Teaching English

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"Don't want the dream to end? It doesn't have to!" This and similar messages can be found on flyers throughout Thailand. The solution? Teach English. We had considered becoming English teachers during the trip before leaving the states. It is a very common occupation for NES (native English speaking) foreigners, and there are a plethora of programs that offer TEFL certifications. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and the acronyms don't stop there. There are at least a half dozen different programs depending on who you want to teach and what kind of school you want to teach at. You could easily get a 'real' TEFL certificate from a quick online course, but what the class in Thailand offers is in-class observed practice, which is priceless when it comes to preparing you for your future occupation. We signed up with recommended SEE TEFL and dove in to a 4-week, 120-hour class.

Right away we started relearning grammar rules, flashing back to elementary school. Subjects, nouns, agreements, past participles, you name it. We focused on how to give a standard 3 P's lesson: Presentation, Practice, Production. Start by presenting the lesson, move on to individual practice via worksheet, and lastly vocal production of the material between students. We also learned about dressing smartly (appearance goes a long way in Thailand. If you look good, just walking through the door might land you the job), classroom discipline, different kinds of schools, how to find a job, everything we would need to know, in theory.

Before we knew it, two weeks were up and it was time to prepare our first lesson! We were each assigned a class and a specific lesson. First up for me: Pratom 1 (1st grade) and adjectives to describe appearance. I found my pictures on the Internet, tall/short, young/old, fat/thin, pretty/ugly. A very useful, nonjudgemental vocabulary. I drafted up my worksheet, printed out flashcards, wrote out my lesson plan, planned my whiteboard, practiced run-throughs. I bought dress shoes, pants and shirts, buzzed my head, learned the Windsor knot. Even after two weeks, nothing could have prepared me for that first class.

First graders are crazy. Take the rambunctiousness of kindergarten, then try to add structure. I'm sure they all smelled my easy-going nature and licked their lips. It almost seemed doomed from the beginning: the chalkboard had posters on it, impeding the space for my flashcards. Where was I supposed to fit everything? A quick rearrangement kind of made it work, although it was somewhat askew. I couldn't let it stop me. The first five minutes were great, modeling and drilling the vocabulary: "Fat." "FAT!" "Thin." "THIN!" Piece of cake. Then the misbehaving started in. Rulers started tapping on desks. Taking the ruler resulted in two more rulers tapping. It was a game! If I tap on the desk, he'll come take the ruler! I ended up with 6 rulers in my chalk tray. Students started crawling around under desks. A doll with a head that pops off made it's way out. Endless pencil sharpening. A volunteer to the chalkboard grabbed on to the tray after writing in his answer; then 8 ran up and grabbed onto the chalkboard while others tried to pull them off. Everyone wanted to help take cards off the board. Seats were swapped. Having forgotten to introduce myself at the beginning, I became "Farang farang!" whenever someone had a question. Farang means white person. If I dropped a piece of chalk, it was an invitation to help me pick it up. Flashcards turned into coloring books. By the end it was madness. While we were told that the students keep their worksheet, these kids had different ideas. When I finally escaped, a few ran after me trying to cram their papers in my bag. But through it all everyone had a smile on their face, and I was able to put my first lesson behind me.

In a way, it was nice to get the worst out of the way first. Having zero experience, all of my mistakes became lessons that I was able to improve upon through the rest of my classes. If you keep your energy up and the students engaged, and your lesson is planned well, it all begins to flow nicely. Plus, any nervousness about teaching was demolished by a bunch of first graders. By the third lesson the routines start becoming familiar and working with the students becomes fun. I taught kindergarteners, high schoolers, young men in juvenile hall (the most respectful students!), vocational schoolers, and one-on-one lessons. Graduating from the course left me armed with in-class experience relative to the culture I would be working with, as well as a relation with the school itself, which is closely tied into the education network in Chiang Mai. They even got me my first hours, teaching Thai teachers on the weekends. While I am still just getting started, I'm looking forward to filling out my schedule and being an English teacher. The students can be great, carrying a great deal of respect for teachers. It's also a great opportunity to immerse in a culture completely different to home. And, it offers an opportunity to reflect on all of my teachers in life and think about how they got through their first class.

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