My job is really amazing and wonderful.....But HARD!!!

So I am going to start this post by informing you that it will probably be ALL OVER the place again, and a hodge podge of random information and picture....ENJOY! :) 

My job is HARD and TRYING and FRUSTRATING and STRESSFUL...don't get me wrong, I love my amazingly cute, sweet little P1s....but HOLY MOLY some days are definitely more difficult than others!

It is hard because not only are they young...they are still English Language Learners...the amount of english they do have is great...but when it comes to explaining certain things or having them follow "simple" instructions, it can be a lot harder than in the states. It is not like they are deliberately ignoring you, or not doing what you asked...it is most likely that they simply do not understand...Sometimes trying to simplify already simple instructions can be difficult. There are some days that I feel completely defeated and not sure if I am being an effective teacher. Some days I leave school completely drained and wondering if I am cut out for this...

But the next day may be a truly amazing, engaging day where I realize that it is hard, but they really are learning what I am teaching! And that is SUPER rewarding! 

I am EXTREMELY grateful for my Thai co-teacher, Kru Dee...She is not required to be in the room while I am teaching (as she has other classes that she teachers throughout the week), but when she IS in the room she is so helpful! I love that she doesn't jump in and translate everything I say, because she knows that I need to figure it out, and they need to learn to figure out what I am saying....BUT if she can see that I am struggling or that what I am saying is a little more in depth for their understanding she will jump in and translate and then you see the little light bulbs go off in their heads! 

I am learning more and more each day that I am in the classroom with these cuties and am feeling more and more confident as an ELL teacher. I am getting the hang of what really gets their attention and keeps them engaged which is exciting for me!

I think in my last post I mentioned that the kids eat lunch in the classroom...

Here they are getting ready to eat! :) 

Ready, Set, GO!!!

Off to the field for P.E.

Last week we worked on "short a" words...

playing different games to reinforce their learning

Being that it is the week of Thanksgiving, I am extremely thankful for my wonderful mom who sent me an amazing care package a month in! She is amazing and I definitely miss her!! Thank goodness for technology and being able to skype even tho she is SOOO far away!  

Small little box...

...turns into all of this amazing stuff! :) 

my all time picture of Tyler and I, coffee, a fitbit, pictures, koozie, granola bars, altoids, gum and lots of other amazing goodies! I was so thankful to open this box from my mom! :) 

She was showing me her really cute dimples! 

Proud is always watching every move I make! :) 

She is also my class translator! :) So thankful to have her help! 

Working on the 5 Senses - Each table had a different sense...they had to look through magazines to find pictures that went with their sense. They had so much fun finding pictures and were extremely creative!

I teach in the English Program at my school, where there is one class for each level. P1 - first grade, through P6 - six grade, essentially. There are 8 foreign teachers at my school in the English Program. I am obviously P1 and my roommate is P3. The P2 teacher came from a different organization than us but is here from Ohio. The P4 teacher is from San Francisco and was at our orientation with us, and then the P5 and P6 teachers are from the states but have been here for 2 + years. They are extremely helpful as they know the ins and outs of Saraburi and the school. They also speak Thai which is great! Nick and Ian took us to this awesome market last Sunday. There is so much in Saraburi that Ashley and I don't know about so it is great to get out and explore! The market is only open on the weekends and is located right on a river! There was so much amazing food and lots of fun crafts and different items for sale. We all grabbed food from different vendors and then met down on the river to eat. There were mats laid out on the floor and little tables to place your food on. This was so neat...I can't wait to go back and try more amazing food! 

There is a Festival in Thailand called Loi Krathong. Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. This normally falls in November on the Western calendar. 

The festival originates from an ancient ritual of paying respect to the water spirits. Some people make a krathong to float on the river, while others light a lantern and let it into the sky. A krathong is usually made out of banana leaves or a spider lily plant. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal, or a pond, making a wish as they do so.

Loi Krathong actually coincides with the Lanna festival known as "Yi Peng". This festival is where the floating lanterns originated. The floating lanterns are called khom loi which literally translates into "floating lanterns". These lanterns are normally made from a thin fabric, such as rice paper, to which a candle or fuel cell is attached. When the fuel cell is lit, the hot air is trapped inside the lantern, creating enough lift for the khom loi to float up into the sky! 

Waiting for the lantern to fill with hot air! I was worried I wouldn't know when to let go..and everyone kept saying you would feel it and "know" when to let go... Well that was definitely true! Once it was filled up with enough hot air the lantern would basically pull up on your hands! Pretty neat! 

