Please don't yell at me

Hello. Look at the pictures. Aren't they pretty? So pretty you've forgotten your irritation with my silence. Yes, that's what I thought.

It's been a while, I know. Now, before you proceed to write (more) nasty comments and complaining e-mails, please allow me to explain myself.

Quick notes

• First off, on Saturday I leave for a 2-week trip with my good pal Holly through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. 
• The semester ended two weeks ago, so I have been grading/pretending to be a real teacher for a couple weeks
• After my two weeks of adventure with Holly, my mom is coming! We will travel around Thailand - Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai
• After Mama Hollenbeck leaves, it's back to Bangkok for the last two weeks of April for more Fulbright training. 

Why was I so silent for the last month of the semester, you ask? Well let me answer that with a charming story. Here is a story I started to write two weeks ago:

Things have been crazy. Crazier than normal. We will begin with a classic day in the English Department of Princess Chulabhorn's College - Chiang Rai.

The Scene: English Department
Alison walks into the door, slightly frazzled after teaching 3 classes in a row
P'Kob (M5 English teacher): Alison! I need to talk to you!
Alison stops at P'Kob's desk.
P'Kob: The people from Singapore called me today and said yes.
Alison: They said yes?
P'Kob: Yes.
Alison: You mean, you're going to Singapore for the training for three months?
P'Kob: Yes, and I must finish all my classes before I go, I am so worried.
Alison (moving to go to her desk and set down her things): Well, it's great that you were accepted, congratulations!
P'Kob (urgently, so Alison halts): Yes, but I am so serious.
Alison: Don't worry! I am happy for you!
P'Kob: Yes, so here is the book for the 5/1 grammar class, this is the page we are on.
Alison: Excuse me?
P'Kob continues to point at the book and explain upcoming lessons.
Alison: P'Kob, are you asking me to teach 5/1's grammar classes?
P'Kob: Oh Alison, you know they have these special lessons and it's so difficult for Thai teachers and no one else will do it because they are so busy and it is so much work.
P'Soi, head of English department walks over.
P'Soi: Ah yes, Alison. Do you think you can teach 5/1's grammar classes now that P'Kob is leaving?
Alison: Umm... I mean, uhhhh. Well I have some concerns.
P'Soi: What?
Alison: Well, I don't know grammar. Not well, at least. And I don't speak Thai, so how am I supposed to explain grammar to them? I worry that some of them don't understand me already. And it's three more classes a week, when are these classes?
P'Soi: Oh it's ok. We can help you.
Alison: OK. Can I put my stuff down? Can we sit down and talk about this?
P'Soi and P'Kob: Oh, ok!
- Scene -

So. That was that. It was determined that I would take over teaching the three grammar classes for 5/1, the most advanced class at our school, a class I had been teaching once a week.

How has it been going? Well, that is up to interpretation. On the one hand it means a lot more work for me. We have a book that we must follow (the curriculum is set by another school and followed by the 12 schools in the Princess Chulabhorn College system) and it contains many complex grammar lessons. My first lesson?

Misplaced modifiers. "A misplaced modifier is a modifying word, phrase or clause that seems to modify the wrong word or word group in a sentence." OK great. Now I just need to look up modifier, phrase and clause. Oh and then a predicate. And a finite verb. P'Soi spent hours with me, teaching me grammar.

During the first classes on modifiers I diagrammed sentences with students, at which point I called something the object when it was really the subject of a sentence, prompting confused and questioning furrowed brows. Then I had to pretend I knew it was the subject because duh, subjects and objects are so different. Right.

Then we moved on to squinting modifiers. "Teacher, why is it called a squinting modifier? What is squinting?" My demonstration of squinting at my students did little to clear up the confusion. "Um, I don't know why." I think my students got used to this response.

I spent hours preparing PowerPoints with answers to questions, explained time and time how to correct misplaced, squinting and dangling modifiers (after I got my co-teachers to teach me). I realized the vocabulary was often holding them back from understanding the sentence and so I started to include photos of the vocabulary in the PowerPoints, which made the task even more time-consuming.

We then moved onto writing essays and reading comprehension, which was, um, alarming? Turns out they had no idea how to write an essay, which was only, you know, 20 percent of their final grade. So we rushed in some writing assignments at the end of semester, with a fair amount of success, I feel. I am pretty sure they almost all understand the concept of a thesis, topic sentence and conclusion now. Hurray.

In addition to attempting to teach 3 extra grammar classes, I had to interview all of the 120 M6 (12th grade) students individually in order to assess their speaking and whether they could graduate. Oh and there was the small matter of the epic musicals, which meant a lot of nights in the grand hall for me, overseeing rehearsals.

I have more stories to tell about the end of the semester, with titles such as CinderLady Gaga and Soobax, but they will have to wait. There are also a couple trips in there that should probably be discussed too, such as weekend treks to Doi Tung, Doi Chang and Phu Chee Fah.

Previews:

Patience, people! For now, check out my photos of the whole semester here.

Much love.