Not Into Hitting Little Kids With A Bamboo Stick…………………..

[lostinisaan]

I faced similar. I think many foreign teachers in Thailand can understand.

The way I was led to understand it, an assistant was to be with me in every class to help with the students understanding and control.

I met her on the first day for an hour and never saw her again.

In the end, as far as discipline is concerned, being angry will never work. They win.

I found that giving a bit back, ie. if they had a pop at me, I had a pop back but in a funny way. I got the class to laugh at the bad boy, hence he lost face and kept quiet.

It works both ways. Give praise when its due, I even got said bad boy to help out a little as the class looked up to him. He gained face back and actually started to learn a bit.

Ive been doing this for 10 years and it's never going to be ideal. But I do make a difference to some. I believe that's the best I can do.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this. Really nice to see that some foreigners understand that we're all sitting in the same boat.

Teaching English is a very difficult job and having 20 + hours and 40 degrees Celsius in a non fan and non air- conditioned fan can easily show you what the word sweating really means.

Teaching grade six for two hours per week's like a holiday for me now.

It's not about where we're from. It' all about who and how we are. The hate on this forum is obvious and unknown on others.

Kindest Regards to all the haters on this forum, seems that they hate themselves for who, how and what they are.

When I grew up with lovely and loving parents I was taught to treat people in a way how I'd like to be treated.

And I can only be thankful that I still got this mindset. I wouldn't even live in an area like the Isaan without my loving wife. 15 years married and still in love means a lot to me.

So I'm not one of these guys who left Europe because i couldn't find employment.I could immediately start making 2,870 Euros/month, but the temperatures on Loi Krathong drop down to 2 degrees.

And not just the temperature is cold where I'm from. People are strange. But also on TVF.

[lostinisaan]

Many others said it before,

lostinisaan

It's time for you to retire.

You can't handle teaching in Thailand anymore.

It's all too much for you.

Take care, buddy and rest in peace.

Dear Sir,

Your usage of “many others” in context with my unfortunately “unique” problem (we might both teach English, but in a completely different environment and setting), is not more than a joke to me. I was only asking for some advice, I didn’t beg anybody to lend me money, nor was I asking for any advice that could be used for any illegal activities.

I knew that some extreme negative posts would destroy any positive discussions and make such a thread to an impossible task. And that coming from a Non- NES teacher? Holy cows and buffaloes.

My uncle in Germany taught English for about 25 years, then became the principle of the high school he worked at. Do you think that he wasn’t qualified because he’s German? I helped him out from time to time and his English was fantastic. But sadly, he is German.

Would I really be such a bad teacher, how could I’ve survived 11 years, being the head foreign teacher at two schools, preparing and conducting seminars for the whole staff of the educational area xxx office(s), plenty seminars for high school and primary school teachers, etc…?? Don't you agree that we build up a reputation and what goes around comes around.

Who’s many others in your humble opinion?

Okay, got it. The guys who seem to make fun of my written English, guys who are jealous that they didn’t even survive a full academic year at a school, or maybe some backpacking folks? Anyway, I don’t see that as an issue because I had my reason(s) to open this thread. And I don’t know if you’ve got the balls to write about some personal things on an open forum that might not look that well for you.

A copy of your Thai TL on your avatar at another related teaching forum doesn’t automatically make you to a much better and more experienced teacher, right? You sound like you are pretty much high on the ladder, don’t you? But finally, there’s no point of taking me down and pulling you up.

Have you ever thought about the fact that we both do the same thing, teaching English, or any subjects is in no way an easy job. I really get a kick out of people who’re picking on some wrong spelling, by making more mistakes than the post they’d “corrected.”

I might be a dreamer when I say that all foreigners who’re teaching in Thailand should be united, then gain a lot of power against unfair practices at Thai schools/agents/, etc... by having a sort of an Association with lawyers and people who know what’s going on.

But no, judging others by their nationality, or color of their skin seems to be more practical and easier for some folks here. We are all foreigners in this country and will always be. That’s it.

I love it when you (sometimes) mention that I’m not a NES teacher, considering that you’re from a tiny little country right next to Germany, also called Holland. But better keep that to yourself, as some people might start to think twice what you’re saying/writing about the whole teaching circus.

And that’s what it’s basically is. A circus where we’re the clowns, artists, drunks, drug addicts, "kid lovers, guys who’d never find employment back home, sexpats, expats, child molesters or maybe conmen?

It’s all just a matter of a healthy consciousness and an “untamable common sense”. Go with the flow, say yes when you mean no and vice versa. I love teaching in Thailand and I think the ability to be able to do so was given to me by birth. I had some teaching experience when I settled down in Thailand, so at least I had some basic knowledge to consider.

Two well experienced friends who’ve been teaching English here for as long as I do, told me that they couldn’t do such a job. Teaching grade one and grade two also math and science in English in an EP that you have to set up without an existing curriculum, doesn’t look like an easy task, don’t you think?

Now gettin' to your points and honesty:

“You can’t handle teaching in Thailand anymore.” What a great and psychological ridiculous sentence coming from a Dutch guy who might think that he’s part of the crème’ de la crème’ of the foreign English teachers in Thailand.

