Math Class and Demonstration School!

January 23^rd, 2018

All the SEA Teachers were starting the day with observing the second year of math class in Phranakhon Rajabhat University. The building was quite far from our dorm but we were enjoying the morning walk with Ajarn May who was a psychology teacher. 

She was beautiful and generous. She walked us to the building and to the class. She intend to teach us about how to overcome problem in the classroom. Simply, the topic of the observation today was ‘The Problem Solving of Classroom Phenomenon’. Right before she started the observation, we introduced our names first then joining the memorizing games. There was 10 students stood in front of the class including me. Each of us have to say a name of an animal and the friend next to us had to repeat and said his/her own name of animal. From the game, Ajarn May explained that the more and more information repeated and added could make the students lost the core of the knowledge. In my word, the students could lost the main information they wanted to know if there were too many wasted explanation followed after or before it. Thus, as a teacher we had to make sure that our teaching and learning process would not have unimportant repetition and information. As a psychology teacher, Ajarn May set up several different situation of problems in classroom that might be occur in Thai school. She became one of the annoying students in the class and we had to take a role as the real teacher and find the solution to overcome the phenomenon. I was assigned to be a teacher in the situation where there are a students who did not have any passion in learning English. The students had the mindset that he/she did not need English because he was not an English people. After taking my role, where I tried to be professional teacher by asking her why she did not love English until I find the solution where I connected the importance of English with her Idol ‘Justin Bieber’, the student finally understand and had motive to learn English. I learned from Ajarn May that we did not have to tell the students about the importance of English every time. Try to make them realize it by their own. Find the motives within the students’ self and connected it with English. Therefore, slowly the students would be motivated to learn. Thank You Ajarn May!

After lunch, we took several minutes rest and went to demonstration school for having a meeting with school’s director, teachers, staffs and the intelligent students of the Demonstration School. The meeting consisted of comprehensible presentation of the school profile and several questions and answers. Along with that, students and teachers of Demonstration school had already prepared drinks and meals for us to enjoy during the meeting. 

The school also gave us souvenirs in shape of elephant doll and a small mug. 

Having taken several pictures with the souvenirs, we continued with touring around the school. We visited the classroom, teachers’ office, sport field, the main opened hall and the library. Actually, I have to admit that the school was very well organized and the students were well prepared to meet their goals in the future. Why I said so? Because the school had every aspect which required to meet the standard of education in Thailand. The school also provide students with extra learning time, especially if they were taking specific major. For Example English-Japanese. The school also Had 7 native speakers to teach the foreign language they provide, such as English, Japanese and Chinese. This school system taught me several positive things which I should have in order to be a professional teacher in the future. First, good preparation. We could not come to class empty handed without any teaching materials and teaching aid. Those things were really helpful in teaching actually. Second, communication. The school kept contact and communicate with students’ parents to help them in developing their children both academic and non-academic. I learned that communicate with the students was important because through communication we could find out the solution of the problem we encountered in the class. If there was no communication between teacher and students, it would cause negative things happen. Could be lost of motivation and etc.

          Over all today’s Activities taught me many things and open my eyes that students are different. We as the teacher have to dynamic and could fit with students’ behaviours. Thus, we could control them from within their self and bring out the motivated and active students out.  What a great school! Both math class and Demonstration school was great. Thank you for having SEA Teachers as your partner.

Additional pictures!