The 2 cons of the day: the intense heat and my Monday schedule. My Monday schedule is rough, but after that, the rest of the week will be a breeze, so I hope! I am teaching two different grade levels - Mattayom 1 and Mattayom 4, which are the equivalent to Grade 7 and Grade 10 (12 and 16 year olds). I have about 50 students (yes, 50!!) in each class, which I see only once a week, if that. Today, and every Monday, I have 5 classes (4 Tuesday - Thursday, and 3 on Friday). My morning began at 8:30 am with Mattayom 1 (M-1). It was 1/4 -- meaning, M-1, section 4. The mattayom levels are all divided into sections (for example, I have 1/1 thru 1/12). Supposedly, the lower numbered sections are the best students, thus sections 8-12 tend to be the worst academically. But, this is really quite irrelevant, as the sections are based on a total academic score of all subjects, with no indication of their English speaking/ listening ability. In fact, as a reflection on today, I was not able to tell too much of a difference between my M-1s and M-4s.
Anyway, my first class was awesome! The classroom is set up with low tables, so the students remove their shoes and sit on the floor, and the classroom has whiteboards - which, I've now discovered is 'key' to a perfect classroom. Since it is the first week, and I have no grasp beforehand of their English speaking/ listening abilities, my lesson plans for both M-1s and M-4s all week are basically the same - "Introductions - Getting to Know You". I had bought a small, green, bouncy ball the other day to use in class - which has worked out perfectly. It is kind of like the 'talking stick' in camp. As students entered the classroom, I would throw one the ball and say "Good morning!" If they responded with silence, I would motion for them to throw the ball back to me, and then throw it to them again, or another student, until I got a "Good morning" response out of them. I then elevated this exercise to introductory conversation, such as "How are you?", "What is your name/ nickname?", "My name/ nickname is __". For my M-4s (or at least one of the M-4 sections), I was able to elevate this one step further to "How old are you?", "What is her nickname?", "How old is your friend?".
I then proceeded with having each student come up according to their number for the dual purposes of introducing themselves to me and the class (especially the M-1s, as this is their first grade level leaving Prattayom - lower school), and to write up my register. We are not given a list of names in the class, but rather an attendance sheet. Each student is given a number, which he/she goes by for the rest of the semester(s). However, on a side note, this number can easily be changed if a student drops out or a new student arrives. Instead of giving a new student the next highest sequential number, they are thrown in, sometimes at random, sometimes due to gender. The male students have the lower numbers, and the girls have the higher numbers. So, I began by calling out "Number 1...!", and had that student come write their nickname (which is much easier to write in my register and to pronounce) on the board, and then introduce themselves at the front of the classroom. Of course, with each class, there were some 'absent' numbers. As you can imagine, this takes up almost the entire 50 minute period.
I then had a 50 minute break, for which I returned to my desk in the Foreign Language Department, and wrote some notes about how the class went. At 10:20, I had to walk over to Buidling 1 (from 4) to teach 4/4 (M-4, section 4) with a back-to-back 1/6 (M-1, 6) straight after at 11:10. By the way, all the classrooms are in Thai, so just finding my rooms on the first day involved a lot of symbol matching and asking students walking by (who really just giggled when I asked if I had the right room number). However, the building/ room number system is pretty clear to follow. So for room 422, it means that the class is in Building 4, 2nd floor, room #2. Room 142 is in Building 1, 4th floor, room #2.
After my 1/6 class, I headed to lunch at the canteen, and then straight after had another back-to-back double class in Building 3, teaching 4/1 (at 1:00 pm) and 1/3 (at 1:50 pm). I arrived at my room at 1:00 pm for 4/1, and by 1:10, no students had arrived. When they do arrive, they arrive together, as the section travels to their various classes together. I called the department head, Ms. Bpun (sp?), and informed her that I was farely sure I was in the right room, but my class had not arrived. She said they were on their way. 1:25 pm, I called Ms. Bpun again to notify her that the class was still not here, but it was OK, as I had my next class next door, so I would just wait. My 4/1 class finally showed up at 1:30 pm - with just enough time for me to get the register filled in.
A note on the previous paragraph: we were warned during orientation that this would be common. In fact, just as common is a class not ever showing up at all, due to possibly some festival, school activity, etc. that we would have no way of knowing about. I still do not know why my class showed up 1/2 hour late, though I suspect they were held back to finish a lesson in another class, and asking (as mom knows, this is similar to Korea) will get you nowhere! Because we were forewarned and because this is Thailand (T-I-T), one just learns to go with the flow and do what you can. Another note about this, if you noticed from my class start times, is that the students have no break between classes. So they may have to go from Building 1 to Building 4, and may have been kept late by the teacher before, in which case they may not show up to my class until 15 minutes or more past the scheduled start time. T-I-T!!!
I confiscated my first cell phone today! I noticed two students leaning over their desks chatting away, so as I continued to talk to the class, I walked over and surprised them! I took the cell phone, motioned and informed the class that this is not allowed, and then pretended to make an international call! I said, "Oh! A cell phone, thank you! This is for me? Can I make a call? I will call my parents in America..." And the little boy got off his seat, wai'ed me and said "Sorry, teacher". I then returned the phone.
Oh, the heat, the heat, the heat! None of the classrooms are air-conditioned - come on, T-I-T! But, in addition, for most of the rooms all I had were a couple of ceiling fans that barely moved a fly when they spun around. Even with the windows and door open, I could not catch a single breeze! And what made the sweating even worse is the chalk! Chalk flying everywhere! This is why I've decided I hate chalk. Every room, except for Room 422 (which 3 of my 4 classes are in tomorrow :o) ) had only chalkboards. So, as I'm sweating away, I'm also wiping my sweat away with chalky hands! Plus, the chalk in some of the classrooms was so minimal that it would turn to powder after a few words on the board. The heat is something I am hoping to get used to - or will have to! Plus, I like to move around in my class, keeping the students in the back just as active.
So, overall, it was a very exciting day! I can't stop replaying it over in my mind. And with tomorrow's easier schedule and having had a day under by belt, I feel like tomorrow can only get better! I will have to look into buying a little fan that can sit on my shoulder - lol! I've posted some photos below of some of my classrooms...
Thank you for reading all of this crazy rambling!
School Grounds (before the first day, so no students)
Hallway in Building 4 (Foreign Language Dept.)
Looking out on Building 3
Classroom Ceiling Fans
One of my classrooms
Our Office
From L to R: PiNuy, an English teacher, Film, a student teacher of Japanese, and Bee, the only Japanese teacher (22 years old!)
The photos are great next to the post...it really gives a sense of your classes...and it sounds fabulous!
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