I don’t think that you’d survive longer than three weeks at my current school, of course using my imagination. Thus, I could be completely wrong and the EP would be so successful that people from other provinces will send their kids to that school, just because of you.

“It’s all too much for you. “ Honestly speaking, such sentences are indeed way too much for me. Is it really only about the little argument we once had? It seems you can’t forget things, but that’s okay.

“Take care, buddy rest in peace.” Thanks a lot for your kind words, I might consider them and retire in your multicultural country of origin, open up a coffee shop, preferable at Leidse Plein.

I’ve learned that I have a new buddy, which usually means friend when you’re not a GI and it’s your “lonely jungle war f-buddy”.Lol.

Finally, I’m not your buddy and the lack of respecting other foreigners who’re trying to support their Thai families doesn’t make you to a better person. Don’t you think that your comma should be after the word buddy, buddy?

I received some great messages and some nice guys actually gave me some needed advice I was actually asking for. I don’t think that I’ve got the wrong occupation, but that’s my own personal opinion.

Life's too short to not enjoy it, with all the ups and downs. Did I really step on somebody's toes when i posted this thread? If so, then I'd like to apologize for it.

I'll post when i open up my coffee shop in Amsterdam, Leidse Pleain 3-6. G'Day. Koop De Kaas.

Edited November 18, 2015 by lostinisaan

[claffey]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Just one question.

Is your name Richard?

Oh.... and another question. Why does someone, who has posted 300 times per month over the past 8 months feel he can be so condescending towards the OP.

This guy is having a crisis and you offer nothing. Lost In Issan may not be a NES teacher but I know he cares about his students.....a lot. He also has a wealth of experience in Thailand schools. Yes, he has a degree and he is a lot more qualified than some 22 year old with a BA in Education.

You are an arse.

Thanks a lot for your nice post, I really appreciate your kind words.

It's really very sad that you can't even ask - a for me very serious question- in the teaching forum without getting some nasty replies?

And for the record. I grew up in a bilingual environment, using American English and German from earliest childhood on, got a BA in social pedagogy plus teaching related experience in Germany.

I also made highly classified translations for the Armed Forces Europe from English into German and vice versa.

Why are foreigners living in Thailand the biggest enemies of other foreigners? There's so much hate on this forum.

If you don't have something to say, then please keep it for you. I was asking an honest question,

I apologize for the long post I thought it's useful to know the whole story.

If you were a fully qualified teacher you would know how to deal with any situation. A fully qualified teacher learns, on their one year education course, how to deal with unruly classes. TEFL teachers have a rather intensive one month course that really doesn't deal with classroom management in any in depth manner due to time constraints and lack of experience on the trainers parts too.

That's why some people hold TEFL teachers in contempt. It's like a doctor who isn't fully qualified but knows a few things about medicine.Would you go to such a doctor??? TEFL teachers are not qualified to deal with classroom management issues, especially in a Thai government school with up to sixty students...

[claffey]

The way I see there are three different types of teachers in the world today:

Teacher No 1 wants to educate the world and change it too. They are planning lessons until midnight, organise clubs every day, get stressed about writing accurate reports about every student in the school...etc...

Teacher No 2 doesn't give a shit. They ignore everything and everyone. They have little or no lesson plans,are always late, complain constantly about everything etc etc..

Teacher No3. sees teaching as his job.Nothing more or nothing less. He plans his lessons but goes home at 4 o'clock everyday. Sometimes he helps out in a club or sportsday etc...He grades his books but never brings any home.. He attends parents evenings but doesn't stress about them. He isn't trying to change the world.He's doing his job but he's not slowly killing himself either...

You seem to be a Teacher No 1. They always burn themselves out. Teaching is a noble profession but you also need to be realistic. Nobody can change the world.If some students learn something your job is done. All of them will never learn everything. The best thing teachers can do is teach children how to learn for themselves. Reading is key to this. Teach your students to love books and they will teach themselves, if they want to.If they don't it's their loss and not yours...Take your payslip and forget about school when the last bell rings every day.Its the only way to survive teaching anywhere...Good luck...

[lostinisaan]

The way I see there are three different types of teachers in the world today:

Teacher No 1 wants to educate the world and change it too. They are planning lessons until midnight, organise clubs every day, get stressed about writing accurate reports about every student in the school...etc...

Teacher No 2 doesn't give a shit. They ignore everything and everyone. They have little or no lesson plans,are always late, complain constantly about everything etc etc..

Teacher No3. sees teaching as his job.Nothing more or nothing less. He plans his lessons but goes home at 4 o'clock everyday. Sometimes he helps out in a club or sportsday etc...He grades his books but never brings any home.. He attends parents evenings but doesn't stress about them. He isn't trying to change the world.He's doing his job but he's not slowly killing himself either...

