After having another delightful Thai breakfast, this time consisting of fresh fried fish and sticky rice- to be eaten with the hands, we got our things, walked out the door and around the corner to the school. Being a teacher, Supijit gets a house provided by and right behind the school. We first went to the all school assembly. There are 2,500 students in the middle and high school combined. As we walked, everyone turned and looked at us and whispered things we’ll never know to their friends. We got many smiles and bows. The assembly took place on a large concrete patio outside probably used for recreation like basketball. The kids organized themselves in single file lines according to their class. There was a prayer followed by a pledge/anthem which the band played the music for while students sang. Then everyone sat down to hear the principal and other speakers- except no one was actually listening. Mom and I tried to find the one student that wasn’t conversing or reading but failed. Even the teachers were talking and one was talking on a cell phone. Though we couldn’t understand what was being spoken of, we were told that the Physics teacher was talking about ways to save energy. Sounded good to us. After what felt like an hour, everyone stood up and went to class in one big mob. We put our things in the English teachers’ room, which became our home base at school for the next three days. We rested, ate, and planned for class there. The first period began immediately. I was a little nervous about it just because I didn’t quite know how it was going to go. When we walked in the classroom, all the students who were sitting in neat rows suddenly stood up (led by the girl in the center of the front row) and greeted us with “Good morning teacher!” Wow, this was not normal. After a few moments to catch our breath, we replied with the obvious, “Good morning.” And they just stood there. Mom and I looked at each other not knowing what to do next, and then Supijit intervened and finished the greeting with, “How are you, students?” And they replied, “Fine. Thank you. And you?” She then asked them to sit down which meant it was time for class to begin.
Supijit simply introduced us by saying we were here to from the USA to teach them today. From there we took the floor. Our lesson for the day was on poems. It’s a topic that Supijit herself is interested in and also something she wants her students to be introduced to. We started out with some simple and fun nursery rhymes- “Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold…” and “pat-a-cake pat-a-cake baker’s man…”. The students caught on rather quickly and were somewhat able to “sing” the rhyme. By the way, Mom lead/taught the class while I was her board assistant- writing notes from what she said on the board and handing out papers. Mom did a great job on getting the students to correctly pronounce words and say them like an American, such as “Pudit” instead of “Put it”. We practiced saying words and then the students picking a word that rhymes. They were good at this. We then moved on to a more serious poem- that is for them: “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. My job was to write the poem on the board and circle the personifying words. Were not quite sure how much the students understood but at least I’ve got the poem down by heart.
After the first class we were feeling good, but by the end of the day after four classes we were sympathizing for teachers. We had a nice lunch break with the other English teachers(aka “lunch club”) with lots of yummy thai dishes prepared by the local canteen on campus. The food is just amazing all the time. (there’s a lot to say on the food so I will save it for another entry)
There are nine classes in total meeting twice a week that Supijit teaches. We got all of them once and some of them twice. For the second class we played rhyming bingo which turned out to be quite a success. The students really liked it, but it was also very helpful in getting them to listen to the spoken words and then connecting them to a rhyming word on paper. They don’t ever get to hear native speakers so we really emphasized pronunciation. We tried to get them to write a sentence with two rhyming words, yet that was more difficult than expected.
Overall, we felt like we did a good job and enjoyed doing it. It was also helpful that we gave Supijit some time to work on stuff that she does not usually have time to do. But most of all, we got to immerse ourselves in the daily lives of Thai people, especially children. It was a very unique and rewarding experience. There were many things that I was impressed with their school but other things that I felt fortunate to have. It was a public school but so different from anything in the states. Every student wore uniforms that changed almost daily depending on their classes. Even the teachers had matching uniforms. All the girls had the same haircut- short cut above chin which made them look much younger. The students were very polite and always bowed to me or any other adult (this was weird for me since many of them were only a year or two younger than me). I hardly saw any big textbooks or heavy backpacks. Many students rode motorbikes to school. I never saw a bathroom while I was there. Prayer and religion were not considered taboo- one day a monk came and talked for an hour to the students on being better people. Every student is required to take English beginning as early as age 3, yet still some of them had trouble writing sentences. There was very little technology used- cell phones more than anything. Sports and music were part of the school day included in classes.
Working in a school environment you can learn a lot about a culture. Of all the things we learned, the most enlightening was that Mom looks good with white hair. (Supposedly other teachers commented on Mom’s beautiful hair. However, the highlight was when one student guessed Mom’s age to be 38!)
Supijit simply introduced us by saying we were here to from the USA to teach them today. From there we took the floor. Our lesson for the day was on poems. It’s a topic that Supijit herself is interested in and also something she wants her students to be introduced to. We started out with some simple and fun nursery rhymes- “Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold…” and “pat-a-cake pat-a-cake baker’s man…”. The students caught on rather quickly and were somewhat able to “sing” the rhyme. By the way, Mom lead/taught the class while I was her board assistant- writing notes from what she said on the board and handing out papers. Mom did a great job on getting the students to correctly pronounce words and say them like an American, such as “Pudit” instead of “Put it”. We practiced saying words and then the students picking a word that rhymes. They were good at this. We then moved on to a more serious poem- that is for them: “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer. My job was to write the poem on the board and circle the personifying words. Were not quite sure how much the students understood but at least I’ve got the poem down by heart.
After the first class we were feeling good, but by the end of the day after four classes we were sympathizing for teachers. We had a nice lunch break with the other English teachers(aka “lunch club”) with lots of yummy thai dishes prepared by the local canteen on campus. The food is just amazing all the time. (there’s a lot to say on the food so I will save it for another entry)
There are nine classes in total meeting twice a week that Supijit teaches. We got all of them once and some of them twice. For the second class we played rhyming bingo which turned out to be quite a success. The students really liked it, but it was also very helpful in getting them to listen to the spoken words and then connecting them to a rhyming word on paper. They don’t ever get to hear native speakers so we really emphasized pronunciation. We tried to get them to write a sentence with two rhyming words, yet that was more difficult than expected.
Overall, we felt like we did a good job and enjoyed doing it. It was also helpful that we gave Supijit some time to work on stuff that she does not usually have time to do. But most of all, we got to immerse ourselves in the daily lives of Thai people, especially children. It was a very unique and rewarding experience. There were many things that I was impressed with their school but other things that I felt fortunate to have. It was a public school but so different from anything in the states. Every student wore uniforms that changed almost daily depending on their classes. Even the teachers had matching uniforms. All the girls had the same haircut- short cut above chin which made them look much younger. The students were very polite and always bowed to me or any other adult (this was weird for me since many of them were only a year or two younger than me). I hardly saw any big textbooks or heavy backpacks. Many students rode motorbikes to school. I never saw a bathroom while I was there. Prayer and religion were not considered taboo- one day a monk came and talked for an hour to the students on being better people. Every student is required to take English beginning as early as age 3, yet still some of them had trouble writing sentences. There was very little technology used- cell phones more than anything. Sports and music were part of the school day included in classes.
Working in a school environment you can learn a lot about a culture. Of all the things we learned, the most enlightening was that Mom looks good with white hair. (Supposedly other teachers commented on Mom’s beautiful hair. However, the highlight was when one student guessed Mom’s age to be 38!)
1 comment:
Wonderful! I am loving following along with your Great Adventures. It is half 'Amazing Race', half 'KatEle and the Kids of Siam':) Thankyou so much for posting, it really is like being there with you. What a time you are having, so different from the normal 'tourist' visit to Thailand, I am sure!
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