Instructify

When I was not sure which path my career would go, I very seriously considered teaching English in Japan. The salary seemed fine, but I was more interested in getting some exposure to a completely new world. Because of extenuating circumstances that aren’t worth getting into here, I opted to remain a patriot for the time being. Nonetheless, I scoured the Web and found plenty of resources available to answer my questions about where to begin planning my travels abroad to share my English skills.

First, here is a great series of posts by blogger NomadicMatt. He’s broken his knowledge and expertise of teaching abroad into five parts, which covers everything from job types to specific places to teach and what to expect in various countries. There is also plenty of information on what is required of teachers planning to go overseas to teach:

All countries require that you be a native speaker. This means from the UK, US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. While some countries will hire Filipinos, they typically prefer Western employees.You will also need a bachelor’s degree from a 4 year accredited university. It doesn’t matter what your degree is in. Whether you have a degree in biochemistry to English to yoga doesn’t matter so long as you have a university degree. A four year degree is a MUST in the higher end countries like Korea and Japan.

These posts have lots of great information if you’ve already talked yourself into going, but it might be helpful to hear another side of the story, too. Read this post, about “The Ugly” side of teaching in Japan. It sheds a little bit of light on some of the aspects of over-the-pond tutelage that they won’t tell you about in the brochure. Also, Mottekaero jDonuts begs the question Is English Teaching Worth It? - JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Teaching English Abroad pt 1
Teaching English Abroad pt 2
Teaching English Abroad pt 3
Teaching English Abroad pt 4
Teaching English Abroad pt 5
Teaching English in Japan: The Ugly
Is English Teaching Worth It?

Photo credit: jmurawski on Flickr)

Looking for a job for the upcoming year? Getting a job is a difficult, time-consuming, sometimes scary process. You need to fill out applications, proofread your resume, track down references, and remember to dry clean your suit. Don’t let all that effort go to waste by botching the interview, or turning in an unispiring cover letter. Anthony Balderrama of CNN.com dishes out some tough love for job seekers in his piece, You’re not getting the job - 25 reasons why.

The list of reasons includes no-brainers like submitting a resume loaded with typos and showing up to your interview in shorts. It also has a few etiquette tips like complaining about old jobs or not sending a thank-you note. If you’ve made any of these mistakes in the past, you can learn from them and move on. If you haven’t…well, you’re pretty special, I guess.

You can get some extra mileage out of this list by passing it along to your students, too. Some young job hunters are clueless as to how to properly impress a potential employer.  Years ago, I myself once sported a ratty T-shirt as I went to pick up a job application. I was surprised when the store owner wanted to interview me there on the spot. Shockingly, I didn’t end up working there. Maybe if I’d had this list, things would’ve turned out differently. -BILL FERRIS

You’re not getting the job - 25 reasons why via CNN.com

Bizcovering had an interesting post I came across, 10 Universal Truths About Teaching. The article covers some things that educators will inevitably encounter during their careers. Among my favorite was on ‘Meetings’:

They didn’t tell you about the meetings when you were training, did they? You know, the meetings that take place before, during and after the working day? The meetings where others teachers you don’t know talk about students you have never heard about - interminably, without pausing for breath or comment.

This article is well written and quite funny. They’ve also put together a fun graphic for each truth, accompanied by an appropriate quote. For example, the truth ‘Explaining Stuff’ is paired with this:

“To describe what you’ve read is like trying to explain music in writing.” - Peter Hoeg

It’s nice to hear some of these truths coming from a more business oriented voice, as writer R J Evans has also written a series on ICT Training. Blog Bizcovering does a nice job presenting this article amongst some of their less accessible for teachers material. The #1 Truth on the list is open ended, and we’d love to hear in our own comments section of some of the truths you’ve found in your teaching experience. -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

10 Universal Truths About Teaching

Welcome to the Carnival of Education Career Fair! We’ve retracted the bleachers and set up the booths on the gymnasium floor so these brave teachers can see what they might be doing if they weren’t teaching (perish the thought).

Motivational Speaker
Mr. D at I Want to Teach Forever agreed to sport a freaking mohawk as long as his students worked hard, which was about three weeks. Sadly, his motivational experiment has concluded. Long live the mohawk.

Camp Counselor
As a kid, my wife got to go to Space Camp and Marine Science Camp. Had Tisha Kulak and American Consumer News been around back then to point out how to save money on tuition to summer research camps, I might’ve been able to go, too.

