Induction
Section outline
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Category: Teaching at Sa-nguan Ying School. Published: Sunday, 16 December 2012 15:21 Hits: 2565
The Sa-nguan Ying English Program (EP) is a progressive English program where most subjects are taught in English by foreign teachers. The Class sizes are from about 18 up to about 29 in some older classes. The classes are M1 (grade7) up to M3 (grade 9). Special classes are run for about 10 weeks three nights a week for Pratthom 6 (grade 6) students interested in the EP educational stream.
M1 students generally enter the EP program with minimal English and are streamed to be sure they have the ESL EFL potential. By the time the students leave M6 many are fluent in English and many often have good Chinese to add to their language portfolio.
All students enrolling in this program must have a notebook (laptop) computer that is internet connected in the classrooms and teachers are encouraged to use internet resources and the data projectors that are in every class. There is also a well equipped library with a bank of mac computers.
Some students will elect to have a stronger portfolio in the sciences so will forgo Chinese studies for extra Science and Maths.
Foreign teachers are accompanied in the classroom with a Thai teacher to ensure there are no behaviour issues that need to be dealt with according to Thai culture.
From the authors perspective the students are well mannered, friendly, hard working and rarely have to be chastised with possibly an exception with getting homework in on time. In all fairness the students get lots of homework and mostly try very hard to complete all work.
There are several excursions during the year where the foreign teachers accompany the students and one of these is a weekend camp. The weekend work for foreign teachers is not excessive and involves giving up about 3 or 4 days of weekends for special testing of students and competitions.
Below is an assortment of images from the typical classrooms.
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Published: 05 Feb 2012 12:32 Hits: 7057
Suphanburi
Sa-nguan Ying School is a school of about 2,400 students, about 100 of whom are boys. It is situated on Prachatipitai Rd in the town of Suphanburi about 95k's north of Bangkok. The town of Suphanburi has about 30,000 people but expands considerably during the day to possibly 80,000 due to the amount of people working in this Government center for the Suphanburi District. The Suphanburi district has about 800,000 people. It is in the center of the rice growing district of Thailand and has a strong rural feel.
The curriculum.
The curriculum is set by the school and although we teach in English the Thai curriculum for the whole school is followed. To this end there is lots of support in the form of text books in English and a Thai teacher assistant in the classroom to clarify any problems to the students. Besides the texts supplied each student has a laptop (notebook) with internet access so sites like YouTube and specialized sites can be accessed to enrich the curriculum.
Secondly wages.
Wages depends on your qualifications and the length of stay for your contract. Basically as a qualified teacher the rate is 30,000 baht a month. To keep this in context the average Thai teacher earns less and has a comfortable middle class lifestyle.
Thirdly living conditions.
If you elect to stay in a room in the ‘Yee Dee Mee Sook’ apartment block adjoining the school you will be in a relatively new room with en-suite shower and toilet facilities, a fridge in the room with a chair a small desk, TV, a large bed, air conditioner and a wardrobe. There is a laundry business on the bottom story for washing. The laundry costs about 180 baht for a medium bag of clothes.
Rent in the apartments is about 3,500 baht ($180) a month with water and electricity metered. The average services cost is about 100 baht for water and about 1500 baht a month for electricity. Electricity of course is determined by the settings you have your air conditioner set to and how often you use it plus the surcharge.
Sometimes there is an apartment available where there is a living room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 showers and a laundry alcove. These cost anywhere from 4000 to 5000 baht a month depending on the location of the apartment .
Extra information.
The average basic meal such as fried rice and chicken will cost about 30 baht and you will get some assistance with learning to order different foods. We have many translations of English to Thai in small visa sized cards to assist with food and travel during the first month in Suphanburi.
If you decide to come to Suphanburi be sure to go through the processes of getting a contract and applying for a Non Immigrant Category ‘B’ Thai visa. You will also need travel insurance and I would recommend if possible getting an insurance policy that allows traveling on motor bikes providing the rider has a license appropriate for the country. I say this as motorbikes are such an accepted form of short distance transport that you will most likely find it convenient to catch a bike taxi on different occasions.
Consider what has been said about the bikes because many people come over and decide that the 2 kilometer walk in very hot conditions is much harder than hoping on a friend’s bike and being delivered to a destination. Often visitors make this decision and travel in such a manner that their travel insurance would be void.
If you want to be adventurous and ride a motorbike around some of the resorts or even hire a car be sure to get an international driving license before leaving Australia/America as they cannot be purchased once you leave your country of origin.
Chemists, hospitals and doctors are all very good here and of an international standard so there are no major health issues in Suphanburi. The only thing you will notice is that chemists will dispense things like blood pressure tablets with no prescription, so scripts are not that necessary unless you cannot remember medication dosages.
So far in the Suphanburi there are no Malaria issues, Rabies or Bird Flu problems.
Bring an empty suitcase as clothes are very cheap here and you can buy stuff in Bangkok before they have thought about how to make it. I do exaggerate but only a little.
All the best from us here at Sa-nguan Ying (EP) English Program.
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Category: Teaching at Sa-nguan Ying School. Published: Thursday, 06 September 2012 14:20 Hits: 8246
Figures are approximate.
As the school started as a girls school and has become co-ed the girls still outnumber the boys considerably.
Lower Secondary Level (Gr7 to Gr10) about 1,343
Upper Secondary Level (Gr11 to Gr12) about 1,120
Total about 2,463There is a very strong focus on preparing students for University.
The scores for most of the university entrances vary yearly but are often made up of approximately.
Each university will change these for their own requirements.
20% GPA 30%ONET 50% GAT/PAT
GPA = Comes from School Results.
ONET and GAT/PAT = Independant testing from 2 different bodies.
Congratulations to all of our students who have gained exchanges and scholarships to study overseas. These exchange visits are the chance of a lifetime and the students come back very grown up. As these pages keep saying when students have life rich experiences it gives them metaphorical coat hangers to hang new learning on.
Many past students have gained scholarships in a very competitive market to study masters degrees in many other countries such as Taiwan, England, China, Germany, Australia and America.
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Category: Teaching at Sa-nguan Ying School. Published: Tuesday, 09 October 2018 12:16 Hits: 1492
Check-list and Induction. Large font for use on projector.
Welcome
The EP family, is a very large international family, with teachers from all over the world and amazing students doing amazing things.Travel Insurance + Plus legalities.
Does your insurance cover riding on the back of motorbikes?
Some insurance policies do providing it is within the law. For example; licensed rider in control, wearing helmets and not breaking any other road rules like drink driving.
Contrary to popular belief it is illegal to be on a motorbike without a helmet or with more than 2 people. (Insurance companies love this).
Driving without a motorbike licence is illegal.
Recent changes to drink driving laws state that if you are too far over the breathallyser limit it is straight to Jail.Employment times.
Contracts state that teachers (Thai and Foreign) must be available for duty as needed. This is never abused.
Teachers also have stated times on contracts for teachers to be available for duty.
If late or you leave early you are not available so can be issued a warning which if escalates will cost a day's pay.
Most contracts state 8am till 4pm as the main times unless the director has stated otherwise.
On occasions some teachers are asked to take a late class and to compensate start work later.
Sometimes we will have a staff meeting that goes to 5 o'clock although is not very often.
But often there will be no warning.
