First Week Teaching at Damrong School

I survived my first week teaching!  It was exhausting, but exciting and humbling at the same time.  My students are amazing, and I'm learning as much from them as they are supposed to be learning from me.  The Thai education system is broken into Primary and Secondary, much like our school system in the US.  Primary covers K-6 and Secondary covers 7-12.  In Secondary, each grade level is called a Mathayom.  Mathayom 1 is equivalent to 7th grade, and Mathayom 6 is the last level, or our 12th grade. 
English hasn't been a huge priority in the Thai school system until recently, with the founding of the ASEAN Nations and the decision to use English as their official language.  The Association of South East Asian Nations is a union much like the EU and includes:  Myanmar, Bunai, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.  Thailand is one of the few countries that has never been colonized, and thus has never had an English presence up until fairly recently.  The Thai government has placed a much higher priority on all children learning English so that Thais will not lose out on jobs when the ASEAN borders open up.
My school is huge - 2,900 students.  I teach 15 classes of 40 students...so around 600 students that I meet with each week.  14 of my classes meet once a week for 50 minutes and my specialized English Program (EP) class meets twice a week.  You can imagine that at 50 minutes once a week, it's pretty tough to get some of the information to stick!  I am in charge of teaching the entire 8th grade class, or Mathayom 2, and 3 12th grade classes, Mathayom 6.  It can be quite a challenge to get 40 kids to settle down and pay attention to a class that is not taught in a language they completely understand, but I have a Thai teacher help for a few of the classes.  My curriculum focuses on Listening and Speaking, so luckily I'm able to incorporate a lot of fun activities, dances, songs and video clips into my class.  Even if it takes me all year, I will curb my students' enthusiasm for Justin Beiber and Gangnam Style toward real music...
One huge difference that I notice right away with Thai students is their respect for teachers in general.  Thai society looks at teachers as second parents:  when you are at home, you learn from your parents.  When you're not at home you are most likely at school, and thus your teacher is like your second parent.  It is a huge honor and a profession that is taken quite seriously.  I wish that the United States held this profession in such a high regard.  My students bow, or wai, to me when they pass in the hall, and stand up when I enter or exit the room.  Every morning my class starts with the class leader saying, "Stand up please."  The whole class stands, and in unison says, "Good Morning Teacher."  They will remain standing until I tell them to take their seats (something I discovered the first day when no one sat down.)  Class ends with the class saying, "Thank you Teacher.  See you again next time!"   If I am sitting at my desk in my office and a student comes to talk to me, they will kneel or squat on the ground, because they should never stand higher or be at a higher level than their teachers.  Yesterday a group of students came to the English Department office to ask their teacher a question.  They stood around his desk and as they were conversing, the English Department Head came into the office and told them all to walk out, walk back in and sit on the ground to show their teacher respect.  "You are not higher than your teacher.  Show respect to your teacher," he said.  I've seen several of my students outside of class, and the same level of respect is shown to me then.  It shows how much importance is placed on learning and education. 
This week will start my second full week, although 2 days of classes are cancelled for Sports Day, which includes students competing on various teams in soccer, basketball, volleyball and dance.  The marching band will perform and the whole school treks to the local stadium to celebrate the start of the new semester.  I will have lots of pictures and stories to post then!

Each morning the students gather and sit on the court for morning assembly.  The National Anthem is sung, a Buddhist prayer is said, and the Director goes over morning announcements.

My school has 5 buildings surrounding 2 large sport courts and open courtyards.  At lunch and after class these areas are filled with badminton (which is huge here!!), soccer, basketball, volleyball and dance.  There are areas inside for weightlifting and table tennis.

This is my office!  The English Department consists of 35 teachers, 7 of whom are foreign teachers.  I have access to as many photocopies as I need (a HUGE luxury in Thai public schools because of budgets) scanner, computers, cd players and multimedia equipment.