My Happy Place: The Classroom

For those who do not know, I live and work in Thailand as an English teacher for 700 wonderful elementary school children.  I love my job more than I ever dreamed I could love an occupation.  This post shares some of my experiences as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in Nong Khai, Thailand.

A Day in School

I am at school every weekday from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  My day typically consists of the following schedule:

7:30 AM: breakfast in my office

8 AM: school assembly

9 AM - 11:50 AM: teach classes (50 minutes each)

12 PM: lunch

1 - 3:50 PM: teach classes

4-4:30 PM: work in my office

I teach four classes per day, so I have two free periods every day (so wonderful) in which I can get a lot of grading and lesson preparation done.

I have the honor of teaching the entire elementary student body at my school - that's 700 kids!!  I meet each class (around 40 students each) once per week.

I was always very organized (everything color-coded!) in school, and that has been so beneficial in my job, too.  I have a notebook in which every lesson plan, to-do list, and schedule from the entire term is recorded.

Every Monday morning, I give a "morning talk" to the entire school.  I usually teach 3-4 terms of my choosing.

My background as a performer has aided me in every step of the way as a teacher!  I am a theater kid at heart, and this job has been the perfect way of incorporating my past as an actress into an occupation that I love.

One of my favorite things about the Thai school system: the kids do a period of meditation (samadhi) every morning and every lunch period, before going to their classes.  I always join them and this is one of my favorite routines in the day.

I absolutely adore all of my kiddos.  I think of them as my children.

Student Art

This is a photo of what my cabinet currently looks like, as I write this in the last days of my first term here.  Over the course of the four month semester, I have been given drawings from so many different students, ranging from first graders to sixth graders.  I am so grateful for my amazing (and talented!) students.

This is my sweetie pie second grader, Som-O!  Sometimes she hangs out with me in my office doodling on my scratch paper.

Joined here by Pancake and Pimmy.  (P.S.: aren't the kids' nicknames precious?)

Sometimes the drawings take a lot of artistic license; I always enjoy seeing the different renderings my students come up with.

I'd say the left two are pretty darn accurate for what I look like at school!  Done by my sixth graders, Bam-Bam, Fai, Pizza, and Prig-wan.

Above is my favorite piece of student work from the term.  The activity was for fifth graders, to draw pictures to go with each of the four American seasons.  The top one is pretty much what every other student drew.  The bottom one?  A creative masterpiece.  (Yes, the Venus fly trap did eat the human that had been watering it, evidenced by the bloody disembodied hand holding the watering can.  And yes, the sun is smoking a cigarette.)

This drawing is one of my absolute favorites from the term.  I have it up in my apartment to remind me how much I love my job.

Finally, the art piece that brought tears to my eyes - not for what was on the front, but for what was on the back.  I will never forget you, Bam Bam!  Nor will I forget the rest of my amazing students.  I am so grateful.

Being Sick

This was a less glamorous but definitely prevalent part of my term...

I got sick the first time about one week after starting my teaching job.  This was not fun.  I got the flu, which onset suddenly and hit me like a truck.  Before Thailand I rarely had illnesses where... food went the incorrect direction... but this was the second instance already of me getting sick like this here.

The flu passed relatively quickly, but it wasn't long before I got sick again, this time with a cold.  I had colds on and off for the first month and a half of my job.  I was sick more often than I was not!  (These photos are from different sets of illnesses.)

A measure I took to combat the contagion phenomenon!

The beautiful thing is: after the two month point, I pretty much never got sick again.  I sometimes felt little hints of sickness, but my system has become so strong from the constant high-fives, hugs, and kid interaction that I have been able to fight it all off!  Win!

Special Events

Scout Camp

Two days in November, the kids had their beloved scout camp.  They wore their scout uniforms and had a set of traditional activities that they were so excited for.

Activity one: baby powder on their faces!  This happened at the beginning of the day.  I was honored to be part of this scout day initiation ritual!

This day was SO MUCH FUN.  No classes, only scout activities!  I liked hanging out at the music station, where Teacher Bon (right) played drums while I played shakers and the kids learned fun dances.  (Fun note: Teacher Bon is my co-teacher for second and third grade, as well as the classes of each grade that have the most limited understanding of English.  He's the best!)

These are screenshots of a video I took, which I watch whenever I need a pick-me-up.  There is no better medicine than the pure joy of children!

Some of my adorable first graders in their scout hats.

I call these girls my monkeys.  They like to hang on me until I almost topple over!

The next day, we had nighttime activities for the older students.  These included traditional dances, fun parades, and performances by the kids.  The kids and teachers slept over at the school that night!  So much fun, something the students so look forward to.

Christmas/New Year

To my surprise, Christmas is actually celebrated in Thailand!  It is not remotely as important here as it is in my home country of America, but the kids do know about and love Santa Claus and the spirit of Christmas joy.  (I don't think they know the religious underpinnings of the holiday; it is more about the Western culture to them!)

I spent Christmas Day in the classroom with my kiddos.  It was a beautiful way to spend the holiday while being so far from my family.

My surrogate family, all the way across the world!

Matching Santa hats with my sweetheart second grader, Poom.

I love my fifth graders, too!

Cutie pie first grader, Koryah.