Be available; when you do not have any classess you need to be available for students to discuss work and partake of general conversation for practice. If you are approachable students will take advantage of this. On some occasions teachers can sit in the corridors chatting to students and discussing things like Thai life or language, different foods, how to get better marks, what your life is like back in your country and differences of culture. Avoid religion, Thai politics and royalty.Sign in book.
To be signed at the front office on arriving everyday.Leaving School book.
To be signed on arriving and leaving during the day.
Teachers must have permission from Kru Fai to leave the school and there is another book to sign out and in again. This book is at the front of the office near Kru Bretts desk.Weekend work.
Some weekend work and evening work is required although it is not much and Prathom 6 evenings are paid evenings with a meal provided.
The contract as signed is work 'as needed' but this is not abused. It generally amounts to about 4 weekends in the year.Dress sense.
Respectable clothing at all times especially when there are students at school (It is noticed by others).
https://brettwilkin.com/teaching-at-sa-nguan-ying/146-syep-dress-codeTattoos
Tattoos should be kept covered.
We are teaching in an elite school and there is still a cultural and social stigma about tattoos here.
We are here to adapt and learn about Thai society not try and change community assumptions.Work Permit.
The work permits are issued to the school for the school.
Any other work outside of the school is illegal.
In some cases teachers have been removed from the country.
No other work or holidays can infringe on the school requirements as failure to meet these requirements can be grounds to cancel contract and work permit.
https://brettwilkin.com/teaching-at-sa-nguan-ying/131-syep-work-permitsWork Overview.
Be on time to class as the students are your responsibility if a student has an accident,
you can be charged with neglect of duty.Unit Plans
You will be asked for Unit Plans for what you are teaching
Try and give some information about lesson content as well as overall unit objective.
There is a format for these.90 day checks.
These must be completed from about 1 week prior to falling due and there is a weeks grace for late checks.
Each day late attracts a fine. If you are 6 days late you don't have to pay the fine but if you are 8 days late you have to pay 8 days of fines.
The board in the staff room is so we can all help remind each other.Re-entry Permits.
You will arrive with a non 'B' visa for a duration of 3 months.
During the first 3 months the school will apply for a work permit and a 12 month visa extension.
If you get a re-entry permit in the first 3 months it is null and void when the visa is extended to 12 months.
If you want to travel outside of Thailand wait till after the visa extension.
Leaving Thailand without a re-entry permit will void your work permit and your 12 month visa extension.Parent meetings and behaviour reports.
Parent meetings are 3 times a semester mostly starting at 5pm and they generally take about 25 minutes for foreign staff to deliver their small synopsis of the term.
Behaviour reports are written for each student mid semester and end of semester.
There is a set format to use.
The report is simply another teaching tool, not a place for the teacher to vent their annoyance.
As a guide a report should never have negative comments. eg If the student would stop talking to breath, they might hear something worthwhile. Student must listen to the teacher and if they still do not understand they can ask questions when they are not sure.
Every comment in a report must be based on teaching in a positive manner. The reports will contain the midterm exam scores for the midterm reports and the final exam mark at the end of semester.Student Behaviour.
Keep talking to all staff until you start to build a skill set that suits you.
The web address will give you much of the theory associated with managing students.
Don't bottle things up and don't lose your temper too often, learn to use eye contact voice control and presence to control your kids.
https://brettwilkin.com/teachingpractice/behaviour-management ;Confiscated Phones given to EP Staff.
If a phone is confiscated and given to the Thai staff it becomes their responsibility. Thai's normally treat this responsibility quite seriously.
Please don't remove a phone from the Thai teachers desk to return it to the student without asking the Thai teacher first. (It can cause unnecessary stress)
If a phone is confiscated for more than the lesson always give the phone to the Thai staff for minding.Religion.
Keep your beliefs to yourself.
Preaching is grounds for instant dismissal.Classroom Teaching.
It is still a very traditional teaching environment and even though change is happening teachers are expected to introduce their topic every lesson and clearly state the expectations and objectives for the lesson.
It is good to keep a series of small topics aside for small teaching moments.
The students often expect to be taught in the traditional sense rather than exploring and learning with guided direction.
A small amount of teaching or revising of the topic every lesson will keep the students from telling their parents that the teacher is not teaching them.
Students will regularly ask for free time. Free time is not a teaching method and students when asked what they did today will tell their parents we had free time. The parents then get in touch with the school and complain.
To deal with this have follow up work or give work that you do not expect all students to finish. Have a cut-off point where the average students can achieve a score of about 85% and the better students complete all for 100%. The slower students will often finish work for homework to get the higher mark well after the topic has changed.
Maths and Science tend to be taught in a traditional manner in that: Topic is introduced, 10 to 15 minutes of teaching, student centered project work, Summing up.
In mathematics students will need a very good explanation of any mathematical functions or laws as they are ESL students and will rarely understand without the teacher delivering the concepts many times. You will be given a text book for your subject. The content of the text book must be taught but you have some freedom as to how you teach the content. Be explicit about what you teach as students will tell parents they were not taught a particular content.
No physical contact. This inculdes poking kids in the ribs as a teasing gesture or tickling. Students will feel intimidated in this culture and will laugh due to being nervous. Westerners often misread this and continue the practice which has now become bullying and is reported as such to parents and directors.Teacher Ethics.
To gain a teaching degree in any country in the world there will be a similar version of ethics for teachers.
Political and religious dogma has no place in a classroom.
Sarcasm should never be used. Even in an ESL environment students will not know what is being said but it is very clear to them they are being 'got at'.
Never direct a personal comment at a student. If you are using this style of conversation to teach language, make sure it is clearly in the third person not in the first person. If this can't be done don't use personal first-person comments to teach.
Avoid situations of a private conversation. If it is needed for education, make sure it takes place in a public environment at school.
Be thoughtful of how you phrase conversations in 'Line' 'Messenger' or any other media, as they are all recorded. If they break ethical or moral protocol parents will inform the director.
Parents and students will sometimes invite teachers on excursions or out for meals. Go and enjoy the parents and children's company but be sure to never be alone for any length of time with a student. Everything said previously still applies.
Don't accept invitations to go somewhere and have an ice-cream with students unless another teacher or parent is with you or a large group of students in a public place.
Teachers seen with students having a meal drink or movie or anything similar will require you to justify yourself in light of being with an underage student by yourselves.
Students and adults will often ask you do you think they are beautiful. Where students are involved avoid personal comments by saying something like 'all my students are beautiful because they have beautiful hearts'.Assessments.
Assess everything you do and keep marks in 2 main categories of knowledge and processes.
Knowledge is little quizzes and tests and processes are tasks and can be anything from homework to assignments and class work.
When you assess everything, it does not mean you must use all of these assessments in your marks.
If many students fail a test it may have been too hard or the content not understood by the students
It is up to the teachers discretion as to whether the marks are used for assessment or improving teaching practice.
Check these points. work:
Has enough work been given and assessed allowing for an activity to be ignored if it is not representative of the class or student.
If work is not submitted has the Thai teacher been informed soon enough so parents can be informed and students complete extra work to make up grades.
Exams:
Are their enough questions in your exam so upon a student failing a question they do not fail the whole exam.
Link to more on assessments.
Assessments and Database ImageExams.
You are in control of your exams. Make them easy as you are working in an ESL environment. Any score under 75% requires a resit to lift the score to 75%. A resit must be no more than 75% as the top score.Language.
Keep your language slow and precise while saying syllable sounds very clearly.
Students will tend to put Thai grammar to English words up until about M4 to 5.
