Student Teaching

So I had a unit where I allowed my students to teach the lessons. I didn't give them must guidance, kind of let them go at it and try for themselves. Even during the lessons, I didn't correct much of what they were doing or saying, let them try some things, make mistakes and figure it out for themselves. Wanted to see how they would handle things on their own. I learned several things from this activity about myself as well, and I feel it was a great activity.

First, I noticed that only one group out of 12 or so, used any form of technology. One group in all my classes made a powerpoint presentation for their lesson. It was a really good powerpoint presentation as well. So I was impressed with that. Most of the students decided to use a lecture-style teaching approach. This allowed me to relaize how these students view the activities in my class. They obviously think that the only way to teach math is through lecture, and I think my teaching style has caused this view.

So I am currently looking at ways to get away from the lecturing-style so much and try some new things. Mix it up a little so the students have different activities and utilize different intelligences in a lesson. Also, I'm starting to realize that I do not need to use the exact book lessons in succession to show and display the concepts. I have learned this from my principal as well. He said that the text should be a supplement, not the source of information and lessons in the classroom. Currently, I am starting to look for ways to implement different concepts and then summarize a little later with the book or get some practice from the book.

Things this year are still busy. Just starting to get different ideas and other things like that. The prep and work for these ideas is keeping me busy. Looking for ways to get the same ideas across to the students while at the same time diminish my workload and not kill myself so much. Just need to change things up a little and make adjustments.

Aaron

China Trip (Finally)

Well, I finally got the chance to put some pictures up from my trip to China. It was a good trip and I got to see a lot of great things. When I tell people that I went to China, they ask where. I tell them Wuhan and Xi'an. They seemed shocked that I did not go to Bejing, Shanghai or Hong Kong. I guess its similar to going to America and not going to New York or LA. Probably like a foreigner going to America and visiting Indianapolis or Cincinnati. Hey, just had some things I wanted to see.

Anyway, the first two pictures are of me (obviously) at Hua Shan. Hua Shan is a sacred mountain, one of 7 in China (I think that number is correct). It interesting. We left at about 7am, and it was a two hour ride to the mountain. Well, we would expect to get there around 9:30 or 10. But we stopped at some temple for a while and ended up not getting to the mountain until noon. Then we had lunch and didn't actually get going to the mountain until 1pm. You could walk all the way up or you could take a life that would take you most of the way up (three hour walk, one way, or a 5 minute lift). Problem is the line for the lift was over an hour.

We finally got to the top and could not see hardly anything with the clouds. Started walking around and it was hard and hot. The steps were steep and there were a lot of steep cliffs. Had to hold on to chains in certain places to simply make it up the steps. But it was still interesting. did not get as far as I would have like, or all the way around (the path makes a loop going up and down certain peaks), since we had a time limit to get down to the bottom and there was another hour long wait for the lift back down to the bottom. Still, it was a good day and a good experience.

The next picture is of the Bell Tower in the center of Xi'an. There is a giant bell in the tower which would ring when the farmers were supposed to come home from the fields. Xi'an was a very interesting city. I really liked it and even looked into international schools there. I think there was one, but it was very small and I feel I would have similar problems there as I am finding at ASB with the schedule and lack of resources. But it is a very neat city and a place that I would consider living if I could.

The final two pictures are of the Terracotta Warriors. This was a really cool thing and I am very happy that I was able to make it to see this. In fact, it was the main reason for me even going to Xi'an after Wuhan. I was very impressed with this and even got a chance to take a picture of the farmer who found the first warrior while drilling a well (though I wasn't supposed to take a picture). The pictures are of Pit 1, which is the largest pit. Pit 2 was not completely uncovered yet and Pit 3 was a lot smaller.

One thing I didn't understand about this was the fact that these were first discovered in 1974, but they only have three pits. There is a tomb of the emperor who built these and that has yet to be excavated. The tour guide said this is because of some rivers that run underneath and around the tomb which do not allow people to get in. I have a hard time believing that people cannot get into the tomb to excavate it or we have not found more pits. It seems odd, with all the technology, that more has not be discovered. The guide said they are looking, but I would think they would have found much more between then and now. Something seems a little odd about that.

Another thing about the trip that was interesting, the emperor (and I forgot his name) who built these warriors also built the Great Wall and they kept on saying how great of an emperor he was, uniting China into one nation. But in the same breath they talked about how mean he was and how he worked the slaves to death and trapped some of them behind or under the wall. Odd that he can be this great man, yet he can also do so many horrible things.

Anyway, it was a really good trip and I had a great time.

Aaron

Slick

I have a student that just came in during a break to read me his summer story that he wrote for Language Arts class. He talked about going different places and traveling and what he did. The reason he wanted to read me the story is that he included me in it. I never saw him this summer, but he did go to America for a little bit and he's a pretty big wrestling fan (WWE). He told me the other day that Wrestlemania is might come to Indianapolis in a few years and that he will see me there. Thats what he put in the paper, that he can't wait to get back to America for Wrestlemania and visit with Mr. Aaron.

This is a kid who had some problems last year with different things and was/still is on medication for certain things. I don't know what the deal is, but I've really connected with him this year and he seems to be thriving on it. He still struggles in class and staying focused, but he has a little more energy and enthusiasm about himself this year, which is a good thing. I even started calling him "Slick" as a nickname and he loves it, gets a big grin on his face when I call him that and is happy.

He wanted me to come watch him give his presentation during his language class today, but I have classes and cannot make it. It does make me feel really good that he would come to me and ask me that. Makes me feel like I am doing something right, makes me feel that I am helping, like I felt with my kids that I coached back home. Been a while since I really had that feeling, and I like it, can't get enough of it. I hope I can build on this, because this is why I changed and went into teaching. This is the reason I am doing what I am doing right now.

Slick... thats one cool kid.

Aaron

New School Year

Started the school year up again today. It was pretty hectic, as bad as last year if not worse. I thought we had planned for a lot of things before we left last year and had a lot of things organized and ready for this year, but things still are chaotic. This is attributed to several aspects,

1. Our curriculum coordinator/assistant principal took a leave of absence for the year. This forced one of the HS Social Studies teachers to take the assistant principal position and give up a few of his classes. So, even though we are extremely over-staffed, we were running around trying to find a social studies teacher. A few times people were placed there and then it was changed (for various reasons). Not sure how it will end up, but its crazy.

2. There is a new bell schedule for the school. HS is on a block, MS is on half-blocks/semi-block (most middle school classes are half a HS block, the core subjects have a full block one or two days a week) and I do not even know what Elementary is doing. Anyway, there are some teachers who teach both HS and MS, or all three. Trying to fit their schedule into the actual schedule is a mess. It is forcing the MS kids to not have the same class at the same time on a daily basis.

In fact, on the first schedule given to me, I had 7th grade for 3 bells on Monday and 3 bells on Tuesday, and didn't see them the rest of the week. It is better now, but still confusing with all the differences in the schedule. I've been told this comes from above and is something that has been decided well above the principal. I'll just smile and do my best to make it work and have some fun while I'm at it.

I know I am not fully prepared for the school year. I am teaching pretty much the same classes, but I am changing up the way I teach them a little and I could have prepared better for that. I was going to come in last week but got busy with MEDO classes. So I'm catching up a little the rest of this week and seeing how things are going. I'll try to prep a little more each day and go from there.

The classes are also much smaller than last year. Enrollment is down and I notice it in the classrooms. Right now, I have 5 students scheduled for my Geometry class next semester. I'm also team teaching Pre-Calculus with another teacher. That will be good because I'll be able to see his style and incorporate it into my style if I want. Hopefully it will make things better for me as a teacher.

