{"id":2721,"date":"2014-03-02T16:44:35","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T16:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/?p=2721"},"modified":"2014-03-02T16:54:22","modified_gmt":"2014-03-02T16:54:22","slug":"international-school-community-member-spotlight-30-xxxx-teacher-teaches-xxxx-international-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/international-school-community-member-spotlight-30-xxxx-teacher-teaches-xxxx-international-school\/","title":{"rendered":"International School Community Member Spotlight #30: Kathleen Ralf (A teacher at Frankfurt International School & Wiesbaden)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every 1-2 months\u00a0International School Community<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0will highlight one of our members in our\u00a0Member Spotlight<\/a>\u00a0feature.\u00a0 This month we interviewed Kathleen Ralf<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Tell us about your background.\u00a0 Where are you from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0401\"<\/a>My name is Kathleen Ralf and I work at Frankfurt International School & Wiesbaden<\/a>\u00a0as a Humanities and English Teacher.<\/p>\n

I was born and raised in the Seattle area.\u00a0 After I received my degree I moved east to the wild desert side of Washington State.\u00a0 I taught English and History in a public school in Wenatchee, Washington for 12 years before deciding to make my move overseas.<\/p>\n

How did you get started in the international teaching community?<\/strong><\/p>\n

One day on my way to work I thought to myself\u2026 \u201cIs this all there is? \u00a0Am I just going to keep driving the same road, teaching the same old stuff to the same community, for the rest of my life?!!!\u201d\u00a0 This realization really troubled me.\u00a0 So I started applying directly to schools that were linked to the website of the Association of German International Schools<\/a>.\u00a0 My husband\u2019s family is in Germany, his mother tongue is German, so it made sense that this would be the place to go.<\/p>\n

Which international schools have you worked at?\u00a0 Please share some aspects of the schools that made them unique and fun places in which to work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I started my international career at the International School of Stuttgart<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 The school was in its first years of major transition.\u00a0 They had a head of school that was dynamic and excited about the changes ahead.\u00a0 I started that year in a cohort of about 12 new to Stuttgart teachers.\u00a0 The community of teachers in Stuttgart is wonderful and supportive.\u00a0\u00a0 Class trips were definitely a highlight to the school year.\u00a0\u00a0 These were the moments when I really saw the best in my students and in my colleagues.\u00a0 Dragging 60 students through the crowded streets of Salzburg is a life skill.<\/p>\n

I am in my first year at Frankfurt International School & Wiesbaden<\/a>.\u00a0 This school is one of the oldest International Schools in Europe and has a great academic and athletic reputation.\u00a0 The school is much bigger than Stuttgart, but I find this exciting.\u00a0 The kids are from a greater mix of countries and teachers come here stay.\u00a0\u00a0 There are so many projects and activities for kids and teachers to involve themselves in here.\u00a0 My favorite so far has been in caring for our adopted Roman watchtowers.<\/p>\n

Describe your latest cultural encounter (or reverse cultural encounter) in your current placement, one that put a smile on your face.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"DSCN0102\"<\/a>Recently I had some time to kill with my 6th<\/sup> graders.\u00a0 We had finished up a unit, and I really didn\u2019t want to start the next thing on a Friday before a holiday.\u00a0 One of my students jumped up and said, \u201cLet\u2019s play hangman!\u201d\u00a0 Ok, I thought.\u00a0 I went up to the white board and drew the gallows and began placing the short lines below for my word.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Europeans in the crowd started yelling at me.\u00a0 \u201cMrs. Ralf!\u00a0 That is not how you play Hangman!\u201d<\/p>\n

I stepped back and let them take over.\u00a0 You see in Western Europe you don\u2019t make a gallows.\u00a0 You just draw the lines for the letters of your word.\u00a0 With each guess, you then draw the gallows and eventually hang your man.\u00a0 I asked the question why, but the 6th<\/sup> graders had no answers.\u00a0 I figured that German and Dutch words could be quite long; therefore they need more chances for guessing.\u00a0 Or are these cultures just much more peaceful? \u00a0No one wants his or her hangman to die.<\/p>\n

What are some important things that you look for when you are searching for a new position at an international school?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS<\/a>I made my most recent move to Frankfurt from Stuttgart because of workload. \u00a0\u00a0I had 6 preps in Stuttgart and at one point traveled to 3 different rooms.\u00a0 My office was nowhere near any of the rooms in which I taught.\u00a0\u00a0 It was a harried race for 4 years.\u00a0 I loved my colleagues and students, but I loved my health, family, and sanity more.<\/p>\n

