Teaching for the First Time

So I've taught four out of five practice classes so far at an all-girls' middle school in Bangkok. Somehow the director of the Fulbright Program managed to persuade a bunch of students from the host school and several surrounding schools to come and listen to me be horrible at teaching. For my sake, I'm glad they came, but I've got to admit that I feel sorry for them...

Thai kids - all of them, it seems - are incredibly shy and extremely reluctant to talk in English in front of their classmates. In Thai culture, it is paramount that one never "lose face" - become angry or embarrass themselves - in front of others. To lose face is to injure your ego for weeks. I guess that's where the reluctance to speak comes from. So...I go to teach for the first time in my life and it is very, very difficult to run a class in which students basically refuse to participate.

But, nonetheless, teaching has been very fun! The first day I did nothing but play games to try and bring the kids out of their shells. Subsequent days I have tried to teach lessons with some amount of substance, but it is difficult, in a few short days, to judge the level at which most of the kids operate and adjust the lessons accordingly. The lessons I have taught, and I assume the lessons most other Fulbrighters are teaching, are way below the levels of the majority of students. But again, it's difficult to judge with students who are reluctant to speak.

I'm learning a lot about what not to do in classes. Here are a few things I've picked up so far:
1. Never give Thai kids a drawing assignment at the beginning of class. They will never finish.
2. Never play a game that will create a drastic gap in groups of friends. They will refuse to separate and you will be left looking stupid.
3. Kids will refuse to volunteer. For anything. Plan accordingly.
4. Thai kids like to compete, so make most everything a competition.
5. Thai kids refuse to volunteer names for their teams. When they do, they are wierd names like "Team Rainbow" or "Team Sunny". This is not an important lesson to learn, but it's entertaining all the same.
6. Learn how to adjust your lesson quickly and efficiently. I haven't really learned how to do this, I just know that I need to...
7. I need more practice......

So, with that in mind, I'm heading up to teach for real in Chiang Rai next Monday. I'm worried about teaching multiple classes in one day, and teaching in general. Fulbright probably made a bad investment selecting me to teach!