I know things will improve, they always do. But I am upset that things are not going as smooth as I expected. I really thought we had things sorted out before the start. However, we do have a new principal as well and I think that plays into the confusion some.

Aaron

Summer School

Started summer school today and it was rather interesting. As with many things in Thailand, I have to be flexible and able to adapt to different circumstances. Didn't know how many kids I was going to have or what subjects I was going to teach. I now know that I have about 11-12 kids (which could increase come tomorrow) and I am teaching a variety of classes ranging from Statistics to Algebra.

Its rather interesting how it works, but the kids are supposed to make up the classes they failed and use the summer school as a way to improve a grade, which makes sense to me. However, I was orignially going to have about 15 kids all day long for math, which is about 4 hours. Well, they also almost had me teaching science this summer since there was no one to teach science originally. We did find that the Language Arts teacher has taught some science before and could handle it.

Still, the schedule is not set yet, but we have improved upon it greatly. I am not 100% sure what exactly I will be teaching, but I'm working on that. The worst thing about all of this is that we don't have access to the library so I can't check out books for the students. I've been told that I can get books from the library with someone else opening it up for me. I'm not exactly sure how its going to work, but I guess I'm going to have to do a lot of independent study with the students. Presenting them with problems and having them find notes and information on the internet so they can solve the problems and get some practice with the stuff.

I think I'm going to have to assign a lot of projects to the students and hope things work out for the best from there. At least through projects I will be able to keep the students busy and they will be working towards something. Obviously, I've never taught summer school, so this is a different experience. The fact that it is in Thailand and unorganized only adds to the adventure.

Aaron

TAS

Visited some friends in Taiwan this past week and also had the chance to stop by a school in Taipei called Taipei American School. I was given a tour by the Associate Principal of the Upper School (high school) and it is a really nice school. They just hired a lot of new teachers in the math department, but they never know when they will need more. They are also expecting to expand the school to add more classrooms. So there may be an opportunity there in the future.

They have a very different schedule, which provides the students with a great deal of support. The middle school teachers teach a total of 2 classes per day, either in the morning or afternoon, then have the rest of the day for a group meeting with the other teachers at that grade level to discuss the changes necessary and how to adapt the teaching methodologies for each student. Pretty much, they sit and discuss strategies for improving student success and what they can do to help each student.

Its a very different approach, but it works very well according to the teachers. Not only do the students have an opportunity for extra help and more attention, but the teachers have a light load as far as teaching is concerned. It does have one draw back and that is the financial aspect of hiring more teachers for the school. The parents pay for extra help through the tuition cost of the school.

From my short visit, it looks like a really nice place to work. I also spoke to the HR department and dropped of my resume and other information. Hopefully things will work out, meaning they have a math position available when I am available and I can fit in. We'll see how it goes.

Summer school starts in a week. Not sure exactly how this will go, but can only wait and find out.

Aaron

Winding Down

Its been a while, but the year is finally winding down. We are in our last week of the year, one more day of classes and then 3 days of finals. I feel the year went well for being the first full year of teaching. It had its ups and downs and I had to adjust quite a few times, but I do feel that I have become a better teacher over the course of the year.

I have already decided on some changes for next year and different approaches I will have in my classroom.

First, I am not going to allow anything other than English in any class. I came into this year not thinking it was going to be an issue and I was not as hard on the students as I should have been. I did have to buckle down in my 6th grade class, but the other classes I was not so hard on. Surprisingly, my 8th graders are the worst at following this and speaking English only. At the same time, they are my weakest class as a whole. Next year I am going to make a point of this from the start.

I think I am going to have my students maintain a portfolio/binder for the class next year. This will force them to be organized and have everything in order. Also, it will allow them to see what their grade is at any point in the year and they don't have to ask me all the time. I will give them a guideline for what the binder should look like and expect them to keep it up-to-date. I will also collect the binder at the end of each quarter to check and make sure they are keeping it updated.

As part of this, I am thinking about having them complete a reflection for each lesson, just a few lines. Possibly have them give me an example of where this topic would be used in the real world. This would allow them to reflect on their experiences in the class and also give the subject matter some importance and value to everyday life.

The first year is trial and error, we make adjustments and improve from there. I feel very good about my progress already this year and look forward to the chance to improve next year.

Aaron

Prom, 2009

We had our Prom this past Friday and I was one of the MC's for the event. I'll start off by talking about the pictures and then the adventures of MCing. The first picture is of the official sign for the Prom, which was absolutely beautiful. They had it a the Hilton, which is right on the river. It was great and the place was absolutly beautiful.

The next picture is of some of the 9th grade boys. Though I don't teach them, I have gotten to know them fairly well. They are a good group of boys and I enjoy talking with them. The one on the left is Kabeer. His is the one who had a whole bunch of teachers over to his place for dinner one night and the first thing we had was alcohol given to us by the father.

Next we have Earn, who is one of my 8th grade students. He didn't want a picture taken with me, so I had to sneak one in on him. He's the one with the red shirt and black and white striped tie that is about half undone. That was the style for a lot of these kids, not a formal tux or suit but a more relaxed and unbuttoned look. I thought it was intersting. Also, it was interesting that Earn was there, as was one of my 7th grade girls (with her 9th grade boyfriend, which is currently an issue with her and performance in school) and a former 8th grade student of mine who left at the semester and was supposed to go to America to learn.

The last picture is of me (obviously) with Kelly (the MS Science teacher) and her husband Jared. This was just outside the hall and was an amazing room.

Now, to the prom (I want to make it clear that there is a distinct difference between the two campuses, Bangna and Sukhumvit). It was interesting because I was supposed to give awards to the Seniors and there are only a handful of seniors that I actually know, let alone know how to pronounce their names. I did mess up on one, but thats fine, no big deal, we move on. Its funny because the teacher from the other campus who MCed knew all the students and could say something about each of them and the award they received (most popular, best eyes, smartest, best dressed, etc. ). I felt like I was just up there and tried to say a few things about it, but didn't get it to work, so I felt awkward, but still got the job done.

What was more intersting was the royal court announcement. The Bangna campus did their royal court and had no problems. Right before I was going to go up and announce our winners for King, Queen, Prince and Princess, the student council president and vice-president came to me and asked me who the winners were. I told them and they said that none of those people were at the prom anymore. Instead, they chose 4 people right there to win. First, why do you leave the prom before the winners for the royal court are announced? Second, if you're up for the royal court, you should probably stick around just to see if you won. Third, I really don't agree with two people deciding who wins the royal court.


Next, we had Senior Videos that were shown on the projectors at one time during the prom. Sukhumvit showed theirs and it was alright. But then Bangna showed theirs and it was great. It blew Sukhumvits out of the water. Again, we have an example of how Bangna students are more motivated than Sukhumvit and care more about the school rather than think the school is just a joke.

Finally, some of the Bangna girls did a little dance performance on stage during part of the Prom. Let me say, they did an amazing job, especially since most of them were wearing 3-4 inch heels. It was great and they totally rocked. It was a performance they did from the talent show they had this week. Our campus had a talent show as well and some of our 10th grade girls did a little dance which really didn't involve a whole lot. The 10th grade girls at Sukhumvit are also known to be trouble and lazy, which they are.

Anyway, when these girls were finished and the whole crowd was going crazy, our 10th grade girls must have gotten jealous or something, or didn't like the fact that the attention wasn't on them, so they wanted to do their performance. The problem was that no one had the song they needed, so they really couldn't perform. I think they finally did find the song, but I wasn't in the room to see the performance. But I already know that it wasn't as good. Most of their dancing was in one place and didn't require any movement out of that place.

