Teaching

I am about 1 week into my teaching here in Thailand and have had some adventures already. I jumped right into things and started a genetics unit with my 9th grade students. That has gone really well, partly due to the abundance of resources on the internet. The video clips and animations I have found really make a huge difference especially since I'm teaching them in their 2nd language. Today we spent time reviewing and playing genetics Jeopardy. I'm trying to give regular assessments to make sure they are understanding everything. We had a blast and it was really good to start joking with the students and connect on a different level. Until then, most of our classes were spent doing worksheets, lectures, watching videos etc. I really enjoyed myself. My 8th grade students have been a challenge. But I think I'm finally starting to understand them. The first lesson I taught was the last lesson in the optics unit. It was very disjointed. I really didn't know what they knew and bombed spectacularly. Moving into the next unit, Atoms, Elements, Compounds etc., I tried to spice things up a bit. I have had success with that, but they continue to struggle while I'm talking. After about 5 minutes, they are almost all distracted doing different things. They are the most challenging group so far, but I've also had fun with them. My 7th grade students are the cutest by far. I enjoy them a bunch. Their English is not so good, so everything is slow and steady and repetitive. We are doing a bunch of demonstrations and experiments and I make assumptions I shouldn't every class and end up scrapping most of my lesson to teach them something they need to know to do the lesson. That, is draining.

Teaching has been really fun and draining. The hardest part (aside from learning all their names) has been planning, more specifically, getting ahead. I have been planning for tomorrow today for the past week and it is draining. I'm really trying to get a semester plan put together and get about a week ahead, but it takes so much time. It's fun trying to be creative and teach chromosomes with gummy worms, but it also takes more time. I leave school at about 5:30, head to dinner, take a shower and am ready to crash. But most nights I try to read a little or watch a Thai soap opera (to brush up on my Thai of course) and the occasional cartoon. Cartoons are amazing. They can be understood in any language and nothing beats Bugs Bunny Elmer Fudd speaking Thai.