Welcome to the Intensive English Program
There are three levels of English in Thai Schools:
- The normal English classes which the foreign teacher might visit once or twice a week. The other lessons are then taught by the Thai teachers.
- The Intensive English Program (IEP) where the foreign teacher teaches English every day to her/his class and stays with those students during the day.
- The English Program (EP) where the foreign teacher is the classroom teacher and teaches most subjects in English.
EP is very expensive for the parents and the teachers have to be fully qualified and have degrees in the subjects they are teaching. At our school, we do the cheaper IEP option, though some of the parents have said they say our version is just as good as an EP school.
How IEP works: You need to look for opportunities during the day to add a layer of English to the students’ learning. There are both the formal lessons, which you prepare and the informal “chats” and “English experiences” which you create whenever possible.
| Time/activity | English Suggestion
|
| 7 am. Before school starts | Greet students, talk about the day, how they feel,
What did you do last night? On the weekend? What you did on the weekend? Help them form questions and chat with you. Review questions from the green book Review vocabulary or material that you are teaching Nice time to have 1:1 with some students Tell stories about your life, family… |
| 7:20 Assembly | Help students get organized and ready …“line up, stand straight, no talking”
Repeat the English parts of the morning assembly: The student vows, school creed and school motto (see green book) Model respect by standing quietly for the anthem, you could sing along with the students |
| 7:40 After Assembly | As you put sanitizer on their hands you can greet students by name, have them say good morning and thank you
Have students repeat a statement, “I love Mondays, today is Tuesday, Wednesday is wonderful, I love school, it is raining today”… |
| 7:45 -8:00 am before first lesson | Review the standard material in the vocabulary book/sheet
Try to vary the approach but ensure you review the information each day. Days of the week: saying forward, from a specific day, backwards and forwards, whose birthday is on what day, color for the day Alphabet: start from certain letter, circle the room until someone makes a mistake, saying it backwards, an action to go with each letter Numbers: say the next number, the previous number, count backwards, circle the room Thai Flag colors: make a game of naming colors and meaning School information: chant information, create a rap, make mistakes Conversation questions: ask 5 questions a day, have contests, students ask each other Roll call: repeating a specific phrase when name is called, “I am here, here, I love school, I love English, This is November, I am 6 years old” |
| Morning milk | Chat about the milk, why drink it, where it comes from, who likes it,
what flavor … Student asks you to cut the bag, give me a straw, …thank you, your welcome |
| 10:20 lunch time | Waiting for lunch: chat about food, hunger, label bowl, cup…
Sing a short song, chat about anything interesting |
| Hand out utensils: “what do you need, what is this, would you like a fork/spoon”….thank you. You’re welcome” | |
| 10:30 Eating lunch | Students usually repeat information about their lunch (Thai and English), try to get a natural rhythm to their repetition
Chat about “yummy food” what are you eating? Is it hot? Is it spicy? Do you like….?” |
| 10:40 Brushing teeth | Get your toothbrush, where’s your toothpaste, have you got your cup, what flavor is it, do you like it…
Did you like your lunch? What do we do now? Are your teeth clean? Did you brush your teeth? Why do we brush? |
| 10:45 Nap time | This is an excellent time to catch 1 or 2 students at a time, who are not sleeping and do something quietly (reading, reviewing, chatting)
Chat while getting ready, where’s your pillow, where’s your blanket, where are you going to sleep, who is next to you… |
| 12:40 pm Wake up | Wakey wakey, time to get up. How was your sleep? Put it away, are you awake, wash your face
Powder time: would you like some powder? Here’s some powder… |
| Afternoon snack | Who wants a cookie? What’s this? Who would like 1 more? Is it good?
This is a good time to chat as they are enjoying their snack |
| 1:50 End of day/snack shop | Who is going to buy a snack? What do you want? Have you got enough money?
Goodbye, see you tomorrow, what day is tomorrow? What will you do tomorrow? |
Good Manners in the Classroom
The Thai teachers teach students how to behave and be good Thai children. This includes how to “wai” properly, to dip their head when walking past an adult and how to give and receive an object.
You need to teach the students about “English” manners. How to use please and thank you, no thank you and you’re welcome. The students need to learn how to greet people using a handshake, a nod or a high five. All students need to be reminded to act properly… wait their turn, share, walk in the halls, be courteous of each other, be polite to others and respect other’s property. You need to expect students to be polite and cooperative in your presence. Have the same expectations of behavior for your Thai students as you would for any students.
Teacher Respect
Thai students are expected to stand and wai a teacher at the beginning and end of each class. You need to stand and “receive” the wai, you may wai back or nod to the students.
Switching classes
Once a month, you may want to switch classes with your fellow teacher to expose the students to different accents and different people. You could arrange this with each other and plan to spend the entire day or part of it with these students.
Professional Conduct
You are hired because parents have paid extra fees to have their child learn English from a native English speaker. There are expectations that you will be in the classroom most of the day to teach and model English. While in the room you need to act professionally at all times, this means that you do not play on your phone, sleep at your desk or act in ways that you know are unacceptable in schools worldwide. You are the first foreigner that some of these families will meet and how you act reflects upon others and future teachers as well. Your Thai teacher will not complain to you but that does not mean that your behavior (both positive and negative) goes unnoticed.
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