Though the prom was amazing, it was just another example of how different the students from Banga are versus the students from Sukhumvit. The Sukhumvit students have even called the Bangna students weird. The dancing was the thing that I found the most hilarious because it would be the same thing that would happen at home with this class of students. One group was up there having fun and just enjoying themselves and the other group didn't like the fact that they were receiving all this great attention, so they decided to do something that they rarely do, which is become motivated to do something so they could receive attention and praise.

Aaron

High Turnover

One of the service department girls had her last day today. She was going to get another job at an apartment complex, being a secretary or front desk worker there, I'm not sure. I was talking to some of the other teachers about this, since there has been some heavy turnover in that department. The truth of the matter is that they are not treated that well. They are forced to come in on Saturday even if there is nothing to do. I have seen them just sitting there painting their nails on Saturday because they have to be at school.

One Saturday, they actually had to clean out a sewage drain or something like that. They took pictures and showed them to me the following week. I can see how there is a lot of turnover in that department. If they don't treat them well, they will eventually leave. It may not be easy for them to find another job without much free time, but they won't be at the school long.

On another note, it looks like I will be teaching a high school math class next year, even with the difference in the schedules for the middle school and high school. The middle school will be on 8- 37 minute bells while the high school will be on 4-70 minute bells. I just found out today that our numbers are dropping so much that there will only be one class in each middle school grade. So that would take up 3 of the 8 middle school bells. Giving me a high school class will take up another two and that would make 5 of the 8 total bells of me having a class.

I could handle that since I would have more prep time than I have now and I would be able to teach a high school class. It looks like it would be Pre-Calculus. I was tutoring a girl with geometry the other day and we got into some Pre-Calc material with Sine, Cosine and Tangent. I really enjoyed it and was having a blast with it. It's been a while since I've gotten into some of the material, but I'm sure it won't be too bad, like riding a bike.

Aaron

Silence is Golden

Not sure if it is proper teaching practice or not, but today I taught a complete class without saying a word. We had a quiz on Friday, so we didn't have to grade anything. It was my quietest class, which has a few bright individuals but its very hard to get them to participate. I'm not sure why I did it, I guess I wanted to see what would happen and how they would react.

It was actually very interesting and funny. I handed back the quiz and then I started working the extra credit problem that only one student got correct. After that, I started into the lesson over solving systems of equations by using elimination through addition and subtraction. I started with just putting some equations on the board and using substitution to solve, which is what the quiz was covering.

The most interesting part is that it didn't take the students long to realize that I wasn't talking. But instead of speaking, they thought that they could not speak either. The students who speak the most in my class were using actions and not words. I even had students starting to raise their hands and hold up numbers for the answers or next line. In fact, I got more participation out of some of the quieter students than normal. One student in particular who usually struggles and doesn't say anything seemed to really enjoy it and actually answered 2-3 questions voluntarily.

Overall, I do think the lesson went fairly well and they understood the main concepts. I almost feel they were paying attention more because I was not talking and they had to see what I was doing on the board. It was good because I had to use actions more to emphasize things. I did write a few words on the board and pointed to them from time to time (ex. done?, fractions are bad, etc.).

I actually had a lot of fun with this lesson and not talking. I'm not sure anyone thought I could go a full 55 minute class bell without speaking, but I did it. I almost think the silence gave some of the students more confidence to participate. I did receive the snicker and giggles from some students when it began, but that was expected. For the most part, when the lesson got rolling, they were very attentive.

Aaron

Songkran Celebration

Today, we had a celebration for Songkran, the "water" festival that is coming up next week. It was really interesting because the teachers were honored by sitting in front of flower pots and having the students come by and pour flower scented water and oil on our hands into the flower pots. It was a sign of respect and appreciation.

I learned that the Songkran festival started in relation to the zodiac sign Aries. It was originally a celebration to bless the farmers to have a good season and healthy crops. It started (and in some cities, still is) as a simple pouring of scented water on the hands or the shoulders for good luck and blessings.

However, this all quickly changed (mainly due to the westerners who now partake in the activities). Right now, the week of Songkran is pretty much a warzone of people getting blasted with water guns, water balloons and even fire hoses. Sometimes there is more than water in the ballons or water gun. My understanding is that the westerners got a hold of it and went overboard in an effort to have some fun and one gigantic water fight in the streets of Bangkok. I think some of the streets are alright but I have heard of certain streets that are absolutely horrible and you should avoid unless you want to get completely blasted.

I've heard stories of westerners setting up shop outside of buildings or at bars and blasting people as they walk by or come out of other buildings. I think the holiday itself has some very nice beginnings, but I feel the westerners have ruined it and used it for purposes that are not culturally relevant. I am actually happy that I will not be in town from everything that I've heard about it.

Aaron

Where Are All The Teachers??

I know it has been a while since I wrote on the blog. I haven't been feeling too well. I had a spell of dizziness and imbalance. I think it is due to the constant heat here and not replenishing my body with the necessary nutrients. I'm feeling better now, but I'm still not 100%. On top of all of that, the MEDO classes are keeping me busy and I'm trying to keep up with those. All in all, its been really busy the last few weeks. I think that may have something to do with me not feeling so well. I think I'm working hard and need a vacation. We have a long weekend next weekend and then the week off. So it will be good.

We have our WASC accredidation team coming this week to check out the school and make sure everything is going normal and well. Hopefully that will go well, we'll see. I'm not to worried about it, but they will be pulling teachers out of the classroom and asking to speak with them throughout the day. I really don't want to be one of the teachers to be pulled, but I have no control over that.

We had a carnival at school on Friday. There was an eating contest for the students, a dunk tank with teachers and a water balloon fight at the end. The one thing I noticed, and it is something I have noticed at other schools, is the number of teachers who were not at the carnival. I'm sure they were not in there classroom working, and they probably skipped out on the day. Most of them are older teachers who have been in the profession for a while. This really bothers me because it shows that these people are not teachers for the right reasons. They do the minimum they have to do to get by and refuse to go above and beyond what is required of them.

For me, we are here for the students, even though they may be spoiled and do not appreciate everything we do, we are still here for the students. If teachers are not willing to put a little effort into making these kids better people and making the school a better place, then they should really think about why they became teachers and what they are doing in the profession.

Besides that, I'm trying to keep kids from skipping out early and staying at the fair the whole time. What kind of example does that show when teachers are leaving early or not showing up at all? Some of these teachers complain about the students and complain about the way they act, but they are not doing anything to fix the problem. In fact, they are actually adding to the problem.

Off the soapbox, time to get some work done.

Aaron

Thai Cultural Workshop

We had the second part of our Thai Cultural Workshop today. Again, these are the classes we need to take in order to keep our teaching license for next year. For this trip, we went to Ayutthaya, which was the capital of Thailand for about 700 years before Bangkok. It is a very historic city with many temples and old ruins.

The workshop went well and we discussed several aspects of Thai Culture and customs. I have to type up a formal report over these aspects. I will email the final report when I have it completed. For now, I will simply talk about these pictures that I have posted.


The first two pictures are of ruins from the old capital buildings or temples for the King. I'm not sure exactly what buildings these used to be, but I do know that they were important government builidings. From what the workshop leader told me, most of the buildings were diminished and turned to rubble from bombings and fire by the Burmese.

The next three pictures are from a temple that we visited. The first is of Buddha, or at least what I thought was Buddha. From what I've been told, this is actually an important monk, but not Buddha. I still like him and think he is a jolly man, so I will call him Buddha for my sake and because I cannot remember is real name.

