My first day

Hello again!

I am on a roll today and am posting entries like crazy. Today was my first official day of school and the first time I was left alone with the students. I had only one class today, but it was for two hours and it was with the M3 students (the equivalent of the 9th grade). They are just entering into a genetics unit, so I was able to kick that off myself. Planning the lesson has been interesting since I really have no idea what they know, how much they are able to absorb at once and so on, so this lesson was really a shot in the dark. But I think it went well. They seemed to follow well enough and were able to complete the exercise without too much difficulty. We will let the first test/exam speak to that though. I am glad to have the first class under my belt and now I have a better idea of what to expect. The M1 students (the 6th grade equivalent and the first year they are in the program) will be a challenge since they are still struggling with their English skills. Teaching them new science vocabulary in a foreign language will be interesting. But that's why I'm here.
One cultural note, after class one of the students led the others in standing up and thanking me. I'm not sure if they did that since it was my first day or if it is a regular thing. It'll be interesting to see if it happens again. I am also interested to visit Thai classrooms to see how they are taught and compare how the students behave (I have a feeling they are much more outgoing (to put it gently) in the English program with foreign teachers. I'll keep you updated.

Best,
Ryan