Teaching English in Douglas, USA
Report submitted on 26 August, 2014 by Mrs B. Enriquez.
Teaching English in Douglas, USA:
How can teachers find teaching jobs in Douglas, USA?
Teachers who want to find a teaching job in Arizona can log in to the Arizona Department of Education website (www.azed.gov). There are many openings in Arizona and all across the United States for teachers.
The main English teaching jobs available are:
Full time English language school positions, teaching at kindergartens / pre-schools, teaching at private international schools, teaching at colleges / universities
What are the minimum teaching requirements?
Each state has its own requirements. If you look in the Arizona Department of Education website, you can look at the various requirements. The minimum requirements are a bachelor’s degree in Education or related field and an ESL endorsement. Many times, if you do not possess all of the requirements necessary, you will be given a certain amount of time to obtain them. You will have to work with the state department in order to have these considerations.
What are the levels of payment?
Teachers are usually paid a salary. In Arizona, the salary is about US$30,000 a year. There are states where it is much higher. It depends on the level of experience that you have, degrees that you have earned, etc.
How many teaching days a week is normal?
5 days per week.
How many face-to-face teaching hours a week is normal?
6 hours per week.
What is the normal arrangement for holidays?
The general school schedule starts in early August and runs through late May. There is usually a fall break in mid October, two weeks off during the winter holidays, and a spring break in mid March. Federal holidays are off.
What advice would you give to someone considering coming to Douglas, USA to teach English?
Many students who are learning English are coming to America for the first time from other countries. However, there are many students who are learning English because their families have never really learned English themselves. It is a different kind of student. However, children are children and if you love kids, you will love the environment regardless. Arizona has a four hour block law. That means that we have to teach 1 hour of reading, 1 hour of writing, 1 hour of grammar and 1 hour of listening/speaking/vocabulary to students who are not proficient. There are many requirements to being an ESL teacher (we call them SEI teachers).
What are the positive aspects of teaching English in Douglas, USA?
All of the teachers in our city are teaching English because of the population that we serve. We are on the border of Mexico and USA. Many of our students are coming to the US for the first time. Many of our students are second generation or third generation students who are learning English. Most of the students are kind and wonderful students who are trying hard. We do not have gang violence or anything like that in our town. Although there are many violent things happening in Mexico, our city is very safe. We have many border patrol officers all over town.
What are the negative aspects for teaching English in Douglas, USA?
There is the pressure of making sure that our students are proficient as soon as possible.
Living in Douglas, USA:
Are there any visa or other legal requirements to live in USA?
Yes. You must have a working VISA. Some state agencies will work with you on that.
What is the cost of living like?
In the Phoenix (urban) area (in Arizona), rents in a nice neighborhood will run about US$1000-2000 a month. In the rural areas, where I live, they are much cheaper. You can find a very nice house for US$500-800 a month.
Obviously, in the urban areas there are a lot of different things to do (museums, malls, dance clubs, etc). In the rural areas, there are much less things to do. But, it is a nice weekend get-away to go out of town. The nearest big city is Tucson, which is 2 hours away. Sierra Vista has shopping and other things and that is 1 hour away.
What are the usual accommodation arrangements and how can you find accommodation?
You can find a nice rental via the newspapers or realtor.
What advice would you give to someone considering coming to Douglas, USA to live?
Come and visit one of our schools for a few days so that you can see what it is like.
What things would you recommend to new teachers in your area to bring with them from their home country (e.g. things that are difficult to get in your location)?
You can find everything in the urban cities.
About Me and My Work:
My Name: Mrs B. Enriquez
Nationality: Mexican
Students I’ve taught in USA: Pre-school / kindergarten (4-6 years), elementary (6-12 years), university, adults.
Where I teach: Learning center – Liberty Traditional Saddleback in Douglas, AZ. Teaching here for 18 years.
How I found my current job: By visiting the school.
My school facilities: Very good – We have a new school. We are working on building a library. We have just gotten new text books. We are a work in progress, but we are doing well.
Teacher support at my school: Training / workshops, lesson observations, teacher evaluations, peer support / training.
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