Productivity Consultant
Instructify-favorite studenthacks.org has some great tips for students who want to learn how to write a research paper.

Pro Athletes
The Jose Vilson uses Derek Jeter as an example of how nurturing students’ talent and leadership ability early on can reap great results.

And over at Jay P. Greene’s Blog, the author talks about the importance of identifying students’ talents, whether they’re a left tackle or potential honor student.

Economist
ESL teacher Larry Ferlazzo knows that money is the international language.

Translator
Melissa B. at The Scholastic Scribe provides a handy-dandy English-to-Eduspeak dictionary.

Director
Mathew Needleman at Creating Lifelong Learners takes a proactive approach to managing disruptive students during a class movie project.

Advice Columnist
Let’s Play Math! has some advice on teaching math to a struggling student.

Detective
OverwhelmedMom gets to the bottom of problems that gifted students face.

Investigative Reporters
The proprietor of a voice from the middle knows the means to discovery is asking the right questions.

In addition, eduwonkette responds to a Wall Street Journal article about the criteria used to evaluate teachers.

Game Developer
Alvaro at SharpBrains shares a few games to stimulate your temporal lobe.

Diplomat
Coach Brown tries to reach an understanding with hostile parents.

Nutritionists
At Homework. Dinner. Life. Angela points out that good nutrition habits ought to be maintained year-round, not just a few days before the test.

Meanwhile, Chanman at Buckhorn Road says all that caffeine students drink can’t be good for them.

Cartographer
Dan Callahan, a.k.a. geek.teacher, harnesses Google Maps for a lesson in community mapping.

Librarian
@EDU takes the work out of student research by pointing them toward Google Alerts.

Politician
Jane Artabasy at Golden Apple Teaching Excellence Network unloads the loaded word of the day, “elitism,” showing it’s nothing to be frightened of - especially in schools.

The folks at Golden Apple also mull over the differences in races and learning styles.

Astronaut
HowDoWhy asks, what is a solar system, anyway? Furthermore, just how big is ours?

Human Resources Specialist
Over at Right on the Left Coast, Darren discusses the sticky situation of a teacher dating an 18-year-old student at a different school.

Mentors
Allison Jones at Entry Level Living wants to revamp the way young people think about leadership.

The folks at the Efficient Leadership Files have some ideas on that as well.

Statistician
Lead from the Start crunches the numbers about the disconnect between teachers and EdSector.

Strategist
Seth Pearce at NYC Students Blog has an intriguing idea on how to overcome schools’ non-stop test preparation.

Lobbyist
PZ Meyers at Pharyngula has some news about a disturbing bill in the Oklahoma legislature regarding religion in schools.

Road Grader
As the great homework debate rages on, Shabam School makes a good case for grading homework.

Kindergarten Teacher (sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything else)
Kiri at Elbows, Knees, Dreams shares her thoughts (and asks for others’ opinions) about early entrance to Kindergarten.

Photo credit: ou_ags on flickr

Get Smarter: 12 Hacks That Will Amp Up Your Brainpower
Exercise your mind with these 12 strategies from Wired designed to max out your brainpower. Tips include exercising wisely, putting the right kinds of information in your brain, and even finding out the optimum dosages of caffeine.

40 Ways to Spice Up Your Spelling Words
Who doesn’t love memorizing spelling words? Your students, probably. Plenty of adults have trouble with spelling, meaning it’s probably even tougher for kids. Help them out by making your spelling words more interesting with these ideas.

50 Handy Tricks
File this under “Grab Bag.” Instructables presents this list of 50 Handy Tricks encompassing nothing in particular. You’ll learn how to do everything from taking blink-free photos to making a bow-and-arrow out of skis. Not necessarily teaching-related, but a creative soul like you can certainly figure out a way to build a lesson plan around reupholstering your couch with duct tape, can’t you?

10 virtually instant ways to improve your life
Want to add some quality to your quality of life? The folks at Stepcase Lifehack have some ideas, most of which can be summarized by the word, “relax.” Avoiding drama, not being a perfectionist, and not taking things personally will all help you make a fitter, happier and more productive life for yourself. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: Kaptain Kobold on flickr

The big question for kids: what do you want to be when you grow up? It’s such a tough question, many adults haven’t figured it out yet. To help your elementary students make an informed decision about what careers they might like, send them to Kids Work!

