Look, I can do it too:

Anonymity is a tool which the foolish cherish.

L'anonymat est un outil que les idiots aiment.

I've never studied French a day in my life! Thank you Babelfish.com!

And thank you to those who have come to my defense as well as the school for which I am happily employed. Anytime someone leaves a school under less than stellar conditions they are going to be understandably bitter. This "StephanieB" must have one or two REALLY good connections at our school to be able to "hear" and "understand" and "know of" so many supposed goings on of Suzhou Foreign Language School. How s/he would "hear" about things since (allegedly) being gone from early NOVEMBER (not December, sorry) of 2008 - - more than six months - - while recuperating in the south of France is beyond me, but again, s/he may have a good source within our school walls.

As far as I'm concerned, the "debate" is over. We have LONG since moved on from the 2008 Stefanie . . . situation and we are now moving on from our recent angry teacher departure. I urge all those seeing red at some of these rather absurd postings to let it go. I think the situation(s) is/are now in the past and our school isn't bemoaning the loss(es). Let "StephanieB" and his/her supporters here pat each other on the back and commiserate with each other. Responding with testimonials to what surely falls on deaf ears (or rather blind eyes as it were with the internet) seems counter-productive at best. I hope your typical, average future teacher will read all the posts in this thread and land on the side of sanity. SFLS is a very good school and has been a very good employer. I enjoy the company of all teachers who are currently in our department (both foreign and Chinese) and am eager to welcome new teachers into the fold in late August. But don't think I'm going to shy away from calling out those that can't perform their jobs adequately. Each teacher is going to get observed regularly, each teacher is going to get my professional and honest feedback, and each teacher is going to have ample opportunity to ask me and the long-term teachers any question they need to in order to address their concerns. I generally can tell within a week or two of talking with and observing a teacher whether or not he or she can cut the mustard. The school pays me to give my opinions based on my experience and background. If that doesn't sit well with some now defunct teachers, so be it.

At the end of the day, it's not about the teachers. It's about the students. If a teacher can't or won't do his/her job to satisfy the needs of the students AND if the teacher is not willing or capable of changing teaching methods or teaching styles to accommodate their students, then they can certainly seek and find employment elsewhere, thank you. If my school has had problems with me and my teaching and my meager managerial input, then I'm sure I would have heard about it by now. No, what I get are compliments and awards and bonuses. I'm not saying that to brag by any means; I'm saying that to counter this whole "he-used-to-work-at-a-Pizza-Hut-in-the-1980s" mentality (something, by the way, I've never mentioned to Stefanie, but did talk about with our recently departed teacher - - hmmmm).

So, naysayers and rumor-mongers, please continue with your diatribes and mean-spirited jabs. I hate to say it, but I'll probably continue to read them (I can't help myself), but I no longer need to respond (not that I even needed to in the first place!). Thank you to "Alex" and to "Rabble" and to the other person whose online name I can't remember right now. I beg of you, don't bother any longer with this. It's not worth it and it's generally hopeless to continue. Take care and good health to all.