Teaching Oddities

I love teaching. This isn't a new discovery, but it's been interesting to rediscover. Of course, there are things about it that are hard. There are bad days--and even, occasionally, very bad days . . . I've also discovered that teaching is the most fun when you're teaching something you're passionate about. Sometimes, it's hard to be passionate about the difference between "niece" and "granddaughter."

Every now and then, I think about how teaching in America would be a totally different experience to this, and I just have to laugh. Here are some of the oddities about teaching in Thailand:

- Huge classes. I don't have any classes that hit the cap of 50 that government schools in Thailand can reach, but I come pretty close. My smallest class has about 35 students. Not ideal for teaching a foreign language. No matter how I structure the class, it's difficult to have everyone practice speaking. There are always a couple of students that just aren't interested.

- Open-air classrooms. There's one classroom I teach in that has air conditioning. I'm lucky in that I teach more than one class in this room, but I've been told that the air conditioning goes on only in the afternoon, otherwise it'll get too expensive for the school. How do I cope with the other 17-odd classes in rooms with no air conditioning? Well, I sweat a lot more than I'd like to. There are fans, and the windows are always open, but sometimes you just have to remind yourself that class won't last forever.

- Morning assemblies. Ok, so some American schools probably do something similar. But I doubt it's outside every single morning. I also doubt that the students sing the Thai national anthem as the Thai flag is raised over the assembly. Or that talent shows take place every Tuesday.

- School lunches done right. Thai food that's fast-served, stays hot, is healthy, and tasty. There's probably not as much variety as in some American schools, but there's enough to keep me happy.

- School dogs. When I was told about them on the drive up from Bangkok, I was picturing Doberman guard dogs, or something similar. The somewhat mangy-looking dogs that roam the school campus are smaller and far less fierce. For the most part, they have sweet temperaments and/or ignore all humans. Possibly my favorite teaching moment was during my first week, when I was having students talk about the pets they have at home. One of the school dogs sauntered through the open door, yawned, and lay down in one of the aisles between the desks. I pointed at the complacent canine and asked the students to raise their hands if they had a dog at home. It stayed there for the rest of the hour.

- Polite students. Everywhere I go, the students wai, which is the Thai bow of greeting and/or thanks. I get calls of "good morning, teacher!" and "hello!" to go along with this, and giggles whenever I answer. Whenever I pass out worksheets or hand back homework, I get another little wai and sometimes a "thank you" before the student takes the paper.

So, yeah. All in all, quite the unique teaching experience.

P.S. About the picture: this is one of the fields I sometimes ride my bike past when going to the market. I was going to post a picture of the school, but I haven't actually taken my camera to school yet . . .