Random Teaching pics

These are just some random pictures from the stock the school gave me as I was leaving. Some are very cool, and things I never would have been able to get myself. I'll be adding more as I filter through some of the various shots, have a faster internet connection, and am not trying to pre-adjust a bit to avoid jet lag.


The first day of school. I may look a little out of it, I had only been in Thailand for about 17 hours and I had already been swept off to my school and thrown in front of 400 students asking questions...it was a bit to wrap my head around.


Actual picture of me participating in the school's celebration of the Buddhist holy day. Once again, it was amazing to partake, especially once I found out the full meaning of the day, and it's importance in the Buddhist year (basically it's Christmas, Easter, and New Year's wrapped into one day...kinda big)


Trying to work with some of my students on photosynthesis and cellular respiration.


My students hard at work...


Speaking at the end of the program round-up. I was simply going over what I had done with my classes over the previous two weeks.

Random Pics from Ko Tao

Home for the last four nights. Our little three person bungalow on the beach...


Our beautiful bay...




Paradise...? It sure looked nice on the beach...

There are many, many more pics (over 430 from Ko Tao alone). Let me know what you want posted!

More from Ko Tao

More fabulous sights from Ko Tao.


The view from the bungalow. The beach was only a 15 second walk from our door.


Relaxing on the beach the first afternoon.


Getting a closer look at the local scenery.


We even had sea anemones, complete with clownfish.

From under the sea

Some shots from our first day snorkeling. I absolutely love my underwater camera. It was totally worth it...

Back from Ko Tao!!

Our first few hours of freedom!!


Waiting at the Hua Lanphong Bangkok train station before heading south to Chomphon and the beaches...


From the boat ride over to Ko Tao.


One of our first views of the island.

From Ko Tao

Well, I'm posting this from the island of Ko Tao. It's been a fascinating two days that have been filled with many firsts. We took the train from Bangkok to Chumphon (it cost 480 baht...$14, plus we got a meal!). We then took a boat to the island. We followed that up with a crazy taxi ride to the other side of the island. We got here safe though, and have spent the last two days snorkeling and sleeping on the beach. (We did get that beachside bungalow we wanted...only $6/person/night...) We'll be here at the island until Thursday, then back to Bangkok that night. I'll update more, maybe with pictures, then. Until then, everything is going well, and we're having a great time.

Off for a week...

Today is Saturday morning in Bangkok and we're heading out to the weekend market for some inexpensive gift buying and shopping. Later today Carrie, Sarah, and I are taking off on a train, then speed boat to eventually get to the secluded island of Ko Tao. It's a beautiful island on the east side of the south of Thailand (google it, if you need a reason that we're going there...). We'll hopefully get in lots of snorkeling, maybe some SCUBA diving, some hiking, and, of course, relaxing in that beachside bungalow we'll hopefully be staying in. I'm leaving the computer with Piak, so I may not post until Thursday night when I'm back in Bangkok, or possible until I get back home. Keep commenting, I love to know people are actually reading...

Until next week, sawasdee khrup!

Nawamin Finale!

Thursday the school organized a "small" send-off for Mark and I. Well, we thought it would be small. The students cooked us food, we had Thai dancers, there were many flowers given, and many, many, many pictures taken. It was a great time, and I am still in shock of the day.


Ms. Quan was kind enough to help carry my food through line. Many students made different Thai desserts for us to sample before the celebration started. They were all delicious. This is me with fresh mango and sticky rice...


We even had traditional Thai dancers!


The four of us dancing (or trying...). The students brought us out to play a Thai game, and conveniently singled us out to get up in front. Thankfully some of our students helped us out...


The director presenting me with a certificate of appriciation for the time at the school.


Me, Piak, and our M 5/1 (the grade and class; kind of like 11th grade at home) after they presented me with a picture of the class. Amazingly beautiful and totally unexpected!


Me and some of my guys after the goodbye!


All the flowers presented to Piak and I from the staff and students!

Done with the Internship!

So yesterday found us completing our teaching internship in Thailand. We finished off with our final presentations to the graduate program. It was a fun afternoon watching the four school's students and seeing how the four experiences differed between them.



The Nawamin teachers that came out to the presentations for the afternoon. We had the largest contingent by far! I appreciate all the time that was taken out of their day. It was great to see them all one last time. (L-R: Som, Khan, Mark, Mr. Jauran, Ms. Jauran, Ms. Quan; not pictured: Mic, our cameraman for three weeks, and me, I was just off the bottom)

The last day of school!!

So, today is the last day we will be at Nawamin School. I've already had my last class. All that is left is the presentation to end the school day. It should be a great time. I'm thrilled to have made it through the teaching aspect. I feel I've learned a lot about both me and my teaching. It's only going to help in the future dealing with students. I'm also very sad to be leaving the school. The students are fabulous, and they simply enjoy learning so much...they actually kind of enjoyed the Krebs cycle and electron transport... I will not miss the heat of teaching, however. Teaching when the heat index is 116F is no way to go about things...

Well, I think I'll have many, many pictures from the school (ones they took) after today, and I'll post many of them of experiences from the last three weeks.