The more important celebration in Thailand is that of the New Year!  They celebrate the solar calendar New Year (January 1) as well as the lunar calendar New Year, which occurs in April.  The latter is much more of an event in Thailand, but we did get a few days off for this holiday (see what I did here and here)!

Yes, that jelly cake does say 2562.  In Thailand, they use two calendar systems: Gregorian (in which it is 2019 of the Common Era), and Buddhist (in which it is 2562 of the Buddhist Era)!  Happy 2562!

On the last day before the New Year holiday, the entire school celebrated with a huge show.

The students performed in traditional Thai dances...

...individual class performances...

...and even a feature of sixth grader Fifa as Santa Claus!

I got some quality photos in with my first graders, Chompoo and Alice.

Fifth grader Leo got to be a ladyboy for the performance!  I love that, in Thailand, boys dressing as women is not only not stigmatized, but is celebrated!  Leo was loving life this day, and was very excited to take photos with the teachers.

Teacher Beer, my co-teacher for first grade.  She is wonderful!  She gifted me this beautiful bag, made by Teacher Phil.

A teacher snapped a photo of me playing with fake snow with the students.  It is like silly string, but very cold!  Happy New Year!

Student Day

Two Fridays after we returned from the New Year holiday, the students had yet another show, this time for "Student Day."

The kids did shows with their classes, featuring singing, dancing, and, in one class, some devilish imagery!

A highlight of the day: the teachers dressed in student uniforms and danced to one of the kids' favorite songs.



Aren't they precious?!

I loved the balloon-and-streamer set up made by the teachers for the students.

My sixth graders FahSai and Baitong looked so hip!

One of the two massive snack stations set up for the kids.  At the end of the day, each student got five snacks to take home!!

 My sixth grade sweeties, Fai and Prai Fah.  I thought Prai Fah's shirt was hilarious.  We never would have been allowed to wear this in the schools I went to in America!

Sport Day

The next Friday was Sport Day!  All classes were cancelled again (I was sad about this because I love my Friday classes... but I have a feeling the students didn't mind another day of fun).  The day started with a parade through the streets!

As you can see,  the students were dressed to the nines for the event.

Aren't my students beautiful?

Pre-K student Chompu!  Teacher Phil dressed her and did her makeup.  They, like many of the other students here, had been up since 4 AM getting ready.

The school is divided into four color teams: blue, purple, green, and pink.  There had been four other sport days leading up to this one, in which students played basketball (girls) and soccer (boys) in different combinations every Wednesday afternoon.  I was on team blue!

Quick photo inserts from the past sports days:

Back to the main event:

Marching in the parade...

Go team blue!!!

This was a very fun way to start the day.

The destination of the parade was a gymnasium in town.  The students played soccer and basketball here all day!  The cheerleaders tirelessly revved up the crowd to support their teams.

After the games were finished, I got a photo with the sweetest pre-K students, Tonnam and Indy.  They are children of teachers here!  So precious.

After the students went home, the teachers had lunch at the school.  Teacher Phil taught me how to make the traditional regional dish, Som Tam (papaya salad).  Spicy!

Valentine's Day

I had the best Valentine's Day of my life thus far, spent with my 700 valentines.  The moment I got to school, students began to cover me with heart stickers.

The accumulation continued as the day went on...

I love that this is how students celebrate Valentine's Day here.  In my elementary school, we were required to bring cards for every student in our class, so that people would not feel left out or have their feelings hurt.  That was so much work, and ended up being expensive!  The way the students did it here, everyone just has sheets of stickers so that they can cover their friends and have carefree fun.

Over time, the stickers began to also cover my face...

By the end of the day, I had accrued over 400 stickers.

I know this because I transferred the stickers from my uniform to my notebook!  This is not all of them - there is another bunch on the inside of the covers.

Best Valentine's Day ever!

Goodbye

The Thai school system has two semesters: May to September and November to February.  My first day of teaching was November 1, and now, as I write this... I only have two days of school left, but I am completely finished teaching for the term.  I am so sad that the term has finished.  The beautiful thing is: I am coming back!!  I have renewed my contract with my company and the school, so I will be returning to teach here again in the May semester.

I will miss my kiddos so much, but knowing that it is "see you later" rather than "goodbye" makes this okay.

To certain classes, however, it is not "see you later"... my graduating sixth graders, I will miss so much.

On our last day of instruction, my 6/1 class surprised me with an incredibly touching "goodbye" celebration.

They wrote "We love Teacher Roxi" on the board, sang "See You Again," and gifted me with a massive poster, art they had done, journals, and chocolate.



I was pretty much crying the entire time.  I have never been so touched.  Isn't this drawing of me amazing??



My students are incredibly thoughtful and talented.



I put up this poster in my room, along with the cards and art.  It makes me so happy.

  I feel beyond lucky.  If any of my students are reading this: I LOVE YOU!!!

For the last morning talk, the words were: "Goodbye," "See you soon," and "I love you."

So, to this semester, I say: goodbye!  I loved it immeasurably.  I am so grateful that I will be back!



A Teacher Roxi in traditional Thai dress thanks you very much for reading, and is amazed if you made it this far.  I know this was a massive post, but I just couldn't condense the four months into less than these 106 photos.  If you couldn't tell, I found my dream job here.  At this time in my life, this feels like exactly where I am meant to be.

Until next time, so much love from my office at school!

xo,

Teacher Roxi