When Tony and I were preparing for the job fair last winter, he delegated the research to me. Not one to embrace change, he didn’t really want to leave China, but he understood that this “Third Culture Kid” needed to move on. I spent hours on the internet, schizophrenically obsessing about one school or another. I kept coming back to Vientiane International School. I loved the idea of a small school in a tropical climate. We were thrilled to accept job offers (primary English as an Additional Language for me; secondary English for Tony) at VIS during the Search Associates fair in Bangkok.
Now that we’re here, it’s hard not to make comparisons to our previous school. That’s not fair, of course. Shanghai American School had 3,000 students on two huge campuses. We had a decadent amount of resources and technology that I only now fully appreciate. With only 300 students, VIS has to be a bit more frugal. So I’m really only making observations when I describe the situation here. I swear, I’m not complaining!
In Shanghai, I had my own classroom and cabinets stuffed with top-of-the-line resources. Each fall, we ordered new supplies for the next year, and I was able to stock the ESOL office with fantastic manipulatives, flashcards, games, books, and everything else we needed or wanted to reinforce the grade-level content. If I needed pens, construction paper, Model Magic … well, anything really … I just marched up to the SAS supply room and went shopping.
At VIS, I share an office space and a classroom with two other teachers. At first, I didn’t use the classroom. It seems my predecessor taught all her classes in the grade-level classrooms, so that’s what I did. That means I had to haul all my teaching supplies with me wherever I went. Inevitably, I forget something and had to run back downstairs to get my supplies. I’ve started bringing most of my classes down to the EAL classroom, and it’s working out much better. The room is used for all grade levels, from grade 1 to 12, so I’m trying to lay claim to a corner that will be a nice learning space for the little guys.
As for materials … sigh. It took me hours just to get a pen. I had to fill out a form, and then wait for someone to fill my order. When I asked for a trash can, the nice Lao girl working in the office brought me an in-box tray. So I had to fill out a new form with more details. Teaching materials are old, outdated and geared toward older students. There’s nothing very useful for teaching English to the little kids. I’m glad I brought so much of my own stuff! The school seems eager to get our department what we need, though, and we recently got a grant from the American Embassy to buy EAL and special education materials.
I also took a step backwards with regards to technology. At SAS, I started an ESOL blog and used my laptop and projector frequently in the classroom. I attended two conferences on technology in education and felt quite inspired to work with our little “digital natives.” At VIS, there are a few portable projectors that can be checked out from the library or we can take our kids to the library tech lab, which is equipped with a projector. Mr. Lin is a fabulous techie, who installs all the hardware and handles all the trouble-shooting, but there’s nobody on staff designated to train TEACHERS in tech integration. It’s hard to keep up with technology under the best circumstances, and these ain’t the best circumstances.
On a positive note, the kids are very sweet. While most of my students at SAS were Korean, my VIS classes are much more diverse. I have students from Laos, Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Pakistan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Columbia. Several of them have no English at all. I have students in grades 1 to 5, and I am having a blast with them.
Another plus: no more bus ride to school! After four years of a long commute, I can now ride my bike to school in about 5 minutes. I love that!
Perhaps the best thing about our new school is the slower pace. Everything is much more relaxed (and as soon as Tony and I learn how to relax, I’m sure we’ll appreciate it). I do believe that once we learn the ropes and get situated, we’re going to love it here.