This week's theme is "My City"
City my will must a city at have Environment at good and will abundant full a with tree. City will must have people not much and not too little and will full a with shop and Building.
*Sigh...*
(P.S. I promise a proper blog post in the upcoming days because it has been awhile.)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
A Sample Journal Entry
This is a pretty average (quality-wise) journal entry from Primary 6, the level of kids whose journals I check AND correct the spelling/grammar of.
The Leader
The leader is a person to the best in anything. It was a guide of history, guide of shoping or The Leader of guide. It was a Significant in the anything to do.
The Leader in the dream. I was be The Leader class. It was very hard to do it. The Leader was a Top in the class.
The Leader has a spirit to be a leader.
-Anonymous P6 Student
...And that's why it takes me forever to grade.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Life at School
I've been back now for a little while, so I figured I'd fill you in a little, though not much has happened since my last post.
The gecko made a triumphant return last night. At least I'm pretty sure he did. I never saw him; I only heard him. He had made himself scarce since early in the week when I enlisted two of the guys on my floor to get him out of my bathroom. That was a comical event; let me explain:
As I said before, the reason I find Mr. Gecko so problematic is that he is far too big and animal-like (rather than bug-like) for me to conceive of beating him to death, but he is also quick and squirmy and reptilian, so I really don't want to touch him, and, consequently, I get scared when he darts across the walls in proximity to me. Because of all this, when I saw him again one evening, I decided to get some fearless men types on the job. Ryan and Devin came courageously into the bathroom, making all kinds of comments about a woman asking men to do "man's work." The next minute or so consisted of startled squeals and childish giggling, and in the end, all that was accomplished was the gecko took refuge in hiding behind the toilet where he lay in wait to make his escape by way of the pipe shaft sometime later.
Essentially, they did exactly everything I had managed to do on my own except more femininely in their utterances. Hilarious.
As far as school goes, my classes are going well. I get to teach a lot which I like. I hate that I have to use this book created by the St. Gabriel's Foundation which SUCKS! Not only is it poorly manufactured (some students' brand new books shed pages), but it looks childish, the exercises and examples are frequently stupid and/or suspect, and certain things it says are simply wrong; not to mention the sprinkling of grammatical errors. Sigh.
But I digress, my classes are pretty great. My co-teacher, Master Worawat, is very nice and is pretty good at controlling the classes. The classes themselves--that is to say the students,--being largely unchanged from last year, are still hit or miss with regard to behavior. The same classrooms are given to chatty rambunctiousness and those that were well-behaved last year are again that way. Overall, I think it's better, owing most probably to a few factors: 1) I knew exactly what to expect coming into this year (e.g. what is good behavior by the Thai classroom standard and what is actually bad); 2) the students know me, at least to an extent, and I them; and 3) I have many fewer classes this year, so my patience is tenfold what it was in later periods on long days last year.
I am teaching an after school TOEFL study course on Mondays and Wednesdays. In typical SG fashion, I learned I would be doing this the same day as it was to begin. Fortunately, the material for the class is all pre-prepared, so I just had to familiarize myself with it.
The class is a little rough. Because it is an extra period after the school day AND it is not a voluntary study course, but instead mandatory for all M6 students, at least seven eighths of the class doesn't want to be there and doesn't care what I have to say. However, I've learned just to work through the practice exercises with the seven or so students who sit in the front and want to get something out of the class, while the remainder of the class does whatever they feel like in the rest of the classroom. That seems to be working pretty well.
My teaching the vocabulary practice is super funny, though. I can't simply tell them in Thai what the words mean for the obvious reason of my lack of knowledge of the Thai language. So, I have to try to explain what the words mean through synonym or more extensive definition. This is harder than it sounds because you have to use synonyms that are simpler than the word given. Very frequently I can come up with more sophisticated synonyms for the words, but my students have even less clue what they mean. Not infrequently am I then forced to rely on gross approximations of word definitions, extensive explanation and example, and, from time to time, drawings and gestures. There are also times when I simply admit defeat and tell them to look it up later (or right then on their iPhones). What's nice about this whole vocabulary debacle is that both the students and I find a satisfactory amount of amusement in it, enough to make the studying-for-a-standardized-exam process a smidgeon more enjoyable (or less miserable, depending on your personal philosophical outlook).
