The Teaching Adventure Continues

I was asked to fill in for a teacher at a school out in the suburbs of Bangkok. The same school that I had visited a couple of weeks ago. They had offered me a job there - but I decided not to take it because the commute would have been to much.

I was told there was no lesson plan and no textbook. I had no idea how many students I was to be teaching or what age.

And it turned out to be such an exciting day.

The head teacher met me at our regular school and escorted me there. The school was hidden among backstreets and turn arounds. We took a cab down the main road and then a motorcycle taxi to the school. (Thank heavens one of the teachers who worked there full time lived near me and helped me get home or I would have been so confused.)

I was given a schedule. Two classes of first graders, then lunch, then one class of third graders and another of first graders.

I was told not to enter the class until it was time to start teaching. OK (?) So that's what I did. I entered at exactly 9 to class of about 40 first graders and said a casual hello. At that point all the students stood up like soldiers and shouted at the top of their voices, "Good Morning Teacher. How Are You?" I was so taken back that I just smiled and said, "That was very good." Before I could get another word in -they screamed in unison, "I'm Fine And You?"
It was so funny that all I could do was not laugh out loud. I then started teaching:

Hello my name is...

What's your name?

Her name is...

His name is...

And then I reviewed the alphabet but writing random letters on the board and had them yell them out and then I started spelling out school vocabulary.

Teacher

Students

School

Class

Desk

Board

And they shouted out the letters while I spelled each word.
then we would go over the word together.
then I would spell the word and leave a blank for one letter

S C _ O O L

And they would have to guess the letter.
By the last 15 minutes of the class;

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

they would shout out letters till they formed the word.

These kids were amazing. They were so energetic and fun. They would scream with delight each time the got a letter right and when they could start to see what word it was - they got so excited and were screaming E E E and I kept smiling and saying "Are you sure?" "YES. YES." They would come up and hug my leg in the middle of class. One boy just wanted to keep shaking my hand. The day flew by. But was I ever tired. I was very glad to go back to my regular school and just stand at a whiteboard and talk about clauses and sentences. But what a great day. Every day? I dont know.

I was waiting for the other teacher to finish up his class and I sat and watched girls play jump rope after school and had one of those moments. I'm here. I did it. And I love it.