When looking for a new school, I ask a lot of questions.\u00a0 How many preps will I have?\u00a0 How many classes a day?\u00a0 What is the meeting\/collaboration schedule like?\u00a0 Do you meet with teams\/departments after school or within the school day?\u00a0 What are the expectations on teachers for duties beyond the classroom? (i.e. covering classes, hallway duty, clubs, etc.) When do most teachers go home after work? Not when are contracted hours, find out about the work culture of the school.\u00a0 Do teachers bust out the minute the bell rings?\u00a0 Or do they hang around to plan, collaborate, and work with students?\u00a0 What is the change-over rate of the teachers?\u00a0 Does the school value hiring families?<\/p>\n

In exactly 5 words, how would you describe the international school teaching experience?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rejuvenating, Creative, Innovative, Culturally Rich<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanks Kathleen! \u00a0You can check our more about Kathleen at her blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you are a member of\u00a0International School Community<\/a>\u00a0and would like to be our next member spotlight,\u00a0contact us here<\/a>.\u00a0 If we choose to highlight you, you will get a coupon code to receive 6 months free of premium access to our website!<\/p>\n

Want to work for an international school in the Germany like Kathleen?\u00a0 Currently, we have 39 international schools listed in Germany on\u00a0International School Community<\/a>. Here are a few that have had comments and information submitted on their profiles:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Berlin Brandenburg International School<\/a>\u00a0(11 Comments)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Berlin British School<\/a>\u00a0(13 Comments)<\/p>\n

Galileo Gymnasium (Germany)<\/a>\u00a0(11 Comments)<\/p>\n

John F. Kennedy School Berlin<\/a>\u00a0(11 Comments)<\/p>\n

Bonn International School<\/a>\u00a0(17 Comments)<\/p>\n

International School Braunschweig (Wolfsburg)<\/a>\u00a0(19 Comments)<\/p>\n

Dresden International School<\/a>\u00a0(15 Comments)<\/p>\n

International School of Dusseldorf<\/a>\u00a0(22 Comments)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Franconian International School (Erlangen)<\/a>\u00a0(13 Comments)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Strothoff International School<\/a>\u00a0(27 Comments)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Bavarian International School<\/a>\u00a0(30 Comments)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0International School Hamburg<\/a>\u00a0(14 Comments)<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0International School of Stuttgart<\/a>\u00a0(24 Comments)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every 1-2 months\u00a0International School Community\u00a0will highlight one of our members in our\u00a0Member Spotlight\u00a0feature.\u00a0 This month we interviewed Kathleen Ralf: Tell us about your background.\u00a0 Where are you from? My name is Kathleen Ralf and I work at Frankfurt International School & Wiesbaden\u00a0as a Humanities and English Teacher. I was born and raised in the Seattle […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19],"tags":[1865,1860,1861,1649,1862,434,30,187,1864,1572,1345,186,184,32,628,539,1042,1863,530,267,1826,1823,1630],"class_list":["post-2721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-member-spotlights","tag-bavarian-international-school","tag-berlin-brandenburg-international-schoo","tag-berlin-british-school","tag-franconian-international-school-erlangen","tag-galileo-gymnasium-germany","tag-international-education","tag-international-school-community","tag-international-school-educator","tag-international-school-hamburg","tag-international-school-of-dusseldorf","tag-international-school-of-stuttgart","tag-international-school-teacher","tag-international-school-teachers","tag-international-schools","tag-international-schools-in-germany","tag-job-search","tag-john-f-kennedy-school-berlin","tag-kathleen-ralf","tag-life-as-an-expat","tag-member-spotlight","tag-strothoff-international-school","tag-teaching-in-frankfurt","tag-teaching-in-germany"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/IMG_0401.jpg?fit=960%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2flVT-HT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6056,"url":"https:\/\/internationalschoolcommunity.com\/blog\/member-spotlights-summary-35-highlighted-members-far\/","url_meta":{"origin":2721,"position":0},"title":"A Member Spotlights Summary: We have had 35 highlighted members so far!","author":"ISCommunity","date":"March 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Since we started our website back in February 2011, we have had a total of 35 member spotlight articles highlighted on our blog. 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