Life as Teacher in Thailand: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and Funny

Reposted from 11/15 ( My first semester of teaching 7th-12th grade English in Ubon)

The Good Moments:

• "Ms. Krista I love you!"
• "Be my teacher forever" 
• "Ms. Krista is dressed beautifully today, actually she looks beautiful everyday" 
• Frozen parody songs. 
• When you swear that your 11th grade ESL student writes a better essay than half the graduating class of your former high school. 
• When kids don't want to leave class or are still working on their work when class is done.
• When you have advice for a half dozen good restaurants to eat in Ubon after grading students writing assignments.  
• When you get to teach about Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Superbowl, and all kinds of American culture. 

The Ugly Moments of Awe

• Yes I love the pictures humorously depicting a fanny man, but I do not appreciate that two students copied his paper as he was drawing them…. 
• When one of the worst student scores the highest on the midterm.  Many Thai students have are mastermind cheaters!! What a credible life skill. 
• "We have nothing in our heads" Graduating students truly feel they know nothing :(

But admist the good, bad, ugly, and funny there is still the fact that many students respect you and enjoy you as a teacher.  And that they learned something whether big or small.