This has the problem of creating confusion and in many cases reversing the meaning of what you say.
Be patient and understanding, imagine putting yourself in a Thai classroom to learn all the lessons in Thai.Paint the town red.
Go to Bangkok
Teachers are an elite part of society.
Standards of behaviour in the community are watched closely
to ensure students are being taught by upstanding moral and ethical people.
Teachers can be sacked due to inappropriate behaviour in the local community
although there is some tolerance for us as we are foreigners and don't know the Thai way.Change.
On some occasions you will turn up to class and all your students are off doing other school activities.
We will try to keep you informed but often activities are not known before the students are told at assembly.The bosses.
The bosses chair is sacrosanct.
This is the same in any office anywhere in the world unless expressly told otherwise.
Every Thai person who enters the office will be able to affect your employment. Show respect and don't react when you think they are being disrespectful to you. Leave your own culture with any dogmas or indignities in your own country. Practice being humble at all times as you are here to learn a new culture. You cannot learn if you keep injecting your own culture into everything that happens.Have the urge to clean up the office.
Good idea and it can always do with some cleaning.
Be aware of the ownership of anything you are throwing. People can get very irate when you throw out their private things.
Some items are not to be thrown out as they are part of the EP audit and have never been removed from the books. If the item is not there when an audit is done the director has to reimburse the government for the item from their own pocketEverybody notices the small things.
The little things stand out. Wrong shoes, disrespectful clothes, arriving late when everyone else has to be early, leaving early when everyone has to stay till the time, doing work of a lesser standard, not being humble or being noisy in society.
Everyone notices and talks about it from the gateman. to other teachers to the cleaners and yardmen and to students who tell their parents. The foreign teachers are a topic of conversation through the greater community.
Nobody will say much but if you can't be on time wear the proper clothes or cannot be found when you are not teaching all the time the negatives will add up and you will get less and less support if anything goes wrong.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1954
Respectable dress is required at all times. (All Thai Institutions)
All staff to wear appropriate polo tops, dress shirts or blouses. The principal is covered shoulders, sleeves as per polo tops or longer No low-cut tops or exposed skin. Tattoos should be covered.
Mondays. Traditionally yellow.
Tuesdays. Traditionally Pink.
Wednesdays. Traditionally Green or Grey.
Thursdays. Traditionally Dark Blue..
Fridays. Traditionally Blue.
A dark blue polo top will be given to staff.
No shoes in classrooms or office.
Females
Shoulders should be covered and not low cut in the front.
Knee length or longer dresses. No pants
Respectable shoes. (No flip flops or sandals)
Males
No open shoes in the school although slip-ons are ok between EP classrooms.
Socks must be worn.
Long trousers or dress pants at all times.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1457
Lunch Breaks Policy.
Students will go to lunch when they are off class.
Procedure.
There is no set lunch time so students go to lunch when they get a break between classes. Lunch is served from 11.00 am till 1.00 am.
If they can not make it by that time they need to organise bringing lunch to school.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 2325
Homework Policy.
It is expected all subjects will set homework.
Homework is intended to extend the students and allow the staff to deliver a greater range of experiences to the students.
Homework will be listed on the homework white board.
It is the class captains duty to ensure the homework board is filled out.
Procedure.
The homework board is for teachers and students to see what homework is due. Teachers can get an idea if the students have too much work to get done in the time.
It is a good idea to direct the student to fill the board out. Like teenagers everywhere they will forget (sometimes on purpose)
Homework is a good method of getting a unit of work completed. Some of the faster students may get all work completed in class time and the slower students can finish work for homework.
When homework is not completed the supervising teacher should be notified immediately.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 12:18 Hits: 1870
Reporting Policy.
Parents will be kept informed of the students progress.
Reports as required by the school will be completed.
Reports as per the needs for the Thai Ministry of Education will be completed.
Procedure.
Parents will be kept informed with formal and informal gatherings during the year. Teachers will be expected to talk to parents about how the students are progressing in general terms with the curriculum.
Chaht will direct these meetings and assist with language translating and will field any questions deemed not appropriate.
A written report will be required at least once through the year addressing the students strong points and areas of concern.
Another will be required specifically for reporting behavior. The format for these is in a word document with a student photo and a few lines to the parents.
The school will require a similar report.
Note:
Most parents have a good understanding of English even if they can not speak it fluently. Speak slowly.
Be careful if you have a list of names on the white board referring to the students because it will be noticed and you will be asked about them. This is good if it is what you want.
Be brief don't complicate your language
Don't speak too long before giving the translator time to tranlate.
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Category: Teaching at Sa-nguan Ying School. Published: Sunday, 17 March 2013 12:35 Hits: 1967
Exams and Testing Policy.
Minimum pass mark for EP Students is 75%
All EP exams at the end of each semester will be one week before the rest of the school to allow extra time for marking and re-sits.
Each Unit Of Work from the Course Outlines will have a set of assessment results according to the course outline assessment chart.
Students attaining less than 75% will have the opportunity to complete re-sit tests / exams. Any student completing a resit can only achieve a top mark of 75%.
Procedure.
Testing time will be hectic as resits have to be marked and all the marks collated. Students need to be informed of resits and are used to this procedure.
Ask your self, are you testing language or testing subject content. If you are not testing language create questions in simple words and grammar.
Teachers will need to ask themselves, have I taught that topic so the students understand. If the majority of the class misinterprets the question and gets it wrong you have not taught the topic for understanding or there is none or very little understanding of the question. If you have the majority failing a question it can also be the question is written in a way the students can not interpret correctly. Very often a student will (by accident) interpret the question with Thai grammar and get an opposite or confused understanding.
As a general guide
- For EP 1 and EP 2 never put more than one concept in a question.
- For EP 3 no more than two concepts in a question and
- For EP 4 and EP5 generally limit concepts to 3.
This is a guide only as even with dot point and single concepts, if the student only understand dictionary meaning without understanding the different contexts a word can be used in, may still leave the student very confused.
Multiple choice questions are not the desired form of questions. The directive for the EP program is where possible to create questions that require written answers.
As a way of limiting this problem give short quizzes often to the class in a form that they will become familiar with. When Final exams arrive make them very similar to the quizzes. In some ways these become practice exams.
In some cases the quizzes can be used as a tool to teach the content. To do this give the same quiz a few times as homework. Providing you have time to mark them. Make sure the quiz is short to make this achievable.
If you are not sure of a students answer try and give them the opportunity to tell you what they have tried to write, rather than resit an exam and the teacher have more marking to do.
It is expected results will be recorded in a digital format by entering into a spreadsheet for processing. The processed results are then checked by the EP staff and then sent to the main school office for recording.
A prepared data base will be given to staff to facillitate assessments. This database helps staff to understand the assessment requirements.
Photocopying of tests, if the tests are not done electronically, the test masters are sent to the school photocopy room and printed on cheap or recycled paper.
Presenting work like this shows evidence of teaching content.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1415
Mobile Phones Policy
Mobile phones to be used at the teachers discretion.
As these are used in the same context as computers the same rules apply including those of good manners.
Procedure.
When used for games or making phone calls in class time, they can be taken and given to a Thai staff member.
Most of the students use their smart phones as a scientific calculator, a dictionary and a translator.
Some use their smart phone for doing online quizzes and other internet research.
Do not confiscate a phone overnight unless it is given to the EP director with an explanation. If the phone goes missing the staff who confiscated the phone is responsible for its replacement.
