At least nobody died
Sometimes just be thankful that's as good as it gets
I'm now in my third year as an English teacher at a secondary school in Thailand. I guess you could say I'm a veteran now, though this is a job which 'veteran' doesn't mean much
Notebook concerns
How to get your students to use their notebooks effectively
Friends of mind say that they give importance to student notebooks by grading them, giving stickers to those who have a complete set of notes , stamping them with positive comments - and giving points as part of their grade to those students who have complete, neat, and beautiful notebooks.
No thank you U-NET
The latest brainwave from NIETS
Not content with creating incomprehensible, inaccurate and often absurd examination questions for primary and secondary school students, NIETS are now planning a standardized exam for all students finishing university
#atweetaday
Organising a social networking project for students
Wouldn't it be great if students could use some of thier social networking time to develop their English? This was the thinking behind a project I started with my Mathayom 3 students - 'A Tweet a Day'.
Tolerance
One aspect of Thai culture that must be the envy of the world
We foreigners may see some aspects of Thai culture as idiosyncratic, but it truly warms my heart when I see even young people in Thailand getting along in spite of personal differences
Enthusiasm rubs off on students
Postbox letter from Harry Bruder
I'm now at a university and teaching poetry, English and American Literature. I really like those subjects.
It's that time of year again
Postbox letter from Bryan W
It's final exam time; And not just any old final exams, but end of year/graduation exams. Such a wonderful time for a teacher
My first year as a teacher in Thailand
The highs and the lows and what I've learned.
Now that this academic year is winding down, I reflect on my first year with a lot of mixed feelings. There have been a lot of awesome moments where I really felt like a teacher. I really felt like I was getting through to the students and I was the getting the job done.
Grammar vs speech
Differing techniques inside the classroom
In my experience, students recite a grammar rule or know the rule or learn the rule and maybe even vaguely understand the rule, but then you ask them a basic question and they don't understand.
Dear NIETS
An open letter to The National Institute of Education Testing Service
I had hoped to send this letter to you directly but I suspect your offices are besieged by angry protestors, frustrated with corruption and incompetency. So it seemed a better idea to write you an open letter. I am writing this in the hope that this year's O-NET (Ordinary National Educational Test) examinations will better assess the Mathayom 6 students than previous efforts have done.
