First Week

overcoming differences

Well, this is it. The start of an amazing journey will commence in just a few minutes away. It feels like it was just yesterday when I was dreaming and praying to have a chance to experience an opportunity of sharing my knowledge as well as learning. Oh! How exciting will this day be? The beginning of a new learning starts now.

After having our breakfast, we checked out of the hotel at 8:00 A.M. And there we were, preparing for our very first day at the university. Nervous? Obviously. Excited? Definitely. Prepared? Not exactly. But who cares? We are already here to do our respective duties and responsibilities. Since this is my first time to formally teach students first hand, I somehow made my flashback of regrets for not preparing much for this program. But, here goes nothing.

We went outside of the hotel and went with teacher Potjanat. Then we headed to Suratthani Rajabhat University. Immediately, I was awestruck by the said university. In the Philippines, not all universities have good establishments and facilities. A sad truth in our country. When at the university, we went to the respective room where the orientation was held. There, we saw our soon-to-be mentors. After a few minutes, the orientation was initiated by teacher Potjanat. He talked in Thai. Probably the message is for our mentors.

August 6,2018:

A SEA Teacher in the Making

After a good few minutes, we had our break. The staff in front of us turned his chair to face me. He asked me if I am Kenjo from the Philippines. To be frank (and I am very much sorry for that), he looks very intimidating. He has dead serious eyes behind those clear spectacles. He also has a grim expression on his face and a foot-long hair on the back of his head. Overall look? Scary.He turned back his chair to face the front while still looking at my profile. I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm in danger", I thought.Then the orientation resumed. For a moment, I was relaxed. I began thinking that no matter the odds and problems, I should accomplish everything in accordance with their standards. Probably after 20 minutes, we were then asked to introduce ourselves. Well, I simply told my name, the university, and country I came from. I also added that we are the first batch sent by our university. Meaning, we need to excel, do our very best for this program, and showcase the capabilities of the students from our school. Then the orientation continued for about 15 minutes and it ended. We were given lunch but my mentor told me that we eat on the way back "home". He told me some of the things that I should expect. He said that he is living with his 11-year-old son in a rented apartment. The place that I will stay is just next door to his. Every Mondays to Thursdays, some of his students will come to my place for their daily tutorials. I took a mental note of these things. I can manage, I hope. My mentor and I went outside to take pictures together? Sounds cute? Naahhh. He will be sending the image to the director and I will be using it for this blog. Then he told me that we will be going in a few minutes. I went to my colleagues to say my "goodbyes". Anyway, we will be meeting again.

So there, at around 1:30 P.M., we were already heading to our destination. We stopped a local eatery to have our lunch. We had our meal, satisfied. There were some unfamiliar spices that my tongue did not like. I will get used to it, I hope.We continued with our journey. Unaware, I slept. When I opened my eyes, we were at Tesco Lotus to buy groceries.

After that, we arrived at the accommodation 15 minutes later. You may refer to the pictures posted. He welcomed me to come inside for the place will be my home for the whole month of August. I put my things inside. Satisfied? No. I was MORE than satisfied. My mentor told me that most of the things are new. He repainted the walls for me. I was elated for his effort. After unpacking my things, he told me that some of his students will be coming at around 4:00 P.M. while he will be going elsewhere. I asked him if I can have my rest first. He immediately agreed. Before going out, he again reminded me of the students who will be coming later.And after changing my clothes, I went to bed and slept. It was not long when I heard chatting in the living room. Oh right, the students. I wanted to meet them but since my eyes were still heavy, I went back to sleep with tomorrow's first goal-learning.

STARTING WITH THE FILES.

The photo below captures the ID provided by SRU along with the documents related with the program.

SMILES FOR THE START

The participants of the SEA Teacher Exchange Program Batch 6 with their respective mentors strike for a pose after the orientation held at Suratthani Rajabhat University on August 6, 2018.

August 7,2018:

engraving the first mark

As of now, let me introduce to you on some of the academic aspects of the school. In the Philippines, there are some universities having their own secondary and elementary laboratory schools (SLS and ELS). We thought that we will be placed in the receiving university’s respective high school. It was only when we were at the orientation when we became aware of the situation. We are sent to different schools in the province of Suratthani. Wiengsa World Class Standard School is one of the biggest and the most famous secondary school in Suratthani. It was established in 1971 (B.E. 2514) that was 47 years ago. There are now more than two thousand students from grade 7 to 12 and there are about 150 teachers. The school is under the Office of the Secondary Education Region 11 Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), Ministry of Education.

