It's our first weekend here in Wangchan. We just finished our first week of teaching and I can honestly say that I really enjoy it. I love the feeling that I get when I notice that what I'm trying to teach is actually getting through to them.
We are teaching at a secondary school which means it has grades (Matthayoms) 7-12 (1-6). There are over 1,300 students here and we get the "privilege" of teaching each and every one of them. We have on average over 35 students in each class which seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but actually isn't that bad. You just have to show them who's boss.
I'd like to think that I rule the classroom with an Iron Fist. If anyone steps out of line it could possibly cost them their daily rations. If there is any sass in a student's response, it's met with fierce lashings across their back.
Like I said before, I'd like to think that I rule with an Iron Fist. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. I like to make class as enjoyable as possible. We don't test these kids and the school has not come close to attempting to help us come up with any sort of curriculum. So we drew the conclusion that we're here to help with pronunciation. Not only for the students, but the teachers as well.
Steph and I both try to make class fun and informative. I start every class by introducing myself and by also laying down a few basic rules. Then I pick one student to come up and write the alphabet on the chalkboard while the rest of the class shouts out the letters. By the way, chalkboards are terrible, they just make a huge mess. The funniest pronunciation is "Z." They pronounce it "say." I just shake my my head and say "Z! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!" This always gets a huge laugh. Other difficult letters are G, H, V, & X.
For the last 20-25 minutes of class I like to play games with the class. "Telephone" is my go-to game due to the disappointment of Charades. Getting the students to come up with team names is always interesting. You get "The Winners," "Rose,", and "Snakes" a lot, but every once in awhile one team will go rogue. One group came up with "Team Semen" and another came up with "Silly Fool," which I'm almost certain was a direct reference to me. A few teams have written words in Thai, and when I repeat them the whole class erupts in laughter, which makes me believe it's something inappropriate, or something about me, or quite possibly both.
Everyday Steph and I go across the street to the "Noodle Lady" for lunch. It's cheap and it the tastes dazzle our welcoming taste buds. Did I also mention that she has puppies running around? Fresh out of the womb puppies? We have renamed the establishment N.R.P (noodles, rice, and puppies).
COMING SOON...........
A special treat for you guys: Cribs: Wangchang
We are teaching at a secondary school which means it has grades (Matthayoms) 7-12 (1-6). There are over 1,300 students here and we get the "privilege" of teaching each and every one of them. We have on average over 35 students in each class which seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but actually isn't that bad. You just have to show them who's boss.
I'd like to think that I rule the classroom with an Iron Fist. If anyone steps out of line it could possibly cost them their daily rations. If there is any sass in a student's response, it's met with fierce lashings across their back.
Like I said before, I'd like to think that I rule with an Iron Fist. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. I like to make class as enjoyable as possible. We don't test these kids and the school has not come close to attempting to help us come up with any sort of curriculum. So we drew the conclusion that we're here to help with pronunciation. Not only for the students, but the teachers as well.
Steph and I both try to make class fun and informative. I start every class by introducing myself and by also laying down a few basic rules. Then I pick one student to come up and write the alphabet on the chalkboard while the rest of the class shouts out the letters. By the way, chalkboards are terrible, they just make a huge mess. The funniest pronunciation is "Z." They pronounce it "say." I just shake my my head and say "Z! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!" This always gets a huge laugh. Other difficult letters are G, H, V, & X.
For the last 20-25 minutes of class I like to play games with the class. "Telephone" is my go-to game due to the disappointment of Charades. Getting the students to come up with team names is always interesting. You get "The Winners," "Rose,", and "Snakes" a lot, but every once in awhile one team will go rogue. One group came up with "Team Semen" and another came up with "Silly Fool," which I'm almost certain was a direct reference to me. A few teams have written words in Thai, and when I repeat them the whole class erupts in laughter, which makes me believe it's something inappropriate, or something about me, or quite possibly both.
Everyday Steph and I go across the street to the "Noodle Lady" for lunch. It's cheap and it the tastes dazzle our welcoming taste buds. Did I also mention that she has puppies running around? Fresh out of the womb puppies? We have renamed the establishment N.R.P (noodles, rice, and puppies).
COMING SOON...........
A special treat for you guys: Cribs: Wangchang
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