Teaching In Thailand

Just the other day I was walking through one of my 18 classrooms and it hit me... "Holy c****, I'm teaching in Thailand!" Once you get settled into something, it quickly becomes un-exotic, and even unexciting, but here I am, teaching in a small town in Southeast Asia; teaching in classrooms where every head of hair is black, every pair of eyes is brown, and nobody speaks English worth a lick.

I suppose one of the first things that I have learned, and perhaps the most important, is that kids are kids no matter where you go. There are many many many more prescriptions of respect that students must follow here. Some of the more interesting include: 1. when students come up to me to show me a finished piece of work or to ask a question they come on their knees, or scoot along the floor. Keeping their head lower than mine is a sign of respect.

2. Whenever I hand them anything, before they touch it they must "wai." Bring their hands together as if in prayer, and bow with their thumbs on their forehead. They must also wai to me in the hall... although my white skin makes running up and yelling "shake hand" just as viable...
Which leads me to my point. Sure, they do those things. They bow and scuttle around beneath me like peons, but once they're back in their seats they're just like a bunch of American kids, if not worse. Yelling, getting out of their seats, passing notes, rulers, books, pictures, phones, you name it. Thai teachers are much less persnickety about classroom behavior than Americans. Much much less.

In a way, they have to be. Each class has 40-50 students. There are six classes in each grade (which gives me, a teacher for 3 grades, roughly 800 students). The classes range from X/1, the cream of the crop, to x/6, which any number of adjectives can apply to. X/1 is fairly manageable, after that, it's a mixed bag. My 5/6 class is my favorite. For some reason, those kids love me and I love them. I can tell (by the way their desks are moved and isolated and from other signs of punishment) that they're not an inherently well behaved group, but for some reason we get along swimmingly. 4/6, on the other hand, makes me want to die.

It's strange to me, in the states, 4th grade is my favorite. Here, I seem to be powerless against them, they are my kryptonite. Of course, I have the bulk of the 4th grade classes on a Friday, which says volumes on its own... 4/6, by the way, is the last class of the day on Friday.

My favorite lesson so far, the culmination of my work here, has been a game I call "the dance of death." It began as the riveting game of "stand up, sit down." Students had to listen to me say stand up, or sit down, and do so accordingly. After getting them in the habit of standing up and sitting down one after the other, I would repeat a command twice and a handful of students would do the wrong thing, and everyone had great fun with it. Of course with 18 classes a week I got tired of it quickly.

From there I taught them body parts and other actions/verbs (raise, lower, touch, open, close) and the game grew exponentially. I started them off easy, and got more difficult. If a student messed up, it was time for the "dance of death." I, quite dramatically, say "maaahhhneeeee" 'come here,' cackling, or wringing my hands, or dancing with glee, as they reluctantly come to the front of the room. Then, I give them instructions one by one. "Raise your hands" "clap" "Turn" "Jump" and so forth, until their doing a very ridiculous combination of movements and giggling uncontrollably. Everyone applauds the dancer, and listens very carefully from that point onward.

Now I've added a new element since most kids should know most of the commands. I have everyone stand and I point to one student with a command: "jump" "turn" "clap" etc. If they don't do it, they come to the front of the room and repeat that command over and over. Eventually, I have a line of students: one jumping, one clapping, one turning, one looking up, one looking down, and so on. We, as a class, say each action out loud as I point to the growing line.
This works even with the fourth graders (although more than 10 minutes of it turns them into animals), and is by far my most popular event. Everyone tries to finish their work quickly so that we can "play game..." "dance of death" is a bit beyond their understanding at this point...

Outside the classroom things are extraordinarily different. Leaving students unattended doesn't raise the slightest eyebrow here. As I have no transfer time between classes, I often walk into rooms of unsupervised students yelling and walking on chairs (which are always falling apart), going wherever they please, and otherwise doing things students do when they are unsupervised.

Coming from Southside, which locked itself up like Fort Knox during its construction period, to Anubanwatnongkunchad was quite a culture shock. Nongkunchad is also building it's own brand new building, smack dab in the center of the courtyard. No fences, no eyes making sure students stay clear, nothing. I've seen welding sparks fly and land a few feet from where kids were playing. Scrap wood built into bonfires for disposal a stones throw from kindergartners. Heavy machinery? Construction workers? Obviously, the kids know better than to get hurt...

In the mornings, there is no quiet orderly procession to the classroom. Students wander into campus and do as they please until morning assembly (which almost always includes buying ice cream sold at the school snack store). There is a marching band (shockingly good for 6th graders) that approaches just before the assembly, and I've seen kindergartners running around, dancing, laying on the floor and kicking their feet in the air, to the throng.

The morning assembly is long and terrible. We all stand outside, facing the flag. Listen to the band play the anthem as the flag is raised, pray, and then listen to a litany of speeches and announcements I do not understand and nobody pays attention to. Thai's don't seem to care if people are listening to speeches, nor do they feel inclined to respect a speaker with silence. I've seen a great many assemblies (especially at schools) where someone is talking into a microphone and may as well not be there as they audience chats and does as they please, totally oblivious to the oratory.

After that, the day starts as usual. I have 18 classes a week, one hour a piece, so it gives me a lot of time for planning and grading. Planning isn't so bad since I only see a given class once a week and generally the same subject matter is taught with modifications for ability, although the week gets repetitive quickly. Grading is terrible. I have given 3 written assignments and the 3rd may be my last. 800 papers is a lot to grade.

My latest tactic is to give a participation grade... Rather than grading the paper itself, I walk around the classroom and make sure everyone is engaged in the task. So long as they are, they get a good grade.

Accurate testing is a farce here. When I tried to enforce a no-copy rule, the students looked at me like I was clinically insane. Completion of every assignment occurs in the same way past x/2: 3-5 students try and the assignment gets completed in an expanding pattern radiating from those 3-5. But, it's Thailand... "MaiPenRai" "Nevermind, don't worry"