You seem to be a Teacher No 1. They always burn themselves out. Teaching is a noble profession but you also need to be realistic. Nobody can change the world.If some students learn something your job is done. All of them will never learn everything. The best thing teachers can do is teach children how to learn for themselves. Reading is key to this. Teach your students to love books and they will teach themselves, if they want to.If they don't it's their loss and not yours...Take your payslip and forget about school when the last bell rings every day.Its the only way to survive teaching anywhere...Good luck...

Thanks for taking the time to write this post. Yep, there are people and there are people. Same goes for teachers. One example and pretty good to understand an Ebn\nglish bloke, a certified teacher who started in the EP at a well -known school in lower northeast.

His wife, an Indian/South African citizen who taught there before met this guy somewhere in the UAE, they fell in love and got married.

The woman thought that teaching in Thailand would still be as easy as it was back in 2005 when we worked together, but she's completely shocked how things had changed.

Her husband, the qualified and certified teacher from England started to teach in the EP section, but he never taught Thai kids in an Asian country.

The guy was so serious, exactly type two you've described here, the scissors and all the things had to be at the same place, everything had to have its order and so on.

I never saw the guy smiling in the two months of his tenure. Not even once. The grade three kids ( pretty nice and easy to handle kids) hated him because they easily picked the negative feelings up.

Neither did the students have fun learning anything, nor did the teacher enjoy what he was doing. He quit hid position after only two months.

Whenever I met the kids, we had a great teacher/ student relationship and a lot of fun.

You're really wrong about me. I try to take it easy, but they give me too much work.A very good example today. One homeroom teacher not there and the kids were everywhere.

In addition did some subject teachers not show up and joined a sports event instead?

So I had to look after them and had my other classes downstairs. Oh, the office word stopped working, but also my colleagues needed the PC where our IP's attached.

A fast fix between hopping from one class to another, then picking up some handouts, while a mom wants to have a chat about her day\ughter's performance.

Now it's 6.05 and I'm still at school because the director called in a meeting. One of these useless meetings nobody wants to go to.

I might be able to leave in an hour, then I was here for 11 hours.

When is enough enough? Have a great rest of the week. Cheers-

[lostinisaan]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Just one question.

Is your name Richard?

Oh.... and another question. Why does someone, who has posted 300 times per month over the past 8 months feel he can be so condescending towards the OP.

This guy is having a crisis and you offer nothing. Lost In Issan may not be a NES teacher but I know he cares about his students.....a lot. He also has a wealth of experience in Thailand schools. Yes, he has a degree and he is a lot more qualified than some 22 year old with a BA in Education.

You are an arse.

Thanks a lot for your nice post, I really appreciate your kind words.

It's really very sad that you can't even ask - a for me very serious question- in the teaching forum without getting some nasty replies?

And for the record. I grew up in a bilingual environment, using American English and German from earliest childhood on, got a BA in social pedagogy plus teaching related experience in Germany.

I also made highly classified translations for the Armed Forces Europe from English into German and vice versa.

Why are foreigners living in Thailand the biggest enemies of other foreigners? There's so much hate on this forum.

If you don't have something to say, then please keep it for you. I was asking an honest question,

I apologize for the long post I thought it's useful to know the whole story.

If you were a fully qualified teacher you would know how to deal with any situation. A fully qualified teacher learns, on their one year education course, how to deal with unruly classes. TEFL teachers have a rather intensive one month course that really doesn't deal with classroom management in any in depth manner due to time constraints and lack of experience on the trainers parts too.

That's why some people hold TEFL teachers in contempt. It's like a doctor who isn't fully qualified but knows a few things about medicine.Would you go to such a doctor??? TEFL teachers are not qualified to deal with classroom management issues, especially in a Thai government school with up to sixty students...

”If you were a qualified teacher you would know how to deal with any situation?” The earth is as flat as some girls here.

A classic statement when you are quite familiar with Thai schools and their education in general. I'll upload a film I've just made today, post it on YouTube, then the link to it here and I'd be more than happy what your suggestion(s) in such a situation would be.

Have you ever considered that teachers in their country of origin usually teach students who grew up with the same command language?

Theory and praxis are often two different shoes. I'm now not in the mood to explain what you'll see in this movie, but please let's continue this conversation after you've seen what not too many teachers might have experienced. Clockwork Orange like....

Do you really believe that anybody would learn that in a one-year "crash course "? I find it hard to deal with, even when I've got eleven years of teaching experience in this country.

So, you're basically saying that what I've studied for my degree in social pedagogy isn't even close enough to understand and solve such problems?

It's the “I don't care about the kids' education mentality" of many school directors and admins, that creates such problems in the first place.

I don't think that you'll find too many principals of schools in Europe who fill their pockets the same way Thai school directors do.

There's no typical advice how to deal with extraordinary students in certain situations. I was not an easy student for my teachers and I tend to believe that my Karma finally got me now and it's "payback time"... Lol.

There's an old saying in good old Germoney. “You never eat a soup as hot as it was cooked. That's the way how I see it. G 'Day.-

[manarak]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Just one question.

Is your name Richard?

Oh.... and another question. Why does someone, who has posted 300 times per month over the past 8 months feel he can be so condescending towards the OP.

