Journal entry by Al Negstad — a minute ago
Wow! What a warm welcome back to my 10th year at school. There were two more retirements while I was gone so I'm gaining seniority on the faculty. The new teachers, who are younger, are more open to conversing in English which is fun for me. Three of the student teachers are also eager to practice English. The 4th student teacher, who majored in English, is not interested in practicing it. There is a teacher shortage so the student teachers are teaching 5th grade in lieu of the teacher who retired. The young principal is among those eager to use English.
The 3rd grade class is very small, 8 students, one of who was absent today. That means fewer names to learn: Phum, Bird, View, Ploy, Da, Fern, Khaw Fang, and Tag-Neem. O, for a speech therapist! Tag-Neem has a severe speech disability which makes her speech unintelligible and there are no expert services available. When I was getting a degree in education I had an excellent course in learning disabilities but nothing in speech pathology. These students have been studying English since they were three but cannot associate letters with their sound. I've expressed my concern about this lack to the principal.
The 4th grade class has 25, students so I had to brush up on their names since teaching them last year. There were a number I could call by name and the use of nicknames is a life saver for me. Every Thai child is given a nickname at birth by their mother. For example the two and a half y
ear old in the house where I stay is nicknamed "Nice", because his mother hopes he will be nice. Ironically she calls him "Ni" because Thai typically don't pronounce the last syllable.
All of my Thai contact knew of Joanne's death but none have mentioned it. Makes me wonder about their comfort level and if there is also a cultural norm that keeps them from bringing it up?
Tomorrow I'll teach 5th and 6th grades. Those names will be easier to recall because began teaching them in 3rd grade.
Blessings
The 3rd grade class is very small, 8 students, one of who was absent today. That means fewer names to learn: Phum, Bird, View, Ploy, Da, Fern, Khaw Fang, and Tag-Neem. O, for a speech therapist! Tag-Neem has a severe speech disability which makes her speech unintelligible and there are no expert services available. When I was getting a degree in education I had an excellent course in learning disabilities but nothing in speech pathology. These students have been studying English since they were three but cannot associate letters with their sound. I've expressed my concern about this lack to the principal.
The 4th grade class has 25, students so I had to brush up on their names since teaching them last year. There were a number I could call by name and the use of nicknames is a life saver for me. Every Thai child is given a nickname at birth by their mother. For example the two and a half y
All of my Thai contact knew of Joanne's death but none have mentioned it. Makes me wonder about their comfort level and if there is also a cultural norm that keeps them from bringing it up?
Tomorrow I'll teach 5th and 6th grades. Those names will be easier to recall because began teaching them in 3rd grade.
Blessings
Al
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| Opening exercises. |
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| Teaching grade 3. |
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