The final thing I'll write about today is the awesome fun of political demonstrations! Currently the Parliament is set to vote on some sort of Amnesty bill which, if passed, would grant amnesty to all of the previously imprisoned Red Shirt activists (from back in the Yellow Shirt power days). Effectively, that would mean good ol' Thaksin could come back to Thailand, regaining the billions of baht he had stolen and was forced to give up when he was exiled and never having to spend a day in jail. Needless to say, the Yellow Shirts "no like" and so today, the day of the vote, they decided to stage a demonstration (arguably a protest) near-ish the Parliament building which is a mere few blocks from our dear St. Gabriel's. Beginning around noon today parents began taking kids out of school and the school was officially closed at 2pm today, all because of this political demonstration. My personal guess is that the mass early exodus from school was inspired more out of fear of the traffic ramifications of closed streets and additional police units than out of any real concern for the safety of their children while at school. In fact, shy of one siren, I have heard no sound indicators of any kind of disturbance from the norm and my window is open.
Anyway, we'll see how this continues to play out. Just know that whatever you may hear from the international news, things are fine; I'm completely safe where I am at school. In fact, I'm confident that I'm just as safe as I have always been anywhere in Bangkok, with the singular exception of the area directly in front of the Parliament building, actually in the protesting crowd, attired in yellow; then, I grant, I might be less safe than I'd have been a few months ago, similarly attired, in the same spot.
The gecko made a triumphant return last night. At least I'm pretty sure he did. I never saw him; I only heard him. He had made himself scarce since early in the week when I enlisted two of the guys on my floor to get him out of my bathroom. That was a comical event; let me explain:
As I said before, the reason I find Mr. Gecko so problematic is that he is far too big and animal-like (rather than bug-like) for me to conceive of beating him to death, but he is also quick and squirmy and reptilian, so I really don't want to touch him, and, consequently, I get scared when he darts across the walls in proximity to me. Because of all this, when I saw him again one evening, I decided to get some fearless men types on the job. Ryan and Devin came courageously into the bathroom, making all kinds of comments about a woman asking men to do "man's work." The next minute or so consisted of startled squeals and childish giggling, and in the end, all that was accomplished was the gecko took refuge in hiding behind the toilet where he lay in wait to make his escape by way of the pipe shaft sometime later.
Essentially, they did exactly everything I had managed to do on my own except more femininely in their utterances. Hilarious.
As far as school goes, my classes are going well. I get to teach a lot which I like. I hate that I have to use this book created by the St. Gabriel's Foundation which SUCKS! Not only is it poorly manufactured (some students' brand new books shed pages), but it looks childish, the exercises and examples are frequently stupid and/or suspect, and certain things it says are simply wrong; not to mention the sprinkling of grammatical errors. Sigh.
But I digress, my classes are pretty great. My co-teacher, Master Worawat, is very nice and is pretty good at controlling the classes. The classes themselves--that is to say the students,--being largely unchanged from last year, are still hit or miss with regard to behavior. The same classrooms are given to chatty rambunctiousness and those that were well-behaved last year are again that way. Overall, I think it's better, owing most probably to a few factors: 1) I knew exactly what to expect coming into this year (e.g. what is good behavior by the Thai classroom standard and what is actually bad); 2) the students know me, at least to an extent, and I them; and 3) I have many fewer classes this year, so my patience is tenfold what it was in later periods on long days last year.
I am teaching an after school TOEFL study course on Mondays and Wednesdays. In typical SG fashion, I learned I would be doing this the same day as it was to begin. Fortunately, the material for the class is all pre-prepared, so I just had to familiarize myself with it.
