Welcome to the wild gambling world of ESL. You never know if your going to get a good school or not.
--post her name on Craigslist with her phone number on it selling a car or apartment really cheap so she can be bugged night and day by everyone.
-- write a bad review of the schools warden, whatever her name is...there's tons of those sites
-- if you want to stay in Europe go to Georgia. copy and paste the following... http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/georgia-information/teaching-in-georgia/georgia-teaching-opportunities
-- you MUST always have a team on your side , having a good recruiter is detrimental

Seriously, don't worry about her shitty letter of recommendation. It means nothing.

Hi there.

I would like some advice on what to do about the following situation:

This year has been my first year as a TEFL teacher in Cadiz Spain. It has been both an enjoyable but also stressful 10 months!

Enjoyable because all of my students have been a joy to teach (and all 16 who sat their Trinity exams passed with flying colours!)
Stressful because of one reason. My Centre manager!

She is a fiery Irish woman who has only been a teacher for 4 years, but has somehow been elevated to the role of centre Manager (not DOS as i teach in a satellite academy of the main centre)

She has made my life absolute hell from the first day.

She rules the school with a rod of iron, everybody including the students are afraid of her. She shouts and screams not only at other teachers but at students too!

Her idea of observations are to enter my classes without warning - sit at the front of the class with arms folded, tutting and shaking her head at any mistakes i make. Her idea of feedback is to tell me that I am a terrible teacher and "that was the worst lesson i have ever seen"

She reprimands me in front of students, in class with comments like "this boy is going to fail his exams and its going to be your fault" and "see my in my office during your break!"

It got to the point after Christmas where i would feel physically sick if she came into my class, and my whole lesson would go pear shaped!

I have had one official observation which was in December (which surprise surprise she slated me and gave me a fail!)

After one "heated discussion" with her about her style of management in March after she had yet again stormed into one of my classes without warning i threatened to report her to the DOS and she promptly gave me an official warning for "refusing to take feedback"

I have spoken to a previous employee of the school who went through exactly the same process with her 12 months ago, he was also the only male teacher at the school (as am I) so maybe it is sex discrimination?

I refrained from reporting her and she apologised to me and said she had not realised the effect her "observations" were having on me. I accepted the apology but stated that I would not accept her coming into my classes without warning, and wanted a full observation, with feedback to be organised. This was planned (and i spent 3 hours planning and checking my lesson) only for her not to turn up!!!

Despite all this i was considering returning to the school next year (mad i know but i love Cadiz and their are not many decent schools with positions) and she had actually asked me 6 weeks ago if i would be coming back.

I was given my end of term assessment yesterday and was told i would not be invited back next year and was then given a written reference with a D for lesson execution and C- for organization and paperwork!!

This despite having only one official observation 2 months after starting as a teacher for the first time, and after having some glowing peer observations from some experienced teachers!.

To say I am angry is an understatement! Any advice or comments would be welcome, as i feel that the reference she has given me will damage my chances of obtaining work elsewhere!

MickyMack