This guy is having a crisis and you offer nothing. Lost In Issan may not be a NES teacher but I know he cares about his students.....a lot. He also has a wealth of experience in Thailand schools. Yes, he has a degree and he is a lot more qualified than some 22 year old with a BA in Education.

You are an arse.

Thanks a lot for your nice post, I really appreciate your kind words.

It's really very sad that you can't even ask - a for me very serious question- in the teaching forum without getting some nasty replies?

And for the record. I grew up in a bilingual environment, using American English and German from earliest childhood on, got a BA in social pedagogy plus teaching related experience in Germany.

I also made highly classified translations for the Armed Forces Europe from English into German and vice versa.

Why are foreigners living in Thailand the biggest enemies of other foreigners? There's so much hate on this forum.

If you don't have something to say, then please keep it for you. I was asking an honest question,

I apologize for the long post I thought it's useful to know the whole story.

Hello, don't worry about what others say...

About your problem with unruly students - why not find a way to humiliate them as a punishment ?

I see adolescent Thai boys often doing outright stupid things just to look "gaeng maak". Let their showing off backfire big time.

So example tell them to wear a silly hat and a vest saying "I want to be stupid" and have them stand facing the corner for 30 minutes?

[Johnniey]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Just one question.

Is your name Richard?

Oh.... and another question. Why does someone, who has posted 300 times per month over the past 8 months feel he can be so condescending towards the OP.

This guy is having a crisis and you offer nothing. Lost In Issan may not be a NES teacher but I know he cares about his students.....a lot. He also has a wealth of experience in Thailand schools. Yes, he has a degree and he is a lot more qualified than some 22 year old with a BA in Education.

You are an arse.

Thanks a lot for your nice post, I really appreciate your kind words.

It's really very sad that you can't even ask - a for me very serious question- in the teaching forum without getting some nasty replies?

And for the record. I grew up in a bilingual environment, using American English and German from earliest childhood on, got a BA in social pedagogy plus teaching related experience in Germany.

I also made highly classified translations for the Armed Forces Europe from English into German and vice versa.

Why are foreigners living in Thailand the biggest enemies of other foreigners? There's so much hate on this forum.

If you don't have something to say, then please keep it for you. I was asking an honest question,

I apologize for the long post I thought it's useful to know the whole story.

Hello, don't worry about what others say...

About your problem with unruly students - why not find a way to humiliate them as a punishment ?

I see adolescent Thai boys often doing outright stupid things just to look "gaeng maak". Let their showing off backfire big time.

So example tell them to wear a silly hat and a vest saying "I want to be stupid" and have them stand facing the corner for 30 minutes?

My God, doon't even think of humiliating a student, this always backfires. Ask any real teacher or educational psychologist.

[manarak]

Hello, don't worry about what others say...

About your problem with unruly students - why not find a way to humiliate them as a punishment ?

I see adolescent Thai boys often doing outright stupid things just to look "gaeng maak". Let their showing off backfire big time.

So example tell them to wear a silly hat and a vest saying "I want to be stupid" and have them stand facing the corner for 30 minutes?

My God, doon't even think of humiliating a student, this always backfires. Ask any real teacher or educational psychologist.

backfires how?

in a worse way than nobody learning anything?

BTW, the results of 30+ years of "educational psychologists" working on Western school systems can now be seen... nothing to be proud of !

[Johnniey]

Hello, don't worry about what others say...

About your problem with unruly students - why not find a way to humiliate them as a punishment ?

I see adolescent Thai boys often doing outright stupid things just to look "gaeng maak". Let their showing off backfire big time.

So example tell them to wear a silly hat and a vest saying "I want to be stupid" and have them stand facing the corner for 30 minutes?

My God, doon't even think of humiliating a student, this always backfires. Ask any real teacher or educational psychologist.

backfires how?

in a worse way than nobody learning anything?

BTW, the results of 30+ years of "educational psychologists" working on Western school systems can now be seen... nothing to be proud of !

I hope you don't have any kids of your own!

[manarak]

Hello, don't worry about what others say...

About your problem with unruly students - why not find a way to humiliate them as a punishment ?

I see adolescent Thai boys often doing outright stupid things just to look "gaeng maak". Let their showing off backfire big time.

So example tell them to wear a silly hat and a vest saying "I want to be stupid" and have them stand facing the corner for 30 minutes?

My God, doon't even think of humiliating a student, this always backfires. Ask any real teacher or educational psychologist.

backfires how?

in a worse way than nobody learning anything?

BTW, the results of 30+ years of "educational psychologists" working on Western school systems can now be seen... nothing to be proud of !

I hope you don't have any kids of your own!

I think the same about you.

[lostinisaan]

backfires how?

in a worse way than nobody learning anything?

BTW, the results of 30+ years of "educational psychologists" working on Western school systems can now be seen... nothing to be proud of !

I hope you don't have any kids of your own!

I think the same about you.

Please give me some time to think about it. You should meet for a beer or two and become buddies, or mates, dudes..

