Working with kids

When I came to Thailand I figured I'd find a job teaching English to help pay for day-to-day things like going to see a movie, eating out, and gas for the motorcycle.  I wasn't sure how it would work though - how I'd go about finding people who were interested and where we would meet and how the learning would actually take place.  Making random conversation?  Having them read something to me?  Asking them to write about something?  Thankfully I was directed to The Language Corner by a friend of my moms.

The Language Corner is a medium-sized one-on-one English tutoring place.  I don't have to worry about finding my own students or scheduling times with them or arranging a place to meet.  There are nine classrooms and about 20 teachers who work there off and on.  I usually work 9-12, but they are open as late as 8pm on weekdays and 5pm on Saturday.  Class sessions are an hour each, with many students coming for two hours at a time.  With a fifth-grader, this works fine; with a 7 year-old, it can feel like an eternity!

Now, I've put in my time doing babysitting and working in the church nursery.  I've had to entertain and redirect and be patient with kids.  But there was never the expectation that they'd have learned something by the end of our time together.  With some kids, that expectation makes things easier - they know they're there to learn English and they pull out their workbooks and do what they're told.  With other kids, I feel like just keeping them in the room with out breaking anything or hurting themselves is asking a lot!  I had one little girl who couldn't seem to sit still.  At one point she was actually dancing on a coffee table while watching her reflection in the window. 

There's a definite battle of wills that goes on.  I ask them to write three sentences about what they're going to do this weekend.  And whether they're in first grade or fifth, I always hold my breath the first time.  Are they the type of student who will diligently put pencil to paper and scribble something down?  Or will they sit and stare at me?  And if they stare, is it because they can't think of the words or because they don't want to be stuck in this classroom doing work?  It's almost worse when they carefully write the sentences, using some great vocabulary and detail, and I have to figure out how to explain why the grammar isn't quite right.  That we don't say "some fever" we say "a fever" and it's not "on the bed" it's "in bed."  But great job!  Don't get discouraged!

I have nothing but respect for those brave souls who teach a full classroom of students everyday.  Every teacher deserves the $100,000 salary I hear the international schools in Dubai offer.  No, really.  That's the salary I heard from a teacher who's currently working at an international school in Shanghai.  Would almost make living in the desert worth it!