Teaching in Thailand

I've been teaching a little over a week now and am constantly amazed and awed at the differences (as well as similarities) between high school students in the US vs. students here. To get an idea I will take you through my day today. The set up is similar as far as the periods and bell schedule - 8 period's here, 7 or 8 in the States, about the same time and same amount of hours in the day. The difference though is that here, the students remain in 1 class all day and their teachers come to them. This means just like in Elementary school, they only have 1 group of classmates. They still have different teachers for the different subjects but teachers here do not have their own classrooms, they share and essentially the classroom belongs to the students. It seems to work just fine that way. The downside is that teachers can't hang up student work. The plus side though is that teachers don't have to go through all the trouble of decorating their room, etc.

So back to my day, I have a first period class today (my schedule is different each day of the week), 8:10-9:05. The group is class M.3/7, meaning M for Mathyorn, which is secondary students (High school equivalent), the 3 is 9th grade level and the 7 is the class because there are more than 1 group of 9th graders, for example I have 2 groups of 9th graders so my classes for that level are M.3/7 and M.3/8. When you walk in the students rise out of their seats and in unison say, "Good Morning Teach"ah." I then tell them Good Morning and to be seated (they will remain standing until I direct them to sit down, it's amazing). After that they are talkative just like any high school class in the states and I often have to shush them or tell them to stop talking, put the cell phones away, take out their books, pick up your head from the desk, etc. Some classes are much better than others, you know, the typical. This morning my group of 3.7 was supposed to present a skit in which they act out a situation where you'd call 9-1-1 in English. I assigned the skit last time we met and told them to put something together in groups of 3 or 4. I really wasn't expecting much, assuming they'd all think the assignment was lame and I thought I'd have to pull teeth for the first group to go. When I asked the class which group would like to go first, hands from all over the room shot up in the air with such enthusiasm I was taken aback. They were all so excited and had seriously planned and written out scripts longer than I expected. One group even used the computer to put up a picture of a high rise and then one of the girls got on a chair and acted out a scene with her friend where she was distraught over the breakup of her boyfriend and was threatening to jump. It was a riot and the class was loving it and all the skits. That group is my favorite so far. It was so refreshing to see 15 and 16 year olds so enthusiastic about something at school.

The kids are very shy to use their English when I call on them in a typical classroom discussion but if called on, they will answer. I have not yet had a student attempt to not answer me. Those that don't know will turn around to get aided by their friends, but they will never ignore me, or not answer me, which is a big difference. I have not yet had one shoulder shrug or annoying glare from any student.

So that was my first period. My next period I had off so I did some planning and while walking to my planning office, the kids move aside for me, and other teachers, and say, "Good Morning Teacha" they can't pronounce the "er". My day is pretty much spent between office hours and teaching hours. Typically I have 4 classes a day and the same amount of planning time, except on Tuesday when I have only 1 class. I love that here they give you so much time to plan and grade, etc. I do have more students in each class, roughly 30 in each and they can get pretty noisy. Overall though I notice that here there is something more innocent or less mature about the teens. It just seems that they are less, I don't know..pessimistic, or disrespectful. I'm not sure yet what it is, but there is a difference. The kids here just seem younger. The culture too is very respectful of teachers in general. The students give up their seats for me on the school bus, or the driver has me sit up front with him. I don't wait in line because the students automatically give me their space. The also bow to you often and are very polite when passing. It's nice.  I realize though that I am at a relatively good school, and perhaps I'm being naive about the students, it's only been a week after all. So far though, I've been pleasantly surprised though.  Will keep you updated!