Back at school

Day two of school.

The holiday is over.

Summer school is very relaxed. It's option for students to take classes, unless they failed a subject and need to retake it. They don't have to wear uniform and the classes are small.

I am teaching History of South East Asia four hours each day to the same students. Quite intensive for me - wickedly intensive for them. (Doing history there is a big level up in vocab required.) There are 12 in the class and I know more than half of them which always makes things simpler; I already know their level and characters. The trip to Cambodia has given me a broader perspective for teaching and I know a bit more of the SEAsian traditional history rather than just the post colonial history. Tomorrow we will watch a video (actually DVD students think 'video' is quaint language but it rolls of the tongue much more easily... I appreciate now why Granny and Grandpa were so fond of the word wireless - even when it had wires - ... and now wireless has an entirely different meaning but I digress...) on Angkor Wat.

They are reading a very abridged version of the Ramayana at the moment - Thailand has its own version of the same story - Ramakien - standard fare in Thai schools but surprisingly most students know little about it - it's a bit like an Australian not knowing of the first fleet or an American the war of independence. International schooling seems to deprive students of learning their own culture and language which is a very great pity.

For their first lot of homework I asked them to write about themselves and what they would like to learn - I have total free rein. I am happy to teach them any history so long as it is something that has depth and scope for analysis, rather than a superficial overview of culture or statistical information. (their preferred way to learn ...) A few of them have had some good suggestions but most have little idea about the region and are utterly unaccustomed to having input into what they are taught. In reality if they have little idea about what they want to learn it makes my life much easier - I just teach what I want ;).

But this is starting to get tedious reading.

It's good to take holidays, but just as good to be able to come back from a holiday and be able to use what I have learned straight away.

Just as an aside, the Indian teachers in my staffroom were puzzled, perplexed, amazed by thered stripes of sunburn on my legs. They had never seen human skin go red and feel hot from the sun....

Back to watching the DVD.