The Land of Smiles

It is crazy to think that I have been in the land of smiles for one week so far! The time has just flown by! I am still adjusting a little bit. The Lord truly has been faithful in helping me with processing everything. It has been quite a bit of a whirlwind week, but I am getting more comfortable and getting to be more like myself after slowly working through jetlet. I am very thankful for the weekend so that I can rest and process all that has happened this week and then I will be more prepared to begin taking on more responsibilities in the classroom starting on Monday. Sometimes I am so tired that I can't stay up past 8/8:30pm, I just fall asleep. Part of the reason is the fact that I am still getting over jetleg, but then also, observing and processing not only the culture, but the classroom as well, I am tired. It has been wonderful though to get to know things better, especially my students. They each are so unique and special. I really look forward to getting to know each of them better. God has placed me in their lives for the next 10 weeks and I am truly blessed and privileged to be able pour into their lives. I am getting more organized in the classroom and feel that I am read to start taking on more. [I put on my bullentin board about myself (picture at top of blog entry) today and am very excited for all my students to see it on Monday.]

Student teaching is definitely going to be some work, much more than practicum. Dr. Chappell wasn't kidding, but I am excited. It will definitely have its challenges, ups and downs, but I have much to learn and am so blessed to have such a supportive and encouraging cooperative teacher, along with amazing, new single lady teachers to stand by my side not only in school, but outside of school as well, going out to eat and shopping together. I am enjoying this community so much. Words cannot even explain how much God has been faithful to me in leading me here. This is exactly where I am suppose to be. I am ready to take each challenge as it comes, learn all that I can, and enjoy the time I have here.

This week I wasn't teaching any major lessons, just getting acquainted with the school, schedule and students. I helped with small groups and helped the students with their work. (Working with some of the students this week, on their math for example, I was reassured that teaching is what I am called to do. Words really can't express how much fun it was to help two students understand their math and see their faces light up once they got it! I can't wait to teach more than just helping some students with some math problems!!) It was a good week. Much to take in, but I made it. Student teaching is more than just teaching students. It comes with managing the classroom, students, parents, issues, lesson and curriculum planning and so on. There is a lot that goes into it! It is all about being able to balance it all and this is what I am going to learn to do. I know all about teaching and have taught in the classroom a little bit last semester, but I have never fully taught, taking on all the responsibilities of teaching. So, this week I just soaked it all up. Now this weekend I am going to process it all. The school has great programs to help with curriculum mapping and lesson planning. I am excited to explore it more this weekend so I can use it in the weeks to come. They gave me full access to everything. I love the feeling of really being a teacher now! It is like when I was 8, playing school in my basement with my friends, only now, it is real! The grading is real, the lessons are real!

On Monday I will slowly start to take over the classroom, about one subject area a week, until in the middle of September I will have full control of the classroom for 3 weeks! It is so good to "fade" in because there is so much that if I was to take it all on at once I would die out right away. Claudia is a wonderful cooperating teacher! (I know I have already said this a lot, but it is true and it is hard to put it in words just how wonderful she is!) She is big on hands-on activities in class and collaboration in class which I am thrilled about. I am going to be able to try all kinds of things during this student teaching experience! She already has been giving me lots of great tips and been sharing with me wonderful information about making websites and activites. It has only been one week and already she is such a big help to me not only now, but giving me things I can use throughout my entire teaching career! God knew exactly what he was doing when he worked all this out.

The students in the class are a wonderful bunch of kids (they picked me some beautiful asian flowers the other day!) , but almost all are below reading level and need a lot of help. With a good portion of them having a hard time understanding english it does make it more of a challenge, but just from observing this week, I am going to love helping them learn and grow! I look forward to this challenge. Although all the students must speak only english in the classroom, since the majority of them speak Thai, they sometimes will talk to each other in Thai. It is funny because we have to tell them or "remind" them they are only to speak english. (I hear Thai a lot walking down the halls, or at the beginning and end of the day when parents are at the school. It is really interesting!) Sometime one of the little girls (who speaks barely any english) gets really frustrated because she can't communicate, but she is actually improving a lot on her english! This is a common case. I will be working with a lot of students who get frustrated because they don't know how to communicate well in english or they don't understand what is going on. I really am anxious to learn how to work through these challenges and become a better teacher. I have been already learning a lot from Claudia as she handles these kind of situations. She does such a good job with it!

Some of the random things that just don't really fit with anything, but that I really want to share with you all:

-I feel so special and important because every morning the guards sollute me as I walk into school. This culture has high respect for teachers. I love it!
-You can order from almost any fast food resturant and get it delivered! Yes, McDonald's and Subway deliver! haha, I find it so interesting and cool!

I am getting use to the rain, sounds, and smells of Bangkok and have really been enjoying the sweet culture. It rained a lot this afternoon into the evening so it cooled down quite a bit, which is nice. The humidty is lower right now! Oh, I took the bus for the first time yesterday. It was cheap and an actually pretty fun! I was with some of the other teachers. They are such a blast to be with. This really is a great place to be. I can feel God moving here and look forward to getting out more into the community, but teaching takes first priority! I have many more weeks to come, packed full of many great moments... moments of mistakes and learning, moments of joy and laughter, moments of tears and sadness. They will come as I continue to get more settled. I do miss being in Minnesota and see on facebook how everyone is going back. I do wish to be there to see everyone again, but I know this is where I am suppose to be and I will be back there again soon!

Thank you again for all the prayers. Please pray for me as I continue to adjust and process through everything and begin to phase in starting Monday. I will continue to keep you all updated when I have time.

Love,
Katelyn