The vision of the school is “World Class Standard School based on being Thai” along with the director’s vision, “Students Come First”. The mission is “Follow the OBECQA criteria and procedures. FOLLOW AND IMPLEMENT THE STANDARD CRITERIA OF THE OBECQA.” In the Philippines, Outcome-based Education is the educational theory currently and recently being practiced. It is a theory that bases each part of an educational system around goals (outcomes). By the end of the educational experience, each student should have achieved the goal.

The school also revolves on five strategies as follows:

Develop quality of learners according to the basic education curriculum, comparing with international standards to be competitive; and to instill moral and ethical consciousness in the Thai way of life, according to the philosophy of Sufficiency Economy.
Promote teachers and educational personnel to be continuously developed.
Develop a quality management system based on good governance. Promote management and learning management.
Develop environment and atmosphere to facilitate learning management.

The identity of the students is Smile, Moral, Active, Ready, Talent (SMART).

At exactly 6:29 A.M., my mentor and I were already at the school. Indeed, it was very early. My mentor told me that I can use one of his motorbikes to go to school. It would have been of convenience to me. Unfortunately, I am not well aware of my surroundings, the traffic regulations, and that I can’t ride a motorbike. So I grabbed the second option which is to be ready at 6:30 A.M. so that I can ride with my mentor going to school. Quite a challenge, isn’t it? Yes, a challenging challenge, indeed.

So, the school is like 2 kilometers away from the place where my mentor and I are staying at. The primary thing that I was able to notice was the vastness of the school. Surprisingly, it is one of the largest schools in the southern part of Thailand.

The first thing we did was to see the director. My mentor and the director talked of things I was not able to understand (Obviously, they talked in Thai language). But the latter said that I should also learn how to speak in Thai, which is agreeable on my part. So after the meeting, it is time for the flag ceremony. Well, I really do need to be very observant since I am in a new environment. After the singing of the anthems, I was told to introduce myself in front of 2,000 students. I stood in front of the flagpole and thought of the one word I had been practicing all night. “Sawat di khrap.” “Sawat di”, the students responded. And so the rest is history. I told them my name (which made confusion on their faces), the subject I am going to teach, the reason of my coming, and how excited I am to be with them.

The first class we went to was the advisory class of Mentor William. He told me that it is a total must that he meets his advisory class every day to check the attendance. Moreover, it is also for giving pieces of advice and motivation for students to learn. This is part of Thai culture that we do not usually have in the Philippines. So I took a mental note of this process. After that, we went to the next room.

In the Philippines, home visitation is also a common practice, probably around the globe. I also deem this necessary because students also have their own life outside the school. It is the responsibility of each teacher to guide and look after his/her students. We must be conscious as well as aware on our students' condition. We maybe scolding them and embarrassing them in front of the class without knowing that the student has a dire problem on his/her shoulders. We must be there to save them.

Moving on. The next two classes were fun. My mentor did not teach this day. The first class was in grade 10 while the other class was in grade 9. My mentor gave the same instructions to the two classes. For the next five minutes, he would leave the room. The students should ask many questions about me as many as possible. When the five minutes will end, he would come back and ask the students pieces of information about me. I was asked a lot of questions from my students. Fortunately, I was able to answer it clearly. The questions were just simple, by the way. “What is your name?” “What is your favorite animal” “What do you do during your free time?” “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“YAAAWWWWNNNN”, was probably the expression that mostly came out from my mouth. It’s not that I did a ton of work. Actually, I just observed and said a few things about myself. I was just exhausted from not having a good sleep since our flight from the Philippines. P-H-I-L-I-P-P-I-N-E-S. My country home. How homesick I was thinking about it. But, it’s okay. I can manage this. Aside from homesickness, I had a terrible headache. My mentor told me that we are to visit the student’s houses. A requirement in the school. Not having the energy to go, I told my mentor that I am not feeling well and that I need to take a rest. I can’t go with them even though I want to. The next thing I did was to lie on my bed and close my eyes.

Other than the activity being quite embarrassing, it was actually fun. I was able to reflect the creativity should be a constant factor in the classroom especially when you want them to participate well. Motivation is very needed to make each student be engaged in the lessons. In the classroom, motivation drives many behaviors and it is important to understand the importance of motivation in an educational environment. Motivation also leads to increased effort and energy. Motivation determines whether a student will pursue a task (even a difficult one) with enthusiasm or a lackluster attitude.

WELCOME!

A picture taken after the welcoming. At the right is Oranat. From left to right is Teacher Waranya Boonklieng, Deputy Director, and Teacher Wanchai Treesong, my mentor.