Ashley and I with her lantern

Lots of krathongs in the river!

This was a really awesome experience...and now back to my munchkins! :) 

As mentioned earlier, I am a teacher in the English Program at my school...well last week my coordinator added a Normal Program class to my schedule. She said that she wants us to expose them to English and let them hear our accent, etc. That is fine and dandy but YIKES....made me appreciate EVERYTHING I have in the English Program AND my kids! 

ENGLISH PROGRAM - 36 kids, air conditioner, white board, projector, doc cam, supplies 

NORMAL PROGRAM - 50 kids, no AC, blackboard, 50 kids that don't seem to care about English

 

My new normal program class is also a group of P1s...but in the normal program there are 7 classes of P1s. I have P 1/4, which means they are the middle level P1s. P 1/1 is at one end of the spectrum, and P 1/7 is at the opposite end of the spectrum. 

Okay, now back to my P1 munchkins! (I told you this post would be ALL over the place!) 

PearWa's birthday was on Saturday, 

so she brought in Delicious cupcakes to celebrate! :) 

So cute! :) 

Working on the 5 Senses... they Loved this game! 

This has probably been my favorite moment with my kids...Friday after school a few kids were hanging around the classroom and I was just packing up and getting ready for the weekend. They were drawing/writing on the whiteboard and I asked one of them to write my name in Thai...they got so excited and they all started writing my name. I got up and followed along and learned how to write my name in Thai! I then asked them to write their own name in Thai so that I got follow along and also write their name. We had so much fun! We wrote names on the board for about 30 minutes! :) One of my students wrote all 36 names on a piece of paper for me and gave it to me on Monday! :) 

My 7 year old Thai teachers! :) 

I wrote everything that is on the board in this picture! :) 

This past weekend was filled with all kinds of excitement! :) Ashley and I live in Saraburi, which is very close to Lopburi. Lopburi is known for their Monkey Festival that takes place once a year. We were lucky enough to host our friends for the weekend and then take a trip to Lopburi on Sunday to check out the monkeys! 

We had a total of 10 people staying at our house this weekend and it was truly amazing! We had such a great time and lots of laughs! :) 

For the most part, everyone got here Friday evening...with Casey and Adam arriving on Saturday! Friday was pretty chill because we were all exhausted from the week! Saturday we decided to get up and do some exploring! We went to Wat Phra Phutthabat, which is the most important Buddhist temple. It was built under King Songtham in the 17th century and is located around a Buddha footprint. 

As we were walking up we saw this random monkey relaxing at the entrance...

Reclining Buddha

The footprint of Lord Buddha found on a stone panel near Suwan Banpot Hill. A spired square pavilion or mondrop was built to cover the footprint. 

We were at the very top (we had to climb a MILLION GaZILLION stairs) and their were a group of guys up top doing break dancing moves...pretty cool! :) They got a kick out of my taking pictures of them! :) 

Sunday was the Monkey Festival, but some of us weren't feeling too great! Oops! :) But we pulled through, got up and ready and headed out to catch a bus to Lopburi!

Lopburi is home to countless monkeys that have adapted to life in an urban environment. The monkeys have become such a part of the local culture that there is actually a festival held in their honor. 

Festivities include a monkey "tea party" where macaques tuck into a spread of fruit, eggs, cucumbers and bananas all prepared in their honor. Last year the monkeys got through 2,000 kilograms of food provided by locals who believe donating the food will bring them good fortune. 

These guys are passed out! 

The monkeys will seriously take anything you have! Not in a vicious way, but if you have something that stands out to them they will attempt to get it! Within 2 minutes of us walking in, we saw a monkey rip open a plastic bag a guy was holding with 2 brand new water bottles in it. They monkey ripped the bag and stole both the waters! 

A monkey stole my friend Mattie's earrings and bobby pins...literally just took them out of her ears and took the bobby pins out of her hair! It was pretty entertaining that's for sure! :)

At the bus station leaving Lopburi. One of the employees had their cute dog with them and just handed her to me! Sweetest thing ever...I tried to steal her but it didn't work out to well! :)  

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....I'm pretty sure that is ALL I did in this post...But I hope you at least enjoyed the pictures! :) :) 

(and no, I didn't proof it so I apologize for the errors!)

Love and Miss Everyone!!

xoxo

LD