We also happen to have Saturday classes, where once again parents sign their students up for 3 hours on Saturday to come to school. This is a much laid back schedule where every week there is a new theme and you teach the theme. I have done 2 Saturday classes so far. For both the classes I taught P1's and P2's. One of the Saturday's had an animal theme and the second one had Healthy bodies as its theme.
In addition to that, I also teach photography club every Friday. So far a fellow teacher and I have taught the student four things ; still shots, candid shots, portraits and Photo voice. We are still working on out photo voice compilation. It is amazing how much these kids love to take pictures and enjoy themselves.
Hmmm Other things that have happened in the past few weeks....
Wai Kru day (in June) - Wai Kru day is a day for teacher appreciation and celebration. It is when the kids give us flowers and show us how much they appreciate learning. We had an assembly for every grade and it was quite different. Nothing I have ever seen before. It started off with some anthem and prays (which I did not understand). After the prayers it was time for the students to give us the flowers. Every students would come up to you, great you, bow down to you, you wish them well and finally they offer you flowers. It was really cute!. Wai kru day was quite an amazing experience, definitely not something you would see in Canada. Thai people definitely respect the teachers alot. It felt really good to be appreciated and recognized. According to the Thai hierarchy/ traditions, Teachers are considered the second highest in ranking after the Monks in terms of respect.
Canada Day (July 1st): because so many of the foreign teachers are Canadians, we celebrated Canada day here as well. Our Saturday class had Canada day theme and many of the teachers dressed in red and white. We also talked about Canada with our students and played a few Canadian games and activities in class. It was actually quite great. Along with celebrating in school, all the teachers got together and decided to have a Canada day pot luck and celebration. Felt good to finally eat some Canadian food.
Buddist Lent: In preparation for buddist lent, a candle making ceremony takes place in the morning a week prior. This is done so that the school may donate a candle to the monks. This was then followed by a lent ceremony where there was a Thai candle dance and some recital my the monks (which I did not understand). It was definitely a different and interesting experience.
I think that is it for now. I shall talk to you soon!
Luv ya all
- Shaz