August 8,2018:

around the edge

This time, I woke up at 5:00 A.M. feeling much better than the other day. As usual, I got dressed up. We rode with Teacher Mongi, a Tunisian and also a faculty of the school. Being early means that breakfast would have to be later. When you’re hungry, later feels like forever. Fortunately, Teacher William and I went directly to the school canteen to have our breakfast. It is also nice to have a walk around the school. I am also pleased when students try their best to greet me in English. “Good morning, teacher.” And I would simply reply with a genuine smile.

After having breakfast, we went to the usual routine of meeting the advisory class. Teachers would check students’ attendance, homework, and other more things such as if they have lunch and money with them. But more to checking tangible materials, it is also to check the readiness of their minds. Teachers would tell words to motivate the learners to strive harder and better. A slice of life amidst the strife, I would say.

Alright, so I would like to sum up the details of the classes I observed:

a. Involve the students. Talking in front as if there are no audience is a big NO in teaching. The students are one of the primary factors of the teaching-learning process. Invite them to share their thoughts and ideas. As a teacher, try to show interest in their own personal views and opinions. Let them talk. Do not discourage them if they cannot speak well in English. I was able to notice that Thai people have different accents from that of the Filipinos. Theirs is British while mine is American. That is why at times, I am having a difficult time trying to listen well what they are trying to converse. But even so, be patient enough to hear their words. They would be much more interested if done right.

b. Share cultural and moral values. Back in the Philippines, I was taught that the primary goal of education is not to create highly academic professionals. Rather, the main goal is values formation. In the classes that I was able to observe. My mentor is consistent in imbuing morality in every discussion which I also deem necessary. And guess what? The student are enjoying it. They also share their own thoughts. Also, my mentor was adding some similarities and differences of Thai culture from Philippine culture. There is a need for inter-exchange of culture. Knowing the culture of one place gives one the advantage of doing the right thing.

c. Add more details. Do not be too dull in every topic. Add colors to it. How? Add some interesting facts that you know that would stir the interests of every student. Tell a story. Students love hearing stories. But, we should make sure that the content that we are trying to add have some connection with the main topic. Do not drift away from the discussion. Other information that would be alright to add are other aspects of the topic itself. For example was when my mentor was teaching conversation entitled “They’re the Ones”, he asked me to share who my favorite person is. I told the class that it was the late Miriam Defensor Santiago, a strong and clever senator of the Philippines. After giving details regarding my “hero”, my mentor used this opportunity as a springboard to the discussion. More to that, it became the discussion connected to the main topic.

d. Be fun. Nobody wants a dull class period. Being creative is enough to turn a boring class into an energetic one. One just needs to know how to stir the interest of his/her students. Well, that is just that.

Well, after observing the classes, my mentor gave me the textbooks that I can use. He also told me that I can choose a topic in which I am going to teach when the coordinator from the university will come to observe me. I was elated. At least I will be having more time to prepare.

The textbooks were a series under McGraw Hill Education authored by Manuel Dos Santos entitled New World. Each grade level has a respective textbook from New World 1 to 6. My mentor handed me the teacher’s guide for each textbook of the class I am handling. I really did find the teacher’s guide because most of the pieces of information needed were already there. The goals and objectives, additional information and pedagogy, activities, and such are already in the guide. Also, in every book, there is a CD that its content are the same as the ones in the book. The audio files are also included.

My mentor told me that I can simply follow the steps and procedures. Surely, being my first time to teach students in a real classroom situation, I am still unnerved by the thought of not being able to do well for my students. Still, resourcefulness is the key. I know that the guide books are helpful and that I should utilize it well to the best of my abilities. But as a teacher, innovations and creativeness are needed for a productive teaching-learning experiences. Too much independence in the given steps will not help me learn in thinking and creating new ideas. Teachers need to have bright minds. I asked my mentor if I can embed other activities. He immediately said, “No problem. Learning needs varied strategies and techniques.”

MESSILY PRODUCTIVE

These are the textbooks and other materials I am preparing and studying for the classroom instructions.

August 9,2018:

clashing conflicts

Early at school. Eat breakfast. Participate in the flag ceremony. Check the advisory class. And proceed to the next classes for observation. Probably, this will be my routine for the next few days. Or for every day, I think. Quite usual, isn’t it? But I do believe that a day should not pass by without any unique or unusual events. Fortunately, there was.

For the first thing in the morning, we went outside to monitor the advisory class. They were cleaning their respective surroundings. The school is actually big. The good thing was that there were a lot of trees. The downside is the leaves being scattered. The good side and incomparable one is that they emit air for us to breathe.

