Another week goes by and another week nearer the end of term.
Just 4 weeks to go before we dont see our little ahem angels again until next year or forever. One week of teaching, one week of revision, one week of exams and then one week that is described in the book as "Carnival". Whoop de friggin whoop, what does that mean to kids here? NOTHING! The end result will probably be a combination of giving the kids colouring in, worksheets and videos.
True to form, the mattayom lot stop 2 weeks before we do and they teach less through the year because of camps, trips, cheerleading rehearsal.................... jammy ******.
And then its marking, report writing and down time for some and summer camps for others. After that on March 20, we say goodbye for the last time.
The atmosphere in the office is beginning to reflect that as well with people making plans to go on holiday, go home, get new jobs in Thailand or Korea or Japan, starting to push limits on what they are doing in the office and so on.
This week has been pretty average with a mix of good classes and bad classes. As usual my first and last class of the week ( the same mob ) were among the worst with the Spider Monkey being hit repeatedly by my mental baseball bat. How that kid has survived so far I dont know, he is so fecking annoying.
One of the strangest kids I have is, at times a smart kid, at times totally unresponsive moody little shite and at others totally psycho. He managed to pull a real moody today because I caught him throwing a worksheet he found onto the floor. I asked him to pick it up and put it back in the desk or in the bin, not unreasonable I would have thought but no, totally unreasonable for him. It took about about four tries to get him to pick it up and then he slammed it down on the desk and put the hood of his jacket over his head and crossed his arms. Ooohh boy, now was that the wrong thing to do with me! Three times I took the hood off and he put it on again, a fourth time I took it off I had to physically stop him putting it back up. You should have seen this guys face, talk about a face like thunder! Anyway, finally he seemed to admit defeat and because we were doing a test, I passed the papers out and everyone completedly them ( apart from a couple of wasters who shouldnt be in the program ) except sulky boy. No amount of prodding or reminding or encouragement or whatever you like to call it worked. He just sat there sulking and didnt get past writing his name - even that took 15 minutes.
Ah well, sod him. I tried but i cant force him to do it and after all he is still going to get a pass mark no matter if he did that through the entire year.
Gosh thats a good use of a teachers time, get a kid in your class who will do nothing all year - apart from play games, disrupt the class, annoy others who are trying to learn ............... and then pass him anyway. Why cant they just put all these kids into one class and give them colouring in or videos to watch and do away with all the pretence that we are actually teaching them something?
From the realms of Hmmm thats a bit strange. For a long time we had been complaining that no one was coming into our rooms to clean them and finally after months, we got cleaners in at least once a week to sweep the place. Not as good as a proper clean but at least a start. Now the thing is that I have normally had a bottle of water in the class - for the usual reasons - and then kept on refilling it as needs be from the various water fountains in the school. And then a few weeks ago, my bottles started disappearing. Ok, I thought, I had left them out on my desk at the end of the week and the cleaner thought they were for the bin. Then I put it on my shelf and same thing - gone. Then I put it in a box and left it on my desk, gone. Then
I put them in a box and put some paper over them and it still disappeared. What has she got? A magic bottle detector!!?? This is costing my 6 baht a week buying a new one!!!!!! I wonder if she will find it if I take it back to the staffroom :)
Friday, January 27, 2006
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Yup
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Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Whatever
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Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Another week crawls by
And so another week starts. Its been the usual start after a holiday, the kids were all hyper and chatty and not wanting to listen. So it was the usual quiet! Quiet! QUIet! routine until they settled down somewhat. We've started doing a unit about the home and things in the home. I had quietly steeled myself for all the laughs and comments about the toilet but surprisingly only a couple. Maybe they were growing up? Of course not. For some reason they focused on the kitchen - especially one class in particular. The kitchen became chicken which became chicken room which became chicken little room. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
What does chicken little have to do with houses and rooms!!!!!!!!????? Add in the random shouts - you know the ones, the ones where the kids just shouts out an english word at random. Sometimes its because they dont know the right word and think if they shout out something its better than nothing, sometimes of course they do it deliberately just to see the reaction of others as a joke and maybe even to wind up the teacher. Of course sometimes you just cant help yourself and bite the bait. Even when you know its bait, you bite. So some of the lessons were frustrating to say the least and others went smoothly.
I just wish if they werent interested they would shut up and let the ones who are interested get on with it. It must be so frustrating for the kids who want to learn - as well as for me of course. If only we could put all the trouble makers into one class. Then again, there is no way in hell I would like to teach that class!
Continuing on from the Childrens Day activities, all the kids got special t shirts to commemorate the day. Unfortunately they dished some of them out before lunch. Pristine in colour quickly turned to grubby and in need of a good wash with various ketchup, ice cream, saliva, dirt stains...! You would think that with the amount of practice these kids have eating, that they would have perfected the art of putting the food actually into the mouth rather than the shirt or hair or whatever! But obviusly not.
To quickly reply to some of the comments.
Yes, it sometimes feels like a factory swiping in and out but all the staff do it and we had to sign in and out in my old school so no real biggie. At least for me, I know some get really upset about it but different strokes and all that. Yeh, it would be nice to go home after the last class or when you have a big break to bog off somewhere for a few hours. On the other hand it does mean I get up to date with all the necessary paperwork and lesson planning. And as for grassing folk up to the bosses, nahhh, its just not worth it.
What does chicken little have to do with houses and rooms!!!!!!!!????? Add in the random shouts - you know the ones, the ones where the kids just shouts out an english word at random. Sometimes its because they dont know the right word and think if they shout out something its better than nothing, sometimes of course they do it deliberately just to see the reaction of others as a joke and maybe even to wind up the teacher. Of course sometimes you just cant help yourself and bite the bait. Even when you know its bait, you bite. So some of the lessons were frustrating to say the least and others went smoothly.
I just wish if they werent interested they would shut up and let the ones who are interested get on with it. It must be so frustrating for the kids who want to learn - as well as for me of course. If only we could put all the trouble makers into one class. Then again, there is no way in hell I would like to teach that class!
Continuing on from the Childrens Day activities, all the kids got special t shirts to commemorate the day. Unfortunately they dished some of them out before lunch. Pristine in colour quickly turned to grubby and in need of a good wash with various ketchup, ice cream, saliva, dirt stains...! You would think that with the amount of practice these kids have eating, that they would have perfected the art of putting the food actually into the mouth rather than the shirt or hair or whatever! But obviusly not.
To quickly reply to some of the comments.
Yes, it sometimes feels like a factory swiping in and out but all the staff do it and we had to sign in and out in my old school so no real biggie. At least for me, I know some get really upset about it but different strokes and all that. Yeh, it would be nice to go home after the last class or when you have a big break to bog off somewhere for a few hours. On the other hand it does mean I get up to date with all the necessary paperwork and lesson planning. And as for grassing folk up to the bosses, nahhh, its just not worth it.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Onward ever onward
One of the things that we were told at the start of the year were virtual sacking offences was swiping in a time card for someone else. ( this of course is done so people ‘appear” to be working when they are tucked up in bed sleeping or whatever)
But of course, its happening. This week I saw someone swipe in 3 ( in addition to their own ) cards, now that’s what I call totally taking the piss. Ive seen someone swipe 2 before but 4???? Ive even seen Head of Years do it. One rule for them and one rule for us.
Sometimes you really have to wonder about the level of respect these kids offer the outside world. Of course, its different if their parents are there but on their own they are little shits. Outside of most classrooms there are displays of student work, to mark special occasions like Xmas, the King & Queens birthdays etc. But you can guarantee that within hours of someone putting it up, parts of it will be hanging down, ripped off or pulled off by these little freaks. It wont matter how it was attached, thumbtacks, staples, glue….. whatever
They just dont think, as they walk buy they run their hands, their rulers and even sometimes their bags over the displays and every time they are amazed that it falls apart. That is if they even notice that they have damaged it. Of course, normally they are so bound up in their own little bubble of existence that they have no clue. Its even got to the stage that some teachers effectively laminate anything that goes on a display board by covering it with sellotape.
It now seems that a few more folk are taking the casual dress approach as the lesser spotted training shoe is becoming less and less rare as well as the total ignoring of the required uniform of black trousers and white shirts on Mondays. It will be interesting to see just how far it goes in the next few weeks as the bosses are still clamping down on some stuff as much as they were at the start of the year.
You would think the point of having a cover teacher is that he will be able to cover the Teachers who are absent. But the guy we have seems to be absent more times that he is here. He was off again this week which meant, yup you guessed it, another cover for me and yet another week where another person received none.
Well, next week is a short week as Monday is a holiday. Someone mentioned that we have only something like 5 more weeks to suffer err........... I mean enjoy the kids company before its over and the decision making over whether we are retained for next year or not. I wonder when that will happen. I know a few folk are definately not coming back, a few are humming and hawing, a few want to and a few are saying they will only teach higher levels and if they don’t get them, they will walk.
But of course, its happening. This week I saw someone swipe in 3 ( in addition to their own ) cards, now that’s what I call totally taking the piss. Ive seen someone swipe 2 before but 4???? Ive even seen Head of Years do it. One rule for them and one rule for us.
Sometimes you really have to wonder about the level of respect these kids offer the outside world. Of course, its different if their parents are there but on their own they are little shits. Outside of most classrooms there are displays of student work, to mark special occasions like Xmas, the King & Queens birthdays etc. But you can guarantee that within hours of someone putting it up, parts of it will be hanging down, ripped off or pulled off by these little freaks. It wont matter how it was attached, thumbtacks, staples, glue….. whatever
They just dont think, as they walk buy they run their hands, their rulers and even sometimes their bags over the displays and every time they are amazed that it falls apart. That is if they even notice that they have damaged it. Of course, normally they are so bound up in their own little bubble of existence that they have no clue. Its even got to the stage that some teachers effectively laminate anything that goes on a display board by covering it with sellotape.
It now seems that a few more folk are taking the casual dress approach as the lesser spotted training shoe is becoming less and less rare as well as the total ignoring of the required uniform of black trousers and white shirts on Mondays. It will be interesting to see just how far it goes in the next few weeks as the bosses are still clamping down on some stuff as much as they were at the start of the year.
You would think the point of having a cover teacher is that he will be able to cover the Teachers who are absent. But the guy we have seems to be absent more times that he is here. He was off again this week which meant, yup you guessed it, another cover for me and yet another week where another person received none.
Well, next week is a short week as Monday is a holiday. Someone mentioned that we have only something like 5 more weeks to suffer err........... I mean enjoy the kids company before its over and the decision making over whether we are retained for next year or not. I wonder when that will happen. I know a few folk are definately not coming back, a few are humming and hawing, a few want to and a few are saying they will only teach higher levels and if they don’t get them, they will walk.
Friday, January 06, 2006
New Year New Minds? - Censored
Naaaa
Course not. They are still as thick as ever. And thats just the teachers :)
The kids? Well, lets be honest, if 6 months of teaching didnt get them to realise the difference between what is the day today and what is the weather today then there is no hope a few days off over Xmas.
It seems that we are finally getting our uniforms to wear for the remaining 6 or so weeks of teaching, which could mean that we get to wear the full rig out twice. By the full rig out I mean the white shirt, the tie, the black trousers - which most people wear anyway - and the horrendous jacket that will be kept in the cupboard somewhere in the dark recesses until he HAS to be worn. Well most people, there is a select number that dont bother with even a white shirt and black trousers. But then, hey they are likeable folk with smiles on their faces so it doesnt matter if they dont follow the rules or dont get many cover lessons.
Its not so much the style of jacket, its the colour. At least the women could wear their uniform outside and mix and match, even with the jacket. But the guy? Nah!!! Maybe about 0.05% of the male population could carry it off and almost all of them would be gay - even if you took the school badge off the jacket.
The saga of the id badges seems to be finally remembered as we are getting the uniforms. Apparently it wasnt enough just to pass probation, we needed the uniforms as well to get the proper school id badge. So again we are getting something that we should have had back in June but will now use for only a couple of months. Why they could have had a couple of stock jackets and ties the guys could borrow and use I dont know. The photo is only 1 inch tall and its a head and shoulders shot anyway!! Same idea for the ladies.
Course not. They are still as thick as ever. And thats just the teachers :)
The kids? Well, lets be honest, if 6 months of teaching didnt get them to realise the difference between what is the day today and what is the weather today then there is no hope a few days off over Xmas.
It seems that we are finally getting our uniforms to wear for the remaining 6 or so weeks of teaching, which could mean that we get to wear the full rig out twice. By the full rig out I mean the white shirt, the tie, the black trousers - which most people wear anyway - and the horrendous jacket that will be kept in the cupboard somewhere in the dark recesses until he HAS to be worn. Well most people, there is a select number that dont bother with even a white shirt and black trousers. But then, hey they are likeable folk with smiles on their faces so it doesnt matter if they dont follow the rules or dont get many cover lessons.
Its not so much the style of jacket, its the colour. At least the women could wear their uniform outside and mix and match, even with the jacket. But the guy? Nah!!! Maybe about 0.05% of the male population could carry it off and almost all of them would be gay - even if you took the school badge off the jacket.
The saga of the id badges seems to be finally remembered as we are getting the uniforms. Apparently it wasnt enough just to pass probation, we needed the uniforms as well to get the proper school id badge. So again we are getting something that we should have had back in June but will now use for only a couple of months. Why they could have had a couple of stock jackets and ties the guys could borrow and use I dont know. The photo is only 1 inch tall and its a head and shoulders shot anyway!! Same idea for the ladies.
Censored censored censored the censored censored!?! Censored censored censored censored censored censored censored censored censored censored censored censored. Censored censored censored censored proper censored censored censored censored censored censored Friday censored censored censored, censored censored a censored censored censored censored censored, censored censored censored censored the censored (censored censored censored censored censored censored censored censored ) censored censored censored censored. :)
Monday, January 02, 2006
End of a yeara
Well, the last couple of days at school went by without too much hassle as basically no one was trying too hard. Almost all the teachers were giving the kids Xmas activities or letting them run around in "English focused games" ahem.
Me? Well I was hard at work slogging away at the Xmas section of the book trying to teach them Xmas vocab. Like Santa, christmas tree, presents ( hint hint!) and so on.
Well, sort of. One period out of 4 and the rest was spent letting them choose whether to do a wordsearch or colouring in some cartoon picture off the internet. At least I didnt write up on my whiteboard when to bring presents in.
On that subject, again it seems to be the lower Prathom who are missing out in the present list. The older kids are smart enough to get the hints or know that giving their teacher a present at Xmas is what you do. Until Thursday I hadnt received one! Others were waltzing in with scarfes, ties, biscuits and the rest.
The last "work" day was a doddle as it was a basically a case of going round the individual home rooms and saying hi to the kids then going away. Now, hands up those of you who want McDonalds hamburgers at 9am? Pizza? KFC? crisps, biscuits, cake, ice cream and the like were all on offer. I have to admit I did eat some of it to be polite, after all when you get it shoved into your hand by a parent or kid you at least have to try - just not too hard though. I was tempted to pocket a few things for eating later but my pockets werent big enough :)
Oh yes, I picked up my first presents, a clock ( obviously a freebie from daddies bank ) and a pack of M & S Jaffa Cakes. Oh well, at least the Jaffa Cakes were nice.
The main reason for not eating so much was actually that we were going out for lunch paid for by the bosses. Now to be fair, the meal was nice and we got a Xmas present too - a pen. Whooo. The pen was just stupid, it spoilt the meal as it just reminded us of how high in regard they hold us .
And the hits just keep on rolling in!
It seems like over the holidays that the other program in the school got mentioned heavily on thaischoolwatch. Unfortunately, by the time I got there all the juicy posts had been deleted with a very strange change of opinion by one poster. I wonder if there was any behind the scenes pressure? Without that I couldnt see any reason why he would change his mind 180 degrees.
Me? Well I was hard at work slogging away at the Xmas section of the book trying to teach them Xmas vocab. Like Santa, christmas tree, presents ( hint hint!) and so on.
Well, sort of. One period out of 4 and the rest was spent letting them choose whether to do a wordsearch or colouring in some cartoon picture off the internet. At least I didnt write up on my whiteboard when to bring presents in.
On that subject, again it seems to be the lower Prathom who are missing out in the present list. The older kids are smart enough to get the hints or know that giving their teacher a present at Xmas is what you do. Until Thursday I hadnt received one! Others were waltzing in with scarfes, ties, biscuits and the rest.
The last "work" day was a doddle as it was a basically a case of going round the individual home rooms and saying hi to the kids then going away. Now, hands up those of you who want McDonalds hamburgers at 9am? Pizza? KFC? crisps, biscuits, cake, ice cream and the like were all on offer. I have to admit I did eat some of it to be polite, after all when you get it shoved into your hand by a parent or kid you at least have to try - just not too hard though. I was tempted to pocket a few things for eating later but my pockets werent big enough :)
Oh yes, I picked up my first presents, a clock ( obviously a freebie from daddies bank ) and a pack of M & S Jaffa Cakes. Oh well, at least the Jaffa Cakes were nice.
The main reason for not eating so much was actually that we were going out for lunch paid for by the bosses. Now to be fair, the meal was nice and we got a Xmas present too - a pen. Whooo. The pen was just stupid, it spoilt the meal as it just reminded us of how high in regard they hold us .
And the hits just keep on rolling in!
It seems like over the holidays that the other program in the school got mentioned heavily on thaischoolwatch. Unfortunately, by the time I got there all the juicy posts had been deleted with a very strange change of opinion by one poster. I wonder if there was any behind the scenes pressure? Without that I couldnt see any reason why he would change his mind 180 degrees.
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