WEEK IN REVIEW

We've come to the end of another long week.  I did a bit more substitute teaching — Language Activities for a P4 class and English for P5 — in addition to my regular Reading classes for P3.

On Monday I was in charge of the lower-Primary Cub Scouts during which I (tried) to teach them the Scout Motto ("Be Prepared"), Oath, and Rules.  I'd made a worksheet that explained each of these — both in English and Thai — but this group of Scouts just don't seem interested at all.  The Thai Scouting program is a big part of teaching morals to students in the schools here but I'm finding it difficult to reach the kids in this way.  Perhaps my co-Scout teachers (Tony and Ted) will have more luck this coming week.

During my lunchroom break duty on Wednesday, a P1 student came up to me saying he'd lost his shoes.  When we began to look for them I asked where he'd last seen his shoes to which he replied in all innocence, "On my feet, teacher."  File this under "the funny/cute things kids say..."

Friday was extremely eventful as I was given a Homeroom, sort of.  The teacher in P3 Yellow had had some problems so the school's director decided to move him to another level.  I've been given the responsibility of teaching all the English-related courses (including Phonics, Language Activities, etc.) for that class in addition to my P3-level Reading classes.  Two very experienced teachers will teach the Math and Science courses in P3 Yellow (one has been at the school for eight years now), sharing the class with me.  Unfortunately, I don't get to take over the Extra Lessons in the afternoon (which means more pay) but at least I'll be learning more of the homeroom routines and have a chance to tackle the administrative duties (paperwork) as well.

That evening was the P3 Parents' Night.  Our school's director personally came to the P3 Yellow classroom so he could explain the change in teachers and introduce us to the parents.  I was a bit nervous at first but the parents soon warmed up to me when I answered their questions about how long I'd been in Thailand (virtually every Thai I meet are very impressed when they find out I have a Thai wife and family).  One of the mothers invited me to her son's birthday party the following day.

The party was held in a very nice house in Land & Houses Park — a gated community about five minutes from our home in Chalong.  Upon arriving at the clubhouse I heard some children call out, "Hello, Teacher Mark."  The more I teach, the more I run into my students at all sorts of places.  Teachers Dave and Donna were there waiting for Teacher Cornell.  When he arrived we made our way to the parents' home.  It was a very nice get-together.  The father is from America; he and his (Thai) wife had laid out a very impressive spread of food that included guacamole with chips, baby-back ribs, and fajitas.  I gave everyone a crash course in how to prepare and fold a fajita.  There was cake and ice cream for desert and I'm still full almost 24 hours later!

My wife had a good time as well as the hostess's mother is from Lamphun (Tim's home province) and they spent sometime talking about that area.  We did have to leave earlier than I would have liked but we needed to check on Alex who'd been left with a couple of Tim's friends.

I've been fairly lazy today — working on the computer (some school-related work, some music-related tasks) and watching a bit of television.  I think I'll try to read for an hour or so before going to bed.