Teaching Begins

Yesterday (Monday June 16) students began teaching at their assigned schools. Dr. Perrotta and I were able to observe the lessons at Hadsamranwityakom High School where four of the students are assigned – Lora Beth, Lori, Amal, and Paula.

All did an exceptional job, though they learned that teaching in Thailand requires patience and flexibility. There were some mix-ups in the schedule, and one of the Thai ESL teachers is gone for a week-long training in Bangkok, leaving her classes un-covered. Paula ended up teaching her first class in the large open-air pavilion where we had our welcome party. She did a great job, despite not having a table, chairs, or white board. Her second lesson was in a classroom, but with two classes combined. There were over 45 students in the small classroom, with half sitting on the floor in the back. Nonetheless, Paula’s lesson went great and all participated. By the time she got to the third lesson, she got to have just a single class in classroom.

Paula, Lori, and Amal’s lessons were based on an All About Me theme. Students completed a graphic organizer describing things about themselves, and then used these to interact with each other in English. In Amal’s lesson, students used their new vocabulary to go around the room to ask questions and record information on a sheet about their classmates. All of these lessons had great interactive components requiring the students to listen and speak in English.

Lora Beth’s lesson focused on learning a few vocabulary words about land features (Ocean, Mountain, Waterfall). Using hands-on manipulatives, students practiced their newly acquired vocabulary by playing a variation of Go Fish where they had to find matching pairs of pictures and words. She then taught them a song with movements called North, South, East, and West which incorporated the vocabulary from the previous activity.

One thing that surprised the UTSA students is just how low the English levels are of the Thai students, despite the fact that many of them have been learning English since primary school. Many of them found themselves having to adjust their lessons accordingly to provide much more support in learning the basic vocabulary needed to complete the activities. This is to be expected the first day of teaching as everyone gets a feel for their students’ levels. Several have already made adjustments for the next lessons accordingly. Dr. Perrotta and I were greatly pleased with the excellent job the students did today, and look forward to seeing the others teach throughout this week.