Well, regarding the classroom observation, it was still similar to the one I had written yesterday. Be creative. Add other contents. Share cultural and moral values.

So let us proceed to the latter part of the day. Nothing unusual, yet. We had lunch outside the school. We went with teacher Mongi since he has a car. He had been in Thailand for eight years, going nine this year. So there were three of us. Not much happened, actually. It was when we returned back at school that something-not-so-nice occurred. When driving back to our building, we came across three girls. I didn’t notice them at first until the following events. When mentor William and I went out of the car while teacher Mongi parked his car. The former instructed one student to go and tell the three girls to meet us, my mentor to be specific.

Upon meeting, mentor William said something to the trio of girls. Not knowing what was happening, I simply took my sit on a nearby bench. I was relaxed until Mentor William somewhat raised his voice. I never heard him speak that way. But I know one thing is for sure; he is extremely mad. He took a piece of paper and a pen and wrote something. Probably the girls’ name. After that, we went to the office. Immediately, he talked to one of the faculties. Maybe regarding what happened. It all became clear when teacher Mongi came in the office and mentor William told him of the event. I was disheartened.

Those three girls cursed teacher Mongi. I need not to put the words here, right? But it goes like emphasizing a curse to a foreign teacher. Mentor William said that such act shall not go unpunished. Unfortunately, teacher Mongi said that it is okay. That for him, it is not a big deal. But for mentor William, it is. For me, it really is. I am also a foreign teacher, right?

There was also a time when a student from the school told her parents that she would be going to a three-day seminar in Suratthani Rajabhat University. But that was just a reason for her and her boyfriend to be together. They hanged out and went to different places for three days. I am not even sure if I heard it right that they stayed at a hotel.

Alright, so enough with these happenings. Through the days of observation and such, let me present to you some of my initial findings and learning I found in the classroom.

1. They are very loud. When I say there are very loud, I mean it. I am not really sure if they are shouting or just talking. The added thing was that even when the teacher is in the room, they keep on chatting and blabbering words from their mouth. As for the teacher, nothing. Probably it is normal? I read some articles regarding Thai students. One writer, an American, expressed that students in Thailand can be quite unruly and extremely loud. Some foreign teachers experiencing this kind of scene for the first time tend to quit on their first day. In the Philippines, students would keep quiet the moment their teacher walks in front of the class. Also, a gaze is enough to sshhh a noisy student. But here, that would be quite an impossible act. Well, it is still my first day. Maybe the situation is different in other classes.

2. English, bad. Before coming here, I already had a perception regarding the students’ English proficiency. I know that they are not that quite skilled and capable in the English language. I was wrong. They are, I think, still beginners. I observed that my mentor still needs to translate what he was saying to the students. Well, I know that I can still grasps related information regarding this obstacle.

3. Accent. I know well enough that each individual has his/her own accent. It does not necessarily denote American, British, Australian, and others. It regards his/her own natural accent. For Thai, their accent is somewhat inclined to that of the British. They lack the /r/,/s/,/v/, and others. Filipinos, on the other hand, is based on American English. This is one of the reason why I cannot listen well to the students when they were talking to me. Sometimes, their these and there become they. One thing is that they do not know Philippines. What they know is Philippine (lack of s). If I am having a difficult time listening and figuring what they mean to say, maybe the situation is the same for them.

Well, these are only the primary things I had perceived inside the classroom. I know that I would be facing much more struggles and differences. By that, I knew that I need to grow and improve to become more productive and efficient. If there are things that I need to adapt in order to strive, I would do it.

So it came to my mind that maybe I am also being cursed, using their own language so that I cannot understand it while I try to put up a smile every time I meet students. But thankfully, there are still students that are very nice to me. And that is purely enough to overwhelm such dreadful feeling.

One thing I was also shocked witnessing was the permit of whipping students. In the Philippines, it is actually considered as a crime. A teacher might be sued for child abuse. But back in the old days, whipping is actually permissible. What only made it unacceptable is the change of the individuals' perspective and being conservative. My mentor even told me that it was the parents who ask the teachers to hit their children if they are being naughty at school. In our country, the parents will even be the one to get mad at the teachers for doing something they see as inhumane. But not all parents in our country are like that. There are still those who are okay with this traditional way of disciplining students.