Kids Work! explores a variety of career paths such as pharmacists, TV directors, and even playwrights. Students can also complete job-related activities like creating a production budget for a TV broadcast. By strolling around the block in Kids Work!’s virtual small town, students can discover the jobs, duties and workplaces they might want to inhabit one day.

The only drawback to Kids Work! is it doesn’t have many jobs to choose from, and the site omits childhood favorites like fireman, astronaut, or pirate (maybe that one’s for the best). Still, for the careers Kids Work! does have, kids can find out some real in-depth info, and have fun while they’re at it. Kids Work! makes some of these jobs look like so much fun, I wonder if maybe I should’ve been a TV audio engineer. -BILL FERRIS

Kids Work!

11 Odd but Simple Ways to Improve Your Health
There’s nothing like a good nasal rinse. Or how about a fast to detoxify your body? These offbeat health tips can keep your body running smoothly. After all the stress you put it through every day in class, you at least owe yourself a skin brushing.

1001 Books You Have to Read Before You Die
Need a good book to read? Check out this exhaustive (and exhausting) list of great books. You’ll find everything from Oscar Wilde to Douglas Adams, plus lots, lots, lots more. If you want to read all 1001 of these before you croak, you’d best get started soon.

George Orwell: 6 Questions/6 Rules
The author of 1984 and Animal Farm presents these rules for writers to live by. My favorite: “Never use a long word where a short one will do.” What a stupdendous idea!

16 Things I Wish They Had Taught Me in School

A lot of life skills don’t fall within the scope of science, math or English class. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to squeeze in some valuable real-world lessons into your teaching, though. The Positivity Blog presents this list of lessons the author had to learn the hard way. By imparting concepts like the 80/20 Rule (we get 80% of the value we receive from only 20% of the things we do) and the value of making mistakes to your students, you can help them be productive members of society.

How to Ace Your Job Interview: 88 Surefire Tips and Tricks
Your students are about to head out into the world, and that means they’re going to need to get a job soon. Make sure you pass along these tips from the Online Education Database about how to secure employment. The list addresses everything from cover letters to grooming. A lot of it seems like common knowledge, but you know people don’t make lists like these unless there were a bunch of clueless applicants out there. These tactics will give your students an advantage over the competition, and they might even come in handy for your own future job search.

Photo credit: lagiuspo on flickr.

40 Quick Tips for Career Happiness and Success - Sickeningly adorable blogger couple Marc and Angel present this great list to offer advice on making sure you are living the dream job you’ve always wanted. Be sure to check out some of their other nauseatingly optimistic musings over at Marc and Angel Hack Life.

More than 100 Free Places to Learn Online - and Counting - A new presenter for MBTN - and hopefully, a repeat player - Mission to Learn gives us this list of great online learning resources. The article presents the sites in a very organized way, with categories ranging from How-To’s to Higher Education. Things get even more specific in the Topic Areas, which cover such things to know as Art, Law or Theology. Finally, I can learn to wakeboard online without having to get my toes wet.

Ten Whatchamacallits and Their Real Names - A few months ago, I noted to our friend Bill that the little thing on the end of your shoelace was called an “aglet.” Right now, spell-check isn’t recognizing this word, and back then, neither did Bill. It was just one of those things I knew. Now, thanks to The List Universe, you can know that one and nine others. I love information like this, and I hope you do too.

10 Simple Ways to Save Yourself From Messing Up Your Life - I know, I know, Lifehack; I’m botching everything by not doing this or doing too much of that. Maybe if there were an article that could give me some tips to stop being so focused on failure and to start seeing the brighter side, I might be able to dig myself out from this merciless toil. What? There is an article about it? Yay! -JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: misocrazy on Flickr)

50 Tricks to Get Things Done Faster, Better, and More Easily - Lifehack presents a list of things that you can (and should) be doing in order to make your life easier, thus making you happier and more productive. Most of the tips are about efficiency and time-management, but there are some things you can do in order to make yourself healthier and more prepared for success. Number 51: Be a Robot.

7 Questions To Ask If You Want To Solve a Problem - From makeGENIUS comes this quick list of the kind of things you should be asking yourself when faced with a challenge. Whether in the classroom or in the carpool, we all have tough decisions we have to make, but they only become problems if we let them.

