well, practicum is over. over the past week, we got the opportunity to practice teaching in front of an actual cambodian class and along side an acutal cambodian english teacher. i taught 11th grade english to about 48-53 students for approxiamately forty-five minutes each day and it was exhausting. i can't imagine how teachers teach all day. but, kudos....
i would say that this trial run went somewhat smoothly. nothing major was reported as bad! all the feedback from current PC volunteers and our trainers were positive with some constructive criticism. i'm talking too fast...however, i'm managing my time well and utilizing my co-teacher.
---oh, actually, terry did say i was cracking the whip and frightening students when i said "YULLL?!?!?!" in khmai, it means, UNDERSTAND?!?!!? i must be a maniac in class....
anyway, i think we lucked out with the student population...tramkak district is a larger town and students here aren't so shy. i keep hearing that when we get out to the rural areas, it will be diffifult to elicit student participation.
i haven't figured out how i feel about being a teacher. with all the expectations and responsibilities, i don't know if its a good or bad thing. to tell you the truth, i am one of the laziest people i know. although, i have been going to bed early and waking up early --which is extrodinarily rare for me....i wake up around 5:30 every morning.
teachers in cambodia are well respected and are active members of the community. they are known to be the third parent, which hold a lot of responsibility--teachers are expected to teach students to become disciplined individuals. however, similar to teachers in los angeles, they aren't paid well. in order to survive, most teachers have a second or third job , so they are constantly busy. they either teach private classes on the side or own a small business.
anyway, this week was bittersweet...i felt like a celebrity...so many of our students asked to take photos with each of us and it was really exciting. terry, judy and i got precious little gifts from our girl students...i got two momentos: a key chain with my name stitched in and a minnie mouse hair clip.
oh, today was also the announcement of national test exam scores at local schools. test scores are important because it means going to univeristy in phnom penh---if you get a good score, you are going if you can afford to...if you get really good grades, there's the possibility of getting scholarsips....so 12th grade students rushed over by 9am to check their scores on the printed sheets posted on the wall...tension was in the air...
i'm tired and hot...bye...
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