This is so VERY exciting and how perfectly appropriate for our very own moderator, Ginafish, to be our first world interactive volunteer. Job well done Ginafish! :D :D Amazing concept Terri!
Just think now if you want to volunteer to teach at the ILC all you have to do is sign up for a Free Skype account and buy a microphone and you can teach a class from your home or office. Wow!!
Ginafish, how was your class experience? :D
So, here's your chance to take part in the teaching experience here at Isara. Choose a vocabulary word, give us some meanings and some example sentences for them to follow. We will then use your lesson plan in the classroom and report back here on how your class went.
(hint: The class is an hour long, so it would help if you had a bit of trivia, or simple story to tell centering around your chosen lesson or vocabulary.)
Ok now, TEACH! ;D That's all the training you get. 
Ginafish said:I was 'dipping' BEFORE. Now its like, Here's your class...now go teach something.
I think the theme weeks is a great idea! I'm excited you are dipping into the teaching waters! ;D ;D
ZeroG said:Well, thank goodness someone else is teaching the smaller kids class (notice Sean hasnt chimed in here. :-\ Its not like him to be so quiet :D ) He does a great job and has found his teaching groove with the little ones. I am in with the teens and adults. They actually take notes, writing down everything I put up on the board, and then refer to those notes for writing their sentence assignments in class. Much better focus and attention span than the little kids. :)
My only experience teaching young children was when I was a Cub Scout den leader. The key is to get them to focus NOW. So it would seem continuity across days would be wasted on young easily distracted minds. I would focus more on making the words in a day have a common theme, and work on coming up with relavent examples. This could be harder than you think. :D
thartley said:I so agree with this...If you had asked me in 2004 if I would ever go to Asia I would go Asia I would have told you..."probably not" One day in 2005 I was working at a dead end job in a food processing plant wondering what I was going to do with my life and I talked to a friend a few weeks later who had been invited to work for a charity orphanage in India... I thought what better way to gain perspective than to go help those in need who can really use it... needless to say I didnt go to India because of unforseen circumstances, but I made a decision that day that I was just going to go help people... no one in my close family had ever been to asia and the idea kind of unnerved some of my relatives but I decided to stick to my guns... alot of research and a few travel books later I decided on Going to teach english in Thailand as it seemed like the most stable place in Southeast Asia. I went and couldnt believe how wonderful the people are there... I have been to other "third world" countries where I felt like I had to be on guard and a little defensive but in Thailand I have never felt like anyone wanted to harm me.. my bike broke down in the middle of a poorly lit street late at night in Nongkhai and I cant say I was feeling great about the situation... a few thai people saw I was in trouble and helped me fix my bike and got me on my way, they seemed to only have my best interests at heart. From that point on I learned that most Thais are very gracious and kind. Like Thartley says, Just decide you are going to help or just decide you are going to go volunteer at the ILC, PK is exceedingly bright and can find something for a person from any background to do. If I hadnt just decided to go to Thailand I never would have met PK and I never would have returned in 2007/2008 to help PK and Isara. You will have experiences that are beyond your wildest expectations that you will never forget. You will form friendships and relationships with people over there that will last a lifetime. I have friends from my time in thailand from many countries who I still communicate with regularly and whose friendship I will cherish for my entire life. "A wish changes nothing, a decision changes everything" "All that is needed for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing" Theres my "rant" So Thartley, I will try to think of some more stuff for you to teach... Have you looked at the exercises and papers I left behind? That material is all from a Teaching english as a second language course I took a few years ago and there are some general outlines with basic lesson plans and ideas for different learning levels, all you have to do is look through it... its probably a mess but i hope it will help.
;D I've heard so many people say they wish they could be here. I bet you've read on this site somewhere that "A wish changes nothing. A decision changes everything." Well, just decide you are going to be teaching the English classes at the ILC. :) Imagine yourself in the classroom with a room full of expectant faces who want to learn from you. Bear in mind, they do not have a full grasp of the English language. Very complicated sentences and explanations will fly right by most of them. Many of them know their numbers and have a limited basic vocabulary, but lack the knowledge of how to properly use these words in sentences for real use.
ZeroG said:I'm pretty sure it's: bear to the right bear in mind bear with me
Bare 1) Bare to the right. 2) Move to the right. 1) Bare in mind. 2) Keep this thought in your head. 1) Skin on his arms is bare to the sun. 2) Skin on his arms is not covered. 1) Bare with me. 2) Keep listening to me. 1) Don't fear the bear. 2) Don't be afraid of the large animal.