Five Sites to Help Teens Find Part Time Jobs - It’s Spring Break time, which means Summer is right around the corner. Summer means fun with friends, lazy afternoons, pool parties, and of course - Summer jobs… I had them, you probably did too, and your students are going to have to have them if they want that fancy new motor car. Luckily, the web is there to help them do something that doesn’t necessitate saying the words “do you want the combo with that?” WebUpon has this list of sites and explanations that will aide in getting your rising sophomores hired.

110+ Resources For Creative Minds - Feeling stuck? Want to give your students a project that will enhance and utilize their uncorrupted creative minds? Try checking out these resources from SkellieWag which include links, tips and tricks.

(photo credit: Wetsun on Flickr)

Welcome to your romantic and eerily educentric Valentine’s Day date. But will it end in love, tears, or possibly food poisoning from an undercooked Valentine’s dinner? These kind educators were gracious enough to share their Valentine’s Day experiences:

Dinner and a Movie: Benjamin Baxter at On the Tenure Track invites you to a live recreation of Saving Private Ryan in his own classroom.

Dining by Candlelight: Larry Ferlazzo at In Practice and Eric at Teachers Call say teachers should include more modern means of illuminating young minds.

Set the Mood with Music: Alvaro at SharpBrains says musical training stimulates the brain. Meanwhile, Creating Lifelong Learners tells you how to make the most of your iPod in class.

Send a Valentine’s Card: Ms. Cornelius says principals who care, trust and lead by example are sooo her type.

Like Romeo and Juliet, Minus the Suicide: The Bard Blog knows there’s no better way to woo someone than with poetry. Learn how to read Shakespearean verse like a true Romeo.

Even More Poetry: Eduwonkette has the same idea. Send your Valentine a funny poem.

On a Budget: American Consumer News has tips on how to get great books for cheap. Speaking of books, Money Blue Book talks about a few things you didn’t know your library could do.

On a Budget, Part II: Uncle Joe’s Leadership Blog tells parents and students how to get a free college education. And Thursday Bram at Wise Bread tells students where to shop when they have to start buying their own textbooks.

Propagating the Species: GrrlScientist at Living the Scientific Life has the skinny on a guide to teaching evolutionary theory.

Lovers’ Quarrel: Mr. Walker, The English Teacher, prompts a heated discussion on tracking.

Kiss and Make Up: Resolve conflicts with colleagues by employing these strategies, courtesy of Pat at Successful Teaching.

Share a Few Laughs: Scenes from The Battleground pokes fun at the idea of blaming the victim in education.

Spend Some Time with Your Kids: TutorFi’s Colleen Palat asks, “Does My Child Need a Tutor?“If so, not to worry. The kid can still excel in school.

Find a Special Someone where you Least Expect It: Joanne Jacobs dishes on Principal Shimon Waronker, a Hasidic Jew, ignoring potential culture shock to turn around a prominently black and Hispanic school.

Watch the Sunrise: Circle Time “Lead From The Start” discusses teaching with both sides of the brain to usher in a new tomorrow in student learning.

Remembering the Way We Were: The Tempered Radical’s Bill Ferriter asked beginning teachers to remind older colleagues they’re still learning how to do this job.

Stand by Your Man (or Woman): Nancy Flanagan, a Teacher in a Strange Land, sticks up for teachers in the face of claims that the professions isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Get Some Alone Time: Dana at Principled Discovery doesn’t like the idea of the federal government butting in and bossing around local schools.

Remembering it’s the Thought that Counts: Like many parents reared on New Math, NYC Educator struggles to help his daughter at math. But he’s a dear for trying.

Fending off Suitors: Ms_Teacher isn’t interested in ETS’ insultingly low wages.

Dumped: To MasterPapers.com and CustomEssays.co.uk - We both knew this was coming. Selling essays to students is just wrong, wrong, wrong. And your advice on essay writing is pure fluff. I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

Photo Credit: Candy hearts at cryptogram.com.

Better late than never, right folks? Sorry for the late post, but I had too much eggnog this weekend… Anywho, onward to the numbers!

2000 Uses for WD-40 - I know it isn’t necessarily a teaching tool, but chances are likely that you can find something useful here. This list goes from the very useful (Removes water spots from mirrors, Cleans silver jewelry) to the completely banal and borderline absurd (Removes rollerblade marks from kitchen floor [?]). I’m sure you’ll find some new way to use WD-40 here, even though 1000 of the uses include “Lubricate.”

