Media kids (my agency) say you are meant to do something at morning ceremony. Until two weeks ago we hadn't done anything. The English director asked me to teach the students a question and answer during morning ceremony to the entire school with all the faculty members. I don't mind talking in front of large groups but I knew the kids wouldn't respond well and felt I was walking up to be road kill! I went with "how was your day?", "My day was fine". Simple, short and in fairness the response was better than expected. However I did have students asking me the question all day!!!
For the end of semester I decided to do a project instead of a test. All 19 classes would do the same project with the winning team getting Irish gifts and certificates of academic achievement which I would arrange with my Mother and the school! Many students are putting in significant effort and it has caught the attention of numerous faculty members. Mam has sent the gifts and I hope they are good enough. Kind of feel under pressure! The project was to compare the difference between Ireland and Thailand and include any references used. The students had a choice of PowerPoint, poster, report, video and anything else they could think of!!
The deadline came and I was overwhelmed by the amount and quality of some projects. Naturally there was some poor ones that somehow thought I was from Iceland!! It was very difficult to pick a winning team and I ended up picking two runners up as well. The winning team of two did a report, a video and a booklet. The marking criteria considered eight categories so you can imagine the time it took to input the data to excel!!
On deadline day I was swamped, students were emailing me projects, handing me CD's/posters/reports and even when I was on my way home there was projects on my bike!! I had given a deadline extension due to the workload the kids have and that caused me to be under pressure to get the grading done as I was on holidays the next day. I announced the winner and runners up on stage at morning ceremony in front of 2,400 student's! I tried some Thai that went down okay but needed clarification by the English director. I hope the students liked their gifts. I was later told no English teacher had ever done a project before! My co-teachers to my delight were very pleased with my work!
On the last day I was asked for the end of semester grades..........I had been doing this but had stopped as no one asked or directed me as too how they wanted them. It turns out I get 30 points which I break up over attendance, mid-term and final project. Keep in mind its the last day and I teach over 700 students who I now have to convert the percentage for each area into a percentage of the marks allocated. I did up an impressive excel spreadsheet but it still took me until 5:30 on Friday and 2.5 hrs on Saturday to complete!! First Saturday in work for a very long time!!
Overall I am pleased with how semester 1 went, I learnt a lot and will be better at my job next semester. My contract has been renewed for a second term and I even got offered two jobs with my agency that I declined so I am doing something right!! I do like the feeling of knowing you just did a great lesson, that the students really enjoyed. Not all classes go that way but a lot do!
That reminds me on Wednesday we had a random visit from a local university! Student teachers had come to observe some classes. Its the last week and I hadn't planned anything other than a few pictures, the project and goodbyes. So there I am when suddenly 25 FEMALE student teachers come in and stand around the walls of the classroom! There is 45 students in this class!! BOOOM I think quick and end up playing a great game that even got the student teachers involved!! I was happy I didn't mess up or get nervous. Pretty much nailed it!
My plan now is to do some travelling to Chang Mai and maybe two more cities before meeting in Bangkok for the assistant trainer orientation. From there I go to Krabi were I will teach the new batch of Tefl teachers for three weeks. It should be good as I am doing it with Nik who I know very well and I'll meet a bunch of new people. During/after that I'll hit some Islands and head back up to kick off semester two! Also I got the news that Mr. Waller himself will be out to see me for a few weeks and give me some well needed back up against the English onslaught!
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