Edited November 19, 2015 by lostinisaan

[Kasset Tak]

The way I see there are three different types of teachers in the world today:

Teacher No 1 wants to educate the world and change it too. They are planning lessons until midnight, organise clubs every day, get stressed about writing accurate reports about every student in the school...etc...

Teacher No 2 doesn't give a shit. They ignore everything and everyone. They have little or no lesson plans,are always late, complain constantly about everything etc etc..

Teacher No3. sees teaching as his job.Nothing more or nothing less. He plans his lessons but goes home at 4 o'clock everyday. Sometimes he helps out in a club or sportsday etc...He grades his books but never brings any home.. He attends parents evenings but doesn't stress about them. He isn't trying to change the world.He's doing his job but he's not slowly killing himself either...

You seem to be a Teacher No 1. They always burn themselves out. Teaching is a noble profession but you also need to be realistic. Nobody can change the world.If some students learn something your job is done. All of them will never learn everything. The best thing teachers can do is teach children how to learn for themselves. Reading is key to this. Teach your students to love books and they will teach themselves, if they want to.If they don't it's their loss and not yours...Take your payslip and forget about school when the last bell rings every day.Its the only way to survive teaching anywhere...Good luck...

I just got on to this treed and I would just like to say that I'm like teacher no 1 and 3. I try to do everything I can for my lessons and students but I like to go home when I'm finished, today (Saturday) I'm still at the office and it has just passed midnight....

I don't have a teachers degree and sometimes I feel that I might be a disadvantage while teaching but still I do my job as good as I can and my students and coworkers likes me and my teaching style. We have had 4 other foreigners here during the last 3 years, all with teachers degree and they all left before the end of their contracts because it has been to hard for them as we teach subjects in English, not English as a subject. For me the subjects are: Principles of Animal Husbandry, Basic Animal Feed, Cattle Raising and Pig Production in English and the classes are 3-20 students.

[oncearugge]

The way I see there are three different types of teachers in the world today:

Teacher No 1 wants to educate the world and change it too. They are planning lessons until midnight, organise clubs every day, get stressed about writing accurate reports about every student in the school...etc...

Teacher No 2 doesn't give a shit. They ignore everything and everyone. They have little or no lesson plans,are always late, complain constantly about everything etc etc..

Teacher No3. sees teaching as his job.Nothing more or nothing less. He plans his lessons but goes home at 4 o'clock everyday. Sometimes he helps out in a club or sportsday etc...He grades his books but never brings any home.. He attends parents evenings but doesn't stress about them. He isn't trying to change the world.He's doing his job but he's not slowly killing himself either...

You seem to be a Teacher No 1. They always burn themselves out. Teaching is a noble profession but you also need to be realistic. Nobody can change the world.If some students learn something your job is done. All of them will never learn everything. The best thing teachers can do is teach children how to learn for themselves. Reading is key to this. Teach your students to love books and they will teach themselves, if they want to.If they don't it's their loss and not yours...Take your payslip and forget about school when the last bell rings every day.Its the only way to survive teaching anywhere...Good luck...

I just got on to this treed and I would just like to say that I'm like teacher no 1 and 3. I try to do everything I can for my lessons and students but I like to go home when I'm finished, today (Saturday) I'm still at the office and it has just passed midnight....

I don't have a teachers degree and sometimes I feel that I might be a disadvantage while teaching but still I do my job as good as I can and my students and coworkers likes me and my teaching style. We have had 4 other foreigners here during the last 3 years, all with teachers degree and they all left before the end of their contracts because it has been to hard for them as we teach subjects in English, not English as a subject. For me the subjects are: Principles of Animal Husbandry, Basic Animal Feed, Cattle Raising and Pig Production in English and the classes are 3-20 students.

Judging from that post the students English will not improve !

[Mencken]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Bloke, that reply to the OP was mean-spirited and totally uncalled for. Shame on you!

Yeah, hate to be a grammar nazi but its not would not but could not. If you're going to slag someone for being a shitty English teacher at least do it in proper English. You only had written a single sentence, do try and keep up.

[Kasset Tak]

The way I see there are three different types of teachers in the world today:

Teacher No 1 wants to educate the world and change it too. They are planning lessons until midnight, organise clubs every day, get stressed about writing accurate reports about every student in the school...etc...

Teacher No 2 doesn't give a shit. They ignore everything and everyone. They have little or no lesson plans,are always late, complain constantly about everything etc etc..

Teacher No3. sees teaching as his job.Nothing more or nothing less. He plans his lessons but goes home at 4 o'clock everyday. Sometimes he helps out in a club or sportsday etc...He grades his books but never brings any home.. He attends parents evenings but doesn't stress about them. He isn't trying to change the world.He's doing his job but he's not slowly killing himself either...

You seem to be a Teacher No 1. They always burn themselves out. Teaching is a noble profession but you also need to be realistic. Nobody can change the world.If some students learn something your job is done. All of them will never learn everything. The best thing teachers can do is teach children how to learn for themselves. Reading is key to this. Teach your students to love books and they will teach themselves, if they want to.If they don't it's their loss and not yours...Take your payslip and forget about school when the last bell rings every day.Its the only way to survive teaching anywhere...Good luck...

