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
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
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
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
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Young School
After speaking with the schools Communications Director, Paul, I discovered that the High School part of our campus is very young. The school itself has been around for 25 years, but it was always an elementary school and not necessarily a high school. Paul told me that last years graduating class was the first class to go all 4 years of high school through ASB at the Sukhumvit campus.
From my understanding, the parents of the students in the elementary school asked if the school could include a 7th grade one year so they could keep their kids at the Sukhumvit campus, which has a good location in the downtown area. The parents repeated this annually and eventually the school developed a high school. The main reason is that the parents did not want to send their kids out to the Bangna Campus, which is a little bit farther out from the city.
Having heard this, I can understand now how the school can be having some issues and why certain aspects of the school are the way they are. I had thought the high school was much older than it is, but this new information makes sense now. It also would explain why the elementary classes are very large and the middle school and high school classes are much smaller. I've been told that the students will come to ASB for the elementary program and then go to another school for middle school and high school, due to the fact that we have a strong elementary program and it can prepare students for speaking and studying English.
I also believe that there are going to be problems with any school that has high turnover like ASB has (which is actually an issue not just at ASB, but at any International School). The contracts are two years long and many people will put in their two years and then go back home or to another International School. This creates problems with communication and developing a consistent educational setting.
Our principal is an example of this. He came here on a two year contract from Canada and is going to complete that contract at the end of this year. He has done some great things at the school and helped develop the high school program into a more reputable and challenging setting. My concern is what happens when he leaves? Will the new person just come in and change everything and the school start all over? I was talking with Paul about this and told him the turnover would not be as big of an issue as long as their is communication between the people leaving and those coming in.
As long as the people coming to the school knew, this is where we were, this is what we've been doing and here are our goals that we had established, I think the transition would be much smoother. Now, I understand that everyone is going to have their own spin on things and ideas of how to handle certain aspects of the educational setting and environment, which is fine. But as long as there was some consistency between these transitions, the school would still be able to thrive.
I have already decided that when I leave, I am going to ask for the contact information for the teacher coming in so I can introduce them to the school and the students a little. Not that I want to tell them how to teach, but I just want to give them an introduction as to what I found works well, what I've found does not work well and some information about certain students or classes. I'm assuming the person coming in to replace me will be a brand new teacher right out of college. The new teachers at ASB are usually straight out of college. I think the teacher will appreciate this information, I know I would have.
Aaron
From my understanding, the parents of the students in the elementary school asked if the school could include a 7th grade one year so they could keep their kids at the Sukhumvit campus, which has a good location in the downtown area. The parents repeated this annually and eventually the school developed a high school. The main reason is that the parents did not want to send their kids out to the Bangna Campus, which is a little bit farther out from the city.
Having heard this, I can understand now how the school can be having some issues and why certain aspects of the school are the way they are. I had thought the high school was much older than it is, but this new information makes sense now. It also would explain why the elementary classes are very large and the middle school and high school classes are much smaller. I've been told that the students will come to ASB for the elementary program and then go to another school for middle school and high school, due to the fact that we have a strong elementary program and it can prepare students for speaking and studying English.
I also believe that there are going to be problems with any school that has high turnover like ASB has (which is actually an issue not just at ASB, but at any International School). The contracts are two years long and many people will put in their two years and then go back home or to another International School. This creates problems with communication and developing a consistent educational setting.
Our principal is an example of this. He came here on a two year contract from Canada and is going to complete that contract at the end of this year. He has done some great things at the school and helped develop the high school program into a more reputable and challenging setting. My concern is what happens when he leaves? Will the new person just come in and change everything and the school start all over? I was talking with Paul about this and told him the turnover would not be as big of an issue as long as their is communication between the people leaving and those coming in.
As long as the people coming to the school knew, this is where we were, this is what we've been doing and here are our goals that we had established, I think the transition would be much smoother. Now, I understand that everyone is going to have their own spin on things and ideas of how to handle certain aspects of the educational setting and environment, which is fine. But as long as there was some consistency between these transitions, the school would still be able to thrive.