The next picture is an actual Buddha. Apparently, this is one of the largest Buddha's in Thailand, for obvious reasons. You can see how big it is because of the people at the bottom of the picture. It is huge and pretty amazing.

The final picture is of some bells that are right outside the temple. People would go by and ring them. I'm assuming its supposed to bring good luck to ring them in order. A lot of the culture over here is based on karma and good luck. They do things because they believe it will bring them good luck. Another example of this is we went to an elephant show after the temple and they had an elephant stand on two different stools and people would walk underneath the elephant because it was supposed to be good luck. Elephants are seen as sacred over here, a sign of the Buddhist religion. To me, this is ironic because the Thai people parade them around the streets of Bangkok like a side show, trying to get foreigners to buy 20Baht bags of food so they can feed the elephant.

A few things about the temple that I noticed while I was there. You could not where shorts, so I had to go in jeans and it was hot. Definately a little uncomfortable for me. As we were leaving, some Thai woman came after us screaming about paying to enter the temple. I believe this is really a load of BS because no one else has to pay to enter the temple, but because we are foreigners, they think they can take our money for being tourists. She was cussing us out as we were getting on the boat.

This is something I have noticed. Many Thai's see a westerner and they think, "They have a lot of money." Which, in comparison to the normal Thai person, we do make a lot more money than them. But they feel that because we are Westerners, they can exploit us for our money and its alright. I guess they justify it by saying that since we are not from their country and we have more money than them, its alright to try and take our money, whereas they would never do something like this to a Thai, because that would garner bad karma. Just something funny that I have noticed.

Aaron

Science Inquiry

We had a Science Inquiry Day with the Bangna Campus on Tuesday. I was a moderator for one of the sessions. What happened is kids were asked to create a science project for science class and then they voted on who they wanted to present the project at the science inquiry conference. These pictures are from the conference.

The first is of a shoe that has a pocket on the outside. Two of my kids performed this experiment. They were trying to create a shoe pocket to hold items (keys, money, etc.) but they wanted something that was not intrusive and could keep the contents dry. The experiment was trying to find material that would was waterproof. They had several different types of material and poured 50ml of water on the material. After a certain amount of time, they measured how much of the water had dripped into a tray below the cloth. The third picture is of the two girls who presented and their materials.

The second picture is the poster of one of my boys who presented. His experiment was over soil compaction and if compacted soil could soak up as much water as loose soil. He placed some soil in a cup, poured water on top of the soil and used a stop watch to determine how long it took for the water to fall through the soil. Then he took the same amount of soil and compacted it by pressing down on it, poured water on top and used the stopwatch to determine how long it took for the water to fall through the soil.

The final picture is two of my students eating popcorn. A girl, not one of my students, had an experiment to determine which popcorn popped more kernals, Orville Redenbacher or Pop Secret. She popped 5 bags of each for the same amount of time and at the same temperature and then counted the un-popped kernals. As part of the experiment, she brought 6 bags of popcorn in for the conference and the students were able to eat the popcorn.

Overall, the conference went really well. I think the kids enjoyed it and had a good time getting out of class. The kids had to ask at least one question and some of them were asking the same questions as others or asking questions that were just answered in the powerpoint. I noticed this and used it as a learning experience today in class. I asked the students if they noticed that the questions were being repeated, only phrased differently and how some questions were answered less than 30 seconds before they were asked?

Many of the students, both presenters and non-presenters, noticed this. The presenters said it was annoying answering the same question several times and being asked a question they had just given an answer for 30 seconds ago. I told the students that they now have a sense of some of the frustrations that teachers go through. Some of the students understood this, some of them didn't. It was good to open their minds to a different perspective.

Aaron

Burned Out

Its official, the third quarter is long and has taken a toll on me. I am pretty burned out from the whole quarter without a break. Not to mention the beginning of MEDO classes and trying to get started on exhibits. I truly think that next year will be much easier. At least I hope so. I feel that I am putting a lot of hours into this semester and its wearing me out. Comparing this semester to last semester I feel I am spending more time on the students and what they need. I recall giving the lesson last semester and then sitting at my desk getting work done and trying to stay caught up.

This semester I am giving the lesson and then answering questions and walking around making sure the students understand the concepts. This is good and I think it is improving the students attitude as well as my teaching skills, but it is definitely taking time away from preparing for classes and getting things completed. I have been in the last few weekends to get caught up on stuff for classes. Not that I enjoy going in on the weekends, but I don't have much choice. I have to do that to keep up with everything. Hopefully that will change soon. We have a long weekend coming up in early April and then I get a week off to come home. After that its just another month and then the year is over.

We do have the other half of our Thai cultural workshop this Saturday. I will write more about that later and send a copy of the report that I have to complete for that.

I've always been told the first few years are the hardest and most difficult for teachers. Hopefully that is the case and things will become easier as my career goes on.

Aaron

Lesson That Bombed

Today, I tried a discovery activity with my 6th graders that required them to make a few connections with previous information they have learned about. Unfortunately, it failed miserably and I am concerned about how this will affect the students mentally. We were starting a lesson on the area of a circle and we had just discussed the area of a parallelogram.

I took a circle and cut it up into pie pieces, then placed them next to each other with opposite orientation (imagine the sides of two pie pieces running along each other, with the point from one piece touching the crust from another piece, then continuing that pattern, first piece points down, second piece points up, third piece points down, etc.).

By doing this, we form was resembles a parallelogram. The height is the radius of the circle and the base (or length) is half the circumference of the circle. From here, I tried to get them to see relationships and justify how we can derive the equation of a circle from this method. I even put all the equations they needed up on the board. But the students had a hard time seeing that if C=pi*r^2 in one equation, they could replace 'C' in another equation with pi*r^2. I tried and tried to get them to see it, but they just could not make the relationship.

I spent the whole class and all I got was a glazed look and many students saying they did not understand. There actually were a few students who said they understood what was happening, but most of them did not. However, most of the one's who did not understand were the weaker students and they often give me a confused look. I am beginning to think that it was to early for these students to see this type of activity. With the reactions to this activity, I feel they are not ready for understanding the reasoning behind where equations come from and how we develop them.

Now I am forced with a decision.

1. The activity is not something the students need for the lesson. Really all they need is to plug numbers into the equation and solve. So they really do not need to understand this activity to complete the homework. So if they were completely lost during this activity, which many of them were, it is not necessary for the completion of the lesson or quiz.

2. Part of the problem that these students had with making these connections is that they have not had to do that in the past. It has always been, "here's an equation, plug numbers into it and get a number back." If I accept this and move on without trying to clear up the activity, I am not helping them develop critical thinking and abstract thinking skills. However, I feel I could spend another two days on this activity and many of them would still not understand.

As of right now, my goal is to have the students come in tomorrow and make two circles with a compass, one to cut out and one to keep as a circle. Then I am going to have the students complete the same activity and hopefully they will be able to see relationships if they are actually engaged in the activity. If this doesn't work, then I guess it doesn't work and I will have to accept it.

At the end of the lesson, I was very discouraged. I wasn't sure if it was something I was doing or if 6th grade is too young, developmentally, to comprehend this activity. If its the case of development, then its still something they need to be introduced to because its going to show up later, so why not now.

As a side note, I have been extremely busy the last few weeks and feel that I need a break. I have spent the last 4 free Saturdays in the school working, prepping or grading for about 4 hours at a time. I feel that I am having a hard time keeping up and can't get ahead. I will say that I have also noticed that I am giving more time to working with the students, instead of presenting the lesson and then working on other things. I am presenting the lesson and then walking around and clarifying things with students. This is taking time from me working on class activities, but hopefully it will help the students in the long run.

