For The Students Not Enough Anymore

[Rhys]

Just wanted your thoughts: after years of providing excellence in teaching English,

when the ADM folks, Govt policies, and lack of Liason support finally get to you , even the wonder smiles of your students are enough to stay in the land of smiles. How do you stay motivated?

[Harry Palmer]

i find that copious amounts of beer generally does the trick

seriously though...

i agree that maintaining the enthusiasm and energy teaching requires is critically important - even for the most experienced teachers...

i attend many teacher conferences & workshops in the LoS. they helps me to learn new approaches for handling difficult situations, and the creative ideas and enthusiasm of other teachers help spur me on to greater things...

[Ajarn]

i find that copious amounts of beer generally does the trick 

seriously though...

i agree that maintaining the enthusiasm and energy teaching requires is critically important - even for the most experienced teachers...

i attend many teacher conferences & workshops in the LoS. they helps me to learn new approaches for handling difficult situations, and the creative ideas and enthusiasm of other teachers help spur me on to greater things...

I agree. It's very important for a teacher to have some outlets, hopefully not too self-destructive...

Networking with other teachers, either to share horror stories, or new teaching methodolgies, is great, and there is always something interesting going on around Bkk, for sure. Some schools even have money to send you to some of the various workshops around. I've always valued the workshops and seminars put on regularly by Chula, through the Language Center, if I remember correctly.

Networking is also a great way to make contacts for a better job.

[vanessa_vanillasky]

i find that copious amounts of beer generally does the trick 

seriously though...

i agree that maintaining the enthusiasm and energy teaching requires is critically important - even for the most experienced teachers...

i attend many teacher conferences & workshops in the LoS. they helps me to learn new approaches for handling difficult situations, and the creative ideas and enthusiasm of other teachers help spur me on to greater things...

I agree. It's very important for a teacher to have some outlets, hopefully not too self-destructive...

Networking with other teachers, either to share horror stories, or new teaching methodolgies, is great, and there is always something interesting going on around Bkk, for sure. Some schools even have money to send you to some of the various workshops around. I've always valued the workshops and seminars put on regularly by Chula, through the Language Center, if I remember correctly.

Networking is also a great way to make contacts for a better job.

remember your first week of teaching in the class, when you lecture to your students all they gave you was BIG smile and "mai kao chai", after a few months you can see a BIG smile and a NOD, another few more months you can start to hear their voices joining in your discussions ... and suddenly your students start chatting with you about anything and everything ... imagine this scenario ... its a good motivation

[mbkudu]

Just wanted your thoughts: after years of providing excellence in teaching English,

when the ADM folks, Govt policies, and lack of Liason support finally get to you , even the wonder smiles of your students are enough to stay in the land of smiles. How do you stay motivated?

I think knowing when to hang up your hat is the important thing. If you know that the time has come to go into some other line of work, then get out of

( teaching) it. The worst thing you can do is toil along in something you are tired of doing. Your students can sense that your heart is not in it, and most likely it affects the way they learn from you.

In my honest opinion, the worst kind of teacher is not the inexperienced, unqualified Khoasan Road (no offense to anyone who lives there) teacher, but the one who may be highly educated, qualified and DREADS teaching. He feels that teaching is just a way to pay the bills until a better 'gig' comes along.

[Ijustwannateach]

In many schools, even if they never DO learn English most students appreciate the chance to try, and especially appreciate the difference in learning styles- there are very few Thai teachers who try to teach English conversationally, even if they have fairly good conversation skills themselves. In some cases it's the first time they've encountered anything close to student-centered learning, and they like it! Add to this the natural bubbliness and humor of most Thai students and they're a load of laughs in the classroom.

It's a joy to see someone enjoying learning, and an especial joy to see someone with natural curiousity making huge leaps in skill within a single class.

The paperwork and other unnecessary rigmarole does get you down- that's what my handle's all about- I'm tired of the mess and the nonsense- I just wanna teach!

"Steven"

[Harry Palmer]

i find that i run into teachers like ijwt just about everywhere... they get into teaching thinking that it's all about

a load of laughs in the classroom

. i feel that they can forget just why they are there sometimes... paperwork is a necessary part of the job... get used to it, i suggest attending a time-management course...

it's not about the money or the possibility of sex with a willing student after class