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Teaching in Thailand There are several things that you can either do or avoid doing in

Thailand to make your entire experience a lot easier and happier.

Some things relate specifically to the classroom, while other things apply to living in Thailand in general. In addition to a different language, weather, food, and traditions, there are different cultural standards and societal expectations. Common practices in one country can be a major source of offence in another. On here are some useful pointers that can help you keep on track while in Thailand.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. Well, here in Thailand I would not suggest you do that.

Do’sDon’ts

Management Student’s

performance

The Do’s1.Dress Modestly

In Thailand, as a rule of thumb, your shoulders should be covered and dresses or skirts worn to work should reach to your knee. Thais are fairly conservative in their dress standards, and although you may see some of the younger Thai teachers wearing very short skirts, you should avoid doing the same unless you want to be reprimanded.

Schools usually prefer men to wear to wear full button up shirts. I have found that it is very good to even wear a suit to start the new term. If you are unsure as to what you are expected to wear in the classroom, ask someone.

2.Wear Certain Colors

Some schools will expect teachers to wear tops corresponding to the colour of the day. If you are told to wear certain colours on certain days, do so. Monday is yellow, Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green, Thursday is orange, and Friday is light blue. There are other days where you may be told to wear certain colours; these are usually birthdays of members of the Royal Family and special religious days. On the King’s birthday, for example, you will be expected to wear yellow, regardless of what day of the week it as, as the King was born on a Monday. You may be asked to wear a school uniform, if asked it is a good idea to do that.

3.Use the Wai

The 'wai' is a sign of respect, and is used to greet people, bid farewell, apologise, give thanks, and in a whole host of other social situations. If somebody wais you, you should return the gesture. If you see someone in your school who is older or holds a more senior position that you, you should wai them first.

With your students, wai also and even use English with. Like wai and good morning! This in not rude and may help your students practice more English.

4.Respect Thai Beliefs and Values

Although many beliefs may be different to your own, always show respect for the beliefs of others.

The best thing for you to do, if your new here in Thailand or if your not, is to learn as many beliefs and traditions as possible. Believe me it will help you.

5.Remove Your Shoes

It is customary to remove your shoes before entering a home, as well as some offices and shops.

A helpful hint is that if there are piles of shoes outside a doorway, you should also remove yours. Some schools may require that you remove your shoes outside the classroom. It is best to ask if you are unsure. If you do need to take your shoes off in the classroom, cast your eyes around the floor for any sharp objects before you start your lesson. One time when I took off my shoes, I was chastised for doing so. I was told “You are a teacher, you do not take them off to enter the classroom. Boy was I shocked by that. If you are not sure, just remember, ‘ask your students’, they know everything.

6.Try and Learn a Few Basic Thai Phrases

Whilst you will not need to use Thai in the classroom, and some schools actually specifically prohibit foreign teachers from using any Thai, a few basics can really help you outside of your school.

This is particularly useful in more rural areas where many locals will not be able to speak any English. The best way to learn some Thai phrases is from your students when you are talking about the meaning of some phrases in English that you happen to be teaching in that lesson.

7.Attend the Flag Ceremony

Every morning at 8am the Thai National Anthem is played.

Most schools will hold a small flag raising ceremony at this time on some days of the week. It is important that you attend this ceremony unless specifically told that you do not have to. I have worked in a school where a flag ceremony was held every morning. I have also heard that in some schools they only held a ceremony on Mondays and Fridays.

By doing this faithfully, it shows just how punctual you are and believe me your students will see this and it might just help improve their attendance.

8.Stand Still When You Hear the National Anthem

The National Anthem is played every day at 8am and 6pm.

You should stand still for the duration of the song. This is especially important if you are walking around your school, in a bus station, or in a similarly public place. The Royal Anthem is played in cinemas before movies start; patrons are expected to stand throughout this song also. When you show how respectful you are, they will be respectful to you in return.

9.Be Patient

The Thai way of life can be much slower than the quicker pace that most westerners are used to.

There is nothing that you can do to change this, so be patient and accept the differences. And remember, everything works out in the long run. It always has and always will. So just chill out.

10.Have Fun!

Embrace the new challenges of living and working in a different country and have fun!

Enjoy yourself here and people will enjoy with you. For sure your students will want to come and learn when they feel they are having fun learning. They will learn more also.

