First Day of Class

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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

We have both successfully made it through our first and second days of teaching. To start with it was quite interesting. Yesterday was the first day of class so we cruised in on our Popeye scooter, parked somewhat illegally right next to the one and only building that we had been in before yesterday. The students were gathering in a large mass directly in front of the main building where they line up all 3,000 of them in lines based on their grade level and classes to sing the Thai national anthem with the raising of the flag, say a prayer of some sort and then sit as they listen to announcements projected across the masses with a loud speaker. Pat and I went to the teachers' lounge on the second floor and watched over this morning assembly as we tried to figure out where our first class was. We gathered our rosters for our 10 sections that were largely in Thai and then we headed to our buildings. My rosters revealed that my classes would be between 34 and 50 students but most were between 45 and 50. I arrived at my first class hot and nervous and thus already sweating in the early Thai morning. I turned to write on the blackboard and immediately a voice said "stand up!" and then the class said in unison "good morning teacher!" They would not sit until I told them to take their seats and then they thanked me. My first class must have been close to 48 students. My lesson plan was to draw a picture of myself on the board and have them guess about my name, age, where I was from, and if I had any pets or siblings. Then they would pair up and draw the person sitting next to them and answer the same questions which I would collect and then be able to know their nicknames (not Thai names) and student numbers. My first class was loud and they were a bit difficult to teach but for the most part they followed the lesson which I followed with a couple of rounds of Halloween themed Hangman. I went directly to my second class, which ended up being quiet, well-behaved and they knew quite a bit of English. They followed the lesson beautifully and had some great sketches of each other. I then had a few periods for planning and lunch during which I met up with Pat and we attempted to brave the student canteen. We found some soup that supposedly had chicken in it and some pineapple which would do just fine for a first day of lunch. With two classes under my belt I was feeling pretty good, but my last two classes were quite a challenge. Both were incredibly loud and struggled to follow the lesson. I was unable to gather everyone's nickname so I resorted to them writing their own on the roster which was complete chaos. During one of the classes I confiscated a cell phone because a student was taking a call in class, and during the last class I asked two students to leave for the remainder of the period because they would not behave even after having one of them move seats to the front and center. I felt a bit defeated after my last two classes. The classes are so large and the students are on such a large spectrum of English abilities. At the end of the day, I was not nervous about teaching but I was a bit apprehensive about day two. On Tuesdays, I only teach two classes, one first period (8:30-9:20) and one seventh (1:30-2:20), which makes for a long lunch and planning period. My first class was incredible!! They were so well behaved and they followed the lesson and the directions and understood what I was saying!!! There were only 34 students and they were quiet and respectful and interested in the class. My last class was wild and loud and did not even understand "Draw a picture," which made the lesson quite challenging. So all in all teaching in Thailand is interesting. The Thai education system is very different from what I am used to, so it is difficult to understand. Pat's day went well, but he made a kid cry which he will have to write about soon.

But on a different note, the students can be quite amusing. They get to choose their own nicknames which makes it easier for foreign teachers to know who they are. So the nicknames are really funny. Here are some examples: Beer, Best, Game, Ball, Benz, Rainbow, Nut, Bank, Mail, Golf, Rainbow, Book, Boss, Arm, Film, Mild and it goes on and on. The pictures posted for today are drawings that my students did of fellow students, which are really funny. Take a look at some of the nicknames.

So all is well in Trang. We are handling teaching thus far. We just got a refrigerator and washing machine, and I wish I could accurately describe the washing situation this afternoon. It is unlike any washer you have probably seen. We rolled the washer down a couple of steps to our back porch where it was hooked to a spigot with a hose, the drain hose hung off the porch and an electric cord coming from the bathroom. It was quite the set up. At least our clothes are clean and hanging to dry.