Monday, September 15

Monday was a challenging day. I was sick-ish without having to vomit or visit the bathroom but my stomach hurt and I wanted to curl up in a ball. I pushed through my classes though. The children did really well with their lessons with the exception of the phonics class (K3) at 1:00. They were monsters. I wanted to lock them up in time out. ALL of them. I did give two of them time out. Part of the problem is that when there is no Thai teacher around they won't listen. Even Kru James apparently has this problem. They don't view the foreigners as authority to be obeyed.

I attempted to get them under "control" by sitting and waiting until they all gathered in a circle, which they finally did but then they were back to chaos and throwing the letters and running around and grabbing the letters from me (big sponge letters) and not giving them back. I finally grabbed all of them and left them in the room above the kitchen so I could go get another teacher. Lucky for me another class AND TEACHER were already on their way up. Kru Ann (about 8.5 months pregnant) got them in line again and this time they sat in a circle for me but Kru Ann had her own class to teach in the library. So this worked for about 5 minutes. (This is an HOUR long class). Then one of the girls took a paper clip and started carving into the sponge letters... this earned her a time out. I was so irritated! Kru Tan showed up and helped finish things up. THANK goodness. I was ready to wring some necks.

Again though - the other classes (including K3 in the morning) did really well with their lessons and the one on one reading and tutoring I had after that class went well. The girl I'm reading with has some learning disabilities but she's very sweet. She probably shouldn't be in Grade 5 but they felt it was best to keep her with her peers who help look after her.

So after classes I was in my bed by 3:30 in the afternoon. Woke to have a dinner of toast and snacks and then hit my room for reading and back to bed by 7:30. I don't know what the problem was but the physical's tough and then when I don't feel good the mental starts kicking in... "why am I doing this?" It's part of the gig though. As Kru James says, it's part of the human cycle. He says we need to go to the doctor and say "Why I'm sick, I'm feeling quite normal today!" He has a point. It's not always perfect. DARN. He also says that us humans probably weren't meant to live in this climate and that's probably why we keep getting sick! Not sure if I agree but for this foreigner who is not use to this climate... I might agree for me. I wasn't meant to live in this climate! Although I do enjoy the rain that occurs day in and out... off then on... quiet and soft then LOUD and hysterical...


So to borrow a quote from the Oprah daily...

Never mind if you fall far short of the thing you want to do,--encourage your effort. If no one else will say it to you, say it to yourself. 'Not so bad.' It will make the next effort easier and better. —Josephine Demott Robinson