I have already decided that when I leave, I am going to ask for the contact information for the teacher coming in so I can introduce them to the school and the students a little. Not that I want to tell them how to teach, but I just want to give them an introduction as to what I found works well, what I've found does not work well and some information about certain students or classes. I'm assuming the person coming in to replace me will be a brand new teacher right out of college. The new teachers at ASB are usually straight out of college. I think the teacher will appreciate this information, I know I would have.
Aaron
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Cooperative Learning???
I decided to put the classes in groups this semester. For the most part, it is having very positive results. However, there are a few instances where the students are not utilizing each other to help complete the assignments. If there is a group with 3 girls and 1 boy, the boy says absolutely nothing. This is the case in my 6th grade class. I'm working on ways to get around that and solve this issue.
But I have seen certain student's grades jump since the beginning of the young semester. Hopefully this trend will continue.
I am currently evaluating the pacing of my Algebra class. The 8th graders as a whole are very weak and I believe that most of them should not be in Algebra. What is the most frustrating is the fact that many of them give up when they see a word problem. They don't even write down the information that is given to them. So, I am going to break the sections down into more detailed sections. Explain part of the lesson and have the students practice that concept on a few problems, then present another aspect and have them practice that.
Finally, I am going to spend a day on the word problems in the lesson. But this time, rather than have me work the problems I am going to call the students up to the board one at a time and have them write down the information that they get from the problem. That way, they are force to at least write down what the problem gives them.
Too often, I have asked students questions and all they say is, "I don't understand." Then I start asking leading questions and they give me the same response. I think that class is very dependent and needs to be forced to figure things out for themselves.
Aaron
But I have seen certain student's grades jump since the beginning of the young semester. Hopefully this trend will continue.
I am currently evaluating the pacing of my Algebra class. The 8th graders as a whole are very weak and I believe that most of them should not be in Algebra. What is the most frustrating is the fact that many of them give up when they see a word problem. They don't even write down the information that is given to them. So, I am going to break the sections down into more detailed sections. Explain part of the lesson and have the students practice that concept on a few problems, then present another aspect and have them practice that.
Finally, I am going to spend a day on the word problems in the lesson. But this time, rather than have me work the problems I am going to call the students up to the board one at a time and have them write down the information that they get from the problem. That way, they are force to at least write down what the problem gives them.
Too often, I have asked students questions and all they say is, "I don't understand." Then I start asking leading questions and they give me the same response. I think that class is very dependent and needs to be forced to figure things out for themselves.
Aaron
Monday, January 12, 2009
MEDO and Athletic Events
Just started MEDO classes this past week. I am a little stressed about the whole thing right now, but I'm sure it will get better. The main thing that upsets me is the fact that I missed the whole weekend with the fact that I do not have internet at my new apartment yet. I didn't get on the internet at all and the instructor put information on blackboard Friday morning (over here). Some of the activities were due on Sunday night at midnight. Since I didn't log on until Monday morning (back home), I guess I'm going to be a little late on some things.
My responsibility, I just know what to expect now. Also, the time difference is a little of an issue. It might take a couple of weeks to adjust to when things are going to be posted and when they are due.
One aspect of the school that I recently thought was interesting, and it must be for all of Thailand as well, is the fact that many of the athletic activities take place during school hours. Our campus does not have many athletic teams, but the ones we do have play their games during class time. I thought this was interesting because I never saw this take place back home.
Also, being a coach, I have noticed that not many kids participate in the athletic teams of the school. I see these teams a great way to improve school pride. However, many of the students are not active in these teams and I feel the school pride suffers from that. There is a new PE teacher who does a lot of coaching and he has been doing a good job of building this up, but overall I would say the school pride here is weaker than I have experienced back home.