Aaron

Staff Meeting

We have staff meetings every Thursday after school. Recently, that has been focused towards our WASC Accredidation, which is coming up very soon. So its been rather lengthy and busy with all of that going on. One thing I noticed is that many of the teachers have difficult time settling down and listening to the principal when he needs them to pay attention and is saying something important.

I find this very ironic because I'm sure that all of these teachers have experienced this aspect with students not settling down and paying attention in class. The teachers probably complain and make a big deal about the whole situation. The problem is that many of these teachers are the same way and cannot settle down. The irony in that is amazing to me. When placed in a similar setting, teachers revert back to the same actions that upset them so much when performed by their students.

Aaron

BTN Conference

Attended the Bangkok Teacher's Network Conference today with some other teachers from school. It was at a school called Bangkok Patana, which is a British curriculum school and is absolutely amazing. Its really not far from where ASB is located, but it has several soccer fields, 3 swimming pools and about 5 basketball facilities. The school is absolutely amazing to start with.

The conference was good. It started with students being keynote speakers and that was a little scripted, so I did enjoy it so much. The students were doing their best, but for the most part you could tell they were coached on what to say and other aspects of the speach. The most interesting and best student speaker was an 11 year old girl. The others seemed snobbish and spoiled.

I attended three different sessions. The first was over Multiple Intelligences and how to utilize them in the classroom. As you probably remember, this is an important subject for me and something I truly believe in. So this was a good session. Coming out of this session, I almost felt that I need to do more in my classroom. The goal is always to reach every student and ensure that each student understands the subject matter. However, the problem is creating lessons that allow that to happen. Thats the challenge.

The second session was over SmartBoard technology, which I was very interested in. Unfortunately, this one was possibly the worst one. All the information was things I already knew and could not currently apply because I do not have a SmartBoard. The session was really a very basic introduction and nothing special. It would have been nice to have some more examples. The presenter did go over a few places to find applets and stuff like that, but it still was not as good as I was expecting.

The last session was run by a Mathematician from a University in England. He was not a teacher, so he didn't have experience in working with kids. He did have experience working with college-aged students and his session covered the issues he noticed in college-aged math students, what they struggle with. Pretty much, it was the same things I find my kids struggling with, fractions and word problems. On top of that, he didn't have solutions for how to fix these problems, just that the students were weak in these areas.

I also found this session a little different because he was saying that he has math majors who are struggling with these aspects of math. My understanding is if they are in University, they should have this knowledge already (though in my past experiences, I have noticed that this is not always the case). But on top of this, he said this was something found in math majors, which to me is a red flag for either the quality of their educational advising team, allowing or placing students in a math major who do not have the basic knowledge, or their quality of students as a whole.

I did miss a few sessions that I heard were really good and would have liked to go to, but I went to the last two sessions. But that happens with every conference that I attend. My overall thoughts on the conference were that it was good. I go into these conferences with the attitude that if I can take one thing from this, if I can learn one thing from this conference, then it was worth it. After today, I felt like I need to do more for my students and reach out to them more. Hopefully this will give me a little more energy in the classroom as well. I have been feeling tired and unmotivated as of late. I hope this little conference will change that and give me a little jolt of energy.

Aaron

Math Club

We had our first math club meeting on Monday after school. A total of three students showed up for the meeting. It actually went really well. I bought some candy and chips and the kids really enjoyed the snacks. I gave them a problem of the week and they looked at it for a while and then came up with some ideas, but nothing concrete. I did have one student ask me for the problem of the week before Math Club. She can't stay after school on Monday's, so she is going to ask for the problem of the week before the club.

I did give the problem to some of the other students in class and I think it generated a lot of interest. We'll see how many kids show up. I'm not sure there will be many more this coming Monday, but we'll see. The word has gotten out that we are going to have snacks and possibly a Pizza Party sometime, which would definately bring the students into the club.

After looking at the problem of the week for a little while, we decided to play a game called tangram, where the kids are given different polygons and must complete certain puzzles or create certain objects using those pieces. Its a good way to develop problem solving and logical thinking. I think the kids really enjoyed that, so it may be a good activity to continue.

Overall, I thought it went really well. I think I'm going to continue to focus the problem of the week on Geometry because that is one of my favorite subjects and the kids need to be able to develop relationships between objects and spatial reasoning.

Aaron

Detention

Recently, I have instituted a new policy for students who have not come to my class prepared or who have been caught speaking languages other than English. For these students, they must come to my classroom during the 20 minute break and at the beginning of lunch and spend the time working on a worksheet, usually involving fractions and decimals. The other part of the policy that I have instituted is that if they do not finish the worksheet they must return everyday until they do complete it. On top of that, they must have every single problem correct, and I will return it to them until they do have them all correct.

I know, a little mean, but these kids need to understand several things,

1. They need to come to class prepared. If they do not, there will be consequences.

2. They must be responsible for their decisions ans take responsibility for the results of their decisions.

3. They really need to learn how to work with fractions and decimals. Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, etc. This is a major week part for many of my students. So by having them come in a practice, they will hopefully improve this aspect.

So far, in the week or so that I have instituted this policy, I have had a full class for both lunch and the break. I have 16 desks set up in the room and they have all been full. This is a pain for me because it takes from my lunch time, but hopefully it will solve problems down the road. I'm hoping that the students who are coming into detention realize that its not fun and they don't want to be there again. That way they do what they need to do and come to class prepared and I don't have to worry about them anymore.

I have no idea if the policy is working or not, since its so early and new. But I already know that there are students who already owe me two worksheets worth of detentions. So you know, each worksheet has about 25 problems and my experience is that it has taken most students about 3 partial lunch bells to complete it correctly. Like I said, it will be nice when these kids figure out how to come to class prepared.

Aaron

Ok, picture time and explanation. First, I apologize for not sharing more pictures on here. The internet at my previous apartment was very slow and took forever to upload pictures, hence the reason there are not many.

So, I needed to have some alterations done on some clothes of mine. A tie was coming apart on the small end, the cuff on a pair of my slacks was losing thread and I have some holes in the pockets of some of my shorts. I asked a few people at school where I should go and they said that you can go people on the street who have sewing machines. They will fix it for cheap right then and there. Well, I was riding my bike to the store today and I just happened to pass on such sewing machine person. When I got back home, I decided to take the clothes down there and have him fix them.

From what I saw, he did a bang up job. Didn't take long and it only cost me 40Baht for all three items, which is a little over $1, about $1.30 or so. I had a camera with me so I figured I'd take a picture. He said it was alright and here is what he looks like. I'm not sure who the guy in the background is. He was giving me a dirty look the whole time like I was some crazy, dumb tourist or something. Little does he know that I live here. So I am a crazy, dumb local. The sewing guys was really interested in the camera and picture. I think I may print it out, frame it and give it to him. He did such a good job and I'm sure that he would appreciate it. I would doubt if this guy has any pictures of himself at all.

As the title suggests, the other two pictures show the Dichotomy of Rich and Poor in Bangkok. In the foreground is an abandond lot that is currently being occupied by who I would guess were construction workers. Yes, people live in those make-shift houses that are nothing more than metal siding nailed to posts. I'm not even sure the posts are stuck in the ground or not. The wind here is not that bad, so it may be that they are simply standing on the ground. But, if they are construction workers, I'm sure they probably know how to build a structurally sound building. At least I would hope.

