLs from the TCT (two of them moved up to teaching at International Schools).

If there is, it is probably managed by the RTP, so:

It will crash whenever anyone tries to access it.

It will be backed up by a warehouse full of paper documentation that no-one ever looks at.

It will only by accessible through computers that use Windows XP and MS Office 2003.

It will have only outdated information, and most of the addresses and names will have been input incorrectly.

Would squashing a nasty little toad be considered a crime?

^ Good advice here.

Hiring season will start around the beginning of March and well-organized schools will have their new teachers hired before Songkran.  Actually paid teaching will usually begin around the 1st of May unless they start you with a Summer School course or camp.

The 2nd semester will start in November or late October.  Occasionally a school will lose a teacher at the end of the 1st semester, so I would blitz schools with CVs now and see if you get any bites.  If you don't get any replies by Nov. 1, look for a 6 month contract with an Agency or an hourly contract with a Language School to tide you over until the schools start hiring again.

The first time I took the test I had a lot of trouble with it and had to take it twice before I passed.

The problem I had was that the colors don't match real stoplight colors!  Instead of red/yellow/green the colors they used were orange/light green/dark green.  I kept on calling the 'yellow' green, because it WAS green.  After I figured out what the colors were supposed to be, I passed without much difficulty.

I believe that this is the link to the Chonburi Ministry of Education Office.

http://chon.nfe.go.th/krs/

I don't read Thai well enough to find the continuing education link on this page, but your wife or stepdaughter can probably find it and get in touch with them.  Every province has continuing education/adult education options for people who want to get their M3 or M6 certificates.  Classes are cheap (or maybe free) and are offered on the weekends so that working people can do this.  I have known a number of people who never finished High School, for various reasons, and used this option to finish their secondary education.

Generally speaking, skills and a good work ethic will get you promoted in Thailand, but when they are hiring people, they only look at their formal education.

Getting an M6 certificate will open many doors for her and will give her the opportunity to prove herself and get a better job.