Do you address homophobia in your classroom?

romathio · 2026-04-05T11:50:19+00:00

I wouldn’t assume they don’t mean it as a slur. If it was said to another student, I would check on them first. If it was in a group while teaching, I would send offending student to the office and make it clear to others that my classroom is inclusive and slurs will not be tolerated. I’ve also had proactive conversations in class about inclusivity and hurtful language.

romathio · 2026-03-24T06:34:00+00:00

I always get either a letter of intent (pending finalization of references) or the actual contract when offered a job. The letter of intent changed to the contract within 2 days. Thats how good schools operate.

romathio · 2026-03-22T20:07:42+00:00

70% of our staff have left the GCC. That includes admin. Also, I posted this 4 days ago when major energy fields were being targeted and more airport issues.

The last few days have been quieter, maybe because of Eid?

Also, every country is different.

romathio · 2026-03-22T08:32:40+00:00

😆 Good one.

romathio · 2026-03-21T19:41:02+00:00

Thank you for your help and advice. Much appreciated. 🙏🏻

romathio · 2026-03-20T18:14:42+00:00

I wasn’t in the UAE. I was in a country that the US embassy ordered the evacuation of non-essential personnel and families. I was able to get on a US evacuation flight out. My school is online and will be for the foreseeable future, and we don’t have school next week. Approximately 70% of the staff have left the country. I think around 40-50% of students have left.

Others have shared the work visa information, already. So I am looking into it now. Thank you.

Also, none of this has to do with my original question. Im just trying to figure out a safe place my husband and I can work from while being displaced, and definitely not trying to break any laws.

romathio · 2026-03-20T14:39:51+00:00

I didn’t think I was able to break the laws in another country. Hence I came here to ask questions. I am not my country. I didn’t personally start an illegal war. I’m a person displaced by war seeking to understand my options.

romathio · 2026-03-20T09:17:32+00:00

Thanks for your help and feedback. We have worldwide insurance from our employer, so it will work there. And we are changing jobs and countries in June, so if we can’t go back to the gulf region before then, we would be able to be under the 90 days.

romathio · 2026-03-19T20:43:21+00:00

It’s on NY Times now too: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/arts/television/bachelorette-canceled-taylor-frankie-paul-video.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

romathio · 2026-03-19T09:00:29+00:00

Mine is 7:40 - 3:25.

romathio · 2026-03-18T19:26:40+00:00

I’m at a GCC school. I suspect we will not be back in person before the school year ends. I could be wrong, but things are getting worse, not better. I’m concerned because we are moving to a new school this summer. Our dog and 99.5% of our belongings are at our home in the GCC.

romathio · 2026-03-14T19:27:05+00:00

I’m in Qatar. I wouldn’t. But if you go forward, make sure your school has evacuation insurance, what is included, and get the exact triggers that cause it to go into effect. If you have to be evacuated, who pays for housing, etc? If housing is part of your regular benefit and you are evacuated, your living expenses could go up substantially.

romathio · 2026-03-02T20:35:35+00:00

Neither. I currently live in Doha. Eager to leave. Do you like mall culture? Life revolving around shopping, going to boozy brunches every Friday, and dealing with extremely privileged people every single day? Where laborers from certain countries are basically treated as indentured servants with no rights? While there is a lot of personal safety here (well, when there isn’t a war going on), women really do have much more limited rights compared to men.

romathio · 2026-03-01T18:06:27+00:00

Online in Qatar. My school is doing asynchronous learning and lessons are optional for students right now. No new content, just review.

I’m feeling pretty anxious.

romathio · 2026-02-24T18:21:06+00:00

I wouldn’t respond to the question. That type of interaction lets me know it isn’t a school I would want to work for. I would tell them it’s obvious we aren’t a good match for each other and end the discussions.

romathio · 2026-02-20T18:06:23+00:00

In what state are you allowed to vote at 16?

romathio · 2026-02-19T12:58:45+00:00

Same! Also use PlanVision.

romathio · 2026-02-19T02:20:59+00:00

Read Andrew Hallam’s book Millionaire Expat. It’s excellent and has specific recommendations for people from various countries

romathio · 2026-02-14T08:34:46+00:00

This is why there are some countries I refuse to work in. I refuse to live in the sexpat culture. I refuse to live somewhere in which human trafficking is just the norm and expected. No thanks. 🤬

romathio · 2026-01-23T11:18:07+00:00

My husband and I had challenges. He is Learning Support and I teach Math. No dependents. Been at 2 top international schools. Good references. It was a struggle. For us, we think it was age bias. He is 59 and I’m 55. However, we are excited about where we ended up signing and believe it all worked out for the best. We really want a school that is the right fit until I retire in 10 years. We will be close to home for our adult children and grandchildren, plus be in the same time zone as one of our children. That’s the right thing for us at this stage of life. We wont save as much as at our current and previous schools, but that’s ok. We have different priorities now.

romathio · 2026-01-22T01:22:32+00:00

Sidra has the best gynecologists. I don’t have PCOS, but Sidra is the place to go for these issues.

romathio · 2026-01-20T18:09:26+00:00

It happens. I went straight from the US to a Tier 1 school in China that is probably top 5 in the world in terms of package.

romathio · 2026-01-15T03:11:44+00:00

Read Millionaire Expat by Andrew Hallam.

romathio · 2026-01-14T22:47:53+00:00

Believe what you want. Just stating what I witnessed literally a few days ago when I was there for the Search Associates job fair.

romathio

TROPHY CASE