I just got on to this treed and I would just like to say that I'm like teacher no 1 and 3. I try to do everything I can for my lessons and students but I like to go home when I'm finished, today (Saturday) I'm still at the office and it has just passed midnight....

I don't have a teachers degree and sometimes I feel that I might be a disadvantage while teaching but still I do my job as good as I can and my students and coworkers likes me and my teaching style. We have had 4 other foreigners here during the last 3 years, all with teachers degree and they all left before the end of their contracts because it has been to hard for them as we teach subjects in English, not English as a subject. For me the subjects are: Principles of Animal Husbandry, Basic Animal Feed, Cattle Raising and Pig Production in English and the classes are 3-20 students.

Judging from that post the students English will not improve !

Today I can see some things in my previous post that are wrong but what can you expect after 16 hours working in front of the computer!? One problem for me is that after working here for over 3 years and basically being the only English speaking person around most of the time I've lost some parts of the language and the grammar. I'm not a NES but I do my best and I passed the CPE, it was 20 years ago but I still have quite good command of the language. I know that because I have even been translating between Brits and Americans because sometimes Brits are to stubborn to understand that English today is so much more than The Queens English!

About improving the English language of my students! Many of them had NES teachers while studying in primary and secondary school (before going to college). Still, when they came here after 9 years in school most of them could not spell their names in English or translate "How are you?" to Thai! So when I today teach my 3^rd year students about nutrients, different types feed production, reading chemical labels and so on in English and 75% of them understand me (the last 25% gets help from their class mates) and 50% can even translate basic and agricultural English to Thai and Thai to English by themselves then at least I'm happy with their improvement.

The thing about students in agricultural colleges is that many failed m.3 or had low grades. Because of that they could not study m.4, and because of their low grades technical or career college is not an potion so that basically leave agricultural colleges as their last chance of education.

As I also wrote: 4 people with teachers degree has quit over the last 3 years as it was to hard for them. I guess that it takes someone with experience and knowledge to teach vocational subjects because how can someone with only theoretical knowledge gained in a classroom teach how to: slaughter a pig, get the right moisture levels without any moisture meter, evaluate the feed by look, smell, texture and taste, and so on?! Yes the students need theoretical knowledge too like how to calculate food rations, nutrition values in different feed stuff and similar things but that is only about 25-30% of the education for a vocational student, the rest is practical work.

[Scott]

Don't bother answering to the grammar nazi. He's currently on a holiday from the forum.

[bmattey40844]

Have you ever seen Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger?...

[frank0424]

You are a good person for not wanting to hit kids any more. In this world kids are the only humans you can hit (in the name of discipline) and not be charged with assault. Lets think about it... Why would you want to hit a kid??

One important thing about teaching is that some people have auditory memories and others have visual memories. I have an auditory memory and recall things by sounds in my mind. There are little tests that can (generally) determine this. For example, I'll ask you what did you have for dinner last night? If your eyes looked up to recall that (generally) you have an auditory memory. If you looked down (generally) its visual. What Im getting at is you need to use media that is visual and auditory in your teaching to be an effective teacher and cater for the learning needs of children.

When a kid is playing up, call them to the front of the class and asked them to be your assistant teacher. This way they get the attention they are seeking.Another way is to wrap the lesson up and begin a new subject.

Try peer teaching too. Get a brighter child to teach something to others less bright. This way you can have many assistant teachers.

Best of luck to you.

Edited November 24, 2015 by frank0424

[silent]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Obviously degree qualified or wouldn't be having the problem for so long

[bark]

Just one question.

Are you a degree qualified Teacher or a "teacher" who would not find employment at home ?

Just one question.

Is your name Richard?

Oh.... and another question. Why does someone, who has posted 300 times per month over the past 8 months feel he can be so condescending towards the OP.

This guy is having a crisis and you offer nothing. Lost In Issan may not be a NES teacher but I know he cares about his students.....a lot. He also has a wealth of experience in Thailand schools. Yes, he has a degree and he is a lot more qualified than some 22 year old with a BA in Education.

You are an arse.

Thanks a lot for your nice post, I really appreciate your kind words.

It's really very sad that you can't even ask - a for me very serious question- in the teaching forum without getting some nasty replies?

And for the record. I grew up in a bilingual environment, using American English and German from earliest childhood on, got a BA in social pedagogy plus teaching related experience in Germany.

I also made highly classified translations for the Armed Forces Europe from English into German and vice versa.

Why are foreigners living in Thailand the biggest enemies of other foreigners? There's so much hate on this forum.

If you don't have something to say, then please keep it for you. I was asking an honest question,

I apologize for the long post I thought it's useful to know the whole story.

Really, I thought the same ideas as most of the other people who commented; so I will not follow them. You have been slammed enough.

Have you ever thought of writting a letter to the parents of each of the students in your class. The point would be to tell the parents what is going on in your class. In each letter say that THEIR child is not behaving, and are causing problems. You could say that they will be suspended, or worse.

