...I was a doormat.
When my students didn't behave as I wished, I let things slide. Why? Because I couldn't get myself angry with my students. I just didn't have it in me and I wouldn't want them to dislike their teacher.
But when they continuously come unprepared...
...talk while my back is turned...
...speak Thai after I ask them not too...
...fail to follow directions...
....pretend to understand...
...smile and nod when I haven't asked them a yes or no question...
...and essentially take advantage of my good nature...
SHIT HITS THE FAN
But first...
All week I was baffled why I couldn't get them academically 'going' and why my system of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement was failing so hard. I chatted with other teachers and no one seemed to have the answer. All I could determine was that both teacher and student were still in the feeling things out phase and eventually they'd warm up to me.
At the end of my rope, I asked Rob what the heck I had to do. First he went into more detail about Thai culture and the differences between my own ideas and their own. The important point was the culture's view of mistakes. Publicly making a mistake to a Thai feels the same to a Westerner as being the pallbearer at a funeral, dropping the coffin, and then vomiting on the corpse in front of the grieving family.
So I needed to start considering that.
Second, I was being too damn nice. I rewarded desirable behavior but essentially did not punish undesirable behavior. (Also for both, the rewards and punishments that did exist weren't strong enough to have a reinforcing effect).
So my students wouldn't get 'going' in part because my system was failing. The room wasn't as straight laced as it needed to be so things weren't conducive to learning and plain old paying attention. My system needed reworking and I needed to come down hard on them for not doing what they needed to do. The room lacked balance.
So I shit canned my old system of warnings that weren't working and bagged everything else.
This morning my student's stepped into a new room.
I pounded the ever loving crap out of the morning routine, making them do it over and over until they got it right. One classmate out of step? Do it again.
Speaking Thai when I'm in the room? BOOM. 50 lines (write "I will not speak Thai in Kru Adams class)
Forgot your book? BOOM. 25 lines ( write "I will not forget my math/english books)
Speaking while I'm speaking? BOOM. Detention.
I've asked you all to sit in silence while reading, allowing just whispers and the volume rises too high? AGAIN. Okay fine, put all your stuff away and we'll all just sit here in silence so you can all learn what it sounds like.
I doled out more lines than a coke addict and now have enough students in detention to start a baseball team.
But it worked.
They soon stepped in line and things started to get going. I got through way more lesson material than usual and they were actually much more responsive. Their responsiveness I chalk up to the room being conducive to learning and forcing them to pay attention! Awesome!
Things aren't perfect yet and I have much to enhance and fix but the changes today alone will improve the classroom environment as the reinforcing effects take hold.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Friday, May 24, 2013
My first week of school
I was going to keep this blog very proper and professional but sitting here, trying to think best how to capture the emotions and thoughts that swirled in my head during the week and those that I will soon feel and face, and all I can come up with is -holy shit.
This is a very interesting 'holy shit', however. It is medley of exasperation, desperation, confusion, delusion, positivity, and negativity.
I prepared immensely up to my first day yet realized I still hadn't a clue what I was doing. Why I felt this way is attributable to several variables. The first is my students aren't native English speakers and I need to determine for myself what they can and cannot understand. It is challenging to discern what you are doing right and wrong when a minor language barrier exists and determining where it lies with each student is ongoing.
The second variable is directly related to the first -these kids are smart. According to other teachers my class is very bright and understands a great deal. Yet when I explain thing or try to get them to do something, like taking out a notebook, it feels as though I am speaking to students who do not understand a word I'm saying. I know the opposite is the truth so this is very frustrating and leaves me feeling helpless.
I believe a part of it is attributable to the procedures and ways they are used to. When I want them to get up and grab a book I'll say "Okay everyone, now it's alright if you get up and grab a book" yet they'll sit there for minutes unless I prompt them one or two more times. For awhile I believed they just didn't understand me. But now I'm much more inclined to believe that I am somehow confusing them with the way I choose to do things. The solution isn't cut and dry, both student and teacher will be learning about the other and what it takes to communicate effectively to the other.
They are also very literal and thus have strange ways of doing things. When I put notes on the board they ask what they need to write down (everything, dammit) and if it's okay to write down certain things from the board (no, if you draw my picture of planet Earth I'm going to set the desks on fire). Another problem is how slow they can be to take notes because they are being so careful and literal. For example, if I freehand draw a chart on the board, they will sit there with rulers and carefully duplicate it. If a line is off or they just don't like it, they whip out a whiteout, shake it for 7 hours and then paint. Recognizing an impediment to learning in the classroom I said next week begins my ban on pens. Confused and concerned, they said in all of their Thai classes they have to use pen. This was when I then realized that perhaps my ways of doing things was more the problem than their comprehension. Regardless of what they were writing with, I had to go around and show them it was okay to freehand the chart. Instead of taking just 2 or 3 minutes to draw this chart, it took 15 or 20.
