First Days of School

My school day begins at 7:40am (6:40pm Pittsburgh tim) at the flag ceremony.  This is an outdoor ceremony where the students gather to begin their day.  A few prayers are said, teachers and students are greeted, and the school day begins.  At 8:00am the students have a 30 minute vocabulary lesson.  I am sharing teaching responsibility for this with my second grade co teacher who is from the Philippines. Today, I taught the students vocabulary related to American breakfast foods.  They now all want to try pancakes and bacon!

The classes last 50 minutes.  I am teaching first, second, and third grade Reading and Speaking.  My co teacher teaches them Grammar and Writing.  When teaching, there are three teachers in the room: 1) me, 2) my co teacher for that grade, and 3) a Thai teacher to handle discipline of the students. The students are extremely talkative.  It is hard to get them to remain quiet for longer than 2 or 3 minutes at a time.  This is going to the toughest thing for me to adjust to.  The class sizes are also larger than what schools aim for in the states.  An average class size is 40-45 students.  I teach anywhere between 3-6 classes each day.

Being a first year teacher has its struggles.  I am experiencing many of the same challenges that I would be experiencing as a first year teacher in the states.  I feel that I am being closely watched to ensure that I perform up to everyone's expectations.  I am the only teacher in the English Program (EP) that is from the states, which also means I am the only native English speaker.  Majority of the other English teachers are from the Philippines.  There is one from England, one from Germany, and one from Norway. In the Mini EP, where I'm teaching, all the other English teachers are from the Philippines.  The other English teachers teach grades fourth, fifth, and sixth. 

My first day was rough.  Any communication with my co teachers was limited and brief.   I felt unprepared and overwhelmed at many times during the day.  I now have three days of teaching under my belt and am feeling better about teaching at Vitthayalai School.  I am beginning to get to know the students and the reading levels they are on.  Communication has also improved between my coteachers and I.  I know the challenges are far from over but I know that I can do this and do it well.  I was born to be a teacher and I'm not going to let a few speed bumps get in the way.