In the background, you see several of the thousands of condo buildings in Bangkok. Very plush, very extravagent and probably too expensive for even me to live in. However, someone is living there, overlooking the poor people below them. Like I said, tin houses and high society right next to each other. And everyone seems to accept their place.

So you know, the construction workers probably make about 7,000-8,000 Baht per month. Also, so you know, I make more than that in 4 days. They are forced to live in places like this because they can't afford anything else. To me its rather sad. Also, wait staff make about the same amount of money. If you give a 20 Baht tip (60 cents or so), they are so grateful because that will probably feed them for a meal, maybe two if they know where to go. I am starting to see how many of these girls end up in the sex industry.

They may be young and working at a legit place and maybe going to school. A server (not a bar girl), 7-11 or a fast food place (which are considered good jobs for someone out of high school, high school kids never work at these places). But they see their friends with a new cell phone (or something else like that) and being taken to nice restaurants and treated nicely by some white man who has the money to spend, and these girls want that too, but at their current job they can't afford it. They can barely afford to survive, let alone treat themselves to nice amenaties of the world.

So they quit their legit job and school and then go to work at one of these places as a bar girl (so you know, bar girls probably make more money than most college graduates). She's making good money and having a lot of sex.

Its funny how the sociology of the culture over here is actually forcing the hand of girls entering the sex industry. You may not agree with the fact that these girls are forced into the industry, but 7,000 Baht is $200, for one month. Even though its cheap to live over here, its not that cheap. These girls are trying to improve their lives and the lives of their family, but at what cost???


Aaron

Parent Meeting

I had a parent meeting with one of my most challenging students yesterday. This student has been a pain in the neck for the past month or so and we have butted heads many times. Most of this comes from this student being a drama queen and always speaking about how spoiled he is. There are some other personal issues with this particular student, but that is not for me to speak about.

I will say that this student has been very disrespectful and disruptive in class. I have held him after school many times because he decided to not work in class. One day, I had to kick him out of class because he wouldn't stop laughing. After class, I spoke with him and he didn't feel like listening so he started to walk away in the middle of my conversation. I got mad and yelled at him. That night I received a phone call from the father, saying we need to have a meeting. This is an Indian family and the father was very strong with his words and it was hard for me to get a few words in over the phone. In my short time dealing with Indians, it is my experience that they are very forceful with their words and often viewed as rude since they interrupt often and try to have their voice heard.

I had expected this meeting to be a very difficult one, based on my conversation with the father over the phone and my interactions with the student. Also, I had found out that the mother had been in to have meetings about the student before (since other teachers have had problems with him) and nothing seems to come from those meetings. In fact, Simon said that he has never met the father in the year and a half he has been at the school. I'm not sure if its a good thing that I brought the father in or not, but at least he is involved with what is happening and what his son is doing.

I was aware that this student has been causing problems in other classes as well and he is very spoiled. I have had to take two different cell phones away from him over the course of two days, one five minutes after the other. Also, several times I have had to advise him that mentioning how much his 5 maids do for him (clean up after him, make his bed, pack his bag, etc.) is not always a good thing, even in the culture at the school of well-off students. So there are some issues with this student and definitely a sense of entitlement.

Like I said, I had notes and was ready to defend myself with tooth and nail, because I thought this was going to be an attack on me. I had Simon in the meeting with us and allowed the student to say a few things. The student and the mother were on the attack a little, but not as bad as I thought. The mother said a few things about what was happening in my class (or what her son was telling her was happening) and I quickly disagreed with those statements. Not that I was rude, but she was not on the attack as much. The student was a little more on the offensive, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Overall, he felt that I was treating him unfairly compared to the other students, letting some go to the bathroom while I didn't let him go a few days earlier. I did take this personally, but was not too upset about it because I felt it was the only way the student knew how to defend the meeting and his actions.

As the meeting progressed, I had mentioned a few times that I may have been harder on the student because of expectations and amount of effort put into my class. The other students are working when I ask them, this student is not. However, I did not have to say everything I was expecting to say because the father was actually coming down on the student and taking control of the situation. This also made the mother more humble and quiet, and she didn't have much else to say once the father began scolding the son for some behavior problems. Which again, I feel led to the student attacking me more as a defense mechanism.

Overall, it was a good meeting. I think we did get some things out in the open and I am extremely happy the father was able to make it in for the meeting. My goal was to make sure that all people involved were at the meeting and there was no miscommunication. I think I achieved this during the meeting.

I did have a few meetings with the parent of another difficult child earlier and the mother was very supportive and scolding of the child's actions. It is refreshing to know that to this point, the parents I have had to deal with have been very supportive. I have heard horror stories about parents taking the side of the student and not agreeing with the parent. I'm sure I will run into this in the future ( I actually already have with the mother of this student), but for now, I'm happy with the supportive parents I have been dealing with.

Aaron

Good Year For Math

Our principal just returned from 3 weeks back home in America and Canada going to job fairs and recruiting teachers for next year. I spoke with him a little about it and he said that this year math teachers were having a hard time finding jobs, whereas English teachers were able to write their ticket where ever they wanted. This is unusual, because math teachers are usually the ones who have the upper hand on all of this. Last year, at the job fair, there were about 1,000 jobs available and about 650 teachers. Simon said this year there were 1,000 teachers and about 650 jobs. He said the economy is absolutely horrible and so many people are wanting to come overseas to teach, or need to come overseas because they are getting laid off or afraid of getting laid off.

I guess I chose a good year to come over and start my international teaching. It would be really hard to go through the whole interview process and job fair to not come away with something. I think Simon did a really good job over there. I know he is working towards changing the attitude of the school and I think he is trying to bring in the type of people that will help that.

Speaking of the attitude of the school, I actually discussed my concerns about connecting with the students and taking the failures personally. Simon reassured me that this was normal and I should not take these aspects so personal. He said some of it is due to the culture of the students that we have, who have maids and do not have to lift a finger for the rest of their lives if they do not want to. I know that has something to do with it, but it still is difficult to remove myself from the situation and not take it personal. It is something I think I am going to have to learn how to adjust to, else my education career is going to be a very difficult and challenging experience.

I also had a meeting with the parents of a student who I have been struggling with over the last few weeks. Simon was in the meeting with me and I will discuss that meeting in another post tomorrow. The meeting went better than expected and the father was supportive, despite my concerns.

Aaron

Math Club and Frustration

I have decided to start a Math Club at the school. This is mainly going to be geared towards my middle school students who want to learn a little more about math and find some interesting things that are math related that they may not have known about. I thought about this after seeing my strongest 8th graders become bored after slowing the pace of the class considerably so the more challenged students have a chance to succeed. I used to cover 1 section per day in that class, but now I'm covering a section in about 3 days or so.

There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that some of the students in that class cannot handle the faster pace (or Algebra at all). So I tried to slow the pace and break the sections into smaller sections, teaching one concept at a time and giving them practice on that concept. It has had some mixed results, but overall I think it is working (I do feel sorry for some of those kids because they don't have an option but to take Algebra, there is no other math class in 8th grade, I remember when I was in 8th grade, Algebra was the most advanced class and there were 2 classes below that, but due to the size of the school, these kids don't have that option).

Well, I offered a little extra practice to the strongest kids in 8th grade, saying that it would help them down the road and I feel that if they kept the pace they are currently at, with no additional challenges, they would only be hindering their mathematical progress. After thinking about it, I decided that I shouldn't limit it to just those students. So I decided to tell all my classes about it. Not sure how many will be showing up, but its going to start on Monday of next week, February 23. I'm thinking about giving a problem of the week and rewarding the first person to give me a correct answer, with full explanation, possibly with candy or something. I really hope this gets the kids a little more excited in math. My supervising teacher in the TTT program was the head of the math club, so I may email him and get some ideas as to how he handles the club.