Collecting phones can be done in several ways. I like to take a special box into the class and select a responsible student and give them the box with the words please collect.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 18:58 Hits: 1374
Cleaning Rooms Policy.
Students must keep the rooms clean and tidy
Procedure.
Computer cables must be kept tidy.
Desks and drawers must be kept tidy.
The students have a roster and it is a different groups duty each week to;
Clean the white board and
Sweep the floor.
It is the Class Captains (leader) duty to keep the homework boards updated accurately.
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Published: 17 Mar 2013 16:02 Hits: 1504
School Camps Policy
Staff will accompany students on school camps.
Procedure
These generally go for about three days and often require leaving from the school at about 5am. Arrival home is generally planned for about 4 to 5pm.
For foreign teachers there is little or no responsibility but it is expected they will talk with the students and be part of the activities.
Thai teachers help with the organizing of the students.
Staff at the venue run all the activities.
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Policy Cheating
No student shall cheat when completing tests or exams.
If they cheat their exam shall not be marked.
Procedure
Report student to Course Supervisor
Upon negotiation with parents teacher and Supervisor students may be able to re-sit the exam or a variation of the exam.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1408
Communication Policy
All communication from teachers to parents and official organizations will be done on School Letterhead and approved by the head of the EP department and where appropriate the Director of Sa-nguan Ying School.
Procedure
A draft copy of any letters or emails are submitted to the head of Department for approval. The Teacher then types the letter on school letterhead paper and then distributes the communiqué.
It is very easy to make a gaff across cultures with communications.
Any form of letter requesting information or assistance for a school project will be committing the school to a formal thank you gift and an official type of recognition for the service the volunteer supplies.
The higher up the communiqué goes in the other organisation will determine who will be involved.
For example the head of the Suphanburi traffic division would expect at the very minimum to be involved with the Director of the Department or the Assistant Director of the school.
Assistance should be asked for for the writing of letters as diplomacy is very important even for a casual letter to parents. It is very easy to insult parents or officials by not giving them the correct status or phrasing requests in an inappropriate manner.
Very few principles anywhere in the world will allow communication to outside of the school without being informed first of the nature of the communication and having someone do a proof read.
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- Published:17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1351
Computers Government Policy
Computers are to be used as often as possible in varied ways. The Thai Government wants technology to be a large part of education now and in future years.
Computers School Policy
Games on computers are not supposed to be played during class time. Computers are not to be open unless being used in class, at teacher discretion.
Computers must have updated software and students need to be reminded that pirating someone else's software does not allow for regular updates.
Loose cords around the room must be tidy. people have tripped on cords and pulled computers on to the floor damaging valuable equipment.
Students must not use peer to peer (e.g., U Torrens and Bit Torrens), MSN file sharing and they should limit the use of watching internet videos such as U Tube and audio streaming. These activities use a lot of internet band width and slow everyone's computer access to the internet.
Procedures
Staff are also reminded of the problems of Peer to Peer, MSN file sharing, video and audio streaming and how it uses a lot of the internet bandwidth therefore slowing everyone's computers.
Students should not touch the screens of older laptops as it can damage the liquid cells if pushed too hard. Not relevant for modern touch screens and computers with glass screen protection
Putting sheets of paper between the lid and keyboard can break the screen or hinge on some computers. Thicker booklets can break the hinges of many types of computers.
If you are not using the computers for your class insist they are closed and put off the desk top. The temptation is often too much if they think they have a Facebook message or their game is half finished. If you are using the computers insist the tops are closed before talking to the students, they can not resist the distraction.
Use the computers as much as reasonably possible, the parents have paid a lot of money for the computers and the programs and expect to see the computers used in an educational manner.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1316
Toilet Policy.
To minimize class disruption students will use the toilet at the start and end of lessons
Procedure.
Students do not get a break between lessons and will very often have to work about 4 lessons straight. For this reason requests to go to the toilet must be treated as reasonable.
A reasonable amount of time will be between 5 and 10 minutes.
On rare occasions a student is feeling ill and will be gone longer generally these students will need to go to the sick room.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1380
Curriculum Policy
The curriculum is laid out by the Sa-nguan Ying Academic Committee.
The Curriculum is based on Thai Education Department requirements.
EP (English Program) policy is to follow the school curriculum.
EP policy is to include within the basic curriculum critical thinking skills.
The EP Program would also like to see evidence of understanding incorporated into the curriculum assessments as much as possible, without being in conflict with the school policy.
Procedure
To understand the curriculum to be delivered to the students will need to read the following components from the links bar on the left.
- Course Outline
- Planning
- Lesson Plans
- Exams and Testing
- Reporting
Religion Policy
Only the Thai Government curriculum for the Buddhist religion shall be taught in the class rooms.
Procedure
Buddhism is taught by the monks in special classes.
Some schools are not tolerant of preaching or religious discussions in the classroom and it can end up in dismissal.
Thailand has freedom of choice with religion but Religion is not to be taught in the English Program class rooms by foreign teachers. Even a discussion about different religions or things of religious significance should be avoided by foreign teachers.
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Published: Sunday, 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 2286
Classroom Organisation.
Students have many duties to perform about the school. There is a lot of emphasis on Thai ethics and responsibilities. These responsibilities continue from the school grounds to the classroom. Some of these duties require the student to be at school very early and many have duties at home before they come to school.
Much of the classroom organisation is centered about the student rather than teacher.
There are high expectations of the students and they have a clear understanding of these responsibilities as it has always been a part of their school life. But like students everywhere around the world sometimes they need reminding. As a teacher or teachers assistant it is very reasonable to remind them of their duties.
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Preparation Course Policy
All foreign staff will be rostered on to evening classes to assist in the preparation of Prathom 6 students for work in the English Program.
Evening classes for Prathom 6 are paid at the school standard hourly rate and food normally provided.
Procedure
Prathom 6 students have a desire to specialize in the English Language but have had no real experience of how this occurs in the class room. The evening courses run from 5.30pm till 7.00pm over about 10weeks.
It is important for these students to have a positive experience and be taught by persons who can lower their language expectations so the already nervous students are not discouraged from enrolling.
The teaching load is spread amongst the staff so the work load depends on how many persons are teaching in the program at the time.
Currently there is a PPT set up for every lesson so staff need not do a lot of preparation other than what they would personally like to do with the students.
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Published: Sunday, 17 March 2013 Hits: 3117
Contract and Work Overview
You will be asked to sign a contract on your arrival at the school
What is reasonable
Your contract will state a start time and a finish time. It is reasonable to be at work during these times.
Your contract will state you will assist some evenings and some weekends, this is reasonable.
There are many gazetted holidays on the calendar. We found we have about 9 weeks of holidays for the year.
One of the most important parts of a program where students have to pay extra is parent confidence in the teachers. It is reasonable to attend some functions and meetings just to be seen. Parents are more confident in teachers they can meet, they can then see their children are being taught by quality people.
Show initiative, there will be many periods of time when there is not a lot to do. Put together some quality lesson plans. Edit your program to include a greater variety of learning styles. Find out what the curriculum is expecting and plan displays about the topics. Do some small tests and keep the results for end of term assessments (this will save some work and stress as you will have marks for everyone)
Go and talk to some students, ask them about their likes and dislikes and what the did at the weekend. This makes the students practice their English.
As a teacher you will be expected to write behaviour reports twice a term which are in a prepared format and consist of about 6 lines per student. You will also be requried to run two exams a term with the appropriate recording of marks. (Very typical teacher tasks).
