I moved my desk from the front of the classroom to the back. Flipped through all the laminated posters they had. They have a pretty good assortment of ABC's and numbers.
At 8:00 A.M. all the farang teachers have to stand outside and greet the parents. Prior to this, all the Thai teachers greet the parents and children. We mostly just stand there and smile. Again, part of Thailand's culture of, "Showing Face." Sometimes we help the children carry their bags to the auditorium. The only thing that sucks is the heat! We are lucky because this year they built a roof over the place we stand. Last year they stood directly in the sun. We are allowed to wear our sunglasses. I am grateful for this fact!
At 8:30 we are allowed to go up to our classrooms. Between 8-8:30 the students sing songs and do other morning activities. I really don't know what they do specifically because I'm standing outside!
Before the children enter the classroom, they take off their shoes. Much like in Hawaii where you take your shoes off before you enter a house... but much more extreme here. It's normal to walk around alot of places with no shoes. Brian teaches in socks. I teach barefooted. I love it. He hates it.
When I first saw my class, I though they were tiny! They all sat down and were quiet. I stood awkwardly back and waited to follow the Thai teacher, Mi's, lead. To my astonishment, she turned to me and said, "Teacher, Teach." Hmmm...
Brian and I arrived only 3 days ago in Thailand. We really didn't have alot of time to prepare lessons. The school didn't have the students books/workbooks ready either. It takes a week to get photocopies back and we hadn't sent off for any yet.
It's a little uncanny how natural teaching comes to you. Especially, when your in a position where you have to do it at that moment. We did all the normal introductions and all the children introduced themselves. Some where shy and didn't want to talk. Each one got their picture taken so I could work on memorizing their names. Little did I know that I would have their names down within the hour. I had 12 students the first day.
Later I printed out their pictures and put it on their cubby holes with their name.
That introduction took up most of first period. After that, the children have their Thai lesson. Then its back to me...
I was really surprised that the children could already sing their ABC's and could count to at least 10. This first week was suppose to be the numbers 1 and 2 only! What was I going to do?!?
I didn't have any paper for the children, so we spent the first day talking.
After another English session, they had Chinese and Thai Math.
Then, lunch time!!!
I just have to stand over them and make sure they are eating. When they are done they put their dishes away. They brush their teeth after lunch too. They didn't do this the first day, but the third day. I imagine it took a couple days to get their toothbrushes/toothpaste organized.
After lunch it is the childrens' nap time. That means it's my lunch time. The two other farang teachers who are also teaching K2 invited me to lunch. Michael is from Australia. This is his second year teaching at the school. Sam is the other teacher. He is originally from England, but came down to teach because he was laid off. His wife is Thai, so they came back to Thailand with their 18 month year old son. He took a TESOL course in Bangkok, but this is his first time teaching as well.
We walked to a restaurant down the street. It really wasn't that far, but felt that way because of the heat. We took umbrellas. I enjoyed learning where the "go to" restaurant was for the teachers. When I say restaurant, I mean shack thing attached to a person's house. The food was very good though and around 30-40 Baht. As we walked back we stopped in at a gas station. Michael likes to bring his Thai assistant back a beverage. He says its a bribe to get on her good side. You always want your Thai assistants to like you. Sam and I followed suite.
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| Tons of places look like this in Thailand. It means... Come... EAT!!! |
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| Cooking Yummy Food!!! |
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| This is where I eat my lunch now. Teacher's downstairs computer room. I do not care to walk in the heat! Plus I get work done!!! |
During lunch, Michael assured me that we where done for the day. I didn't believe him because our schedule said we had one more period with the children.
He was right. After they wake up from their nap, they have another snack. The Thai teacher then does their hair and puts baby powder on their face. I do not understand this, but it has something to do with Thai's wanting to looking whiter than they are. You see alot of kids walking around with white powder of their faces. Then it's time to go home.
The children who do not get picked up right away at 2:00 p.m. then join Sam's class downstairs. We sit, talk, and color. I used this time to practice a little more with the children. This was my first time seeing Sam's class. They are full of energy! He has more boys than me too, I think.
Even though class ends at 2:00 p.m., the teachers have to stay til 4:00 p.m. Your suppose to use this time to prepare for tomorrow. I usually use the first hour to sit with my kids, and the second to work in the computer lab.
Most of the second year teachers use this time to tutor. We are paid an additional rate per child that we tutor. However, you have to wait the 3 month probational period before you are allowed to tutor. That sounds find to me!
Brian looked really worn out at the end of his first day. He said, "We'll see." Translation: He didn't like it.
He loved his class, but I think just felt a little out of his element. It's normal. He said he would give it a week. I can now say (it's a week later) that he loves his class and teaching is becoming more natural to him! Yay!
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| My Class |
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