I voiced some frustration to the school counselor this morning. I honestly do not feel that I connect with these kids as well as I did back home and I feel that I am not doing a very good job as an educator because I don't feel they are learning very much from me. I get very frustrated and take a lot of this personally because I feel it is a reflection of my teaching ability. I remember the great teachers I had in the past and I want to be like them, someone who inspires students to achieve their best, someone who makes things interesting and connects with students. I do not feel that I am succeeding in many of these aspects this year. I don't feel my students are very motivated and I feel that it is my job to motivate them, but I am not getting out of them what I expect.

The counselor just told me that he thinks a lot of this has to do with the fact that we have a heavy population of "well-off" students who don't care about school and who will eventually get a job somewhere or marry into another rich family and not having to worry about anything. That could be true, and it would explain why I am having difficulty connecting with so many of the students. Growing up in SE Indiana, I had to work for what I was given, everyday of my life I had chores to do and something to complete. These kids don't have that, and its a totally different culture. I did speak with the middle school science teacher and she admitted that she is having a little difficult time connecting with the students as well, compared to back home. That makes me feel better, but part of me still feels that I should be doing more, making more of a difference in the lives of these kids. Inspiring them to want more and try harder.

When I don't see this happening, I feel that I am failing them as a teacher and I do take it very personally. There are a lot of things that could play into this (I'm a new teacher, different culture, might not be as bad as I think it is) but its still hard to accept the fact that these kids are not changing their attitudes.

I did have to institute a new policy for some of the students who were not coming to class prepared. If they don't come to class prepared, they have lunch detention in my room and they have a worksheet they must complete. I held 4 students after lunch for about 20 minutes today, and they didn't finish the worksheet so they will be back tomorrow. The worksheets are over decimals and fractions, things all my students need help on, so its some practice. Hopefully this will teach them responsibility as well as some math on top of that. We'll see how well this practice comes about.

Aaron

Sports Day

We had a sports day on Wednesday and overall it went well. We traveled to the other campus which has more space and is out of the city a little. The first problem we had was of our high school students, only about 5-6 actually showed up. We don't have a huge high school, but there are about 80-100 students, maybe. For that few to show up is embarrassing. I guess they thought they did not have to come. Probably didn't want to get sweaty. What was the worst part about it is the other campus had almost 100% attendance. I was embarrassed for our campus. But I definately feel there are differences in the students at the two campuses.

The students at the other campus seem to have more school pride than our students. I'm not sure why this is, but I feel it is due to a combination of different type of students along with a staff that is more proud of the school. Since my campus is downtown, there are a few teachers there who are teaching just so they can make enough money for late night extracurriculars (I'm pretty sure you know what this means, but if not I can elaborate later). These teachers really don't have much school pride and are happy being at a school that isn't very strict with them and their teaching style. Its similar to what is seen at schools back home in the states, teachers arrive at school as late as they can and leave as early as they can. The only difference is that back home the teachers are still working to pay for a house or a car. Here, they are working to pay for their social activities.

A lot of the kids had a bad attitude going into sports day. They were saying that its not that fun and they don't want to go. The effort put forth by some of these students throughout the day was less than inspiring as well. I couldn't help but be upset with how lazy some of the students are, which is somewhat of a cultural and somewhat of a socio-economic characteristic. These kids have a sense of entitlement that they have never had to really work for anything. So when we try to get them to come out and exert some physical strength, they don't feel like it and the effort shows.

I know back home, sports day was the best day of the year. I loved sports day. It was a day to take off of school and run around doing what kids do; run, jump and be loud. It was great. Here, its more of a burden and a hassle than anything else. I did get some pictures from this day, and I will send them after the fair pictures are completed.

I was speaking with another teacher at lunch the other day and he made a very good point about the sense of entitlement these students have. He said, "If I had maids cleaning up after me and taking care of everything for me, how would I know any different. I would probably act the same way because someone was always doing things for me and I didn't have to do anything for myself."

This made me step back and think about the lives of these students. The most frustrating thing for me this year has been the constant fight to motivate these students and the constant complaining to get them to do anything. Yes, this is something that all teachers must face, but I notice it so much more over here than back in the states. Having heard this quote from the teacher, it does make sense that these students have poor work ethics because they have never been held responsible for anything they have done before.

I'm trying to teach my students a little responsibility in the class, not just math. I had a philosophy on coaching that went something like this, "If that only thing my athletes learn from me is how to run faster or jump farther/higher, then I have failed them." I feel the same way about my classes. If all these students learn from me is how to add or subtract numbers better, then I have failed them.

One way I'm trying to teach them responsibility is through a group project I had my 6th graders complete last week. I graded them and 2 of the 4 groups scored less than 50%, the other two groups were about a 75% and 80%, so the grades were not great. I gave them the grades and told them I would like them to write a reflection on the project and the group activity. They don't know this, but if the reflection is strong, I am going to change the project grades so that it does not negatively affect their grades. I wanted them to know the grade as a shock value and see what they wrote in the reflection, to know how they really felt.

I want them to know that sometimes with groups, the workload is not fair and they need to be responsible to ensure that everything is getting done and completed to the standard needed. Some students did more work than the others in their group, some accepted what others did and did not check the work. The result was a grade that was lower than they expected. I want them to think about this and tell me what their thoughts are on the project. Hopefully, they will grow a little and realize some things outside of the realm of mathematics from this reflection.

If one student can learn an important lesson from this project and reflection, then it was well worth it. I know, a little long, but I had a lot of stuff to talk about.

Aaron

Chinese Culture

I had a meeting with the mother of two of my students the other night. They are either Chinese or Taiwanese, I'm not sure which one. The father is no longer around so its just the mother. The boy is in 7th grade and the girl is in 6th grade. The boy isn't too bad, he does need to be straightened out a little, but overall he is not bad. The girl is a little trouble-maker and I have to keep a constant radar on her and what she is doing.

The reason I called the meeting is because both of them had dropped their grade in my class dramatically over the course of about 2-4 weeks. By dramatically I mean about 20 percentage points. What bothers me the most is that I emailed the mother because both of them were doing so well, especially the girl, and I wanted her to congratulate them. The girl ended up failing in my class last semester and she had around a 77% when I emailed home. But since the email was sent, her grade began to tank. I was so dissapointed because it was almost like she didn't want to be recognized for doing well.

I simply wanted to call the meeting to bring it to the mothers attention that her children's grades were starting to drop in my class. I thought she had the right to know and felt that I had the duty to tell her. Well, she was more than appreciative and she was very supportive of me, which made me feel good, but one thing she said during the meeting disturbed me.

We had met about the girl before, with other teachers who she has, and some things came out and the mom found out the girl had been lieing about school work and receiving extra help from teachers. During the most recent meeting, the mother said that after the last meeting, she hit the girl. She blatantly came out and said that she beat her after the last meeting, and then she said that it was part of the Chinese culture and she can do that. As if there is nothing wrong with beating your kids.

Now, I believe that kids need to be corrected and I feel spanking is an acceptable form of discipline, if used sparingly and correctly. But the way this mother described it, there was a lot more than spanking involved. But she was very open about it and admitted it without reservation. The special services teacher was in the meeting as well and we talked afterwards. She told me that in America, she would turn her in, but its a different culture over here.