What is not reasonable
To be expected to work long hours without breaks.
To be expected to perform duties that are personal or improper. To place a teacher assistant in front of a full class with no supervising teacher.
Keeping in Perspective
Thai teachers are employed by the government and are on call 7 days a week and evenings.
The foreigner who wrote this found the 4 or 5 evenings he had to stay back very reasonable and easy work. The 10 weeks we taught the Prathom 6 students we were paid extra, it was not onerous even if we were grateful when it ended. We worked about 6 weekends some of which we were involved with school camps which was to our benefit as we saw more of Thailand. We were also given a great deal of time to go and pursue other things.
The prime concern for personal requests is to ask your person in charge of the EP Program well before and remind them of special requests. If there was no-one else in the office I never left the school without sending an SMS to the person in charge . I was never refused a reasonable request for time off and in most instances the organization was altered to suit me and bookings for hotels made for me.
What is reasonable is keeping other informed well before the time, don't ring up on the day and say you are going swimming for the day. The person in charge of the Program has to justify your wage to other directors, other teachers and the parents and should not have to loose face.
Teaching Assistants
To comply with reasonable directions as given by Director Supervisor or Teachers.
Reasonable can sometimes include weekend work.
Typical Jobs for Teaching Assistants.
Check rooms to ensure students have kept them clean
Change class room displays every month. this need not be a full change but a theme can be selected and the displays changed to the theme.
Student work should be displayed at all times with new work displacing the older work.
All work should be displayed. If it is not good enough the students should edit work to create a more appropriate display. (everything does not have to be perfect just appropriate)
Assist with photocopying.
Assisting in class with students, helping to create understanding.
Researching educational games and creating a link document with descriptions.
Preparing class equipment and teaching aids for teachers.
Work with small groups.
Help talk to parents at small gatherings.
Contract of Employment for Expatriate Teachers-
Note; this contract has been updated but is still very similar for Sa-nguan Ying School.
Agreement
I, ???????????????? being Director of Sa-nguan Ying School hereby appoint ????????? to the position of Teacher to undertake such duties and functions associated with this position as hereinafter provided, for the specified period, with the remuneration and conditions as agreed and subject to the terms and conditions specified below.
The two parties agree to sign this contract and pledge to fulfill conscientiously all obligations stipulated in it.
The appointment is for the period from April 1, 2007 to October 31, 2007.
Remuneration will be at 32 000 baht [gross] (varies according to service and teaching qualifications) with an income tax rate of 7% per month beginning from the day of commencement of duty.
Mr. ????????? ?????????? will teach subjects as required to Student Grade 7, 8, 9&10 in the English Program and other classes as required
Travel Expenses
If the teacher’s contract is for one academic year, the school will provide the teacher with $Aud 1200 towards the cost of a return economy class air fare between Bangkok and Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. (payable in the first few months of reaching Thailand)
Any additional costs will be borne by the teacher.
If the contract is broken or terminated, prior to completion, the teacher will be required to repay half the return airfare. If this is not done, the school will notify the Ministry of Immigration. The Ministry will not grant an immigration clearance to leave the country until all debts such as this have been paid to the school.
Vacations Allowance
The teacher will be entitled to fully paid school and public holidays as prescribed by English Program of Sa-nguan Ying School and the Royal Thai Ministry of Education.
Sa-nguan Ying School Obligations
Introduce to the teacher the laws, decrees and relevant regulations enacted by the Thai government, Sa-nguan Ying’s work system and regulations concerning administration of expatriate teachers.
Provide a thorough orientation program for the teacher prior to the opening of the school year and provide an appropriate mentor to assist the teacher settle in to the teaching program.
Conduct direction, supervision and evaluation of the teacher’s work and inform the teacher of the way this will be conducted.
Provide the teacher with assistance in accessing and negotiating necessary working and living conditions
Pay the teacher’s salary regularly by the month into a bank account nominated by the teacher. (Assistance provided here)
Arrange all necessary work permits in line with Government Regulations.
Meet the teacher on arrival at Bangkok and provide transfers to Suphanburi.
Other Items
Sa-nguan Ying will organise accommodation at Yee Dee Mee Sook. (next door to school)
Sa-nguan Ying School will allow the teacher personal internet access through the school system.
Teacher’s Obligations
To provide the school with the following documents to indicate his/her qualified teacher status:
· Original degree/educational training certificates and certified copies of these
· Original transcripts of final results and certified copies of these
· Copy of the inside front cover of the passport
· A current police clearance check
Observe the laws decrees and relevant regulations enacted by the Royal Thai government, the Ministry of Education and not interfere in Thai internal affairs.
Observe the Sa-nguan Ying work system and regulation concerning administration of expatriates including the school’s dress code and other codes and accept the school’s arrangement, direction, supervision and evaluation in regard to his work.
Without Sa-nguan Ying consent, the teacher shall not render services elsewhere or hold concurrent any post unrelated to the work agreed on with Sa-nguan Ying.
Complete the tasks agreed in the schedule of employment and guarantee the quality of work.
Respect the Thai monarchy and Thai culture including religious beliefs and values.
Conditions of Employment
Leave
The leave regulations of Thai government schools will apply:
The employee is entitled to ask for leave with full pay as deemed necessary during the period of each year of the term of employment according to following basis:
Business leave or special holiday leave not more than ten working days.
Sick leave not more than fifteen working days. In the case where sick leave is five consecutive working days, it must be accompanied with a certificate of an officially accepted physician.
If the employee had taken sick leave in excess of fifteen working days in any given year, the period allowed for leave under 1 may be used to compensate the period of sick leave in excess thereof.
The employee is not entitled to receive remuneration for the number of working days of leave over those allowed for. The deduction of remuneration shall be one-twenty-second of the monthly remuneration for one working day.
Hours of duty:
The hours of attendance at the school will be as specified:
From 8.00 AM to 4.00 PM
Out of hours work will include the following:
i. Saturdays – as required
ii. Meetings – as required
iii. Evening functions – as required
iv. Festivals – as required
Penalties for lateness or unauthorised absence from the school will be according to the following schedule:
Lateness: 8 days’ lateness will be treated as one day’s absence. This will result in the equivalent of 1/22 of the monthly salary deducted from the salary.
The instructional teaching load shall be no more than 22 periods each of 50 minutes per week.
Revision, Cancellation and Termination of the Contract
Both parties agree to abide by the conditions of this contract and will refrain from revising, cancelling or terminating the contract without mutual consent.
When both parties have reached an agreement, the contract should be strictly observed.
The contract may be revised, or cancelled only by the mutual consent of both parties.
Sa-nguan Ying has the right to cancel the contract with written notice to the teacher under the following conditions:
The teacher does not fulfil the contract obligations according to the terms stipulated, and has failed to amend the point of obligation after the Director or his delegate has pointed out this failure of obligation.
If according to doctor’s diagnosis, the teacher cannot resume normal work after a continued 30 day sick leave.
If the teacher is absent from duty under the conditions specified above
The teacher has the right to cancel the contract with a written notice to Sa-nguan Ying under the following conditions:
Sa-nguan Ying School has not provided the teacher with necessary working conditions as stipulated in the contract
Sa-nguan Ying School has not paid the teacher as scheduled.
Should any matter which is not provided for in this contract arise during the course of its performance, it should be settled through consultation by the two parties.
This contract is legally binding.
