I'm still posting!

I feel like I haven’t blogged in such a long time!  I have seriously meant to do some bloggin’.  The last week I told myself maybe three times that today would be the day I would sit down and finally write one.  It’s just that I’ve been getting tired when I get home from school and want to chill, or I have to lesson plan, or go out for a drink with friends… the list goes on.  Jenny has been doing an excellent job keeping up with what’s been going on in our lives.  We moved into an apartment, have done a little traveling, and purchased a motorcycle.  In order to not sound redundant I will try to focus on my experience teaching.  Maybe, if I find my writing groove, I’ll talk about the new people and friends we’ve made.

I don’t really know where to begin as I describe my first couple weeks as a 7^th and 8^th grade science teacher.  I like to teach.  It is a lot of fun to re-learn the things I’ve forgotten and break it down into more simple terms for the students. I enjoy coming up with lesson plans and I enjoy being responsible for someone’s education in science.   It is also very frustrating.  I preface the following by saying that I love teaching many of my Thai students.  They are fun and smart and understand what I’m talking about.  However, a lot students are rather lazy and won’t work on activities unless I am hovering over them.  Also, many would rather copy word for word from their neighbor than actually learn.  I’ve also found out the hard way that even if a Thai student has no idea what you are talking about, and I mean they don’t even understand the words that are being formulated out of your mouth, they will nod in agreement and pretend they understand.  This became very obvious as I gave a midterm to my students, which was failed miserably.  The entire time spent explaining concepts I would stop and say, “I don’t want to continue until I know everybody understands this”, which was always followed by a “we understand” from the students.  I really thought they understood!  I know better now that each one needs to be asked individually to explain what we are talking about which makes teaching incredibly sloooooooooow.

So I like teaching, but am frustrated.  I am sure all the teachers out here can empathize.

I’ll let you in on a little secret… I’m blogging during my lunch hour!  I have a class that starts in five minutes so I have to go.  If anyone is interested, my 8^th grade class is about to do an experiment with a ball and incline ramp, investigating the effect that ramp height and mass have on velocity and acceleration!

Andrew