For the past three weeks, the news from my office manager has created quite a stir leading up to the Center’s school year opening this past Monday, on September 9. Every morning or afternoon, Khamxay has been announcing the following:
“Connie, Mew has invited her friend to join the junior high class.”
“Connie, we now have 4 enrolled in the new adult class, maybe 5.”
“Connie, the parents want a class for beginners in English. Can we add it?”
What has brought about the fame of our language Center? It’s been excellent advertising by office manager Khamxay and my adept poster guy, Santi, not to mention word-of-mouth that we have not only Connie teaching, but Shaloom as well.
Photos of last semester’s ending, certificates in hand and enthusiastic reactions, along with visual invites on Facebook, have given us quite the reputation in this city of 850,000.
Creating an Organized Environment of Learning
When I arrived in Laos and took over our only group class of 4, I had very little preparation time. No rooms had been arranged for proper teaching. (This rented compound and building were created for offices, not for classrooms). I had no funding yet to purchase what was needed. And with so few students, there was no need for larger spaces.
When Khamxay began announcing more student enrollment and more classes, my teaching skills went into overdrive. We needed a proper set-up with classroom rules, material table set-up, tidy folders for students, pencil-pen baskets and spread-out ability.
It took a week, but I got us ready to go in the largest room I have. Thanks to so many donations from the US from many of women’s groups and others, look what I’ve been able to do! (That’s a slideshow below, by the way, for those now familiar much with computers. Pointer on the picture, you’ll see arrows, you can progress to the next one.)
As was my habit in China, I put together my own textbooks for the junior high (In the Classroom with my Foreign Language Teacher) and the Adults (Let’s Share in English). My elementary education course already has an excellent published series, Let’s Go, which I love. No need to bother with them. However, I included for all levels copies of a beginner’s Laos book for children which I purchased in America for my personal study of the language. We can all learn together. Maybe some of those new sounds and vocabulary will stick. It’s been 8 months now and I am making very little progress, I’m sorry to say, in communicating in Laos with others. I use a lot of gestures and enacting to get my point across. One can only hope these next months I’ll see some improvement
Classes begin, including guests from America
The Monday to Thursday schedule is as follows: Junior High, 4:30 – 5:30; Elementary Ed, higher level, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.; Adults, 7 – 8:30 p.m.
Monday and Tuesday had somewhat slim numbers with many not yet registered but by Thursday, we had both former students and new ones join us.
I have 10 in junior high, with more considering to join us. See below our pictures. (Another slideshow)
Shaloom and I have 8 elementary ed, starting in Book 4.
The adult evening class for now meets twice a week, Monday and Wednesday for 1 1/2 hours. Most likely, we’ll add a 3rd night as most older learner prefer 3 times a week, not two.
At present, we have 4 in the evening adult class: A primary school teacher (Nuk), a Department of Labor government worker (Noon), a college student majoring in English (Fei) and an investment broker (Boia). Nuk, by the way, is one of the teachers at the nearby primary school that I teach at on Friday mornings for my outreach program. She teaches Grade 4 and hopes to have one of her colleagues join us. The principal was likewise considering the class but she works so hard and is exhausted by the evening.
An Exhausting Week but a Joyful One
Yes,I’m glad the weekend is almost here but the joy in seeing the Suntisouk Language and Vocational Center finally begin to be noticed is such a thrill.
Soon, Shaloom will begin to take over his own classes and we can teach simultaneously, in different rooms. Due to his newness to teaching, and to Laos, he will not yet be thrust into the classroom on his own. For now, he is assisting me, getting to know the students and learning the craft of educating, lesson planning, classroom management and tricks of the trade. September 24 – 26 will be his time to shine with me as observer and assistant. Finally, September 30th will see us separated: Him with the older children; me with the beginners.
As for junior high and the adults, we will continue to share these together until we get more students, meaning more classes.
Flooding Emergency Announced: Help!!
Before closing off, we are at present having a flooding emergency warning going out for our area. That includes my apartment as well. The Mekong River has reached record highs due to torrential rains and the city itself is expected tomorrow to receive the deluge of water from a broken China-made dam to fully reach us.
Let’s pray all my preparation work above, and all the success of the week, doesn’t end in tragedy with the Center sent underwater. There is no place for us to move things to higher ground as we are all at floor level. See below what is already happening near the river, which is less than a mile away from us, somewhat near our doorstep.
My apartment, by the way, is on the first floor. Yikes! In case the water reaches us, my rental guy (Sunitsok) already informed me that there are 3 apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors he’ll be opening for us to hustle up there.
If there’s a knock at my door, I’ll be ready!
Yes, I’m definitely packing a suitcase when I go home this evening from the office. As for my midnight blue Honda Scoopy, parked with the other motorcycles outside my building, I guess she’ll just have to fend for herself.
From Vientiane, Laos, here’s wishing you a great weekend . . . and me a semi-dry one.
connie's space 