Thai's do not like to lose face. Put each letter in a sealed envelope; and ask that the parentS sign the letter. Also have another envelope for the response. This way the other kids will not know the details of the letter. GOOD LUCK

[silent]

lostinisaan

You are viewing this from a Western perspective. You have included a lot of ethical considerations and you have considered outcomes for the student. Then later on in your rather lengthy post you complain about many things in the school, the gossip, the corruption, the insane timetable and the noisy environment, etc.

My viewpoint is that if you work in a very Thai environment like a Thai school (not an international company) then certain Thai traits will always be present.

Firstly Thai organisations are always like pack animals. There is a clearly defined pecking order. The over-riding priority for the Thais is to maintain their place in the pecking order. For a teacher, that means that other considerations like whether the children learn anything are pushed way down the list of priorities. How is status and position maintained? Thais have to subjugate those below them by using a variety of techniques and punishments including hitting, withholding grades, marching in the heat, humiliation, disdain and the list goes on. Thais also have to act in a sycophantic way to those above them, namely the headmaster, doing favours and jobs for him, praising him, bringing in revenue, etc. Thais, even the children, pick up on this system very quickly. They have sensed you do not understand the system and thus have sidelined you.

Secondly, your list of complaints tell me that things in the school environment frustrate and annoy you.

I would say that neither the priorities of Thai teachers nor the school environment will change.

So, perhaps you should consider what it is that YOU could change in terms of your environment. These might include

Within your current school

Moving classrooms.

Introducing more practical work into the science

Outside your current school

Setting up your own "tutoring school".

Leaving your job.

Wider life changes

Retrain.

Seek work in another field.

But whatever you decide, you need to accept the Thai school system will not see great reform or improvement in our lifetime. It is part of a wider culture.

Thank you very much for your genuine post which is really appreciated.

This is my fourth school and I've never experienced so many incompetent people who're trying to run a school.

I've quit two teaching positions before and the only solution to all these problems is to leave this place by the end of the second term.

Enough time to think about my future, but I won't let the students down. Problem(s) solved.

My suggestion. Forget about teaching children and dealing with childish environments or Thai demigods. It's much more satisfying teaching businesses where the adults want to learn and generally treat you as at least an equal. Plus you aren't required to Y salute the Director with Mr. Bates as they pass by.

[simon43]

I re-read the OP's post, in an effort to try to give some good advice.

Managing a large class can be a challenge

Managing a large class of mixed abilities can be a harder challenge

Managing a large class of mixed abilities, without a teaching assistant can be an even harder challenge

Managing a large class of mixed abilities, without a teaching assistant, and where the students' age is 6-7 ish can be an even .. er .. even harder challenge

So the OP has a lot on his plate to manage.

IMHO, it is always good to get the classroom management right from the first time that you teach them. But since you're already well down the path, that isn't an option.

I have found the use of 'traffic lights' on the whiteboard to work quite well for this age group. Green means the class is doing great re paying attention/not trying to kill each other. Orange means that there is a problem and red means that everything has gone to pot and teacher is about to hang all students by their feet outside the second floor window.

The traffic lights are an indication of the status of the whole class, and can be affected by an individual's behaviour. So if one or two students are playing up, I can use the rest of the class as 'the big stick', to make the naughty kids behave and thus get to green light status.

If your traffic lights are going red all the time, because the whole class is playing up, then you do need some form of 'punishment', to encourage everyone to improve their behaviour, listen to the teacher etc. I don't actually mean punishment, but rather some positive that they will be missing out on. For example, if the lights are at red, then maybe I won't involve the kids in their favourite classroom activity for that day.

The bottom line is that kids of that age can be easily persuaded to behave by positive suggestion. (Although the context is not the same, I suppose you could call this 'grooming' the kids, bit like Pavlov's dogs etc).

You cannot even begin to address the specific needs of each student (gifted, average, learning problems etc), until you get their attention and have acceptable classroom behaviour from them.

Now, if the kids speak almost no English, and you speak little Thai, or do not have a local assistant to explain the traffic lights etc, then you have a problem

When I've taught this age group in Thailand, all my students know that I can speak, read and write good Thai. They also know that I will only speak/write Thai in class if:

- I have to explain a specific and complex word/phrase, one time only.

- I have to seriously 'scold' a child, and he/she doesn't understand the English phrase 'hang you upside down out of the window'

[manarak]

I re-read the OP's post, in an effort to try to give some good advice.

Managing a large class can be a challenge

Managing a large class of mixed abilities can be a harder challenge

Managing a large class of mixed abilities, without a teaching assistant can be an even harder challenge

Managing a large class of mixed abilities, without a teaching assistant, and where the students' age is 6-7 ish can be an even .. er .. even harder challenge

So the OP has a lot on his plate to manage.

IMHO, it is always good to get the classroom management right from the first time that you teach them. But since you're already well down the path, that isn't an option.

I have found the use of 'traffic lights' on the whiteboard to work quite well for this age group. Green means the class is doing great re paying attention/not trying to kill each other. Orange means that there is a problem and red means that everything has gone to pot and teacher is about to hang all students by their feet outside the second floor window.

