Expat Teaching & Living: Working at the School

My first full day of observation at work was on a Friday. The day before I bought myself a new ukulele, selfie stick, and a Samsung Galaxy S4, so I was feeling top notch heading into work Friday morning. My observations at the end of my first day included that it was loud, hot, and exhausting. The days have felt like they have gone by very quickly so there must be more this job than a loud, hot, and exhausting time.

I was able to observe the previous teacher teaching the grade 6 - 9 students (aged approximately 11 - 14 years old). These are the oldest students in the school. Physical Education did not appear to be a priority and the previous teacher informed me that the students are used to a lot of free time during P.E. class. That was something that I knew was going to change when I took over the classes. The gymnasium does not utilize the air conditioning-- or the lights for that matter-- unless there is a big event with the parents coming. This means open windows and fans serve as lighting and cooling. Most days here have been between 30-35 degrees Celsius and feel like 40-45 degrees with the humidity index (think the opposite of a windchill factor). My office does have air conditioning and most other rooms do also, so even in this heat sweaters are a common theme at the school due to the air conditioning.

My first week taking on the role of grade 5-9 physical education teacher was really nice. There are 4 different grade 5 and 6 classes, but just one class of grade 7s, 8s, and 9s. So in total I teach 11 Physical Education classes since each class is scheduled to have one 50 minute P.E. class per week. Along with teaching a creative writing club once per week, teaching one hour of English homework classes per day, and substitute teaching when other teachers are away I kept fairly busy. Homework classes actually did not start during the first week due to orientation activities. An 8 year-old student named Kitty who is in one of my homework classes would always ask me "When are you coming to teach us in homework class!? Why weren't you there yesterday?" This student had only met me one time on Friday yet she was very excited to have me help her with her school work. I really enjoy working with enthusiastic, respectful students.

The first week was a really nice time to establish routines and rules for my students, and to get to know them. I teach over 300 students, and our campus has well over 1,000 students, so getting to know names has been a real chore. All of the students have Thai names but go by English nicknames such as Talk Show, Jackpot, Garfield, Thunder, Jump, and anything else you could imagine. This is helpful for remembering names sometimes, but can get tricky when you teach 5 different students named First. Teaching all 300 of those students for less than one hour in the first week certainly made learning their names feel like a daunting task, but one that I am certainly up for.

My first impression of the school is that it is beautiful. I work at a Thai school with an English Immersion program as opposed to an International School. The school I work at has both a Thai department and a Foreign department. It is also split into Key Stages of Kindergarden/Nursery, Grade 1-4, and Grade 5-9. All of these departments and Key Stages are always communicating with one another and it has made for a very interesting workplace with a lot of different activities and ideas implemented to give the students a great experience. I am certain to enjoy a lot of uniquely Thai school experiences and I am excited to experience it all.

Thanks for reading, below are a few pictures of the school and my purchases.