A Day in the Life of a Wat Khema Teacher

Here's a glimpse of what we do and see each day. First take a peek at our weekly teaching schedules. A big difference in schedules from the states is the amount of office time! Mayatom is equivalent to a grade level in the states. Mayatom 1 is comparable to 7th grade, Mayatom 2 to 8th and moving up to Mayatom 6. It is compulsory to attend school up to M3, many students continue. 

Beth's Weekly Schedule. Total Students: 485. Average Class Size: 30

Beth - I have two (M4, M5) English Program Classes - I teach a core math class. My other classes (M1, M2, M4, M5) are in the Math and Science program (I think all of them). I teach math vocabulary and work on word problems in English. I have few supplementary curriculum materials to guide in my English Program classes, otherwise I do my own research and creation.

 

Josh's Weekly Schedule. Total Students: 723. Average Class Size: 45

Josh - I have one M4 English Program Class - I teach English grammar. I have all of the M2 classes except the M2 English Program - so a total of 17 sections. The majority are general program, a few are math and science program. In these classes, I teach Speaking and Listening. The Thai English grammar teacher informs me on what they are learning so I can create speaking/listening activities in that topic.

 

   Our school is named after the Wat behind it, pictured here. The official name of the school is Wat Khemaphirataram, but everyone calls it Wat Khema. Campus is 6 buildings and currently expanding. It has around 3,600 students, and we are told around 120 teachers. This school has three different student tracks: general, English Program, Math and Science Program. Beth teaches English Program, and Math and Science Program students. Josh has 1 English Program, a few Math and Science and many general ed program. Some classrooms have computers, most do not, or the computer does not work. Some classrooms have air-conditioning, but most do not. The halls and stairwells are open air (think motel style), and room inside. All classroom have windows - open or closed depends on the air situation. 

All students have uniforms. It's the same outfit 3 days of the week. On the day they have gym class they wear a different uniform. Tuesdays are usually scout day. Students who participate in one of the 4 or 5 different scout groups or the army all wear the specific uniform for the group; not all students are in one of these groups. Uniforms go from head (specific hair cut or hair accessory - depending on grade level) to toe (socks and shoes). Students also are required to have a Wat Khema backpack and use Wat Khema notebooks. 

When I asked about the school having pull out services, I got different answers. But I don't think the school has pull out services - not entirely positive though.

7:30am - We walk to school on the sidewalks overtaken by uniformed students. As we walk in, a line of students tell us good morning. Then students line up for uniform inspection (notice the man in front with a stick.) All students attend a morning assembly in the quad. Everyday we sign-in in the main administration building. Then make our way across campus to building 4 - the English department building.








 
We walk to our building find our desks, sign-in and start our day. Our office houses 12 Thai English teachers and 14 foreign teachers (America, Australia, Philippians, Cameroon). Our office has two common computers that the foreign teachers share - it does have internet, however it has not worked since the beginning of the term (1st week of November). We can use these computers to print. We can go to a copy room in building 1 to make multiple copies for our classes. There is a copier in our office, but only for small jobs.

Office Time! Office hours are spend planning and preparing, friendly chatting, and maybe some light reading. Because internet on the two office computers is down - we can either hope to catch some wifi (sometimes this means taking the laptop to a different building) or go to the school library.

Time for class! Shoes will be lined up in the hallways as students are not allowed to wear them in classroms or offices. We walk into the classroom and wait for the students signal to begin class. The class leader will shout "please stand up!" Each student stands up and together they say "Good Morning Teacher!" We reply "Good morning students. How are you today?" Students respond "I'm fine thank you and you?" We respond "I'm good thank you." Students will continue to stand unless you instruct them to sit down. Now class has begun. See video :)

A class period is 50 minutes long, however instructional time is cut short because of attendance, waiting for students, students wandering in and out, having to stop to quiet or focus students, or to usher out a cat (see story below). There is no break in between periods to allow for travel - so it's possible for this to be another time waster. So one period will end at 10:00 and the next start at 10:00. So if you have back to back classes it is impossible to be to the next on-time without leaving early. It is especially impossible if your classes are in separate buildings.

Time for lunch! There is no school lunch like in the States. Instead there are about 30 different food stall options. Each stall has a specific dish or types of dishes they serve. Students and staff all order and pay for their own meals. Josh and I can eat lunch with pop for about $2.25. The canteen opens in the morning and main course stalls close around 12:30-1pm. Ice cream, soda, and fruit stands are usually open all day. There is also a school store type stall in the canteen; selling snacks, drinks, and any school supplies. 

4:00pm - time to go home. We walk home, again in a sea of uniformed students. Now it's either the gym, laundry, market, or coffee shop - a variety of options. :)

Funny or Interesting happenings in school so far:

Beth - I was teaching my class of 49 students on the 6th floor. I was trying to get students to do an activity. I walked to the back of the room in attempt to get these students to do it. As I got closer I realized the reason they were not participating - one of the girls had a cat in her lap! I told her to put it down so she could join us. The cat continued to wonder around the room until I had to usher it out because no-one could focus. They all wanted to hold the cat.

Beth - Some of my M1 and M2 students treat me like a celebrity. I will be walking to class and a student will see me. Intertwine their arm with mine, surround me, or blow me kisses or say "teacher I love you". Or some see me in the hall and wave uncontrollably repeating "hello teacher!"

Beth - A student that both of us have, has decided to call me "Teacher Josh Wife"

Beth - During class, three workers are climbing in and out of windows and going in and out of the classroom trying to fix the air conditioner. We had to continue conduct class during this craziness. This has happened in two different classes so far.

Josh and Beth - Some class periods I've shown up and much less than 1/2 is present... what to do?? Practice vocabulary or concepts and English games!

Josh and Beth - because of different holidays - we haven't seen some of our classes for 3 weeks!

Josh - One of my favorite stories happened about 2 weeks ago. Students were working on a worksheet I had given them. While I was helping a student I heard a quiet popping sound followed by laughter. I turned around to find out what happened and saw three students with black blobs of ink on their uniforms, arms and faces. They were all laughing. Turns out one of my girl students had been shaking her pen to get it to work when it exploded. She had been turned around facing her classmates behind her. Those two students were splattered the worst as well as the person next to her. After careful examination we figured that she had no ink on her but a few students up to 8 feet away had an ink dot or two on their chairs, arms, and uniforms. It was a very fun moment for the whole class.

Josh- One thing I enjoy about going to class everyday is taking attendance. I know it seems strange to like taking attendance but I find it to be very amusing and I think most students do as well. The reason it can be very funny is their names. Each Thai students has a nickname given to them. They have a full name that is almost impossible for Americans or other westerners to pronounce without practice. So I like to use their nicknames while reading from the attendance sheet. The students seem to get a good laugh from me attempting to read them especially the difficult ones like Paie, Vaew, Aun, Aor, Paew, Paewa, Fluk, Fluke,  etc. Sometimes it is hard to even begin pronouncing. Other names like Toey (pronounced sort of like toy) I struggled with at first but have gotten better. Some of my favorites are Ploy, Ice, Q, Jane, Name, Nut, Ball, Bank, Benz, and many more. I have around 750 students, many of them have the same nicknames so I can get some good practice in, but in most cases I walk into a classroom and can only remember one or two of my students names. It truley is a challenge pronoucing them correctly let alone remembering who the names belong too. I am glad we get to start class on a bit of a happy note and that they aren't offended I can't pronounce them correctly.

Oh, the Rain - When it rains it pours, but only for 20-30 minutes. The school grounds are lower than the surrounding areas, so when it pours rain in some places there is ankle deep water. I had to take my shoes off and wade in the water to get to class one day.