Well I have been ajarn (teacher) Catie for almost a month now and I have way too much to say about it all. I don't even know where to start really because it really has turned into one big blur. Everyday is different, every class is different, some days I walk away with a huge smile, and other days I feel like I accomplished nothing. I am teaching 6 to 9 year old children with mixed abilities in English. It really has been an adventure so far and I am positive my next 4 months will be just as exciting and terrifying as this first one! I have four different classes and I float in at different times during the week for their English lessons. P1s and P2s have 2 split lessons (out of 3 lessons) and for these lessons I take half of the class down to my office, The Phonics Room, and after 25 minutes I return them and take the other half. I think the best way to break down the past 3 and a bit weeks is to introduce each class and share some stories from our lessons.
First, here are some pictures of my school -
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| My desk. |
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| Just because I think these are funny. |
P1/1 –
This is grade 1 and I have 21 students in this class. The class is mixed abilities with some special needs children. I have one 4 year old in this class because her parents wanted her to get a head start in school. She is adorable and her English is much better than I thought it would be. The class is wonderful to teach and by far (even thought I hate to pick) my favorite class. Knock on wood, I have not had a bad day with them yet! I am suppose to be their “Pilot Teacher” so I sit with them during lunch once or twice a week, and any events I will be with them. So next month they have a field trip and I get to tag along with them for the day to a place with clay molding and temples (name to come with that post). Our classes our normally fun and happy! We play games, sing songs, and work from out of the book. They love candy so they try and be as good as possible so they can get stickers. I carried on the last teachers reward system which is 8 stickers = a piece of candy. We have done animals and food so far and they have a test next week – hopefully they all do as good as they say they will! They are all so eager to learn and I love the days I get to teach them because even if they don’t know how to spell or do something they try! I often say – “hands up who can do this?” – and I look around and most of them want to try! I see my P1s 3 times a week and I have them for a 35 minute HAPPY TALK on Wednesday mornings, which is perfect because we review for their spelling test which normally always falls on a Thursday!
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| School lunch is always a big adventure... |
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| Getting ready for the fair - their dance is adorable! |
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Turn around to write something on the board and all of a
sudden a few of my students are wearing funny hats. |
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| Why yes this girl has a Cath Kidston pencil case. |
P2/2 –
My first P2 class is a pretty funny class! I have a few kids who are pretty fluent and excellent at English. One of them just moved from South Carolina and his English is better than his Thai. He often comes after school to chat. He loves to be an example and will help anyone if they need it. It is nice to have a helper in this class. Over the past 3 and bit weeks we have done a chapter on shopping and we are now finishing up travel. They are very respectful and I would say they do “Good Morning Teacher Catie” the loudest. I have a few kids in this class who come by the office to play games and play with their friends after school. We started to play Appletters last week after my Mom sent it to me in my care package but this week we are taking a break because we haven't had enough players.
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| Teaching in The Phonics Room |
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| Highest to Lowest class with prices. Sent this to my father and he replies - "What are you doing... playing the Price Is Right? I am guessing you beat them all?" |
P2/3 –
This class has my coordinator as their homeroom teacher so they are very well trained and behave like angels. Before I even get in there they are ready for whatever the day has planned and with one look she can make a student behave. I wish I had this power on some of my students - especially my P3s. This class has a few brilliant kids in it who always are helping their friends out. The first day I had one of them walk up to me and speak to me in almost perfect English telling me all about himself and then about everyone in the class. I have the sweetest girls in this class who are always offering to help me carry my stuff and ALWAYS volunteering to answer the questions. This class LOVES X and O’s, boys vs girls. What we do is before they can put an X or and O they have to complete the spelling word in the space. It is extremely entertaining to watch them play this and to see how excited they get when they beat each other. We have a running tab of who is winning and always carry it on when we have the time to play it at the end of class.
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| They needed no help from me when I asked them to get in order. |
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One of these girls is in my class and the other one is her twin sisters.
I need to capture a picture of them walking together from the front because it is so freaking precious.
The girl in my class is so shy and when I get her to smile we just end up giggling. |
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| As you can tell this class works hard! |
Both my P2 classes are great and even when they are a bit crazy as soon as I clap and yell 1,2,3 they normally snap back into work mode and we get things done. The Phonics Room sometimes makes them a bit wild but normally after a few minutes standing outside the door watching the other kids the naughty ones beg to come back in. We have had 2 spelling tests and no one got a zero on the second one! The fail rate was lower and most of the kids who failed the first one improved on the second! Made me REALLY happy! I just hope they roll this knowledge over to the test next week! Both classes are just so funny and I need to start posting little clips and quotes, like I did with my students in Qatar, about the funny things they do and say. I had one girl draw the pictures of her spelling words next to the word in her book this week, you know, just in case I needed clarification. I also had my first throw up kid this week, right after milk break. I was helping one of the kids who sits in the back because he is a bit of a trouble maker with his card and I look up to = “TEACHER! TEACHER!” - and a kid standing by his desk with puke all down him. Was pretty impressed when he returned from the bathroom and attempted to clean it up by himself and then carry on with his card for his dad.
P3/1 –
I don’t know where to start when it comes to this class. The first 3 weeks I only had a few good days with them. Last Friday was my first time to break down and go mental on them. I left the class at the end without saying a word after making them sit in silence (well almost silence) for 5 minutes. They are a trouble class and I will not give up on them! It might take us longer to do things and I might not always have great days with them but I will change this mentally they have about English. I tried the sticker system I have with my P1s and 2s but they just took it as a joke and didn't care about the rewards. I had a long conversation with my good friend Allan in Doha, he teaches English there, and he gave me great ideas to help this class. So this week I have started a new reward system – Teacher Catie’s Treasure Box! Inside is a bunch of toys, candy, Doraemon things, and Angry Bird toys. Side note - Kids in Thailand LOVE Angry Birds and Doraemon (the first anime character), and it is pretty crazy how crazy they go for anything to do with them. So to get a treasure they need to get 10 tokens and they only get these for good behavior and excellent work. Monday seemed to go well but yesterday was a bit crazy as we were working on Father's Day cards and not on English work from the book or for the test. The class has some really bright kids in it and they are always happy to answer but the bad out numbers the good in the class. I have a few kids who forget to take their ADHD medicine and some that just refuse to do any work. This week I was also stuck in the crossfire of a eraser fight and got smacked in the face pretty hard. The same kids seem to forget their book and they just disrupt the rest of the class, they refuse to stand at the door when I tell them to and I sometimes I just have to throw my hands up and deal with it. I just keep on saying – I WILL NOT GIVE UP!
As you can tell from the three pictures above of my P3s... They are CRAZY! Ask them if you can take their photo to send to your parents and they run at you like mad people!
So that is my very long post about being a teacher in Thailand. I promise to update about teaching more. Now that I have more of a routine I am finally catching up on things like my blog!
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