Candle Ceremony

Hello again, my dear Reader. 
I'm not sure if I've already told you that all schools in Thailand are affiliated with a neighbourhood temple. This stems from a time when monks were the teachers.  I think it is a lovely aspect of the Thai culture.
Friday will mark the beginning of Buddhist Lent here in Thailand. School will be closed on Thursday and Friday. In preparation for the holiday, community members have been preparing candles to present to the monks in the temples. At our school each class has had a turn adding wax to the candle mold. I also saw candle making outside the temple on our trip to Ayutthaya.
This morning I went to school earlier than normal so I could witness the candle ceremony celebrations. The children with special roles were dressed in traditional Thai clothing while the other students had on their school scout uniforms.  Some of my kindergarten cuties had the privilege of riding in the truck with the candle. There were a group of girls doing traditional Thai dance led by the school's dance teacher and a group of students providing the music and song for the march. I was not happy when I realised I had rushed out of the house without my phone to record all of this.  Pitsuda was great about allowing me to use her iPad to take a few photos. She's so kind!
There were also students carrying alms buckets and donation boxes.  Members of the community made donations in the boxes as we paraded through the neighbourhood. My heart raced a few times when some of the older students were playing around as we were walking on the main road. I had visions of preteens being hit by the crazy busy Bangkok traffic but it was all fine (sigh of relief).
We made our way back to the school yard and then in groups the children proceeded to the temple.  Carrying flowers and incense the students and teachers walked slowly around the main hall of the temple three times before going back to school.
It was a beautiful day and I am so grateful to have taken part in this special occasion.

The next class

After lunch I had another class with Joy. This time it was English for Pratom 5. They were also working on colours but in more variety including gold, bronze and sky blue - not to be confused with blue!
Joy said the students were having a hard time getting "sky blue" because they were pronouncing it sa-ky blue. For that I had a quick fix, ready to go! I freed my hands and had them clap with me as I said "Sky Blue". The students have previously covered syllables because Joy then made mention of sky being one syllable not two.  We practised that for a bit before moving on to our next activity. 
Joy had liked the cootie catchers so much that she wanted the older students to make them as well.  My dear Reader, I'll tell you right now that you cannot have an ounce of doubt in your teaching ability if you are about to instruct the largest class size you've ever had in a step by step activity without being sure that they understand what you are going to be saying.  No worries, I am a pro! 
I'm pleased to report that all students were able to follow along well enough to leave class with their own colour cootie catcher.  I was even able to get two students who finished to assist their peers as I continued to float around the group. 
Yes, the sweetness of success was in the air.  No need for any apples for this teacher, smiling students leaving a class is perfect for me.

First Day of School

Today was my first day of school. I had a healthy breakfast of fruit and yogurt with a all natural, organic smoothie in a juice box.
My placement is in a local primary school not far from the home base. Today I met Pitsuda or "Khun Tuk", my on site contact.  She's also the grade one teacher, head of English and the school nurse!
My schedule includes grades 1, 2, 3 & 5. Today I went over some of the grade one lessons to get ideas for activities I can implement.
After school, Delaney (another volunteer but not my roommate) and I helped the staff with some meal prep. Okay, all we really did was prepare the beans but hey the meal wouldn't have been the same without it! 
Following my hard work prepping green beans I took a nap.

Later in the afternoon I had a meeting with Pimsuda, the CCS Bangkok director, (not to be confused with Pitsuda) who has suggested I share my Montessori knowledge with the teachers at my school.  That is an awesome opportunity that I will not refuse! If you know me, you know I love the Montessori method. I'll talk this through with Pitsuda before I begin putting something together.  I wish I had my school laptop with me but that thing is probably heavier than 10 lbs on its own.
We had another Thai language lesson today - oh, I forgot to tell you! After we helped with the beans, the cook said thank you and I was able to say you're welcome in Thai! I got it right and I was even happier when she smiled and said "good job" in Thai and I knew what she was saying. Whoohoo!! Safe to say the Thai lessons are working.
Following dinner and dessert, I did some lesson planning for my grade one students based on colours and numbers.  Some of the other volunteers liked what I had found online so I saved the resource on the home computer.  When it comes to teaching resources I'm a firm believer in sharing is caring.
I think I'm all set for tomorrow. Bring on Day 2!