I never know...

The district(?) schools gathered today for an all day educational event for 4th, 5th & 6th graders. The setting was a school at a temple (wat) along the river. The grounds were in a beautiful grove of trees perhaps the size of a football field. With a nice breeze blowing and the shade of the trees it was a great setting. The students didn't seem to mind sitting on the dusty ground.
I was invited to be present to observe the day. There were four teaching stations in a number of subjects, e.g., science, math, English, etc. Students were divided into groups and rotated between stations throughout the day. There were four separate teaching stations for English which I intended to observe.
Four minutes before the teaching was to begin the English teacher from "my" school said, "Allan, one of the teachers is not here, will you teach one station?" That is how I went from being an observer to teaching six back to back half hour English lessons with no props. I did request and get an interpreter to sit in with me and his English was quite good. But I do wish I could have prepared something more creative than I did on the spur of the moment.
The students are delightful. They are quite intrigued with me. During the lunch break they clustered around me as if I am their mascot. I enjoy relating to them outside of the classroom. It gives me a chance to work on learning their names, some of which I can never pronounce without causing peals of laughter.
Thai students have a knack for respect without seeming the least intimidated. At school, teachers often leave their classrooms unattended without problems. It's taken me awhile to learn that when I am done with class I can just walk away even if there is no adult in the room.
Today's event impressed me. The teachers had put a lot of effort into making it a creative learning experience. Getting the students into a new setting with many of their peers made a nice break from the usual school day.
One of the exercises I used with my groups today was "Raise your hand if...." To give them experience of hearing English. 100% of the students raised their hands to "Raise your hand if you like school."
A puzzle: When asked if they were oldest or youngest of children at home approx. 60% said youngest and 20% oldest????????