Welcome Class. I am teacher Maggie...

According to Lizzy, one of my New Year’s resolutions should be to stop putting things off.  While I would like to protest, it is partway through my third week of teaching and I have yet to write any update as to how it’s been.  So for anyone who’s curious…

The days (weeks) leading up to my first day teaching left me somewhat of a nervous wreck.  Then I actually had my first day and realized that my class is more or less the student’s lowest priority and that I really don’t have to do all that much to make it through the semester.  As terrible as that sounds, I don’t feel the need to pour all I’ve got into this semester knowing that, no matter what, the kids really couldn’t care less about listening and speaking classes. 

Another thing is that I came in expecting these kids to have terrible English, which is definitely not the case.  I teach at one of the oldest EP (English program) schools in Bangkok, one that serves as a model for other schools around the country.  The kids take all of their core subjects in English along with a few more supplementary English classes and one or two in Thai language and culture. The students I have are in Mathayom 3 and 4, essentially 9^th and 10^th grade in the States.  Therefore, they have been studying English for quite some time and have been in this particular EP program for at least 2 years already.

You would think that since this is the oldest EP program in Bangkok that they would have everything all sorted out.  It just so happens that I am here during a semester that was not only affected by the worst flooding this country has seen in over 60 years (pushing the semester back by 6 weeks) but also the semester they decide to implement a new system for their listening and speaking classes.  In an effort to reduce class sizes to promote increased participation from the students, each L&S class has been split in half.  This also means that there are twice as many classes as there are available rooms so 1 of every 2 classes they have each week is spent in either the Sound Lab or E-Learning.  While it is awesome that this school can afford such amenities and are actually putting them to use, they both have terrible atmospheres for a teacher trying to hold her student’s attention in a subject they have already written off as unimportant.

That said, most of my students are enjoyable to have.  However, I now understand a bit of the predicament that some of my fellow classmates put my teachers through in high school: some of the most entertaining students are also the laziest or hardest to control.  I also have a group of girls that sit off to the side and talk amongst themselves all class, but when it comes time for them to hand in the worksheet it is filled out and not copied.  I’m pretty sure that all of my students’ families are just rolling in money so they already have the mentality that they are set when it comes to their futures.  They will be going to great colleges either here in Bangkok or abroad in the US, Europe or Japan.  Their dads are the CEOs of some of the biggest companies in Thailand or hold government positions.  A decent portion of the students will spend at least a semester abroad in high school.   They also know that essentially, we can’t fail them.  There is some law in Thailand that allows kids to keep retaking tests they have failed until they get a passing grade.  Normally they take it once or twice and then the teacher will just grade in a way that is just above failing so they don’t have to deal with it anymore.  This in turns promotes me to think that if they aren’t going to try, I really shouldn’t as well.  I know that some effort is necessary.  Time drags by when you have to pull teeth to get students to go along with what you are trying to teach, but I also know that they will only humor me and participate for so long.

Overall, I’ve stopped worrying about how things will turn out.  Unless there’s another natural disaster or political unrest, I will be here through the end of my contract in March.  Once I finally get paid, I’m hoping that I’ll also have to desire to go out and actually get to know Bangkok a bit more.  I’ve basically been broke since I got here and cannot wait to know that if I wanted to, I could treat myself to a nice $4 dinner instead of my typical $1 of chicken and rice that I eat every meal I am not at school.