Acting Director
Teacher being employed
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Published: 17 Mar 2013 12:54 Hits: 2197
Loyalties Policy.
Persons paid by and contracted to the EP department should have their first loyalties to the EP Department.
Procedure.
By all means interact with other departments it is good to see what others are doing, but the EP Program has funded you to Thailand and the EP program is what you are contracted too. Before going off to do things for other departments, be sure the EP Program is not going to be left in the lurch.
You will likely be asked to take English lessons for other groups in the school and in the community, be careful your contract says
6.4 Without Sa-nguan Ying consent, the teacher shall not render services elsewhere or hold concurrent any post unrelated to the work agreed on with Sa-nguan Ying.
Just as important there will be commitments during the year and it may be hard to fulfill other demands, especially if you are wanting to travel and see Thailand. Entirely your choice just be careful you do not over commit yourself and can not fulfill your contracted duties.
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Sickness Policy. (student)
A student who is ill should be sent to the sick room on the bottom story of the Languages block near the car park. Students should not remain in the class room if ill. Parents should be informed by the nurse or those in charge of the sick room.
Procedure. (student)
If a student appears ill get another student to inform Thai staff and assist them to the sick room to lay down and get assistance from the nurse.
Sickness Policy. (staff)
When staff are ill ring Fai and inform him of the situation. Upon returning to work a leave form is to be filled out and submitted to Hippo.
Procedure. (staff)
If Hippo is out of the country or not available ring or message Brett or Baifern. If sms messages are used please confirm contact has been made by receiving a reply message. If no message received please follow up a little later with a phone call to confirm message.
It is important to maintain some contact with Brett or persons in the office so follow up medical support can be organised. If the office does not hear from a sick person for several hours when there is an expectation of contact someone will visit the sick person.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1543
Misdemeanors Policy
Students will maintain a high degree of ethical behaviour according to Thai culture. The Thai culture expects students to show teachers a high degree of respect. Students are expected to be engaged in their learning and abide by the rules of good manners.
Procedures
Like all young people and some old they will try and push the limits of what is acceptable. This is a natural part of growing up. Most problems are rare, except for computer games, talking and late to class.
Remember; it is against Thailand Law to strike a student and or cause any form of physical pain. (if done with a ruler or book it is perceived as using a weapon). In Writing this I can not think of a single reason in 20 years of teaching here as to why I would want to use striking as a discipline measure.
Keep in mind some students start their day very early (4 - 5am) and do not get home till late a (8 - 9pm). Many also do evening lessons and extra classes on the weekends. Occasionally they will be performing below par and will need understanding rather than discipline.
Firstly check your environment?
Is it too hot or too cold?
Are the students relatively comfortable?
Are the displays neat and tidy?
Is the room clean?
Secondly check your curriculum.
Is the work too hard?
Do the students understand what is required? (Language is a big issue here)
Is the work relevant?
Have the students been introduced to the topic?
Thirdly use class room management techniques.
With a low level misdemeanor be sure to use low level management techniques it is very important to keep the reaction to a misdemeanor at an appropriate level. Loud strong emotional reactions at this time will be inappropriate and will make the teacher loose credibility. Remember what works in one culture does not always work in another.
Examples that do not stop your class room delivery. Breaking your delivery can sometimes get other students unsettled. (there are many more possibilities)
Pointing but not breaking step with your classroom delivery.
Holding hand out to pick up mobile phone without eye contact while talking to class. If it is not working then use eye contact.
Examples requiring eye contact and a more stern body language. (there are many more possibilities)
Use appropriate humour to make a joke of the issue and then get on with class activities. Inappropriate humour or behaviour management techniques, contains sarcasm and put downs.
Using eye contact, with a slight shake of the head.
Give a direction by pointing while maintaining eye contact.
Mimic the behaviour, laugh and say something like 'most likely not appropriate in a class room'.
The Three Step Procedure may be needed on very rare occasions.
This has proven to be highly successful if procedures are rigidly maintained.
First warning is. 'If you keep doing this behaviour, I will shift you to another seat'.
Second warning is. 'You have elected to keep doing this behaviour, so you must shift to another seat'.
Third warning is. 'You have elected to keep doing this behaviour you must leave the room and sit with a staff member in the office'. (no staff member then sit outside the room) Exit should be for about 10 to 15 minutes and is a time of reflection for the student. Student then makes up the lost class time during lunch breaks.
Finally if these do not work for you and the student is still creating issues for you inform the Thai Teachers and discuss with colleague teachers. The current Thai teachers are very good at making student behaviour problems go away.Some examples of misdemeanors are;
Not doing homework.
Warning. - Keep students in at lunch time to finish work. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Being late with assignments.
Warning. - Keep students in at lunch time to finish work. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Continuously talking.
Three step procedure. - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Playing with computers at inappropriate times.
Warning - confiscate computer till end of lesson. longer on repeat offences - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Rude comments. (very rare).
Three step procedure. - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Refusing to do an activity in class. (rare)
Warning - Three step procedure. - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Late to class.
Warning. - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Too long at the toilet.
Warning. - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Mobile phone out in class.
Warning. / Three step procedure. Confiscate phone till end of lesson. longer on repeat offences - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
Eating in class.
Warning. Three step procedure. - Keep students in at lunch time. - repeated offences, Thai teacher or supervisor talk to and/or email home to parents, office staff have addresses.
A note from Kru Brett - I found teaching these students very rewarding. With the few issues I had to deal with I discovered they were very easy to rectify and dealt with nearly all issues at a class room level using body language and humour. In many cases I had to tone my western behaviour management down as it was too intense for the situations. Some teachers resorted to the Three Step Procedure on rare occasions and the problems were rectified with little stress.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1370
Experiment with Technology
It used to be rare for most teachers to get this type of opportunity to experiment with technology. In the EP classes every student has a laptop and there is an interactive data projector in each room. you can even get access to this Learning Management System
Once again don't panic if you are not a technology person. You don't have to use it, and in situations where it is needed the students will help you all the way.
But for those wanting to learn and use the technology to different degrees, even just researching on the internet there are huge possibilities.
As many universities are providing degrees online I believed students needed the opportunity to use their computers for in depth learning. not just the odd bit of research and note taking. This Learning Management System was set up to facilitate the teaching of students according to some of the latest research.
Due to the high level of technology teachers can use much of the online courses and teaching aids available to them.
The data projectors mean teachers can make full use of appropriate PowerPoint/Keynote/Impress deliveries. Photos can be used to illustrate points and small movies used in teaching deliveries.
Teachers are not committed to use the advanced technology but it is there to play and experiment with if you desire.
Each room has a sound system as well so you can play soft background music to create an ambience conducive to good working or get the students to create and present their movies etc.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1255
Planning Policy
Staff will be given adequate time for planning and Preparation.
Staff will enter the class room with adequate preparation to maximise the students learning.
Where possible planning will contain activities which foster critical thinking and show evidence of understanding.
Text books and computers will be made use of in the classroom.
Procedure.
Lessons for planning will be spread through the week with planning time from 8-00 am to 8-30 most days and from 3-00 pm to 4-00 pm most days.
Due to the language issues making it difficult for understanding and slower for learning to take place, the teaching contact time is less than in many schools.
Text books are expensive and should be seen to be used, as are computers.
Time will need to be devoted to creating some good unit plans as these are audited by government auditors at different times. (A requirement of an English Program is to have their curriculum audited).
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1558
Course Outline Policy.