They would also ask what to do if they could not fit the remainder of the chart on the page and at other times ask what to do if they run out of space while taking notes. Confused internally but outwardly just peachy I would explain they could continue the chart below or turn the page and continue their notes.
When I was discussing this event with two of the Thai teachers in the teachers lounge they said the students are so careful because the Thai teachers want them to be careful note takers and follow a particular format. This further cemented that my approach was off.
Another element of this 'holy shit' is my exposure to children and so many of them. I've been dealing with adults for what feels like my entire life and now I've got a bunch of aliens to figure out. I must figure out their academic brain, social brain, and much else.
It's all part of an evolving process.
Finally, at the beginning of the week I was in the phase where teacher is all rosy and living in a fantasy. By the end of the week after my own classroom experiences and speaking with the new and old teachers my authoritarian hand has gradually began to show and the steps necessary to teach and command the room are revealing themselves.
PE
My second grade P.E. class was fun. I let the children play soccer, kick the can, zombies, with rocks, and on the jungle gym.
My first grade P.E. class was insane. I learned that 1st graders have the attention span and behavioral tendencies of marbles. Fifteen minutes late to that PE class, I arrived and children were practically swinging from the chandeliers. We went outside and I tried to explain to them that we would do blah blah blah and could do blah blah blah (that's what they must've heard).
After failing to get them to get down from the slide they were running up and down and then off the trampoline I realized what I was doing felt like pleading with grass not to grow. As ever the master of understanding the complexity of the minds of marbles I went back to my room, grabbed a soccer ball and a dodge ball and threw them both on the field. The children screamed "yayyyyyyyy" and all chased after them. Now to get them to exercise I would snatch up the ball and many of them would try to chase me down. Problem solved.
This is a very interesting 'holy shit', however. It is medley of exasperation, desperation, confusion, delusion, positivity, and negativity.
I prepared immensely up to my first day yet realized I still hadn't a clue what I was doing. Why I felt this way is attributable to several variables. The first is my students aren't native English speakers and I need to determine for myself what they can and cannot understand. It is challenging to discern what you are doing right and wrong when a minor language barrier exists and determining where it lies with each student is ongoing.
The second variable is directly related to the first -these kids are smart. According to other teachers my class is very bright and understands a great deal. Yet when I explain thing or try to get them to do something, like taking out a notebook, it feels as though I am speaking to students who do not understand a word I'm saying. I know the opposite is the truth so this is very frustrating and leaves me feeling helpless.
I believe a part of it is attributable to the procedures and ways they are used to. When I want them to get up and grab a book I'll say "Okay everyone, now it's alright if you get up and grab a book" yet they'll sit there for minutes unless I prompt them one or two more times. For awhile I believed they just didn't understand me. But now I'm much more inclined to believe that I am somehow confusing them with the way I choose to do things. The solution isn't cut and dry, both student and teacher will be learning about the other and what it takes to communicate effectively to the other.
They are also very literal and thus have strange ways of doing things. When I put notes on the board they ask what they need to write down (everything, dammit) and if it's okay to write down certain things from the board (no, if you draw my picture of planet Earth I'm going to set the desks on fire). Another problem is how slow they can be to take notes because they are being so careful and literal. For example, if I freehand draw a chart on the board, they will sit there with rulers and carefully duplicate it. If a line is off or they just don't like it, they whip out a whiteout, shake it for 7 hours and then paint. Recognizing an impediment to learning in the classroom I said next week begins my ban on pens. Confused and concerned, they said in all of their Thai classes they have to use pen. This was when I then realized that perhaps my ways of doing things was more the problem than their comprehension. Regardless of what they were writing with, I had to go around and show them it was okay to freehand the chart. Instead of taking just 2 or 3 minutes to draw this chart, it took 15 or 20.
They would also ask what to do if they could not fit the remainder of the chart on the page and at other times ask what to do if they run out of space while taking notes. Confused internally but outwardly just peachy I would explain they could continue the chart below or turn the page and continue their notes.
When I was discussing this event with two of the Thai teachers in the teachers lounge they said the students are so careful because the Thai teachers want them to be careful note takers and follow a particular format. This further cemented that my approach was off.
Another element of this 'holy shit' is my exposure to children and so many of them. I've been dealing with adults for what feels like my entire life and now I've got a bunch of aliens to figure out. I must figure out their academic brain, social brain, and much else.
It's all part of an evolving process.
Finally, at the beginning of the week I was in the phase where teacher is all rosy and living in a fantasy. By the end of the week after my own classroom experiences and speaking with the new and old teachers my authoritarian hand has gradually began to show and the steps necessary to teach and command the room are revealing themselves.