25 Ways to Fit in 10 Minutes of Exercise - RevolutionHealth brings us this list right in time for planning those New Year’s resolutions. We are all undeniably busy, but who can get anything done if they don’t feel good in the first place? Follow the ideas on this list and you will no longer be able to use the excuse “I don’t have the time” when it comes to exercising.

The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun - This simple flash film reinforces a great idea, and one that we may or may not take for granted. Fun can mean much more than just watching a sitcom on TV, in fact, it’s really much more than that. This list of eight mantras to help boost your fun-level includes things like “Get Focused - Start Being Intensely Selfish”. Visit the site, click on a number, and enjoy.

11 Websites Every Student Should Know - Thanks to TechDo.com, students have this comprehensive list of the first places to turn when it comes to looking for help on the web. There are some real gems here, and Wikipedia doesn’t even look anywhere near the finish line. Some notables: Math.com, NovelGuide.com, and one our favorites- HowStuffWorks.

-JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

(photo credit: L. Marie)

Tackle Any Issue with a List of 100 -
Litemind presents a way to tackle almost anything you might be facing just by making a list of 100 possible solutions or answers. Surely out of 100, there must be SOME easy way, right?

Litemind

10 Reasons You Aren’t Achieving Success -

Success isn’t necessarily about wealth, but success can still be one of those things that we find ourselves constantly struggling to achieve. Lifehack presents this list of the top ten things that might be keeping you from being and doing the things you want. My personal Achilles heel–“You Fear Success.” Go figure…

Lifehack

10 Simple, Sure-fire ways to Make Today Your Best Day Ever -

Sure, this is a bold claim, but half the fun of letting go of your perceptions is exactly that… letting go. ZenHabits presents this list in order to illustrate the fact that sometimes the simplest answers can also be the right ones.

ZenHabits

-JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk

The Hundred Greatest Theorems– There’s a top 100 of just about everything nowadays. Now, it’s time you geometers and algebrainiacs had your turn. According to the site, the ranking is based on “the place the theorem holds in the literature, the quality of the proof, and the unexpectedness of the result.”

The Hundred Greatest Theorems

The Seven Blunders of the World – Mahatma Gandhi was known as one of the wisest spiritual leaders of all time, and he didn’t get to be revered without saying and doing some pretty great things. Here is a list of his Seven Blunders of the World presented by Dr. Hugo. My favorite: “Politics without principle.” Heh.

Dr. Hugo

64 Interview Answers You Need to Know - CrackInterview.info offers this extensive list to assure you’ll be prepared for the next time you have to be on the answering end of an interview. Some of the questions here are no-brainers, others you might have never even considered, like “Why aren’t you earning more money in this stage of your career?”

Crack Interview

10 Do’s and Don’ts for Your Statement of Purpose - Getting into grad school is hard enough as it is– luckily, Accepted.com presents this list of things to include and exclude from your statement of purpose when applying to the schools of your choice. When you’ve got a lot to say, you should know what not to say, too.

Accepted.com

100 Kick-butt Lifehacking Blogs - Whitepapers.org has done a wonderful thing for those of us obsessed with productivity. Here is a list, presented by topic, of the 100 best life-improving, time-saving, and get-it-done-right blogs on the web today. Some of our favorites like Dumb Little Man and 43 Folders are up there, and some new ones we’re looking forward to exploring. Maybe next time you’ll see Instructify up there, too.

White Papers

–JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Relocating to a new area? Looking to find a better educational fit for you or yours? Yahoo! has implemented a wonderful database by getting together with GreatSchools.net in order to bring the most extensive and comparative look at schools in any particular area.

By using Yahoo!’s Real Estate search function, you can search using school name, zip code, or location name to look at the statistics for the schools in that area. GreatSchools.net will then give you all the information you could possibly need for any specific school and all the schools in the nearby region. Stats include everything from enrollment, attendance, average test scores to teacher experience levels and credentials.

The site also offers user submitted reviews from parents and even an introduction from the school’s principal. You can compare schools in the area, and Yahoo!’s map feature will let you know exactly how far you’ll have to go to each.

This is a useful tool if you’re looking for a new opportunity and need to know the skinny before you arrive, or even if you just want to keep up with the Joneses in your area. –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

GreatSchools.net
Search for schools via Yahoo!’s Real Estate Search