Day 13

• Sometimes grading can make you feel really insecure as a teacher. For my Prathom 6 test, I dictated sentences using the unit vocabulary. Scanning a student's sentence, I came across the word that was supposed to be "aquarium". Student spelled it "aqmeat". Holy s***, is my pronunciation really that bad?!
• Next page, same student: "panrm buam" for "paddle boats".  Alright, clearly she didn't study and needs some listening and spelling help.  

• When a student who never raises his hand and always talks to his friend gets a near-perfect test grade:  O.o    ....Are they always talking about the lesson? I'm definitely going to chastise them less....
   
• Students spelled "palace" as "palass". I laughed. I am a child.
  

Day 3

11.12.14. <------British style

Day 3 of teaching at a Thai govt. school

• My class "began" and all of the students were MIA for 15 minutes. But, this is never cause for worry. This is simply Thai- time.
  
• Seized the opportunity to mark myself as the "cool" teacher. Girls were jumping in the hallway, trying to hit a metal classroom sign above the door, failing. As I walked nearer, I raised an eyebrow, jumped, and hit it. It was very satisfying and all the kids cheered.
• Students tried to toll me by writing what I resume was swear words when I prompted them for their English nicknames. Kids think they are so sneaky, so I casually emphasized I'd be checking with the Thai teacher to make sure my pronunciation was correct. They said, "No, no teacher, no need..." but I didn't budge. When I made a motion to go check, the white-out flew across the page. Low and behold, new nicknames. Honestly, I love their mischievousness. 
• Planning for a lesson, I come across this gem:
  
  
  It's supposed to be a helpful picture to explain the meaning of a word. Guesses from my fluent, but non-native English speaking boyfriend included: pizza, bread, scroll, slate bread (?), and a bed. I don't think I would have guessed the answer, either: sleeping bag.