The Ministry of Education Inspection

Tuesday, 21 September 2004

No, it's not something from Harry Potter's adventures. Today, 7 people from the Ministry of Education in Bangkok came to "inspect", or rather meet with us, hear a presentation of our English Program, and watch us teach. Christy and I were up until midnight last night preparing and organizing our student files, lesson plans, assessments, and rubrics to present. Other administrative people were busy decorating the walls with future board (a plastic board we use for our posters here), preparing the power point presentation of the history of the school, complete with individual pictures of nearly every staff member of the administration, our pictures, and credentials, as well as pictures of the founders of our school (which is over 100 years old).

At about 9 pm, our manager asked us if we could print up pictures of our students to decorate the bare walls of what is usually our dining room, but was now being converted into a formal meeting room. So, we printed up about 60 pictures on the color printer and started collaging the walls. Probably could have predicted someone was going to ask us to decorate that room.

Needless to say, after a long night of hard work and hardly any sleep (but they did provide dinner for us, the usual rice and noodle dishes we eat here, plus Ku Ai was still hungry and decided to have pizza delivered...yes, I ate barbeque pizza and sausage and mushroom pizza here in Thailand. It was delicious, even with the sausage stuffed in the crust. Let me guess, pork?!), the presentation went well. Christy and I presented our knowledge of the standards, how the English Program is different from the regular Thai education, and that we focus on developing "critical thinkers, creativity, and discipline". We showed the folder of our Instructional Management Records (detailed daily lesson plans which need to be signed by our principal), our knowledge of all the types of assessments and rubrics that exist here, and our Project Plans.

Project plans are "extra" programs or activities that help to enrich the students' education, not a prescribed curricululm. One of the plans we presented was our Centers we do after school each day (since our children are here until 6 pm daily). We explained how they work and how they are meant to help the children practice using their English, doing activities we have learned in class, on an independent basis, with limited help from the teachers. Next, I presented the 20/20 club. (Thanks to my past teaching partner Leslie Day and Sanislo - you're a hit in Thailand now!). Not a nouveau idea in the states, but the Ministry officials thought that having the students read for at least 20 minutes for at least 20 nights of every month was the greatest idea ever! They complimented both me and Christy for our teaching experiences and for our dedication to the profession.

Then they came into the classroom to watch me teach a math lesson on shapes and patterning. They had commented earlier that they were worried that the students would have difficulty understanding our English when we talk. But, when they observed my lesson, I think they might have been surprised at how vocal the students were and how they really grasped the new concept I was teaching. The students were very engaged and the lesson went very well, even with about 15 adults hovering over 6 students.

As I taught, Christy answered questions they had, and one suggestion they gave us was to label all of our vocabulary posted in the room in Thai as well. After all, this is a bilingual program, and not an only English program. After my lesson, one of the officials asked if we would be willing to present a seminar to other English program teachers. He would like us to prepare a half day's worth session, demonstrating teaching methods we use as well as projects and ideas for teaching English as a Foreign Language. Thailand is still trying to move away from being a teacher- centered classroom to a student-centered classroom.

We all had lunch together, as they asked us about where we have visited since we've been here, what brought us to Thailand, and how I must be fine with the food here since it is like food in Hawai'i. The officials had many complimentary things to say to the both of us, and hoped that we choose to stay at this school and that we "stay in Thailand for good" because it needs teachers like us.

It was nice to hear, and now Christy and I can get a little more sleep, well, that is for at least a week, until we have to give final exams, have the student prepare portfolios of their work, and write report cards!