"Good Morning Class..."
"Good Morning Teacher!"
And so begins another class teaching English in Thailand. I have spent the last twelve months working with Elite at the Assumption College (Primary) School for boys and have found the experience to be as rewarding as it is unique.
I worked as a grade 1 and 2 teacher for the first semester and then moved to the grade 5 and 6 section for the second semester. Working as a grade 1 teacher with kids that don't speak the same language as you and have never really been in a classroom before (let alone spent time with a foreign teacher) is daunting, especially if you are new to teaching. However, once you get to know the students (and they you) even though your verbal communication is limited to the basics, it is amazing what you can achieve.
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 • All students use workbooks to help with reading and writing (Grade 1). | |
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Simple commands such as "Be Quiet" and "Stop!" need to be taught first, and even things as simple as "What is your name?" is going to be new to some of your younger students. It takes patience and determination to end the term having the children at a level where they can do all the things they need to pass their exams.
With 20 students in the class at the lower ages and 25 for the older groups, you need to be creative, flexible and innovative to try and get your message across. There are a lot of resources to help you do this, and the planning and organising takes almost as much time as teaching.
Teachers are in the classroom for between 18 and 22 hours a week (depends upon the level that you teach) and the rest of the time you are free to prepare materials, write your lesson plans and check your email and the latest sports scores from back home.
The teachers that you meet are from all over the world and have all sorts of stories
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| • Guided writing practice (Grade 6). | |
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and ideas and things to share. The team that is created is strong, first of all with the other teachers that you share year groups with, the other teachers in the office and then the teachers from other schools - there is a growing community of teachers all getting together for a beer at the end of the week.
Can anyone be a teacher here? I don't really think so. If you want to teach kids you are going to need to be patient. For some kids English is not their favourite subject and you can't be everyone's favourite teacher - some kids will just ruin your day. But others will do the most amazing or simplest of things and you will be smiling all day. It's that kind of job.
Sometimes it will seem that what you are saying is falling on deaf ears - keep going, because there is nothing better than looking at the end of semester results and seeing your students pass their exams, or have a conversation with you in the corridor. You are also going to need to able to sing songs, make cardboard crafts and colouring worksheets, create dances and make the kids laugh and enjoy their studies. It's often said that if it isn't fun it won't get done.
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| • A Grade 1 class smiles for the camera. | |
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Yes you have to mark exams and workbooks. Yes you have to get to work early (7:50am). Yes you have to prepare a lot of lesson plans. But you will finish school mid afternoon (3:40pm), you can earn a salary that is far above the average Thai salary, you have a large number of holidays and chances to look around Bangkok and Thailand and you will meet some fascinating people both Thai and foreign.
It's a great chance to learn about yourself and the Thai culture, meet people from around the world and live in one of the world's most amazing cities - all I can suggest is you come and give it a try. |