The traffic lights are an indication of the status of the whole class, and can be affected by an individual's behaviour. So if one or two students are playing up, I can use the rest of the class as 'the big stick', to make the naughty kids behave and thus get to green light status.

If your traffic lights are going red all the time, because the whole class is playing up, then you do need some form of 'punishment', to encourage everyone to improve their behaviour, listen to the teacher etc. I don't actually mean punishment, but rather some positive that they will be missing out on. For example, if the lights are at red, then maybe I won't involve the kids in their favourite classroom activity for that day.

The bottom line is that kids of that age can be easily persuaded to behave by positive suggestion. (Although the context is not the same, I suppose you could call this 'grooming' the kids, bit like Pavlov's dogs etc).

You cannot even begin to address the specific needs of each student (gifted, average, learning problems etc), until you get their attention and have acceptable classroom behaviour from them.

Now, if the kids speak almost no English, and you speak little Thai, or do not have a local assistant to explain the traffic lights etc, then you have a problem

When I've taught this age group in Thailand, all my students know that I can speak, read and write good Thai. They also know that I will only speak/write Thai in class if:

- I have to explain a specific and complex word/phrase, one time only.

- I have to seriously 'scold' a child, and he/she doesn't understand the English phrase 'hang you upside down out of the window'

I'd be curious to know how you make the kids actually care about your light's color, because when I see the attention given to traffic lights on the road...

[sead]

My kids do very well in Sweden. Because the teachers have meetings with parents and tell them whats good and bad. Then its up to the parents and their future, because who will take care of them later on, if their kid doesnt get a good work.

In Sweden they also tried to have different classes depending on how well you do in school. Like elit classes. But they took it away. Before meeting with parents i would advise you to video the class and show them how their kid behaves.

Some classes have cctv without sound where parents can log in from internet and watch the class.

Any grammatical errors are a gift from me to you.

[Gandtee]

Sadly, you could heed the old advice of, 'if you can't change the situation, change to suit the situation'. Unfortunately if everyone took this advice we would still be living in the dark ages, which it seems you are at your school.

[bil2054]

Just a couple of opinions here.
I agree that there is a lot of "baiting" in the forum. I really doubt that most of the negatives are from people who are qualified to remark on educational issues, or indeed any matters at all.
I believe there may be some confusion as to what "social pedagogy" is and its relationship to teaching qualification. My understanding is that it has not been much developed in the UK, having more usage on the Continent. In Thailand, unless it has recently changed, the only requirement for teaching English is a bachelor's level degree in any discipline. Certainly in a field dedicated to the theory and practice of holistic child education and upbringing there is plenty of "teacher" material. The OP is doing the right thing, IMO, by asking for advice to fill some of the gaps as a practicum.
I always enjoyed the younger grades, and perhaps because I have a slightly forbidding appearance never had real troubles with discipline.
Middle school was a bit more complex. Knowing and showing a little interest in their interests will engender a certain amount of goodwill. Later afternoon classes can be brought to order by threats of delayed dismissal, if practicable. I know that in the US all I had to do was sit quietly when things became disruptive, and they soon would sort themselves out with whispered admonitions of "Shhhh!" or "Stop it... we will miss "Dark Shadows!", apparently a television show of great popularity.

[Spock]

The OP is certainly correct about one thing. There are indeed some real pricks in this forum who delight in being nasty and negative to other posters, particularly anyone with the courage to bare their soul. I have not struck a similar lack of sensitivity for other people in any of the forums in which I participate.

If living in Thailand destroys people's basic humanity to the extent witnessed here and in almost every other thread, perhaps Thai life is not the idyllic existence that many come here to seek. Many of the comments are downright cruel, despite the worst of them having been erased by mods. The moderators have a tough job trying to cleanse these threads of the vicious thoughts of the worst of the posters. Given the dark nature of some posts that escape the chop, I prefer to remain ignorant of the content of those which are deleted.

I am a qualified secondary teacher who taught in Australia and Thailand for 35 years before retiring. Completing a degree and a one year teaching qualification does not automatically provide you with the skills to control an unruly class, and Thai schools provide special challenges. Perhaps the teachers in the best position to help the OP are those too busy trumpeting their own success in classroom management and too ready to tell the OP that he was untrained, jaded and in need of a career change. Sanctimonious pricks abound in these 'plea for help' threads. If anyone seriously wants support or advice, TV is not the best place to seek it.

The greatest enemy of the farang is as the OP stated other farangs, particularly those who use their culturally savvy knowledge of the system to try to belittle those experiencing difficulty coping in a tough Thai working environment.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Spock

[chilli42]

I would not mind my kids getting whacked once and a while. It certainly worked wonders on me as an attitude adjustment tool. Bamboo stick would be OK compared to the very inventive punishments dreamed up by my Jesuit teachers.

[chilli42]

I believe that the nastiness of responses in this forum can be understood in light of the "social quality" of the expats that Thailand attracts. It seems to me that there are a disproportionate number of social misfits who brought the bitterness of failure in their home country when the washed up on the shores of Thailand.