The Don’ts:1.Get Angry

Thais rarely show anger or extreme emotions in public.

If you do either, you will often be considered as being slightly unhinged. Although you may need to shout in a classroom to be heard and make students be quiet, do so in a controlled way. Do not become angry in the classroom, no matter what happens. If you lose your temper, students will probably laugh at you, which will make you feel even worse.

If you find yourself in a spot where you know your are going to get mad and explode, just do this: Excuse yourself from the class and go and get a drink of water, juice or soda, then go back in.

2.Touch Anyone’s Head

A person’s head is considered the most spiritual part of their body, and to touch someone on the head can be very disrespectful.

If another teacher sees you do this, it can cause you many problems with the other staff at the school, even though you were just trying to be friendly.

3.Point Your Feet at Anyone

The feet are seen as being the lowest part of the body and so using the feet to point, or directing the feet towards someone or something, is seen as the height of rudeness.

Pointing your feet at some one in your class is a little difficult to do, if you are sitting or standing or moving around the class, but just remember to try not to.

4.Act Disrespectfully Near Buddha Images

Buddha images are sacred in Thailand.

You should not climb on statues for pictures or act in an inappropriate manner near statues or pictures. You should point your feet away from Buddha images. In some areas, posing for photographs in front of Buddha statues is considered offensive.

5.Discuss Religion or The Royal Family in Classes

Buddhism and The Royal Family are both highly revered in Thailand.

While you should avoid criticizing either in any situation, it is best to also avoid these topics altogether in the classroom. Interestingly, be aware that speaking badly of The Royal Family is actually a criminal offence and punishable under the “Lese Majeste Laws”.

I have found that some students like to know something about The Royal Family that did not know or were told different. For example I like to tell my students that their King was born in Boston Mass. USA.

6.Be Affronted if Grades or Scores are Altered

This was something that I found difficult to understand when I first started teaching in Thailand.

Many schools operate a no fail policy. This means that if you are asked to test students, you can do a lot of work, assign fair grades, and then the grades will ultimately be altered. It can seem very pointless, but it happens very commonly. Understand it happens, accept that you cannot change it, and do not take it personally.

You do not have to sit there and just take it. Be polite and ask for an explanation as to why they were altered.

7.Use Playing Cards in the Classroom

Almost all forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand.

Cards are associated with gambling, even if there is no gambling actually taken place. There are many great ESL activities that use cards; do not use them in a Thai school. I have known people get into a lot of trouble for innocently doing so.

If you really want to use them in class for a special lesson, ask for permission first. This is acceptable to do and you will gain more respect for you peers and the higher ups.

8.Ride a Motorbike Unless You Know What You are Doing

I would say do not ride a motorbike unless you have a license to do so, but so many people, myself included, hire motorbikes for convenience.

With a high death toll on the roads, and uncountable accidents involving motorbikes, do not be tempted to think that riding a motorbike is easy. You would not do it at home, so don’t do it in Thailand. The rules of the road and road conditions are certainly different than in your home country. Take some instruction before hitting the roads, and don’t ride if you are not confident. And, always wear a helmet, even as a passenger.

Even though you will see many people even teachers riding without helmets, don’t do that. Set the example for them.

9.Dabble in Drugs

Thailand is known for its hedonistic areas, where almost anything goes.

It also has strong anti-drug laws. Not only is it very unprofessional as a teacher to mess around with drugs, but it could also land you in a lot of trouble with the law if caught.

10.Pet Strange Dogs

Some schools, as well as most streets, have stray dogs roaming around.

Temple schools especially have a lot of dogs walking around. They may wander into your classroom and your students may be perfectly fine with them. It is wise not to pet any stray dogs, whether in your school or on the street. They are not domesticated pets like you are used to, they probably have not had any rabies vaccinations or other health care, and they can be very unpredictable.

You will no doubt quickly find your own dos and don’ts to add to this list, and it is not meant to be an inclusive and definitive guide of how to act. Hopefully, though, these tips will stand you in good stead for your first few weeks of living and working in The Land of Smiles.

What other do's and don’ts would you add to this list?

