I walked into a classroom today of one of my co-teachers and the students took one look at me and all busted out laughing. The preceded to stare, point and then whisper things to their friends and then they would all bust out laughing again. OKAAAYYYY Is there something on my face? No...hmmm on the back of my skirt? No....okay so they are just laughing at me. Word. Seeing as I trip, clip the desk/door, or accidentally throw my marker at a student (although I have been tempted to do it for real!) I am getting pretty used to being laughed at, and it's alright. Laughing with me isn't the same as laughing at me, right?
2. PATIENCE and lots of it.
So teaching a class of 20+ students a language that they don't understand is hard, but it's even harder when I have no idea what they heck they are saying. I ask a student a question in English and they respond in Thai. I have no idea what they are saying and they have no idea what I am saying. Take it back to the thick skin part- I do a lot of dancing, acting and sinking to help them understand, they legit say "Teacher you crazy!" Oh good, thanks y'all! In all seriousness though, teaching is hard work, which is then exacerbated by the fact that most of my students don't care, they are going to pass even if they fail every single assignment (that is the Thai system for ya), or they plain right just don't understand. It takes patience for the teacher and the student, that is for sure! It is most definitely a 2 way street!
3. The ability to say NO!
I haven't quite mastered this one yet, but I am most certainly getting there. These kids say "teacher play a movie, teacher play game" literally every time I walk into the room. 90% of the time it is a strong battle of my will against theirs to not give in. I mean seriously they want to watch Disney movies...Do you know how hard it is for me to say no to a great Disney movie? Dag on near impossible!
4. A healthy dose of humbleness and confidence
You can do this yourself in the quiet of your room, or I promise you the students will do it for you. Nothing makes you feel inadequate quite like teaching the difference of 'your' versus 'mine' to a group of people who don't understand English. On the flip side, nothing will bring you down a peg quite like students who laugh in your face when you can't explain something. Take both in stride, and I promise it will be okay. In order to be a good teacher in a foreign country, in my limited experience, you need to know when to be humble enough to say "I need help, the students aren't responding to this activity. What should I do?" Similarly, you need a healthy dose of confidence to not give up on the students. If you are ballsy enough to pack your bags and travel to a foreign country for X amount of months, then have it in you to be a good teacher. That kid that laughs in your face and is the biggest distraction, has a heart of gold but stinks at English and needs someone to tell him he can do it. Trust me, I've seen it, they come around.
5. A good support system and a sanctuary to refresh
My parents always used to get so worried when I was in college because I would call them upset or angry about basketball or something my coaches said, and they would think I was depressed or having a break down, when in reality I just trusted them enough to vent. Teaching in a foreign country is the same thing. Whether it is parents, a relationship, friends, heck even your dog, you need someone or something to real you back in from your garden (As my grandma used to sing to me when I was pouting "No body likes me, everybody hates me, I'm gonna go in the garden and eat my worms. Big fat juicy ones, small little slimy ones, oh how they wiggle and squirm." That is what I call my garden, aka an child version of an adult pity party and trust me they aren't pretty). It also helps to have a place to go on the weekends. Chances are, if you go to a different country to teach then you have an adventurous heart, and a gypsy soul, kudos to you my kindred spirit! Go find a beach you love, a beautiful place to hang your hammock, a special restaurant with your favorite food, a lookout point high in the mountains overlooking the forest/jungle. Whatever it is, make it yours and go there when you need to get away and rejuvenate....aka get out of your garden!
BONUS: Have a great antivirus! Kids bring in flashdrives that have 20 viruses on it-it's nuts! Make sure you install one (take my word for it, as I did not, and now my technological advice doesn't work-yes Dad I will call Apple sooner or later!).
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