Week 3: Week of June 3rd

Context:  As part of Laidlaw Leadership in Action, in the summer of 2024, I have volunteered to teach English and help out at the largest slum community in Bangkok through the Duang Prateep Foundation.

What went well: I am becoming more closer with the kids as it has now been my third week of teaching. I recognize many kids and they always greet me warmly when I visit the classroom. The most rewarding experiences have been before classes when the kids run up to hug me and greet me with excited faces. Some classes seem to remember more of the materials I have taught than others, and the ones that do seem to be the older grade levels. 

What could have been done differently: I have noticed more kids that might be dyslexic and that cannot read or write. Some of these kids can not even write in Thai. I have been trying to give these kids more personalized attention but when I do that the other kids start misbehaving or acting up because they think that I am not paying attention to them. I have been asking some of the other Thai volunteers at the foundation to help me so I hope that going forward they can play a more authoritative role when I give certain kids personalized attention so that the whole class does not misbehave. 

What were some of the issues: The kids seem to have trouble with phonics. I believe that phonics is not an important part of Thai grammar education so I have been trying to help them associate sounds with english letters. Right now, they seem to just be remembering how to spell certain words or just memorizing them. I want them to be able to know the phonics so that they can try to spell new english words on their own without memorizing anything. 

What do I plan to do next: I plan to introduce more games into the classroom to keep the students engaged and on their feet. 

Here is a highlight from the field day event we had this week: