Advertisement
Published: November 7th 2009
Edit Blog Post
October 31, 2009
A great sigh of relief was nearly audible as we all finished our week of Practice Teaching. The first day I stood up in front of that class I realized this was something that I could do. 8 Children looked up at me. They had been taken out of their fall vacation in order to get to go to an English class taught by a real live westerner. I was first on the first day. The lesson went smoothly. The kids listened! I was amazed. I left feeling a elated. Maybe they won’t tear me to pieces I said to myself. Day two we went to the Agape House. This home is a school for children with HIV. The students varied in ages from maybe 7-15. The home had classes but was a home first and foremost, not a school. The students were running this way and that, rambunctious and undisciplined but enthusiastic. They would leave without warning or get taken from the class at random intervals. I was the last of 6 of us to do the same lesson plan (different contexts) with children not used to immersion classes. My topic was movies. In order to
engage the students, I became hyper energetic (yes even more so than usual). Amazingly they stayed, they listened. No one got up and they seemed to absorb at least half of what I was saying. I have to say, teaching the students “horror” and “science fiction” might not have been the best choice of contexts.
In the end at least half the students still wanted to play Tic Tac Toe or (X O pronounced EH -O ) after 5 previous games. Half my students on the other hand groaned… “Noooo EH -O.” Ignoring them we finished the game and the lower level kids actually one for the first time in the day. Everyone cheered.
The last three days and culmination of my teaching practice was done at a Buddhist school. The young monks again varied in ages. They were disciplined and engaged. The tricky part was getting them to talk! While I had two groups that seemed engaged and interested in my lesson I also had one who dealt me silence and giggles for at least 15 minutes of my half hour lesson. At the end of the day I was devastated. I hadn’t even gotten bad peer
or observer reviews yet I wasn’t sure these kids could read the roman numeric alphabet let alone read paragraphs, comprehend and answer my questions. They looked at me without respect or interest. I got done and pouted. Hey, what if my class is like that I said… Well I certainly wouldn’t start them out with a reading lesson would I now! All Thai men must spend at least 3 weeks as a Monk sometime in their lives. These students might give up this life in a matter of weeks. Ultimately, they were just teenagers.
The last day I walked down the path near a pond and the dormitories out in the woods near the school. I heard two things which made me laugh. One was a “Hey Baby!” and some giggles from a nearby dorm. Another was a student diligently repeating, “where are you going, where are you going, where are you going.” From one of the lessons. Hey at least they got something from it!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.066s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 6; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0351s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb