Kaison DavisNationality: American
State: Missouri Born: 1990 Faith: Christian (Reformed) Relationship: Married to Krittiaporn Davis Years in Thailand: 10 Languages Spoken: 3 # Countries Traveled: 11 Hobbies: Inventing, design. Work: English Teacher, Christian Preacher |
Some Pictures from my home |
Why is Teacher Kaison in Thailand?
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There are many different kinds of foreigners who come to thailand, some come for girls, some come for the parties, some come for an opportunity to serve. I consider myself the latter.
Kaison is here to: Teach, Preach, Write, Translate, Lead, Plant, Love, and Build. |
Classroom Setup
I have had a few classrooms over the period of the past 7 years. The classroom I have is the result of years of learning what kind of environment is good for kids. A lot of this is new information for Thai parents, so this is an important section if you want to know why i have chosen such a unique design for a classroom.
Fun, Playful
My Classroom has plenty of interactive tools and toys in order to draw the attention of the kid, and also to help them see language as apposed to just hearing it. Kids need to hear, speak, listen, see, touch, and even taste language in order to fully get it. If my students are super good, i will bring in the Legos. The object of course being to see if they can use English casually but correctly while playing. I also create my own learning tools, toys, and card sets. As I develop these, you will be able to browse through them in the Shop section. |
Warm Light
Warm Light has a calming effect. I have found warm light to be very effective in my classroom. I tested this in my former location. I had one side of the wall white, the other warm, and i tested used each for a set period of time. I found that warm light makes students calmer, and more comfortable. New students less nervous as well. I have read research that suggests white light is good for reading and testing, but warm light better for everything else. Seeing as we are not reading much, lets keep it a warm friendly environment.. |
High Tech
I use the computer as a teaching tool for 15 to 20 minutes of the hour. We play interactive games like Toca Boca, and Sago Mini, and others, which encourage the students to speak. If they want to do something in the game, they say it, and I will do it. This has been one of the most effective tools in teaching. I also have had a lot of success with using Pinterest for older groups. New and creative ideas come up, and they are often challenged to describe them. (Adults might just look and say "yah" but kids feel the need to describe it out loud.. "the elephant is sitting on the car!!" |
Pictures of our place at Bratulod:
What is ESL? |
English as a second language
Studying English with a native speaker English lessons with fluency as the goal Conversation based lessons Emphasis on correct pronunciation |
Right Phonics
Sounds Thai does not have
V, X, Z, TH, TION, CH, Final R, Final L, Final N, Final M, Final S, Final T, Consonant clusters like st, sp, sc, ts, ps, cs, sf, fs.... Learning Phonics the right way is a very important thing. If we dont speak clearly, sometimes there are 3 or 4 words that are similar, and it can be very frustrating to communicate. I once heard a thai translator translate the word "breath" as "bread", and it was so hard for me to listen to, because the entire meaning of the speaker was lost because of a simple word. Why? Because thai teachers dont teach the sound "TH". Hint: it is not the same sound as t, and thai does not have this sound. |
Right Grammar
Common Grammar Mistakes
Past tense verbs (irregular, and regular pronunciation of final ed) Singular and Plural (pronunciation and grammar... regular with final s, and irregular) Phrasing questions. (I am. Am I?) Correct use of adjectives (describer goes first in english .. red dog, not dog red) most people just need practice with this, even advanced learners forget this when sentences get longer. Some concepts adult learners may be familiar with, but not very well, due to over complication, and lack of teaching by Thai English teachers. Concepts like Regular and irregular verbs, nouns, and how to conjugate. It is easy enough, but requires memory, hints practice. From the common "where you go" of the taxi driver, to the "I eat sandwich", Thai English speakers dont even know they are not speaking correctly most of the time. |
Relearning
Some easy Things you might need to relearn
Th is not t Z is not s ch is not sh and many other phonetic misunderstandings. If you are talking about the past, always use past tense verb... even if it happened 1 second ago. This takes practice. Many more things that just take time and practice. Rre-learning is necessary for both young and old students. It is however much easier for me to teach younger students. An adult student once said "I feel like i have to learn everything again, is it really this bad?" Sadly, yes, and it shouldn't be, but Thailand is on the right path to putting native speakers in the classroom, and encouraging people to study with native speakers. Given enough time, hopefully Thailand's English will be much better. Thailand's economy depends on it. |