Observations

So far this semester I have had the opportunity to visit 3 of my fellow volunteers/friends teach at their schools. Although I am scheduled to teach 5 days a week I often only teach 4 and even some weeks 3 of those days. Thailand is known for its many holidays or excuses for a day off from teaching. I would say my school in particular enjoys looking for any reason to cancel a day or afternoon here and there. At the beginning of July a few of the teachers at my school had a meeting in the city to learn how to use a program called e-book and although my PA (principal) told me at the beginning of the week I would be teaching and those three teachers would be gone, he changed his mind by Wednesday late afternoon and just as I finished up planning the lessons for the next day and was leaving school he informed me that school would be canceled for the next two days giving me a four day weekend.

It is always disappointing to hear they are canceling a day of learning not only because I have already planned lessons and mapped out a curriculum for a few weeks but it is also disappointing because the kids are so eager to learn and not holding classes strips them of their small opportunity to excel at learning. On the plus side it gives me a chance to learn from my colleagues and gives me fresh new ideas to try in my classroom. Sometimes I feel my same old routines and ideas bore my energetic, eager, Thai learners with the same old routines and games.

Heather teaching in Pla Pak

What first inspired me to notice the differences between schools was the size amongst similar aged students from one Baan (village) to the next. It began as I returned for the first time to the first school I ever taught in during orientation. I went to visit Heather Jones at Pla Pak Wit school in Pla Pak. In October I taught at the school for six days during our practicum. I was shocked to recognize some students but also to see how tall they have gotten in just a few short months. All students at the school are extremely tall in comparison to my school and the average Thai person. Then I visited Peter’s school Thai Samakee where the kids are short and very thin. This village in particular is one of the poorer communities WorldTeach volunteers are placed at. You can tell by the size of the students that many of them are malnourished. I have also been to Zach’s school, Don Sawang, where the students seem to be more like my students at an average Thai height and shorter in comparison to American kids.

It is also interesting to notice the little differences and similarities in the way my fellow volunteers interact with their students and how the students interact with each other. Beginning again with Heathers school the kids like most Thai kids have lots of energy. Heather’s students love coming into her classroom to read or make a mess of the room. She even told me that some of her kids show up an hour early to class just to sit and wait for English class to begin.

Peter with students at Thai Samakee

At Peter’s school the community is a little more laid back and the kids come in and out as they please. The students are eager to learn yet many times they show up 30 minutes late to class and only half of the students are present. They tend to be a little more reserved and not as outgoing although they do show how much they love learning from Peter as they always come to class with huge smiles.

Zach’s school by far has one of the strongest senses of community. Whenever I have been to his school, two times now, the teachers give me a huge welcome and they are always working together. Although the kids live at their own homes it feels like they live at school because they look so comfortable in the setting. They also love Zach so much. As we walked up to the steps to the 2^nd grade classroom students came running up to him with open arms shouting “Master!”, the name all students call him as directed by their PA (principal). These kids have so much energy just as the kids at Pla Pak Wit yet they have the ability to switch it on and off in a matter of seconds. As soon as Zach says good-morning or afternoon the kids’ attention is locked on Zach. He is animated in such a way that the students are focused on their learning 100%. I also noticed that his students love to slap each other’s butts or poke their friends crack and the friend being poked or slapped turns around with a big giggle. I can’t imagine what that kid would do in the States. Although a bit crude it just shows how playful all the kids are with each other and how they seem to be one big family.

Zach at Don Sawang School