We have also likely spent our last night in our apartment. I think we are going to head back to downtown Bangkok this evening and spend the night in a hotel. This will let us go to a market or two, and then sleep in tomorrow before our presentation!

Possibly the last night...!

My Wednesday afternoon class. Again, such amazing students...and so well behaved.



Our possible final dinner in Summakorn village. We ate at an amazingly beautiful restaurant right on the side of a lake. Most of the seating is outside, surrounded by pools and fountains, even a rock waterfall... Even better though, the food was absolutely astounding! One of the best meals I've had here.

Another slow day...

Another slow night at the apartment. Again, I'm not complaining, as the next week will provide more than enough action. I had a chance to catch up and make sure my lessons for the next couple days were thought through well.

This is my Wednesday morning class. Again, these students are absolutely fabulous to be around, and they really, really love the activities. They are just so happy to be not taking notes...


Only three classes to go as of lunch Wednesday!

Slow day...finally!

Monday was a bit of a slow day...for a change. School was exhaustingly hot once again (97F, heat index of 116F). Piak is back at the University through Wednesday to present his research topic on conceptual change (good luck, Piak!), and we're just hangin' out. We went for another Traditional Thai massage at night. I still cannot believe how much it hurts (they use knees and elbows all the time), but my back is finally starting to loosen up a little bit. Although my right should (my bookbag shoulder) is an absolute bear, and even she's not able to do much to it. Mark's been there right next to me through it all, but I think he's feeling the benefits more than I at this point.

Only one class Tuesday, but it was a very, very fun one! We acted out the Krebs cycle...which actually made it somewhat enjoyable. The students even asked for my picture after class...


Only two days to go...!

Final Week of Teaching!

Back from a weekend of fun and regional travels. Saturday we hit the city of Ayutthaya and the surrounding area. The first stop of the morning was my teacher's family rice farm just outside the city.


I love this pic. Classic rice-growing hat (thanks to Ms. Quan's mother), with the tractor and field in the background.


Actually in the rice fields trying to plant rice. It's a little muddy, but fun (and hot) as can be. Thankfully we had our hats! Turns out my neck needed a bit bigger brim though, I still took on a lot of color from the morning.


On the rice picker out in the fields.


Much of the rice crew including our hosts (in yellow)!


Second stop of the day...the ancient city and temples of Ayutthaya!!


Piak and I paying respects to Buddha at Wat Panan Choeng in Ayutthaya.


Wat Yai Chai Mongkol in Ayutthaya. This place was fabulous, and still in amazing condition. These chedi tower above the city and are visible from far, far away. So many things about this place amazed me...


...especially the huge, reclining Buddha.


Wat Phra Sri Sanphet in Ayutthaya. This was the capitol of Thailand until it was sacked by the Burmese and moved to Bangkok in 1767. The ruins here, as far as destruction, may have been the most severe that we saw, but also some of the most beautiful.


Wat Chiawatthanaram in Ayutthaya. This was the most beautiful of the ancient temples we visited. We were also there during sunset, so the shadows being cast, along with the orange glow, made picture-taking all the more fun! Sorry you missed out after a whole day of travels Melissa...it was worth going.


First stop Sunday...the Mangrove Forest. Very cool to see all the wildlife surviving in the mud (mudskippers, crabs), but the trees stop absolutely any breeze that is present off of the Gulf. It was an absolute steamer in there.


Third stop...Nong Nooch Biological Gardens. This is me at the French Gardens. They were beautiful, but it was so incredibly hot by 3:00p, it was almost hard to enjoy too much.


A bunch of the science teachers in front of Butterfly Hill (from L: Kay, Khan, Mark, Me, Piak, Som). I finally got my yellow shirt!! It's the king's color, and it's all over in the country.

No posts for weekend!

The school is taking us on a couple of field trips this weekend, so I'll be out of communication for a couple of days! We're heading out to the rice fields Saturday morning to learn how to grow rice. That afternoon we're going to Ayutthaya, one of Thailand's many ancient cities. It is supposed to have absolutely beautiful picture-taking opportunities...hopefully it's true!

Sunday we head back to Pattaya and the University to take a tour of the marine museum. This time we have 300-400 students with us, however. It should be a good time, and I'm excited to see how the students react to some of the organisms. The afternoon brings us to some gardens, which are supposed to be some of the most beautiful in the world. We're also hitting that with the students.

I'm sure there will be numerous pictures next week. Until then...sawasdee khrup!!

One Night in Bangkok...

Thursday was one of our more uneventful days of the trip. School has begun to settle into its normal groove, and the students are feeling much more comfortable with our presence. They still giggle and scatter when we walk near them, but most will talk with us, or at least say hi. After school our ride was over an hour late due to taking a monk to the temple (very important here...not exactly something to question), so Piak and I made due by playing a little modified soccer (it has an actual name, I forget it) with some students, then checking out a little guitar/sing-along section later. Thanks to Mark getting some pictures while we were playing!




We headed into Bangkok again last night so Mark could pick up some tailored shirts. Right across the street was an Italian Restaurant, so we decided to grab a bite. It was Gay and Piak's first experience with...it was quite the site.


Garlic bread with a spoon and fork...

The first bread stick!