Volunteer Stories from Matt and Mike

Two college buddies, Matthew Shaw and Michael Keller joined GVI's Teaching Children Project in Ao Luk Thailand for 2 weeks in May-June 2009. After graduating with business degrees in the US they decided to take a volunteer holiday before starting their new jobs. See below for their thoughts on the teaching project.

Teaching children at Ao Luk Primary School has been a great experience so far. I have learned a lot about myself through teaching. The experience has taught me about communication, patience and also the importance of always being happy and smiling. All of the children are very excited to learn which makes teaching a pleasure. It is quite fun seeing the kids improve their vocabulary as well as their pronunciation through games and lessons.

For those coming out- bring lots of energy! Don’t be afraid to get sweaty during class, because you probably will!

- Matt

It was a great week of teaching, which has been a great experience so far. It is tremendous to see how excited the kids are to see us every time that we are at the school. I have learned a lot about teaching English for the past week and how to manage a Thai classroom. This has been my first teaching experience, other than tutoring in which I have a lot to learn about techniques and skills to use. I have learned and improved on nonverbal commands and cues, since most of the students, know very little English. There’s a huge difference in English skills and behavior in our classes which we have to adapt to manage.

The appreciation from the students and how excited they are to see us is awesome. The Teacher’s Day was a great ceremony and it was tremendous to be in attendance for it. I was also elated to be taken out to lunch at the National Forest Park by the teachers.

-Mike

Volunteer Stories from Matt and Mike