PE
My second grade P.E. class was fun. I let the children play soccer, kick the can, zombies, with rocks, and on the jungle gym.
My first grade P.E. class was insane. I learned that 1st graders have the attention span and behavioral tendencies of marbles. Fifteen minutes late to that PE class, I arrived and children were practically swinging from the chandeliers. We went outside and I tried to explain to them that we would do blah blah blah and could do blah blah blah (that's what they must've heard).
After failing to get them to get down from the slide they were running up and down and then off the trampoline I realized what I was doing felt like pleading with grass not to grow. As ever the master of understanding the complexity of the minds of marbles I went back to my room, grabbed a soccer ball and a dodge ball and threw them both on the field. The children screamed "yayyyyyyyy" and all chased after them. Now to get them to exercise I would snatch up the ball and many of them would try to chase me down. Problem solved.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Preparations
Over the past few weeks I've been chipping away at my school preparations. I took the past few days off as the quality of my material was starting to suffer due to a bit of burn out. Tomorrow I'll be gearing back up and sorting things out once more as school begins a week from Monday/tomorrow. After finalizing some material and ideas I'll be planning classroom rules and other fun things (not being sarcastic) as I've been instructed to do so by Fred Jones and the Wongs.
I'll be working with the other teachers as well to steal ideas from and bounce my own off of.
What exactly I've been chipping away at is as follows:
To make effective lessons you have to know exactly what students need to know or what you want them to know, understand, be skilled at, et cetera. The way to know what they must know means you must first create the exam that will test them on exactly what these things are. In tandem with the creation of the exam you create a learning guide or study guide (for every exam) to give to the students. This ensures the students know exactly what they will be expected to know and the teacher knows too.
With the exam and learning guide in hand, you are now free to create your lessons for you know exactly what must be included and what ideas, themes, skills must be incorporated and mastered prior to testing.
So you see, things are created in a backward or sideways fashion.
I've created about 60-70% of my exams and learning guides for the entire year so far. I'll post the actual materials after the first test I give to show what I mean by everything I just said. (Ha) Also, despite having created so much, I bear in mind the necessity, and reality of flexibility.
I aim high so that I can wring all I can from my students. I believe that what I lack in formal training I can make up for (a bit at least) by constantly planning and seeking help through my coworkers and the web.
Unfortunately this approach doesn't seem to be the case for all teachers in Thailand. The other night I met a few teachers from other parts of the country at a bar and my approach isn't popular amongst my cohort. I'm such a snowflake! At the time I was with a coworker, Rob, who was more disappointed than I by these lackadaisical teachers. Having been at AMEC for 5 or 6 years, Rob's seen the good, the bad, and ugly. I presume seeing the casual teacher crowd, the conveyer-belt teachers, again and again gets a little old. To him, and myself, a teacher isn't a freakn gig.
You're a child's teacher, a year of their education is in your hands. You don't take that lightly.
"You only get one 4th grade teacher"
Damn right, Rob. Damn right.
I'll be working with the other teachers as well to steal ideas from and bounce my own off of.
What exactly I've been chipping away at is as follows:
To make effective lessons you have to know exactly what students need to know or what you want them to know, understand, be skilled at, et cetera. The way to know what they must know means you must first create the exam that will test them on exactly what these things are. In tandem with the creation of the exam you create a learning guide or study guide (for every exam) to give to the students. This ensures the students know exactly what they will be expected to know and the teacher knows too.
With the exam and learning guide in hand, you are now free to create your lessons for you know exactly what must be included and what ideas, themes, skills must be incorporated and mastered prior to testing.
So you see, things are created in a backward or sideways fashion.
I've created about 60-70% of my exams and learning guides for the entire year so far. I'll post the actual materials after the first test I give to show what I mean by everything I just said. (Ha) Also, despite having created so much, I bear in mind the necessity, and reality of flexibility.
I aim high so that I can wring all I can from my students. I believe that what I lack in formal training I can make up for (a bit at least) by constantly planning and seeking help through my coworkers and the web.
Unfortunately this approach doesn't seem to be the case for all teachers in Thailand. The other night I met a few teachers from other parts of the country at a bar and my approach isn't popular amongst my cohort. I'm such a snowflake! At the time I was with a coworker, Rob, who was more disappointed than I by these lackadaisical teachers. Having been at AMEC for 5 or 6 years, Rob's seen the good, the bad, and ugly. I presume seeing the casual teacher crowd, the conveyer-belt teachers, again and again gets a little old. To him, and myself, a teacher isn't a freakn gig.
You're a child's teacher, a year of their education is in your hands. You don't take that lightly.
"You only get one 4th grade teacher"
Damn right, Rob. Damn right.
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