Candice, Lissettee, and Mary’s Lessons

On Friday we had the opportunity to observe our UTSA students teaching at the primary schools.

We visited Candice and Lissettee’s school, Watnongsamarn Primary School. Both Candice and Lissettee teach their students in two hour blocks each morning, and thus have a variety of activities and lessons. They both did a fantastic job. They teach with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm that clearly rubs off on the students.

Among other activities, Candice had her students practice greetings in shifting lines, and then taught them how to tell time to the hour. She used a clock from the wall and went around the room giving students the opportunity to say what time it was. All this was in preparation for a fun activity called “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” One student is Mr. Wolf standing in the middle of a circle of students. They ask, “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” Whatever time he says is the number of steps they take towards him. As there is no more room, the answer to the question of “What time is it Mr. Wolf?” is “It’s dinner time!” Mr. Wolf then has to chase down and catch a student to “eat.” The student who gets eaten becomes the next Mr. Wolf. The kids had a blast playing this game outside, so much so they probably forgot they were learning English.

Lissettee likewise had some high energy games and activities for her students. One of these included teaching her students the words and music to a TPR-like song with a great beat giving students commands like stand up, sit down, clap your hands, bow cheer, etc. To reinforce the vocabulary from the song plus to teach and review some other emotion words, she had them play relay games where two teams competed. As she said a word, a student from each team would run to the front and act out the word. The students had a lot of fun and were clearly learning and remembering the vocabulary.

Next we went to Mary’s school, Watpakporn Primary School. Mary’s love for teaching was apparent by the look on her face and those of her students. She had a tiny little classroom with four fans on the walls that managed to keep the stifling hot room a bit bearable. The heat didn’t stop the energy level of Mary’s lesson. Among other activities, she taught her students to do the Cha-Cha slide. Here students must listen and follow the directions to move to the left, right, forward back, crisscross, turn around, and other actions. The upbeat music and fun movements were a hit with the kids. Again, having fun, not realizing they are learning English.

What is particularly neat to see about our teachers at the primary schools, is the consistency and the quality of instruction they are providing. They have been shocked to see the relative relaxed atmosphere of the schools, including seeing groups of students go for hours or even an entire day with no teacher or supervision. The amount of time these students get to spend with our teachers from UTSA is truly precious. The affection these young children show towards Candice, Lissettee and Mary makes it evident how appreciative they are of them.