I’ll keep this brief, but I am excited to announce that next year I will again be in S.E. Asia. Kent and I have accepted jobs at Singapore American School. He will teach grade 4 and I will be the IT Coordinator for the intermediate school.
This is a bittersweet announcement. I have finally figured out how to do my job here in Minnesota. I work for a gifted administrator. I work with a talented and dedicated staff. I have greatly enjoyed teaching this bunch of students who have been so willing to try whatever new bit of technology I placed before them. My school district welcomed me back after my previous leave, and now I am looking to leave again. Most difficult of all is the thought of once again leaving behind family and friends.
On the flip side is this opportunity to work at such a well-regarded school in a part of the world we enjoy. I’ll once again be able to focus on technology integration, working with both students and staff. (Sometimes I need to pinch myself to believe that someone is willing to pay me to do work I enjoy so much.) I’ll be teaching in a place with a strong, well-supported IT infrastructure.
We’ll be living in a country that the UN human development index lists as one of the top ten countries in the world based on income, life expectancy and education. It is a tiny country located on an island that is approximately 26 x 14 miles in size. It has high population density, but then half of the land is set aside for parks, so maybe that balances out the crowding. It has excellent mass transit. I could go on and on, but I won’t.
I wonder how this new job will change this blog? On one hand, technology integration will be much easier to implement there, but with strong programs already in place, there may be less room for exploring such as I’ve done with the eMates and Blogmeister and Moodle this year. However, I’m not worried; this is a fabulous opportunity for us.
In the mean time, we need to finish up this school year, rent the house and pack out. Anyone out there have any words of advice for two Minnesotans moving to Singapore?
Susan,
I have to admit I am jealous. I found Singapore a great place when I visited last fall.
Just a head’s up – you might want to start following Ivan Chew’s blog at ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com. He works for the National Library of Singapore and is a very interesting guy.
All the best and I hope you keep writing in your blog.
Doug, Thanks for your support. Great advice. I just added him to my RSS reader.
Conrats Susan! Sounds very exciting
Congratulations Susan,
I just came across your blog while researching blogging. I remember reading some posts of yours on some listserv or the other while you were in Malaysia. The Singapore job should be great. I get into Singapore once a year or so to do some shopping and just get out of the jungle. I’m sure that you and your husband will enjoy yourselves.
Hi there,
I am from Tanglin Trust School in Singapore. Welcome to our lovely country. Hope you like the food here.
I bumped into your blog while researching for moodle.
Cheerio..
Ivan Tan
Hi Sarah
I’m a Canadian who has been teaching here (Singapore) for two months, and I love it. I’ll be staying for at least three years, and possibly longer. The people are incredibly welcoming and friendly and the teaching society is the most progressive, though somewhat demanding, that I’ve ever been a part of in my ten years of teaching. I just went to a teacher’s seminar where I attended a presentation on using moodle, and that’s how I found your website (Singapore and moodle). I hope you have a wonderful move over, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions, limited through my Singapore experience is now, that I can.
Cheers,
Derek Biollo (you can find me at http://dbiollo.blogspot.com/ — now I’m going to have to update my blog. :-).
Probably, the economic fear is making people think that it's a good to travell abroad for education.