A Slight Change in Plans

So, it all began with me asking for information regarding what teaching materials I needed to bring.  In our pre-departure webinar, we were advised that packing certain teaching materials would be a good idea.  Considering that all I knew about my class was "secondary school, 50 students," I had no idea where to begin.  So I contacted CIEE to ask for more details about my classes so that I could figure out what materials would be most suitable.

I can't say I ever expected the answer I got. You will be teaching 10th and 11th grade biology. Uhhh, what?  I thought I was going to teach English?  Well, as it turns out the Thai schools love it when they get teachers with backgrounds in math or science, so when they heard I was a bio major, they figured it would be great to have me teach it.  So I will primarily be teaching bio, but I may also have some English classes (I will find out when I get there).  The nice thing about this is that I have a solid background in the subject, they provide the book, and the curriculum is largely set.  So there is a bit less ambiguity involved than in some other teaching assignments.

Anyway, that was the big surprise for today.  I also found out there will another girl from the program in the same town as I am, so that should make things a bit easier.  As for now, I am getting ready for Belize/Guatemala since we leave tomorrow morning.  I will have my laptop with me so I will try to post updates while there, but if not I will be sure to tell you all about it when I return.  Later!