For this week (week four to be exact- wowza it's gone fast!), we are teaching the students to speak about school. We weren't quite sure how to do this without simply giving the students a list of vocabulary words- yuck! So we decided that if we were able to teach the students the subjects, they would be able to talk to each other about their favorite subjects, thus introducing complete sentences, which is what they need the most work on.. ACTUALLY SPEAKING!
Therefore, "What is your favorite subject in school?" became the question of the week, with the follow-up answer being, "my favorite subject is _____". For the most part, after explaining the basic subjects (English, Thai, history, music, art, math, gym, and science), the students were able to complete the thought while pronouncing the words correctly. However, apparently the word "favorite" resembles the word "family", which we taught two weeks ago. I'm THRILLED that they remembered family, but we weren't quite as ecstatic when students were saying "what is your family subject in school?"
After having the students work in pairs to ask each other the question of the day, we played a game that I grew up playing at youth group. We had the students move their desks into a circle around the room, which was a feat in itself. Afterwards, we handed out slips of paper to each student that had a subject (listed above) written on it. The person in the middle would say, "my favorite subject is ENGLISH!" If your slip of paper said English, you would have to get up and switch seats with someone else. The person in the middle would take one of those seats, therefore leaving someone else in the middle. This game was converted a bit to work in the classroom, but it helped the students work on their speaking skills, as well as their listening. It also got them up and moving around the classroom. Just like seventh and eighth graders in the US, the students were very competitive- soon they were running, shoving, and actually sitting on each other trying to get a seat around the circle.
Even with the constant cringe Ari and I had on our faces (worried someone was going to get hurt), nobody has so far. And some of the teachers observed us and simply laughed when students were pushing each other to get a seat- guess it isn't something to worry about... Maybe I have become a helicopter teacher?
This lesson will be taught all week!
Monday for lunch, Ari and I decided that we would be great teachers and make lunch for the eighth grade teachers. Because none of them knew what tacos were (and we both LOVE them), we thought it would be a great thing to make! But after wandering around the grocery store, we realized that it was going to cost us about 60.00 dollars to make them, due to the uncommon ingredients. We decided that was a no-go, but we had already ordered the meat- 3 lbs of ground beef. Therefore, we thought that we could attempt at hamburger helper. Homemade of course.... We got some cheese, milk, etc. and went to work... Because I'm basically the world's greatest chef (heavy sarcasm included here), it turned out delicious.. NOT. We didn't have enough cheese, I burned part of the pan, and it tasted like plain noodles and ground beef.... yum? The teachers were nice enough to attempt to eat it... but they all added chili or ketchup to make it bearable. They told us it was "arroy arroy!", which means 'delicious'. I told them no, it's not! It was a fail to say the very least.
Tuesday (yesterday), I got sick and went home after lunch. Ari was a champ and taught the last hour of the day by herself. Thankfully by the evening, I was feeling fine again, and was able to get to school today.
Today (Wednesday) was a fabulous day. Our first two lessons of the day went great, and our professor (Denny) observed our second hour. Everything went as smooth as can be expected when you don't speak the same language and afterwards, we took Denny to our favorite lunch spot (and for Thai ice cream, of course!). The students today were amazing sports, and I am seriously blessed to get to know them all, even on a "hello and smile" basis. They have the best sense of humor, are extremely kind, and for the most part, are very excited to learn, which makes teaching them even better. I would tell anyone that is currently a student at SMSU to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look into doing part of your student teaching in Thailand- it is a priceless experience as well as a wonderful learning environment for future teachers.
This is (today), however, where Maklumsy returned into my life. For those of you that don't know, I may be considered a bit of a klutz. In ninth grade, some of my best friends started calling me Maklumsy and whenver I fell or dropped something, they would call me Maklumsy instead... Well, today, when we were playing the game, art was called and since I had an "art" slip, i got up out of my chair, quickly crossed the room, and went to sit down. My foot however, stepped on my maxi skirt, causing me to slip and fall. Not even just slip and fall, but SLIDE into the desk, causing it to fall on top of me. I now have two bruises to prove it. Thank the good Lord I was wearing a long skirt, or that could have been another embarrassment to add to the list. The class was silent for a few seconds after it happened, but after I burst out laughing, they laughed as well. I laid on the floor on my back for a good two minutes until I finally was able to control my laughter and get up. I'm sure the whole seventh grade knows the story by now, but oh well. I will embrace my label as not only the blonde American teacher, but as the weird blonde American teacher that had a desk fall on her.
Just a day in the life.
Xoxo Kenzkeg
hahaha maclumsy
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