Actually, the first time I witnessed this kind of scene is that I was somewhat confused. At the same time, I was laughing. The students are actually smiling when they were being whipped by my mentor. Girls and boys alike would form a line. Most of the time, they are those who did not do their assignments. The moment the stick hits their buttocks, they only laugh and smile and thank him. Wow! In our country, children would cry and even look their teachers in a bad way. But in this classroom, I am witnessing something different. Amidst the situation, my mentor told me that it is only he that can do that kind of punishment with the students not having a sense of hatred. If it is done by other teachers, the students will not feel that happy the way my mentor does. I guess teacher Wanchai, my mentor, do have a way with this kind of students.

IN LINE

The students fall in line as they go to their respective classroom as an officer monitor the happenings.

August 10,2018:

praise for mothers

August 10 is a special day in school. It is the festivity of Mother’s Day. Although the formal date of celebration is on August 12. Universally, this special occasion is a day for many people to honor and show their appreciation to all mothers and mother figures. In Thailand, it was on April 15, 1950 that Mother’s Day was introduced. In 1976, the said celebration was changed to August 12 to commemorate the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Mother of all Thai people.

So enough with the information. Here in school, the students and staffs also celebrated this extraordinary event. The said stakeholders went to the gymnasium to participate. I was there to witness it. In the Philippines, although we also have Mother’s Day, we do not celebrate it the way the Thai people do it. But that does not lessen the love and appreciation we have towards every mother.

Well, the activity lasted for an hour only. Then we went back to the office.

Right after arriving at the office, my mentor told me that he has a meeting with the director and that he would be busy. As for me, I will just continue doing my task of doing my lesson plans and customizing my blog. I did not observe any class that day.

Then, it was 1:00 P.M. when my mentor returned with a dark expression on his face; he is not in the mood. As for further details, later. So to cut the story short, we went back home to prepare our stuff. Remember, we will be going somewhere off. A three-day seminar in Hat Yai, Songkhla. Yesterday, August 9, teacher Potjanat told us via Messenger that he is planning to take us to a trip in Nakhon si Thammarat. To be honest, I want to go. I would be able to see my colleagues. But prior to teacher Potjanat’s announcement, mentor William already invited me to come in his seminar. Either way, I want to go both. But I took the one that I already agreed on first. And the one I know that would make my mentor happy.

While waiting for the van, mentor William told the host of the program that he is with an exchange student from the Philippines. Fortunately, the host asked the former if I can partake in their pre-test the next day. I simply agreed. Doing will never be a harm.

After waiting for about an hour, it was around 5:00 P.M. when we took the van and it was 10:00 P.M. when we arrived at our destination. The night was serene even with people walking around. With the help of a dear friend of mentor William, we were able to arrive at the hotel safely—Signature Hotel.

Before going to bed, I do not want to end this day without providing any substantial contents regarding my observations. Through the days that I had been taking note of my mentor's strategy and techniques, The only teacher who I had been observing was my mentor. He is teaching Grade 9, 10, and 12 students. The first two mentioned classes are under the English Program, whereas, the third class is under the Gifted Program--a program that specializes science and arithmetic.

I have to be honest. I was not able, yet, to grasp substantial strategy and techniques based from my mentor's teachings. My mentor would integrate other pieces of information in the topic. He would elicit personal information from students and embed it to the idea being discussed. One time, the topic was, "Who are they?" and the students would have to analyze the Conversation part in the book. The topic regards two individuals discussing their favorite people.The discussion was okay. The teacher was using Thai most of the time in the discussion. Therefore, I was just there trying to blend with the mood and the atmosphere of the class. I think it would have been better if English is used throughout, but I still understand that the students are having hard times comprehending the idea. Still, there might be language skill development in the learners if the English language is being used.

One thing I also noticed was that discussion was drifting from the main topic. There was a time when the topic regarding famous people went to discussing the students' love life. There were students who gave their own personal information because the teacher in front asked. I was quite confused. Actually, the students were okay with it. They become more interactive when the idea of the talk regards anything personal other than the idea in the textbook. Actually, that what happens most of the time.

Assessment did not come that often. Since there were ready-made activities in the book, my mentor would just ask the students to answer it. Well, practicality maybe of the essence. Thinking about it, why would anyone make a test when there are numerous files uploaded in the internet. One can simply edit the content if willing to. But, the problem is that most students actually answer the activities ahead that is why they become reckless when told to do the task. In my opinion, I suggest that there should also be other activities given to the students other than those in the book. Fully relying in the content of the book would hinder a teacher's ability of innovations and creativity.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

All staff members and student gather in the gymnasium to celebrate Mother's Day.

This week revolves on frustrations, hindrances, and obstructions. It is the time of seeing things I have not encountered and being shocked by it. Nonetheless, I have to focus and set my mind to my tasks and do things right.