Aaron
My responsibility, I just know what to expect now. Also, the time difference is a little of an issue. It might take a couple of weeks to adjust to when things are going to be posted and when they are due.
One aspect of the school that I recently thought was interesting, and it must be for all of Thailand as well, is the fact that many of the athletic activities take place during school hours. Our campus does not have many athletic teams, but the ones we do have play their games during class time. I thought this was interesting because I never saw this take place back home.
Also, being a coach, I have noticed that not many kids participate in the athletic teams of the school. I see these teams a great way to improve school pride. However, many of the students are not active in these teams and I feel the school pride suffers from that. There is a new PE teacher who does a lot of coaching and he has been doing a good job of building this up, but overall I would say the school pride here is weaker than I have experienced back home.
Aaron
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Semester
The new semester has been interesting already. First, I have lost a few students who moved back to their home country. I thought some students had moved but then they show up a few days later. Also, I still have a few students who have not shown up yet and no one knows anything about them, if they are coming back or not, that includes fellow students.
I also have several new students in my classes. Its amazing the variation in levels of these students who arrive in my class. Some of them are well beyond the level of the rest of the class while others are well behind. One example is a student from Korea who is actually on a one month break from his school back home. From my understanding, he used to go to ASB, and every break he comes back and goes to school for the month, then returns back to Korea when his school starts up again.
The first day I had him in class, I was moving at my normal pace for the students, and he was answering questions without any leading questions, sometimes as I was writing the problem on the board. I felt happy that I finally had a student who was able to think at a higher level and was willing to talk in class. I do have a few students who can handle this material, Algebra in 8th grade, but they do not say much unless I pry it out of them. This guy is smart and he does not mind answering questions in class. I just chuckle every time he answers my questions because I know it would take the rest of my class about 2 minutes to process what I am saying.
As I say that, I still feel the school is doing these students a great disservice by offering only Algebra as an 8th grade math class. I remember when I was in 8th grade, Algebra was the advanced class and there were two other classes below that. Some of these students cannot handle Algebra at this grade level and no matter how slow I go in the class, they will not understand the material. I am pushing for two tracks starting in 7th grade, but I am not sure I will get it. I think the school is too small allow that and they feel that having two classes which are so small is unnecessary. I can see that a little bit, there is no use in have a class that is very small, but the kids who understand are suffering by going too slow and the kids who don't understand are struggling with the material.
Aaron
I also have several new students in my classes. Its amazing the variation in levels of these students who arrive in my class. Some of them are well beyond the level of the rest of the class while others are well behind. One example is a student from Korea who is actually on a one month break from his school back home. From my understanding, he used to go to ASB, and every break he comes back and goes to school for the month, then returns back to Korea when his school starts up again.
The first day I had him in class, I was moving at my normal pace for the students, and he was answering questions without any leading questions, sometimes as I was writing the problem on the board. I felt happy that I finally had a student who was able to think at a higher level and was willing to talk in class. I do have a few students who can handle this material, Algebra in 8th grade, but they do not say much unless I pry it out of them. This guy is smart and he does not mind answering questions in class. I just chuckle every time he answers my questions because I know it would take the rest of my class about 2 minutes to process what I am saying.
As I say that, I still feel the school is doing these students a great disservice by offering only Algebra as an 8th grade math class. I remember when I was in 8th grade, Algebra was the advanced class and there were two other classes below that. Some of these students cannot handle Algebra at this grade level and no matter how slow I go in the class, they will not understand the material. I am pushing for two tracks starting in 7th grade, but I am not sure I will get it. I think the school is too small allow that and they feel that having two classes which are so small is unnecessary. I can see that a little bit, there is no use in have a class that is very small, but the kids who understand are suffering by going too slow and the kids who don't understand are struggling with the material.
