School Days

I must say I was a little nervous to be starting class.  We arrived at the school, just a short 5 min bike ride away, a little before 10a.  Since the classrooms are somewhat large, 30 or so kids, they are going to start with Alex and I teaching together.  Our schedule is a 1 hr class, 9a (7yrs olds), 10a (8yrs olds), 11a (9yrs olds) M-Th.  The schedule actually seemed kinda light, but I must say it is tiring working with kids even half a day!  When we entered all the kids stood and greeted us in English.  Their basic English skills are okay - they know their numbers, the alphabet, and colors.  However, we will be working with them to create sentences and know what they are saying.  Since it was our first day we just had two classes.  We worked primarily on introductions, introducing ourselves and showing them how to introduce - "my name is ...".  After class a few of the girls came up and handed me some notes in Thai with drawings and pictures of hearts - aww!  :)  At noon we met with the other teachers and had lunch.  The teachers know a little English, so we could talk a little bit.  Jack the coord. is going to sit down with us each day to give us Thai lesson, plus I was going to study during the afternoons.  Especially in a non-tourist area, you really need to know the local dialect!