The class is a little rough. Because it is an extra period after the school day AND it is not a voluntary study course, but instead mandatory for all M6 students, at least seven eighths of the class doesn't want to be there and doesn't care what I have to say. However, I've learned just to work through the practice exercises with the seven or so students who sit in the front and want to get something out of the class, while the remainder of the class does whatever they feel like in the rest of the classroom. That seems to be working pretty well.
My teaching the vocabulary practice is super funny, though. I can't simply tell them in Thai what the words mean for the obvious reason of my lack of knowledge of the Thai language. So, I have to try to explain what the words mean through synonym or more extensive definition. This is harder than it sounds because you have to use synonyms that are simpler than the word given. Very frequently I can come up with more sophisticated synonyms for the words, but my students have even less clue what they mean. Not infrequently am I then forced to rely on gross approximations of word definitions, extensive explanation and example, and, from time to time, drawings and gestures. There are also times when I simply admit defeat and tell them to look it up later (or right then on their iPhones). What's nice about this whole vocabulary debacle is that both the students and I find a satisfactory amount of amusement in it, enough to make the studying-for-a-standardized-exam process a smidgeon more enjoyable (or less miserable, depending on your personal philosophical outlook).
The final thing I'll write about today is the awesome fun of political demonstrations! Currently the Parliament is set to vote on some sort of Amnesty bill which, if passed, would grant amnesty to all of the previously imprisoned Red Shirt activists (from back in the Yellow Shirt power days). Effectively, that would mean good ol' Thaksin could come back to Thailand, regaining the billions of baht he had stolen and was forced to give up when he was exiled and never having to spend a day in jail. Needless to say, the Yellow Shirts "no like" and so today, the day of the vote, they decided to stage a demonstration (arguably a protest) near-ish the Parliament building which is a mere few blocks from our dear St. Gabriel's. Beginning around noon today parents began taking kids out of school and the school was officially closed at 2pm today, all because of this political demonstration. My personal guess is that the mass early exodus from school was inspired more out of fear of the traffic ramifications of closed streets and additional police units than out of any real concern for the safety of their children while at school. In fact, shy of one siren, I have heard no sound indicators of any kind of disturbance from the norm and my window is open.
Anyway, we'll see how this continues to play out. Just know that whatever you may hear from the international news, things are fine; I'm completely safe where I am at school. In fact, I'm confident that I'm just as safe as I have always been anywhere in Bangkok, with the singular exception of the area directly in front of the Parliament building, actually in the protesting crowd, attired in yellow; then, I grant, I might be less safe than I'd have been a few months ago, similarly attired, in the same spot.
Friday, May 25, 2012
You Know You're in Thailand When...
1. ...you break a serious sweat trying to make a rubber band ball. (Side note: it's harder than you'd think.)
2. ...you go to 7-Eleven three separate times in one day.
3. ...your students get sent home early due to political demonstration a few blocks away.
2. ...you go to 7-Eleven three separate times in one day.
3. ...your students get sent home early due to political demonstration a few blocks away.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Things I Miss About America
This too hopes to be a continuous post.
1. Pandora. Internet Radio.
2. D.E.B.s (Delicious Espresso Beverages).
3. Hulu
4. Netflix
5. Clean air
6. English
7. Having a kitchen
Day-to-day Thailand Hilarities
This post endeavors to chronicle some of the everyday absurdities that I encounter.
1. Students in 6/7 designed jackets for their class which include a sort of crest/emblem which portrays a Panda (symbol of China and 6/7 students study Chinese language) riding a DINOSAUR. Specifically, a T-Rex.
2. A large, billboard size, poster reproduction of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" at our school is mislabeled "Creation of God," thus being wrong on three levels: first, it is the incorrect title for the painting; second, it is an incorrect description of the event depicted; and third, it is fundamentally contrary to one of the essential beliefs of judeo-christian monotheism. Well done, St. Gabriel's College, a Catholic high school, well done.
3. There is a painting of Santa Claus in the Staff Canteen for absolutely no reason.
4. There is a sign in every bathroom stall of the women's teacher "toilet" reminding users, "Do not step up to the toilet," complete with accompanying cartoon of what not to do.