Aaron
Monday, January 5, 2009
Christmas in Thailand
Well, I spend Christmas in Bangkok. Went to midnight mass at the church I've been attending since moving here. I actually got there early on Christmas Eve and sat in on a Thai mass. It was interesting, pretty much the same as an English mass, just a different language. Both masses were packed. I got into a pew in the front of church and they kept cramming more people into the pew. No big deal, that was exactly like being back home.
The main difference was that it was still hot. At midnight mass on Christmas Eve, I'm sweating. I kept playing Christmas Carols on my computer to get me into the mood, but I couldn't help but chuckle every time Bing Crosby came on and told me, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." It doesn't look anything like Christmas over here right now.
I still can't believe all the Christmas decorations over here and the commercialism that has come along with the Holiday. I can understand the commercialism back home (I don't like it, but I understand it), but to have it over here in Bangkok is just ridiculous. I truly believe it has a lot to do with the fact that there are a large number of Westerners over here and most of them have a lot of money (or at least much more money than the average Thai).
Went on a trip to Laos with another teacher right before Christmas. It was a good trip. Laos is extremely cheap and I had a great time. I think we found a place to sleep for about $6 US per night and it wasn't that bad. Hot water, two beds and a fan. It wasn't the most elegant place, but it was all I needed. Came back and stopped at a city in Northern Thailand called Udon Thani. The interesting thing about that city is we were walking around trying to find some food and a political or royal caravan came through and the police shut down all the streets so this person could pass through. Everyone else on the sidewalk just stopped and observed the caravan.
I actually ran into one of these again later during the break after riding my bike around for the day. I didn't realize what was happening until a police officer started blowing his whistle at me and told me to get over. He wasn't really happy with me because I was still riding my bike and not standing on the sidewalk observing the caravan coming through. Honestly, I didn't even know anything was happening. Needless to say, the police officer was a little less hostile towards me when he got closer and saw I was a foreigner.
I haven't had any problem with the police here, but I've heard stories of them pulling people over for no reason, finding something wrong and then threatening to arrest the driver and take them into jail. All the police really want is a little bribe (200 Baht or so) and they move on there way. I can believe this too because I have seen the police lined up on the street and wave drivers over to inspect them for no reason. Its something different.
Aaron
The main difference was that it was still hot. At midnight mass on Christmas Eve, I'm sweating. I kept playing Christmas Carols on my computer to get me into the mood, but I couldn't help but chuckle every time Bing Crosby came on and told me, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." It doesn't look anything like Christmas over here right now.
I still can't believe all the Christmas decorations over here and the commercialism that has come along with the Holiday. I can understand the commercialism back home (I don't like it, but I understand it), but to have it over here in Bangkok is just ridiculous. I truly believe it has a lot to do with the fact that there are a large number of Westerners over here and most of them have a lot of money (or at least much more money than the average Thai).
Went on a trip to Laos with another teacher right before Christmas. It was a good trip. Laos is extremely cheap and I had a great time. I think we found a place to sleep for about $6 US per night and it wasn't that bad. Hot water, two beds and a fan. It wasn't the most elegant place, but it was all I needed. Came back and stopped at a city in Northern Thailand called Udon Thani. The interesting thing about that city is we were walking around trying to find some food and a political or royal caravan came through and the police shut down all the streets so this person could pass through. Everyone else on the sidewalk just stopped and observed the caravan.
I actually ran into one of these again later during the break after riding my bike around for the day. I didn't realize what was happening until a police officer started blowing his whistle at me and told me to get over. He wasn't really happy with me because I was still riding my bike and not standing on the sidewalk observing the caravan coming through. Honestly, I didn't even know anything was happening. Needless to say, the police officer was a little less hostile towards me when he got closer and saw I was a foreigner.
I haven't had any problem with the police here, but I've heard stories of them pulling people over for no reason, finding something wrong and then threatening to arrest the driver and take them into jail. All the police really want is a little bribe (200 Baht or so) and they move on there way. I can believe this too because I have seen the police lined up on the street and wave drivers over to inspect them for no reason. Its something different.
Aaron
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