The (Third) Last Week of School

Well...

Here we are again.

It's time to wrap up another year. The final exams are finished, and it's almost time to send another class on to university after the graduation ceremony in March.

I would like to take a few moments to reflect on my first week in Thailand. It's a bit of a long one, but I find that I have a lot to say today...

Nearly three years ago I, a young, untested, and untrained English teacher stepped into my first classroom. "Don't worry," said Jessica, a teacher who worked at the primary school a few years before I started and who was administering my orientation, "you are just there to help the Thai teacher. You'll never actually be alone in the classroom. All you have to do is help with conversation, pass out papers, and help grade workbooks."

2013 - my first week at school

Boy, was I in for a shock that first afternoon at work! Mo, one of my Thai colleagues, a globally-minded world traveller and now a good friend, took me to my first class- M4 Reading... and then she left. At that moment, standing in front of my class of twenty-five Thai students sitting politely and looking at me expectantly, I realized that the education of these students was actually my responsibility, and that I would not, in fact, have a counterpart or co-teacher.

2014 - we still had no idea what we were doing

That was not the best moment to have that realization. Here's an excerpt (edited because my writing was much worse back then) from my post three years ago about my first day at work:

"The Thai teachers made sure that we Americans get the best students in our classes. Not only is this good for us, as we have little to no teaching experience, it's also good for the kids. These are the students who are the most motivated and have the most to gain learning from a native speaker. Unfortunately my first class just felt awkward. I think the students could tell I had no idea what was going on. The Thai teachers kept coming in and switching students in and out of my room as I tried to introduce myself. The M4 students are sophomores, and know English very well. They are a little shy though, and don't want to speak up in class. I haven't had much time with them yet though."

So here's the full story of my first class, which I've alluded to, but never told in its entirety. I fumbled around awkwardly in front of the class. I don't really know what I expected Thai classrooms to be like - maybe like the classrooms I had when I was in school - but what I found was in no way what I was expecting. In the front of the class, in front of the chalkboard, in a large stage raised a few inches off the floor. That's where the teacher stands so that the students can all see you. The rooms are open-air, and (as I'm sure you know) Thailand can get a bit hot. Therefore, there are a number of oscillating fans mounted on the ceiling. This and the open plan makes the room a little loud, so there's a microphone and a speaker system for the teacher to use. I didn't know what to make of that, and felt weird using a microphone (I've completely embraced that now!) so I just kind of paced around the stage trying to get the students to talk to me. It was May, the hottest part of the Thai year, and I was grossly drenched in sweat in my long-sleeved shirt and tie (I hadn't yet begun to adapt to the tropical heat or humidity, nor had I learned of the wonders of baby powder).

I specifically remember two things from that first fifty-minute class. First,  I actually admitted to the students something along the lines of, "guys, I really have no idea what's going on...". One girl in the front row gave me this sympathetic smile that was probably meant to convey something like "what is this weird foreigner doing trying to teach a class?",  and laughed, which somehow encouraged me a bit. I guess I figured that I was at least somewhat amusing to them.

Second, one of the boys in the back piped up in response, "it's OK, we are very kind!" This in turn made me laugh and really lightened the mood.

Here's another post from later that week:

"On Friday I had a second chance with the M4 Reading class what had gone so poorly on Monday. It had been my first class and I had no idea what was going on. I wanted to make a better impression with my students, and I worked really hard on planning out our next meeting. By Friday I had completely over-prepared, and it turned out to be one of my best classes yet."

So things really turned around.

Over time I got to know that class quite well. My first year, I only taught M1-M4, so that M4 class was my oldest group of students, therefore my most proficient group, therefore the group that I talked and chatted with the most. After teaching M4 Reading and Listening/Speaking, I requested to change my schedule my second year to take over M5 Main from Teacher Rachel who would be returning back to the States. That class was great. I found over time that they are not in fact shy as I was lead to believe my first day! They are all happy to speak English, and to be honest, the English level of this class is probably the highest at the school (at least in my experience). Amongst the teachers, this class is known for being delightful - overall smart, polite, helpful, and eager to learn.

2015 - my M5 Main class

So that brings us to this year. My writing class was quite small, only about 14 students in total. I feel very lucky to have gotten to be their teacher for the past three years. This class is the one I consider "my" class. They are the ones who taught me to be a teacher by being incredibly patient with me as I learned through trial by error. They are the ones who I went to when I needed someone to explain Thailand to me when I was confused. We have already had the last day of class. They have finished their finals. Yes, there were tears (not mine), even when some students came to my office to turn in their final projects to me. There will be more, I'm sure, since the Senior Trip and graduation day are coming up soon. I am so proud of them as they are going off to university! I hope I've taught them something, even just a fraction of what I have learned from them.

2016 - my M6 class; the first group of students I ever taught

Yes, it's a long one... if you have been patient and sat through to the end, you can watch this video of me trying to drink concentrated chicken drink in Thailand: