Teach | aly-in-wanderland

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Teachin

THailand

Everyone always asks what made me teach in Thailand. No matter how many times I am asked, I am never fully prepared with an answer. The best I could give:

I was up for a challenge.

Oh a whim, I decided to move across the world to teach high school English in Thailand. I applied to CIEE the last day in February, got accepted into the program 3 days later on March 3rd, found out my placement on April 1st, and moved across the world on May 5th. I hadn't earned a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certificate, I had no idea how to teach, my school gave me no curriculum, and I knew absolutely no Thai. The first few days were disorienting and the first few weeks frustrating and I loved every moment of it. Before I knew it, I had found my groove and teaching became fun, exciting, and a great creative outlet.

01. Adventure

Vocabulary:

Grammar Focus: The 8 Parts of Speech

Reading Assignment: The First Men to Climb Everest

Writing Assignment:

Listening Assignment:

Group Project: Travel Brochure

My First 5 units

Websites I couldn't have Taught without

01.

Chalk.com

This site was a god-send for organizing lessons, keeping attendance, and recording grades.

02.

Prezi

What a way to make boring presentations more fun! I created fun themed Prezis to present my grammar.

03.

ESL Library

There are so many ways to use this site. I used it for teaching phonics and having fun reading passages.

04.

Teachers Pay Teachers

Every once in a while, the creative juices ran dry - thats when I turned to Teachers Pay Teachers for help.

05.

Freepik.com

Freepik gave me the graphics that I needed when I couldn't draw my own. Spruced up my worksheets!

FIND OUT WHAT I PACKED IN MY SUITCASE FOR MY STUDENTS

Classroom

Lessons

Classroom Management

The first few days of orientation were enlightening. So much information was thrusted at us, yet I remembered only three key points for teaching English in Thailand:

1) The students cheat like crazy

2) The students cannot fail

3) There is no curriculum

With the inability to fail, the overt way that they cheat, and the lack of respect in the classroom, it is easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you aren't doing anything. I crave structure and routine, so I implemented a few things into my classroom to encourage participation, creative writing, broadening vocabulary, and self-teaching.

Lesson Planning

There were pros and cons to a lack of curriculum. The pros being the freedom to teach whatever you want, at your own pace, through whatever mediums your class responds to best. The only con really, is the constant flow of creativity needed to plan lesson after lesson while keeping them interested.

I was a part of the English Program, so I saw my kids every single day. I had to have a new lesson plan for each class, every day. It was great because I saw their progress, I got to know their personalities, learning styles, and interests, but it was also exhausting and I always felt like I was playing catch-up. Eventually I learned to go with the flow and use my lesson plans as a general guide.

Games

Games!!

The #1 thing every ESL teacher should have in their arsenal: GAMES! Here are a few games for every category from vocab to phonics that I used in my classroom. Click the titles below to see more about each one.