Overall one of the best birthday I have had. Nothing epic, just filled with very warm, appreciative students and teachers. I started the morning with teaching my wonderful 5th graders who are so eaqger to learn, and quiet each other every time another student talks out of line. I walked into class and the students started looking and each other waiting for someone to take the lead. Luckily I had to walk out of class because I forgot the roster, and when I walked back in they had gained the confidence to break out in “Happy Birthday” without any guidance, the second time a class has done that for me this week. I could then see they were working on Birthday cards, I am not sure if another teacher asked them to do this or if she just mentioned they should make me a card, but overall it was very touching to have the students walk up and hand me cards (even though sometime it distracted them from their work). I finished teaching about family and places- we are working on “My sister is in the Kitchen” phrases- and the introduced birthday vocabulary. It is hard to go wrong when you a talking about ice cream and cookies, although “party” was a hard thing for them to conceptualize because I didn’t have a good enough picture. I finished the lesson with a Birthday crossword which they turned in to get Stickers and a birthday card. In Thailand it is tradition for the Birthday person to give gifts (and go give alms to the monks at the temple which I did not do) in order to make merit and have good fortune for the upcoming year. For my 5th and 6th graders who I was supposed to teach tomorrow, but like Thai education system school is closed with one days notice because it is sports day, I had them come up to my desk and say 5 English sentences in order to get their birthday candy. Because 1) candy was involved and 2) the students are so concerned about being fair once 1 student got candy I didn’t have to do any more work, but let the work trickle though out the students. It always is really rewarding to look into 1 students eyes and have them speak to you. Sometimes so many faces get lost when you are in the front teaching to a whole class, that you see a student in a totally different lens when it is one on one.
We had a big pot-luck lunch, but I accidentally broke a plate which was an "auspicious" sign according to my teachers.....One of the teachers had to tell the others that Americans don’t have those types of signs and that I am not doomed to a year of loneliness and misfortune. It was so amazing to have all my teachers come to the potluck especially because in Thai culture the birthday girl buys lunch for everyone else. My director, the principal, even came which means a lot in a society where the director is highly revered. He sat at my table and kept making the teachers try to practice their English, which is great for gaining language skills, but no one wants to be pestered during lunch, so overtime my table’s numbers slowly dwindled.
After lunch I went back to the Student teacher’s office where I sit to be surprised with a birthday cake. The funniest thing was I had to teach and one of the teachers was trying to stall, but this requires in-depth language skills, so I was asked random question like “Today you teach what story ?” or pointing to my desk and asking “what is this?”. It was funny because I knew what she was doing, and the questions were just so funny. After I was given the cake I was given very serious good luck wishes, which I assume are translations of Thai birthday wishes-“I wish you good strong, and very suckseed, and long life, and happiness.” It was touching, but awkward because I was already 10 minutes late to class. I know the concept fo time is much different in Thailand and I should of slowed down and enjoyed the moment, but I find when I come to my 4th class too late someone is crying, someone is hitting someone, one student has run off, and someone has spilled ink or a white out pen
I finished the day with my 4th graders. Who are extremely adorable, but need so much attention. Every time they write their name or finished their work they run their notebook up to the teacher to show me. I have to tell them “Bpap nueng” (wait a minute) and Sit down. They also enjoyed the birthday which was mostly vocabulary drills and games and the crossword. The hardest part is when the band started practicing for sports day tomorrow and 1) it was so loud they couldn’t hear me and 2) they all ran out of class to watch… The highlight of this class was the ten minutes I looked up and they were all sitting down working on their crossword, no one was talking, no one was crying, no one was standing up, and I hadn’t lost my patience. At the end of the class my class came up and asked me to sign all their notebooks with my signature. I am not really sure why?