I am shocked at the fact that it is acceptable and that the mother was so open about the beating. But like the special services teacher said, its a different culture and more accepted in Asia. I've actually even heard of Chinese or Taiwanese teachers actually hitting students in class. Not foreign teachers but native teachers.

The main aspect of this that made me feel bad was that the whole evening, I couldn't help but think that me calling the meeting caused that girl (and maybe the boy as well) to get hit that night. All I wanted to do was bring up a concern to the mother, but there were some other things that I brought to her attention (disrupting class, talking to other students, etc.) that I felt she should know about. I felt bad because I know those kids probably got hit when they got home, maybe even before they got home. Not really something I want to be responsible for. It causes me to question how quick I will be to call another meeting with this parent.

Aaron

National Anthem

Every morning, at assembly, the school lines up for the playing of the Thai National Anthem. I did receive an English translation of it earlier in the year, but I do not know what I did with it. One line that did stand out for me is a line about how Thai's are caring and peaceful people but will fight to the death if they need to. I thought this was a rather interesting combination of ideas in one line.

Anyway, the reason this is interesting is I know how big of a discussion it currently is in the US to say the pledge of allegiance, with the word God in the pledge and everything. But over here, there is no problem with standing and honoring the country. There are several underlying ideas here that allow certain things to be the way they are.

1. I mentioned how Americans are lucky and take for granted their freedom of speech. Not that there isn't freedom of speech in Thailand, but I would say that freedom of speech over here depends on the subject of the speech (some may argue this is happening in the states right now as well, which maybe it is, but not to the extent as in Thailand). But it is this freedom of speech that allows Americans and America to essentially tear itself apart and divide the country.

Since America has the right to argue and critic everything, people have formed differing opinions about almost any aspect of life. If someone doesn't agree with something, they usually speak up and argue their case. However, in my opinion, this is allowing for many historical and proud aspects of our culture (such as the pledge of allegiance and religion in schools) to be questioned. Which I think is devaluing our morals and values.

2. Since Thailand has strong socio-economic classes and individuals are not able (or not allowed) to improve upon that, they accept their lives for the way they are. This forces people to not question things. It can be bad, since independent thinking and a desire to improve ones self are not important. It also keeps the power where it currently is in the country.

The positive of this is that no one is questioning the greatness of the country and everyone is very patriotic to the country and the king. They may not always like the PM, but the country and king are always a subject of great loyalty.

I know this post may not be very organized and clear (I have had several students come in and ask questions, thus disrupting the thought process), and I probably missed some things I wanted to say, but what I wanted to describe was this...

The nature of the American society has allowed for more independent thought and freedoms, while also allowing for and leading to a less patriotic and less grateful country as a whole (I think anyone who travels outside of the US will admit that Americans are ungrateful. Thats the way the rest of the world sees us too). On the other hand, the nature of the Thai society has hindered independent thought and self-improvement while preserving the loyalty to king and country.

A double-edged sword in many aspects.

As a final thought to this, can you truly miss out on something if you never experienced it in the first place?

Aaron

Bargaining at the Night Market

I went to the night market tonight after going to mass. It was the Sunday Evening, or as one of my friends from IU would say, the "last chance" mass. The night market was rather slow tonight. I think it is a combination of several things.

1. It was Sunday night and there aren't as many people out at the night market as on other nights.

2. I went fairly early, 6:30 or so. The night market opens about 6pm and closes about midnight. So many people probably won't even show up until later.

3. With all the problems from the last few months, tourism is down and I think this is hurting the markets and other aspects of Bankok's economy.

I did pick up some Thai silk and a wooden elephant, both of which I had to bargain for. This is something that I am rather uncomfortable with, since I don't enjoy haggling or arguing over price. I would rather see a price, pay it and move on. But they tell me that bargaining at the night market is expected, so I engaged in some bargaining.

I'm not sure if I got a good deal or if they still took me for a ride, but I do know that I talked down the lady selling the silk from about 4oo Baht for two pieces to 225 Baht. Again, its possible that I overpaid with that still, but I feel I did alright with the bargaining there. It translates to about a $5 difference.

For the elephant, I'm pretty sure they still got a steal off of me. They were asking 250 Baht and I talked them down to 175 Baht. A couple dollar difference, but I still think I paid a little too much for that item. Still, its not like it was really expensive anyway.

It was interesting seeing all the vendors and activity, as slow as the market was. There was a stage with performances, a beer gardens with food vendors set up all over the place. I could imagine the place would probably be really busy at times, but this was not the time. I will email the pictures to Dr. Cheryl and send the items through the mail.

Aaron

ESL

Obviously, our school has a high percentage of ESL students, which makes teaching a little challenging at times. Honestly, I do not believe I am doing enough in my class personally to adapt to the high number of ESL students. I do try to make certain modifications, but overall I am not sure I am doing enough. I speak to some of the other teachers and here what they are doing and it makes me wonder if I am doing enough.

However, I will say that the middle school science teacher did give certain ESL students the exact copy of one of the exams, went over the questions and answers with some of these kids and they still failed. Hearing this, I am not sure if more modifications would help the situation. On a similar note, the language of mathematics is rather universal and tranverses languages. I have had a few ESL students who could barely speak English at all and they come into my class and ace an exam mainly because they are smart and they have practiced the problems before.

I have noticed that I must slow my speach down considerably. At times I will catch myself speaking as if I were teaching a group of Indiana students and running syllables together. Teaching at an international school has definitely forced me to be knowledgable about my annunciation.

Aaron

Sukhumvit Fair

We had our big school fair this past weekend, the Sukhumvit Fair. It was a really good time. There were a lot of tents set up with food vendors and games for the kids. My job was the late shift MC. I had a lot of fun with that and received a lot of compliments for the job I did. Pretty much, I was on the main stage talking in between the acts by the kids and other people. A lot of the performances by our kids were really good. I was shocked and very proud of the ones who went up on stage.

I also found it very interesting that they had beer stands at the event. The fact that people, let alone teachers, can drink alcohol on school grounds blows my mind. But for everyone there, it was no big deal. After the first shift of teachers was done with their duty, they just gathered around a table and started throwing them back. Kids running all over the place as if its no big deal. Definitely a cultural difference, because I would never imagine drinking alcohol at school or in the presence of students and their parents.

We had a in-service day the Friday before the fair. Teachers from both campuses were there to help set-up and get prepared for the fair the following day. Our school service staff also showed up and helped set-up for the fair. By service staff, I am talking about the people who work in the copy room, supply room and secretaries. It would be similar to the secretaries and book store workers back home.

The one difference was the teachers were allowed to go home around 2 or so, while the service staff stuck around and continued to work well past that. I'm not sure what time they finished, but I imagine it was late. I do know that these individuals often come in on Saturdays and work as well. In fact, during our 3-week Christmas break, the service staff only received 1 or 2 days off work.

If I were part of the service staff, I would get really upset at the teachers for not putting as much time and for having to come in on Saturdays. But that is part of the culture over here. They are told by someone above them (socially, economically or in their job) to do something and they don't argue. I have come in on Saturday to get some work done and I sometimes see them sitting around not doing much of anything. Not that they are lazy, but because there is nothing to do with no teachers or students around.

I truly think part of the reason they have to come in on Saturdays and work such long hours is because by making them do this, the people 'above' them can maintain the social order that is established. It may seem far-fetched, but I believe that it is a way of controlling a lower class. By forcing them to work those long hours and many days, the upper-class is in a way, keeping them in their place and not allowing them to search for avenues to improve their social or economic status, either through education or job searching.

I have no research basis for this, but its simply theory that has come to me through my observations.

Aaron