Are there any vital tips about teaching in Thailand that you feel have been omitted and would be useful for others? If so just send me an Email.

amerenglish64@gmail.com

amerenglish63@yahoo.com

Classroom Management

Aren't All ESL Students Well-Mannered? Classroom Management for the Adult (and Not So Adult) ESL Student

Often, when I tell other teachers what I do, teach ESL students at the college level, they exclaim, “Oh, that must be great! You don’t have any classroom management issues. Because your students really want to learn.” Well, yes and no.

I indeed think it’s a great job. And adult ESL students rarely have classroom management issues like throwing spit wads and shoving each other—they do, however, make and receive cell phone calls during class and update their Facebook profiles. ESL students, like students in general, come to the classroom for a variety of reasons, intrinsic love of learning is probably not primary among them in most cases. This is complicated by divergent notions of what is appropriate classroom behavior—not only from what students were taught in their past education experiences but also from instructor to instructor on the same campus. One instructor may not be bothered by the student text-messaging under the desk—or at least, not say so—while another may come unhinged. So how does the teacher manage the classroom under such circumstances?

1.Get it in writing: Put expectations in syllabus

If you are really bothered by use of cell phones and other electronics during class time, say so in the syllabus. If you’d really prefer students spend the majority of time speaking English in class, rather than breaking into discussion groups in their primary languages, say that as well, and give a reason.

2.Have a plan

Have a plan. Break course objectives down and have a plan for the semester, week, and day.

If students are busy doing relevant work, there is less chance they will become classroom management concerns.

3.Transparency is the key

Make your plan transparent. Put the day’s or week’s or semester’s plan on the board or class website so students know what they should be doing moment to moment.

4.Have a classroom management plan, too

Also have a classroom management plan in place, whether it is in your head or in writing. But think through what you would do in certain situations: what you would do if you find a student had plagiarized her paper or what you would do if a student could not seem to stop talking through your lectures.

5.Vary grouping strategies

Students tend to get bored when in one activity or grouping for too long. If I’ve done a teacher-fronted, whole-class activity for ten minutes, often my students begin to drift and to hold side conversations. This is a sign that it’s time to vary the instruction, to break students into small groups for further practice. Usually once the activity has changed, the negative behavior disappears.

6.Discuss it in private

Although classes as a whole tend to have a specific “climate,” and often it’s the case an entire class is just difficult to manage, sometimes there is an individual student with problematic behavior, such as consistently (and disruptively) arriving late. If behavior like this develops in one student, it’s usually best to meet with the student privately and discuss the situation. Often the student is unaware that there is a problem and is very apologetic and promises to improve. Other times the student knows the behavior is a problem, but it is rooted in some other academic or personal concern, like loss of transportation or simple misunderstanding of how important it is to be on time in a U.S. classroom. The teacher can discuss the situation with the student, and often the problem can be solved with one meeting.

7.Be polite but direct

Be polite but direct about what you want students to do or not do. If you are bothered by a student bringing food and drink into class and loudly consuming it throughout the class, it is all right to tell the student--privately, so the student isn’t embarrassed--but usually students who demonstrate inappropriate behavior like this are not going to pick up on subtle hints that their behavior is inappropriate, so being direct is necessary.

8.Don’t let them cross the line

It is rare but not unheard of that student behavior can cross the line from merely inappropriate and annoying to alarming, especially if there are suspected drug abuse or mental health concerns. For example, a number of years ago, an immigrant student who had acted a little odd all semester, enough so that most of the other students avoided him, was in an ESL class. One day, when apparently upset over his failing grade, he came into the teacher’s office, shut the door, and asked, “Do you love your husband?” Startled, she replied simply that she did. He then asked, “If you love your husband, why don’t you love your students?” The behavior of shutting the door and then the bizarre dialogue was enough to alarm her into dropping a note to my dean, who she thinks must have then had the student into his office for a stern conversation because the student disappeared from the program shortly after. Of course in most cases, this is not the outcome we would wish, but in reality not all students are able to benefit from all educational settings.

9.Last resort

Involve authorities as needed. Although ideally instructors should develop the skills to deal with the vast majority of classroom management issues within their own classes, it is all right in certain circumstances to involve higher authorities—sometimes the police, if you feel your immediate safety is in jeopardy. Although it is rare, sometimes student behavior warrants intervention from others. Instructors should have on hand the phone numbers of their dean, campus security, and the police to be notified depending on the level of behavior: a case of repeated plagiarism should be referred to the dean, for example; calls to security or the police should be reserved for threats to property or personal safety.