1. Students in 6/7 designed jackets for their class which include a sort of crest/emblem which portrays a Panda (symbol of China and 6/7 students study Chinese language) riding a DINOSAUR. Specifically, a T-Rex.
2. A large, billboard size, poster reproduction of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" at our school is mislabeled "Creation of God," thus being wrong on three levels: first, it is the incorrect title for the painting; second, it is an incorrect description of the event depicted; and third, it is fundamentally contrary to one of the essential beliefs of judeo-christian monotheism. Well done, St. Gabriel's College, a Catholic high school, well done.
3. There is a painting of Santa Claus in the Staff Canteen for absolutely no reason.
4. There is a sign in every bathroom stall of the women's teacher "toilet" reminding users, "Do not step up to the toilet," complete with accompanying cartoon of what not to do.
The Worst Blogger Ever
That's me. I'm the worst blogger ever. I had actually completely forgotten about this until I was casually in Zurich for the afternoon and Aunt Kim asked if I was planning to start it up again. So here I am, giving it the ol' college try. (I give it maybe a month...)
I made my triumphant return to Thailand Sunday afternoon. It was hot. It's still hot.
It's nice to be back though. Weird. Things are still strange but now equally familiar, and that makes for an interesting effect.
When I finally managed to haul the way too much stuff I brought back with me up to my room, I discovered that in my absence a new resident had installed himself and pooped throughout the room. This squatter, my gecko friend, is not particularly threatening, however he is quite quick, a bit untidy (I refer you to the previous poop comment), and given to making sporadic, obnoxious sounds in the night. Thus, he had to go. But as I had a strong desire to make absolutely no physical contact with my reptilian friend and he is an agile creature, my only course of action was to scare him into the bathroom and shut the door after him, leaving him only the options of living out his life there or escaping via the cracked window or the piping shaft. After remaining for awhile, he seemed to have left by late Monday. But lo and behold! He made a triumphant return last night, taking advantage of my having left the bathroom door ajar during the day and reentering my bedroom proper. I have left him to his own devices today while I'm at work and hope that he is wise enough to depart because if I see him again tonight...well, tonight we wage war.
On a less close-encounters-of-the-lizard-kind note, my first full day back in Thailand was marked by a classic St. Gabe's meeting. During this meeting, I found out the following:
1) I have 7 classes per week--a hilariously light schedule;
2) I don't have Bence this year :(, but I do only teach M6 which means all of the same students from last year :)
AND
3) The returning American teachers and a few select newbies will be "going on tour" to the St. Gabriel's Foundation schools throughout many Thai provinces to help proctor a practice English oral exam which is to be administered officially by Trinity College (in the UK) sometime in January. This is to say, for 9 weeks of an at most 16 week semester, we will not be teaching; we will not even be in Bangkok most weekdays. Hilarious!
Speaking of the noobs, the most recent influx of recent Loyola grads arrived late Tuesday night and on Wednesday I helped with their orientation process--assigning their timetables, explaining various projects to which they will be party, showing them around the school, taking them to the bank, etc. They seem a nice group so far, but one can never really tell this early on. It's kind of bizarre to watch what was basically our experience last year from an outside perspective; it's funny for me to watch them figure things out, ask questions, acclimatize, acculturate, and get used to the ways of St. Gabe's. Today (Thursday), was their first Staff Canteen lunch and it was funny to see how many of them went for the innocuous omelet option in lieu of the spicy minced pork (the actual dish of the day) or who ate only a bit of it. Granted I'm generalizing some, this is not true of all of them, but it's just funny to see what is essentially I and my friends this time last year.
I had my first classes today; 6/7 and 6/3. I got a copy of the book about two minutes before my first class and still taught the first lesson. If this were a tweet, this is where I'd #ClassicStGabes and #Imapro. The kids were pretty decently well behaved today, one can only hope it remains this way, but that is unlikely. Nevertheless, I'm reminded that I really love these little jerks and I'm glad to be back.
...except for the heat and humidity.
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