The course outline will be created by the Academic Committee in accordance with the Sa-nguan Ying requirements and the English Program (EP) needs.
Course Changes will be given to staff via the EP Manager (Course Coordinator).
Procedure.
Below is an example of a course outline.
School Logo SA-NGUAN YING SCHOOL ENGLISH PROGRAM (SYEP)
โครงการจัดการเรียนการสอนตามหลักสูตรกระทรวงศึกษาธิการเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ โรงเรียนสงวนหญิง จังหวัดสุพรรณบุรี
School Logo
Course Description of Health
Health H 32101: Matayom Suksa EP 2
Grade 8 Credit Account: 1 unit 40 periods/ year
Teachers:
1. Mr. Brett Wilkin
2. Miss Suphajit Photijinda
Learning Objectives:
1.Understand growth and development process of children and able to identify and analyze factors affecting the growth of a baby, children and ones own development, and understand life skills in self development and good behaviors.
2.Understand the growth and development of each age range; explain the growth and development of a baby and children.
3.Understand the growth and development of each age.
4.Understand changing condition of each age range in terms of their body, emotion, and sexual development, for example, wet dream, menstruation, and sexual behaviors. Students should be able to cope with those changes and adjust themselves appropriately, understand friendship, sexual equity, interrelationship between friends, local wisdom to be used in their life.
5.Identify and explain physical change of teenager both female and male and identify factors affecting those changes.
6.Understand meaning of diseases, care and treatment of the diseases.
7.Understand structure, functions and importance of parts of body such as skin, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, nails and hair. Able to analyze the change of these organs and explain how to care and treat these organs and to look after one’s health.
8.Understand physical energy, practice ones mental health
9.Understand the use of First aid kit, steps and be able to give basic aid to patients.
10.Understand and analyze healthy environment affecting a good living of oneself, locality, and society and how to maintain good environment for ones wellness.
11.Understand interrelation between eating behavior and health, able to analyze whether ones are in a good health or not regarding their eating habits.
12.Safety issues- accidents
13.Drug addiction
14.Medicines
15.Violence in family, community and society, adaptation and finding ways to solve these issues.
Content and Course Outline
Unit Topic Subtopic Materials Periods Human Growth and Development Concerns of Adolescents changes in your body and accepting yourself Human sexuality p 9-13 7 Understanding sexuality What is sexuality and how to express it? Human sexuality p 4-8 6 . . . Life and Family Values and responsibilities What is your value? Appreciating your values? Human sexuality p 14-17 4 Responsible relationship Dating relationship (gender roles and movie) Human sexuality p 38-40 5 Nutrition Food and nutrition Making healthy food choices Health (prentice hall) p 190 5 . . . Build good health and competency in disease prevention Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) Risks of sexual activity, kinds of STDs, HIV and AIDs Health (prentice hall) p 572-597 5 . Safety Preventing Injuries Safety at home and school Health (prentice hall) p 692 4 . Substance Abuse Alcohol: tobacco: preventing drug abuse . Health (prentice hall) p 372 5 ..
Evaluation Plan
1. Course Code: H 32101 Course Title: Health
Teachers: 1. Mr. Brett Wilkin
2. Miss Suphajit Photijinda
2. Teaching Periods: 1 periods/ week
Total Teaching Periods: 40 periods/ year
Ratio of a unit: 1
80% of Teaching Periods: 32 periods/ year
3. Total Course Scores 100 marks
For 2 Terms; Ratio of, Work Tests: Final Tests 60: 40
3.1 First Terms Work Tests (30) are broken down as follows:
3.1.1 Mid Year Exam 20 marks
3.1.2 Assessment for semesters work 30 marks
4.1 Second Terms Work Tests (30) are broken down as follows:
4.1.1 End Year Exam 20 marks
4.1.2 Assessment for semesters work 30 marks
1. Assessment (task/ quiz) before midyear exam (semester one) consists of:
- Knowledge (K) 10 marks
- Process (P) 10 marks
- Attitude (A) 10 marks
Total 30 marks
2. Assessment (task/quiz) after midyear exam (semester two) consists of:
- Knowledge (K) 10 marks
- Process (P) 10 marks
- Attitude (A) 10 marks
Total 30 marks
4. Final Exam 20 marks
Details of the Evaluation Plan
Assessment (Tasks/quizzes) BEFORE mid year exam
. Unit Teachers need to record data for each unit of work.
Knowledge Process Attitude Total End of Term Exam 1 5 5 5 15 2 5 5 5 15 . . Total 10 10 10 30 20 . Assessment (Tasks/quizzes) AFTER mid year exam
Sometimes an assessment grid will not require a score for parts of a unit such as this below.
When in doubt plan for at least 4 units with scores for all of the knowledge process and attitude.
. Unit
Teachers need to record data for each unit of work.
Knowledge Process Attitude Total End of Term Exam 1 5 * 5 10 2 * 5 5 10 3 5 * * 5 4 * 5 * 5 . Total 10 10 10 30 20 -
- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1420
Photocopying and Printers Policy.
Large amounts of photocopying will be done on cheap paper by the schools main photocopier.
Small amounts of photocopying can be done on the EP photocopier on good quality photo copy paper.
Thin (light gauge) recycled paper will not be run through the office printers.
Procedure.
Print off a master of the class set you want copied. Give the master to the office person responsible or deliver personally for a quicker turn around. Include the following information on the back.
Do you want the pages double-sided?
How many copies you want?
Do you want colour?
Non standard paper can cause issues please ask one of the Thai staff.
Plan ahead so class sets of photocopied material are all done at the main school printing office situated in the main office block opposite the EP building.
One day ahead is generally all that is needed but try and allow for at least 2 days.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1511
Consider removing 80% of your vocabulary and try teaching a subject.
Don't panic you will have text books to follow and a curriculum laid out for you, but if you are a teacher through and through you will want to improve your techniques and use the situation to experiment a little with your delivery.
In retrospect the first time I stood in front of the Mathayom 1 class the students informed me I spoke so fast they could not separate any of my words. I gave a set of instructions and was faced with 24 blank expressions. This left me with a long hmmmmm where do I go from here.
The end result was I had to rethink all my style of delivery. Firstly I practiced speaking slowly and separating all my words (I felt like going to sleep halfway through a sentence) then I rethought how I scaffold my teaching delivery and I went through words and their meanings more clearly. Extra to this I placed everything I was going to teach or had taught on a web site so the students could refer to it at their leisure.
All these skills honed, would be useful in any class anywhere, and can only improve teaching to native speaking students.
Teaching here also gave me a chance to improve on my balance between tool box teaching and teaching for understanding and thinking, It is very difficult to assess understanding when the students are not expressing themselves in their native language. Not impossible I just found it difficult. This also helped my deliveries as I had to consider the implications of limited language to express understanding.
The two websites below are excellent Thai English dictionaries. I often had these open in the class room on the data projector and anytime I used a word that might be debatable I looked up the Thai meaning. I then selected the appropriate Thai word from the descriptions and pointed it out to the students.
These have saved me hours of extra work by making sure the students were clear on my requirements.
http://www.thai-language.com/dict
A note about understanding.
Students will often have a large range of words they know but will automatically put Thai grammar to English words This creates a great deal of confusion for the students as they will often think you have told them to do something and then in the same sentence don't do it.
The older M6 students informed me this will still occur with some students up to Mathyon 4 level and is very prevalent in Mathyon 1
Be patient it took me 1 1/2 years to realise the grammar problem, as Thai grammar is nearly the opposite of English with a few other quirks
In Testing policies and procedures there is a note about how many concepts to place in a sentence.
