Teacher's Pet
So, I got a job. Nothing too exciting - it pays eight bucks a session (one and half hours) and I'm only getting two classes a week right now, so I'm very much relying on the money I brought. It's damn good experience though, and hopefully I will be able to make a name for myself out here and get a better job.
I met the class the night I signed the contract (only one semester with an option to renegociate at the end - I'm wise to these sly fuckers) and I wrote in my journal afterwards "Why do I always gravitate towards groups of people seemingly put together by a casting agency looking to populate a 'wacky underdogs' scene?" They are a motley bunch. Brightly coloured shirts (except for the one, shy bookish girl who wears a home made school uniform - one pressed white shirt, one sensible black skirt), gangly grins, wide eyes; there's even a monk, for christ's sake. In full saffron robes.
I am teaching Cultural Studies at the Cambodian University for Specialities. Basically, Social Studies. We're currently covering the history of ancient Asia (Indus, Aryan, Gupta, Qin, Tang, etc), so obviously I am pleased with the subject matter. Most of them aren't exactly fluent with English, so it's basically an English Immersion class.
Last night, I taught my first class. The monk was a huge help, being the only guy with the guts to ask lots of questions. The Khmers are very nervous about this and hesitate to ask when they don't understand something, meaning I lose a lot of time saying "Do you follow? Does everyone understand?" to a sea of blank faces. I got them all to tell me a little about themselves. It was kinda sad. The average ambition was "Get any job," which was heart-wrenching. They're all pretty good kids, and I even like a couple of them. There's one dark-skinned full blooded Khmer who sits in the middle who has a real sense of mischief, and we traded a lot of wry grins. He's also pretty quick on the uptake, and bold, so I respect him for that.
There's another little guy, named Sonn, who came up to me after class and clucked the other stragglers away so he could talk to me privately, and explained that he wanted his name stricken from the record because he was sneaking in to classes and wasn't paying. I told him that he wasn't going to get into any trouble with me for $8 for an hour and a half. The only girl in the class also lingered to let me know she was signed up for weekend classes, not my weekday classes, and basically wanted me not to turn her in.
Not all of them had the Cultural Studies textbook yet, so I had them all get close to someone who did and share, then I had them take turns reading out paragraphs from the text. This was a fucking masterstroke, as I was able to assess their english reading/comprehension skills, break down social barriers, and get them more comfortable with speaking out loud in class all in one stroke. The only hiccup was I asked everyone to stand when they read, and when I got to the monk, it turned out that he CAN'T for some reason, due to being a buddist.
Explaining BC and AD was a hell of a hassle, too. They were all pretty well behaved, and at least appeared to pay attention. I had a lot of fun with the class. I am looking forward to round 2, on Friday.
I met the class the night I signed the contract (only one semester with an option to renegociate at the end - I'm wise to these sly fuckers) and I wrote in my journal afterwards "Why do I always gravitate towards groups of people seemingly put together by a casting agency looking to populate a 'wacky underdogs' scene?" They are a motley bunch. Brightly coloured shirts (except for the one, shy bookish girl who wears a home made school uniform - one pressed white shirt, one sensible black skirt), gangly grins, wide eyes; there's even a monk, for christ's sake. In full saffron robes.
I am teaching Cultural Studies at the Cambodian University for Specialities. Basically, Social Studies. We're currently covering the history of ancient Asia (Indus, Aryan, Gupta, Qin, Tang, etc), so obviously I am pleased with the subject matter. Most of them aren't exactly fluent with English, so it's basically an English Immersion class.
Last night, I taught my first class. The monk was a huge help, being the only guy with the guts to ask lots of questions. The Khmers are very nervous about this and hesitate to ask when they don't understand something, meaning I lose a lot of time saying "Do you follow? Does everyone understand?" to a sea of blank faces. I got them all to tell me a little about themselves. It was kinda sad. The average ambition was "Get any job," which was heart-wrenching. They're all pretty good kids, and I even like a couple of them. There's one dark-skinned full blooded Khmer who sits in the middle who has a real sense of mischief, and we traded a lot of wry grins. He's also pretty quick on the uptake, and bold, so I respect him for that.
There's another little guy, named Sonn, who came up to me after class and clucked the other stragglers away so he could talk to me privately, and explained that he wanted his name stricken from the record because he was sneaking in to classes and wasn't paying. I told him that he wasn't going to get into any trouble with me for $8 for an hour and a half. The only girl in the class also lingered to let me know she was signed up for weekend classes, not my weekday classes, and basically wanted me not to turn her in.
Not all of them had the Cultural Studies textbook yet, so I had them all get close to someone who did and share, then I had them take turns reading out paragraphs from the text. This was a fucking masterstroke, as I was able to assess their english reading/comprehension skills, break down social barriers, and get them more comfortable with speaking out loud in class all in one stroke. The only hiccup was I asked everyone to stand when they read, and when I got to the monk, it turned out that he CAN'T for some reason, due to being a buddist.
Explaining BC and AD was a hell of a hassle, too. They were all pretty well behaved, and at least appeared to pay attention. I had a lot of fun with the class. I am looking forward to round 2, on Friday.