Wednesday, May 29, 2013

From Student to Teacher

Kelly, who is bound for Medical School this fall, contributed this post about the first day of teaching.




Today was my first time teaching ever.  Some of us are trained teachers so this was only somewhat different, but for me it was completely new.  I had a wonderful time though.  Erica and I taught colors and shapes to first graders and body parts to fifth graders.  We taught the kids the American children's song "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" and they loved it!  I was so glad that they liked it and the teachers seemed to enjoy it as well.  The teachers have been very nice and accommodating to us. In fact, everyone we have met here has been very nice.  The hardest part about teaching for me was the amount of kids (the average class size here is 50-60 students) and the language barrier.

I think we have successfully broken the ice.  After our introduction yesterday many students were afraid to approach us, but today many students came up to us today even to just say hello.  They seem to be very curious about us, excited that we are here, and eager to show us what English they know.  It feels weird to have the student "wai" us, but maybe I’ll get used to it.  Wai is a greeting in Thailand where you bow slightly with your hands in a prayer position in front of your mouth.  As we are considered teachers here all the students wai to us.  I am still learning all the nuances to waiing, but I love all the cultural things we are learning.  We have a very curious and willing group so I am sure we will learn a lot about the Thai people and their culture while we are here.

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