Teacher Josh!

I had wanted to post something sooner, but the week flew by before I knew it. The first week of school is in the bag, and I can already tell it is going to be quite the experience. I spent the week seeing how the school ran, shadowing the teacher I am replacing, seeing how he ran the classroom, what the students are learning, etc, etc. I am teaching fourth grade, and as you would expect, the kids are hilarious. Things at Dara are quite different than any school I have experienced, as a student or teacher.

To start with, all the students seem to have freedom throughout the entire campus. From the youngest age to the oldest, students can walk around, sit outside, leave class, or do whatever else they want. They are not required to stay in the class. If a kid needs a break, he just asks the teacher to leave, and goes and does his thing. It threw me at the beginning, but I am coming around to the idea. It cuts down on the number of behavior issues in the class because if a kid is bored, he just leaves.

Classes also begin and end much differently here than in the west. At the beginning of each class, when the teacher comes in the room, the entire class stands up and addresses the teacher. At the end of each lesson, they thank the teacher in the same way. Very strange. But beyond those two moments, the kids are non stop energy, asking tons of questions, and struggling to learn English.

They call me Teacher Josh (though they have trouble pronouncing the sh, so sometimes I am teacher John) and they are very curious about where I am from, how old am I, how much I weigh, and any other question they can say in English. At this point, they are learning shapes, colors, prepositions (in, on, next to) and other basic stuff.

One of the funniest things for me is that all the kids have nicknames because their Thai names are so long. So I have kids in my class named Snooker, Cartoon, Benz, Bambi. I don't know if they gave themselves nicknames, or if someone gave it to them. My goal is to have them give me a Thai nickname.

That's it for now. I will try and update this more with stories than just describing what I am doing, but that requires a lot more effort. So we'll see if it works out. Happy Halloween!