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Published: 05 February 2012 Hits: 7054
Suphanburi
Sa-nguan Ying School is a school of about 2,400 students, about 60 of whom are boys. It is situated on Prachatipitai Rd in the town of Suphanburi about 95k's north of Bangkok. The town of Suphanburi has about 30,000 people but expands considerably during the day to possibly 80,000 due to the amount of people working in this Government centre for the Suphanburi District. The Suphanburi district has about 800,000 people. It is in the centre of the rice growing district of Thailand and has a strong rural feel.
The curriculum.
The curriculum is set by the school and although we teach in English the Thai curriculum for the whole school is followed. To this end there is lots of support in the form of text books in English and a Thai teacher assistant in the classroom to clarify any problems to the students. Besides the texts supplied each student has a laptop (notebook) with internet access so sites like YouTube and specialized sites can be accessed to enrich the curriculum.
Secondly wages.
Wages depends on your qualifications and the length of stay for your contract. Basically as a qualified teacher the rate is 30,000 baht a month. To keep this in context the average Thai teacher earns less and has a comfortable middle class lifestyle.
Thirdly living conditions.
If you elect to stay in a room in the ‘Yee Dee Mee Sook’ apartment block adjoining the school you will be in a relatively new room with en-suite shower and toilet facilities, a fridge in the room with a chair a small desk, TV, a large bed, air conditioner and a wardrobe. There is a laundry business on the bottom story for washing. The laundry costs about 180 baht for a medium bag of clothes.
Rent in one of the 3 apartment buildings within walking distance of the school is about 4,000 baht ($180au) a month with water and electricity metered. The average services cost is about 100 baht for water and about 1500 baht a month for electricity. Electricity of course is determined by the settings you have your air conditioner set to and how often you use it plus the surcharge.
Sometimes there is an apartment available where there is a living room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 showers and a laundry alcove. These cost anywhere from 4000 to 5000 baht a month depending on the location of the apartment .
Extra information.
The average basic meal such as fried rice and chicken will cost about 40 baht and you will get some assistance with learning to order different foods. We have many translations of English to Thai in small visa sized cards to assist with food and travel during the first month in Suphanburi.
If you decide to come to Suphanburi be sure to go through the processes of getting a contract and applying for a Non Immigrant Category ‘B’ Thai visa. You will also need travel insurance and I would recommend if possible getting an insurance policy that allows travelling on motor bikes providing the rider has a license appropriate for the country. I say this as motorbikes are such an accepted form of short distance transport that you will most likely find it convenient to catch a bike taxi on different occasions.
Consider what has been said about the bikes because many people come over and decide that the 2 kilometer walk in very hot conditions is much harder than hoping on a friend’s bike and being delivered to a destination. Often visitors make this decision and travel in such a manner that their travel insurance would be void.
If you want to be adventurous and ride a motorbike around some of the resorts or even hire a car be sure to get an international driving license before leaving Australia/America as they cannot be purchased once you leave your country of origin.
Chemists, hospitals and doctors are all very good here and of an international standard so there are no major health issues in Suphanburi. The only thing you will notice is that chemists will dispense things like blood pressure tablets with no prescription, so scripts are not that necessary unless you cannot remember medication dosages.
So far in the Suphanburi there are no Malaria issues, Rabies or Bird Flu problems.
Bring an empty suitcase as clothes are very cheap here and you can buy stuff in Bangkok before they have thought about how to make it. I do exaggerate but only a little.
All the best from us here at Sa-nguan Ying (EP) English Program.
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- Published: 20 May 2015 Hits: 1274
Living in Yee Dee Mee Sook or one of the other apartment blocks within walking distance of the school.
Yee Dee Mee Sook is the apartment block next to the school and is commonly used as accommodation for teachers at Sa Nguan Ying School. The English Program used to be responsible for the maintenance costs of reserved (EP) rooms including the standards of the paint work.
Previous occupants have used stick on labels, adhesive transfers, sticky tape etc to decorate their room and near corridors. This has left the paintwork in a terrible condition much to the consternation of the management of Yee Dee Mee and new teachers or new occupants.
Please keep your rooms neat and tidy as carelessness and damage from previous tenants has led to creating a more formal policy where new teachers have to return the room to the same standard and that may require repainting.
Photograph the walls etc so you can remember the state of the room when you move in or after the repaint. This provides you with a reference point for when you leave and have to fix or clean minor items.
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- Published: 17 Mar 2013 Hits: 1497
Cultural Interactions.
I think this can be the most interesting part of a trip to Thailand, trying to understand the unwritten rules of behaviour. Much has been written about this from many people but the brief version is.
Don't wear your shoes inside a building or what could be considered the private area of a dwelling. Go to take your shoes off in view of a Thai and they will tell you if it is ok to leave your shoes on or not. If they do not have their shoes on take yours off anyway.
If you have problems with your feet get a second pair of shoes or slippers for inside use. But don't wear them outside the rooms. Keep them specifically for the rooms as people often sit on the floor and are very conscious of shoes worn outside.
If you are taking your shoes off and on regularly buy a pair of slip on sandals, scuffs or slippers for general use but not in the rooms
I sat down with a group of people having a drink one evening and a Thai male came up and started stroking my leg and arm, being a male I went very tense and thought I can not disgrace myself when I have only been here a few weeks. I forced myself to relax and get to know the people and now realise it was only a friendly gesture on the part of the Thai's. Under these conditions Thai's can be very much a touchy people with the same sex. The rules of engagement change with the opposite sex, as a general rule be reserved with your interaction until you see how the Thai people interact and behave.
Patting someone on the head is insulting in almost any culture so don't be tempted to do it with someone shorter than you.
A male came up to me and asked me to dance for the first time at a village party, I was a little perturbed but did so. This is normal in Thai society for a male to ask a male to dance and since this experience I have had males in pubs ask me to dance. I politely refuse and that is also ok. It is just their way of being friendly and has no sexual connotations. In another situation a male asked me for permission to dance with my female partner. There was no problem but some females would say I don't need his permission to dance and take offence, don't this is the Thai way and you are a visitor.
Age has many unwritten rules. The young have very specific rules for interacting with older persons. With this etiquette you must show respect by wai'ing to older persons slightly longer or slightly deeper. Be careful not to be too familiar with older persons until you are sure of the unwritten rules of behaviour. Even having a joke with someone younger can backfire as the rules of behaviour prohibit the younger person from reacting in a relaxed way and you may end up stressing them unintentionally.
According to some information I read it can be bad luck for an adult to Wai to a child (I believe it is wishing them a short life if your return wai is too strong. Keep your return wai low and casual. This would explain the strange reaction I received from many students when I first started at the school.
Travelling home on a bus once, and we had the front seat which meant we were higher than the driver on this style of bus. Our legs were cramping so we put our feet up on the rail which meant our feet although not directly above the drivers assistant were higher than her head but still a considerable distance from the assistant . She was very distressed about this. The bottom line here is don't put your feet near a persons head or higher than their head when in close proximity to a Thai
Thai women can be very possessive so don't be too familiar with an interaction between different sexes or someone else's partner this has to be approached cautiously where as same sexes are often much more familiar with each other.
It is bad form to show emotion either effusive positive or angry negative in public
For more on eating check the document What To Expect If and the Buying Foods page.
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