I am here to... teach.

My sweet ID. 

The red on the flag is the nation, the white is for
Buddhism, and the blue for the monarchy. 

I have been teaching for less than a week at this point. My average class size is about 45 students; high of 52, low of 31. The classroom here in Thailand is very different from that in the States. The teachers here are actually allowed to strike the students. I prefer not to do that. Instead I will employ tactics like jumping jacks and pushups. I can already tell I will have to do this because the kinds can be, as one person put it during orientation, a little "naughty." I think this can mostly be due to the large classes. I teach one lesson a week to 24 separate classes. I teach one lesson to students to get them in the classroom with a native speaker. There has been a government mandate, from what I understand, that all Thai students must be exposed to English because it will soon be the formal language of some Pan Southeast Asia coalition, the official name has slipped my mind. So all students are to take English classes. Students' skills run from very good to none. I am teaching kids who can speak and write well, and then the next class I have students who just sit there. Since I have started less than a week ago, I have taken more then ten phones. These students are not going to zone out while playing on their phones in my class. I only see them one day a week, the least they can do is dedicate 50 minutes to what I am trying to cover. I am not preparing hard lessons. My first lesson consiste of this:


My name is ______. I am from ________. I am _____ years old. I like ______. I do not like ______. 
They were to fill in the blanks and then say it in front of the class. Seems simple enough? 

But don't get me wrong, I am really enjoy the teaching here. The students are a lot of fun. Once they understand that I am in charge and if they actually do the lessons, I will try to make them fun for them. Large classes aside, I am really enjoying what I am doing. (A side note, E-Tech is the largest school in Thailand with 10,000 students. It is really like a small town. Some students travel from Bangkok or Pattaya every day just to come to E-Tech. Far larger than any school I have attended.)

My school, in Thai. 

Other than that, I went to Muay Thai yesterday. It reminds me so much of wrestling in high school. I think it will be a good way to stay in shape, so I shall continue to go 2-3 times a week. Basically for those who do not know what it is- it is boxing, kickboxing, and some grappling all in one. No on the ground stuff.

Waah Bam!