What is a Head Teacher?

I'm still asking myself this one month after officially becoming one!

Wikipedia describes a Head Teacher as, "the most senior teacher in a school in the United Kingdom...While some head teachers still retain some teaching responsibility, other than in very small schools, most of their duties are managerial and pastoral."

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Pastoral?! Well, here we come to a difference between US and British usage. In British English pastoral refers to the the part of the work of clergy and teachers that involves giving help and advice about personal matters, whereas in US English this word is associated only with work done by clergy.

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Well, my head teacher work doesn't involve pastoral duties, but it may lead me to personally seek the assistance of someone whose work does! To say it has been challenging is putting it mildly.

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I am sure the work of a head teacher can vary greatly from school to school. At the school I work for it involves being an administrator, coordinator, supervisor, supporter, mentor, advocate, negotiator, organizer and trainer as well as an EFL teacher.

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Yes, I have "retained" my teaching responsibilities -- AND HOW! I was originally told that the job would be mostly teaching and a couple of hours administrative work a week. So far it has been mostly teaching and mostly administrative work. I have put in around 10 to 20 administrative hours each week -- and this does not include the time spent on "language audits" that I have continued to do for the school on the side!
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In all fairness, this is a new position for a growing language school, which makes predicting the work load a challenge; September / October is the beginning of the school year, a time which typically involves a lot of extra work; the Director of Studies, who is responsible for all of Spain, is located in Madrid, not in Barcelona, which requires a lot of telephone and emailing time (for both of us); and the Director of Studies has been on a well deserved vacation for the past couple of weeks. In addition, as with any new job there is a learning curve that can seem overwhelming at times. Therefore, I am hopeful that things will settle down as the school and I learn to develop and adapt to this new position.

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¡Ojalá!

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Carloz

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P.S. Any advice would be appreciated! Prayers, too!!

Language audits, summer work, summer vacation (not)

I haven't had much time to keep up with the news lately, much less to post something here, because I've been a little busy doing "language audits" for one of the schools I work for. The audits are on incoming students, mostly for the next school year, but occasionally there are students who want to start right away and do some studying this summer.

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The language audit is essentially an interview to verify the level students have been tentatively assigned according to a written examination they have taken. Usually their final level is right at or very near the level they tested out at. However, some people do much better in an interview situation than on a test and vice versa. Therefore, at times a bit of an adjustment may be required.
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It's interesting work, as I get to talk to different people all over Spain (the interviews are done over the telephone) and find out about their careers, their perceptions of English language learning and a variety of other subjects. One of the things that actually touches me is how important this is for most of them. It reminds me that there is real significance and value to teaching English.
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On the practical side, finding administrative work like this is one of the ways an EFL teacher can earn money during the summer months, when the school year is technically out. This is important because while some English teachers in Spain get paid vacation, many do not.
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So, this summer work has been taking up a bit of time, along with the few students of mine who are continuing with lessons through July. Of course in August EFL opportunities will lessen again.
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One thing I don't like about teaching English in a situation like this, is that I don't get much of a summer vacation, if any. After all, when there's no work, there's no pay coming in.

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On the bright side, it's a such a wonderful place to live that the lack of a lengthy vacation away is not so bad. Plus, there are a lot of public holidays in Spain. And with that, I'll count my blessings and go out for my evening "paseo."
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Chao amig@s,
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Carloz

Scam Warning for teachers who advertise classes on the internet

Do you ever advertise for private students on the Internet? If so, then from time to time you may receive a response like the following:

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"This is to inform you of a visit my family is taking place in texas and your service will be needed.My family are coming over to the united state for a summer without me.I will want you to let me know your price to teach English in hotel.I will email you the address as soon as i get a response from you.Just email me your price and also your full name,address and cellphone nbr so i can have a Certified check from a usa bank send to you.I will be waiting to read from you asap."

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or this

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"Greetings, How are you doing today, i can read your description and i am very impress and interested in your lesson you advert on web site, my son is coming for an holiday pension in your area,he is 16 years old and he know a little about the lesson for private lesson, so i don't want him to be less busy in the time of the day and i have decide to let him atending your lesson, so he will becoming 2hours in a day(9 am to 11 am) or time that you will have chance,so i want you to calculate the cost for 1 week and send me the total cost and i will be paying you with UK Cashier Cheque that will be easy for you to cash in your country,so get back to me with your cost of 2 hours per day.I will like to hear from you soon via my email address. Best Regard Looking forward to read for you"

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or perhaps in another language

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"mi nombre es Maria Rolston, de Suecia deseo a profesor particular mi hijo que sea 17 años de la edad y quisiera que lo enseñaras para una hora por día 2 veces en una semana por 2 meses y calcular amablemente tu dinero para los 2 meses de profesor particular y tú me envíen tu nombre completo, la dirección y tu número de teléfono porque te estoy pagando por el cheque y arreglaré el hotel que mi hijo permanecerá en hotel que cerca de tu .kindly casero me envía tu nombre completo, la dirección y tu número de teléfono .thanks"

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The first one was sent to someone in the USA while the last two were sent to teachers in Spain. So it seems teachers everywhere are targeted. I've also heard of a saxophone teacher who received a similar offer.

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The way the scam works is like this: the writer offers to pay you for classes in the first email. If you respond, a contrived reason will be given for why he/she needs to send a payment of a bit more than you are asking. Of course, he/she will say that they will trust you to send them the difference. However, the scam will be a cashiers check which is actually forged and will bounce. The aim is to have you send them the difference before the check bounces.

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Apparently this works well in countries where banks clear certified checks relatively quickly and sometimes even let you withdraw money on it. Of course, when the bank later discovers that the check was a forgery, they take the money back.

Monday Morning for an English Teacher in Spain

This article has been updated and can be found on my Newsvine column.


Here's a link to the article:  Monday Morning for an English Teacher in Spain