So far, today has been nothing exciting. The director of the school stopped by my classroom during my P3 class but seemed happy with what I was doing and moved on quickly. Both my morning classes were well behaved and I'm afraid that nothing I did with them was so genius it deserves to be written about. My P5 class I have a new game planned - its a team game which I'm a little worried about because I'm afraid they'll get too rowdy, but hopefully they'll have fun without getting out of control. I'll let you know how it goes.
Until then I thought I'd just talk about a few general experiences. I feel like I've talked a lot about teaching, some eating, and not much else. So I'll start by saying I walk to school from my hotel each day. I usually try to leave around 7:50 so I can be here by 8, but if I don't leave till 8:10 (like this morning) then it isn't a big deal. When I get to school all the kids are at Assembly which happens outside unless it is raining and then it happens in the hallways. Assembly in the hallways is pretty awkward because sometimes I have to find a path around the children and I don't want to interrupt while they are standing so quiet and attentive. Most of the Thai teachers are standing with their classes during this time and if I catch their eye then we "wai" each other (put our hands together and bow our heads). I love the wai (pronounced "way"). It is so respectful and so peaceful. It also makes me feel like I'm part of a community of teachers here despite the many differences in our teaching experiences. The Thai teachers wear uniforms, a different outfit for each day of the week, and teach in open air classrooms with the chalkboard as their only classroom resource. I, on the other hand, follow a dress code but do not wear a uniform and I teach in my own air-conditioned classroom outfitted with a projector, sound system, white board, and general technology. So yeah, differences. Also, despite having my own classroom, I spend most of my time in our company's office (also air conditioned). My classroom, G's classroom, and the ICEP office are the only three air conditioned rooms in the whole school. I really like our office atmosphere. Its very relaxed (see time I arrive above) and as long as our work is getting done (read: my lesson plans for the next day) then I'm free to futz around a little, leave a little early, or arrive a little late. For example, my lesson plans for tomorrow are done and I haven't even had my last class yet. Speaking of though, I need to go prep the classroom for this game. I'll finish the post after class!
Ok, so the game was wildly successful! It was a review game - kind of like minefield where there were certain surprises hidden and they had to just choose squares randomly without knowing what kind of question it would be. I had set up a "board" on the white board 6 x 6 and labeled the axes with numbers and letters and then the kids would choose a box (i.e. A6). Then I had made myself a board and labeled each box with either an easy question, medium question, or difficult question. Also, and this is where the minefield part comes in, some boxes were labeled either T (typhoon), H (hurricane), or V (vacation). A Typhoon would wipe out all your team's points, an H would allow your team to take 3 points away from another team, and a V would give you 5 free points. Unlike minefield, there was absolutely no strategy because I made up the "field" and I used no rhyme or reason. But they seemed to have a lot of fun with it.
Also, I just found out my October break schedule! I finish teaching on October 5 but I have to come into school the next week to do stuff for the company (make PowerPoint presentations to use in the future and stuff) and then I have 1 official week of vacation and a week of unofficial vacation! I get the extra week of unofficial vacation because my school doesn't start up again until November 1st but other schools that the company contracts with might start earlier. So now that I know what time I have off, I just need to decide what to do with it! Hmmm...
Until then I thought I'd just talk about a few general experiences. I feel like I've talked a lot about teaching, some eating, and not much else. So I'll start by saying I walk to school from my hotel each day. I usually try to leave around 7:50 so I can be here by 8, but if I don't leave till 8:10 (like this morning) then it isn't a big deal. When I get to school all the kids are at Assembly which happens outside unless it is raining and then it happens in the hallways. Assembly in the hallways is pretty awkward because sometimes I have to find a path around the children and I don't want to interrupt while they are standing so quiet and attentive. Most of the Thai teachers are standing with their classes during this time and if I catch their eye then we "wai" each other (put our hands together and bow our heads). I love the wai (pronounced "way"). It is so respectful and so peaceful. It also makes me feel like I'm part of a community of teachers here despite the many differences in our teaching experiences. The Thai teachers wear uniforms, a different outfit for each day of the week, and teach in open air classrooms with the chalkboard as their only classroom resource. I, on the other hand, follow a dress code but do not wear a uniform and I teach in my own air-conditioned classroom outfitted with a projector, sound system, white board, and general technology. So yeah, differences. Also, despite having my own classroom, I spend most of my time in our company's office (also air conditioned). My classroom, G's classroom, and the ICEP office are the only three air conditioned rooms in the whole school. I really like our office atmosphere. Its very relaxed (see time I arrive above) and as long as our work is getting done (read: my lesson plans for the next day) then I'm free to futz around a little, leave a little early, or arrive a little late. For example, my lesson plans for tomorrow are done and I haven't even had my last class yet. Speaking of though, I need to go prep the classroom for this game. I'll finish the post after class!
Ok, so the game was wildly successful! It was a review game - kind of like minefield where there were certain surprises hidden and they had to just choose squares randomly without knowing what kind of question it would be. I had set up a "board" on the white board 6 x 6 and labeled the axes with numbers and letters and then the kids would choose a box (i.e. A6). Then I had made myself a board and labeled each box with either an easy question, medium question, or difficult question. Also, and this is where the minefield part comes in, some boxes were labeled either T (typhoon), H (hurricane), or V (vacation). A Typhoon would wipe out all your team's points, an H would allow your team to take 3 points away from another team, and a V would give you 5 free points. Unlike minefield, there was absolutely no strategy because I made up the "field" and I used no rhyme or reason. But they seemed to have a lot of fun with it.
Also, I just found out my October break schedule! I finish teaching on October 5 but I have to come into school the next week to do stuff for the company (make PowerPoint presentations to use in the future and stuff) and then I have 1 official week of vacation and a week of unofficial vacation! I get the extra week of unofficial vacation because my school doesn't start up again until November 1st but other schools that the company contracts with might start earlier. So now that I know what time I have off, I just need to decide what to do with it! Hmmm...
That's right around the time I get to Accra! I arrive October 4th. I want to hear all about your adventures. Thanks for the double post.
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