Yes, classroom management is a challenge, and most classes do not magically organize themselves into active and respectful groups of students—not even classes of adults, not even ESL students.

This requires the hard work of a teacher. However, the well-conducted class can be achieved with planning, varying grouping, being direct, and involving others when needed.

Student’s Performance

When ESL students don’t do so well on the test, what do you think? That they didn’t study? It’s not that simple.

Although no one questions the importance of preparing for a test, success in passing or getting good scores in an ESL test is determined by several factors, most of which come into play way before the actual moment students take the test. Here are the five factors you should keep in mind and what you can do to help your students achieve success.

5 Factors that May Affect Your Students’ Scores or Performance

1.Self-study TimeFirst on the list is a factor that a lot of students underestimate, particularly adult learners. They show up for class, pay attention, actively participate and leave the classroom thinking, “My work is done.” This could not be further from the truth. The work your students do in class is actually only the beginning. This may not be the case for other subjects or classes, but ESL is a whole other ballgame. Let’s backtrack and think about why students take ESL lessons. They need to improve their English communication skills. And they won’t achieve this goal, let alone do well on the test, simply by attending classes, no matter how hard they work during class.

What to do: Whether you have young learners or teens who are accustomed to doing homework, or adults who say they never have time, you must encourage them to do some extra work at home on a regular basis. Now, if you give them really creative and fun homework assignments, there won’t be any excuses.

2.Absenteeism

Out of the five, this one’s the most obvious reason why some students don’t do well in tests.

And this is often a big problem in adult ESL learners. We must accept the fact that they have busy lives, impossible schedules and often make a huge effort to come to class. But if they are absent one too many times, it will undoubtedly affect their performance.

What to do: You can’t force students to come to class. But you can help your students be accountable for what they fail to do. If you have students who are frequently absent make sure they understand what the consequences are.

When I was teaching, I would tell my students on day one: “If you are late – I will deduct 5 grades points foe each time being late. If you are absent and you do not notify me – you will loose 10 grade points” I had very few people late or absent. But I never did deduct any points from them, but they didn’t know.

3.Test AnxietyThis is a factor that comes into play when students are taking standardized tests like the Cambridge ESOL or TOELF, TOEIC, etc…

Have you ever had students who did brilliantly in the practice tests, but then failed the real deal? Sometimes students don’t do well on a test, not because of a lack of preparation but because, simply put, they get so nervous they can’t perform to their full potential.

What to do: Training and preparation for a test goes a long way towards soothing nerves and insecurities. Make sure they are more than familiar with the test structure and know exactly what is expected of them. Finally, the best way to calm anxiety or panic is to tell them that they should simply do their best. In the worst case scenario, they can take the test the following year, and they will have a valuable testing experience under their belt.

4.Understanding of the Test structure

Often, students don’t do well on a test because they don’t understand the test structure:

they don’t know what they’re supposed to answer or write, or how they should respond.

What to do: Naturally, when students are taking tests like the Cambridge ESOL, they should be familiar with all of the sections and parts and what is required of them in each. For your own tests, don’t forget to tell students exactly what to expect. Will you be giving them a multiple choice test? Is there are speaking task? A writing task? Don’t surprise them with these things on the day of the test.

5.Focus on Fluency

This is one of factors that you should be paying attention to right from the start.

Let’s assume your students are taking ESL lessons to improve their English speaking skills – their goal is to attain fluency. But some students lose sight of this fact and don’t study to attain fluency, they study to pass the test. So they memorize rules and make charts and lists, which is fine, but when you ask them to reply to you in a conversation they don’t know what to say.

What to do: Studying English as second language is not like studying math or science. In fact, it’s not even how kids in English-speaking countries usually study English. In ESL, the focus is on acquiring a second language and improving communication skills in this language. Help your students understand they should strive to communicate in a meaningful way, in writing or speaking, instead of memorize the rules for reported speech. They won’t be asked the rules on the test, but they will be expected to use real, everyday English.

Now, why is all of this important?

While it’s great that you give your students plenty of chances to review before a major test, it’s also essential that you keep these factors in mind from the start, not only to guarantee good test scores, but also ensure that your students are getting the level of fluency they aim to obtain.

If you have identified any other factors that affect student performance on tests, please share them with me!

amerenglish64@gmail.com

amerenglish63@yahoo.com