“Set lao!” I exclaimed to my students, Thai for finished, as I wrapped up my last day of teaching. With every final test score retrieved and an empty desk, it was a bittersweet day. As busy as the last week was and as glad as I am that it’s over, I can’t believe I’ll never see my students again. Having almost four hundred teens under my wing for the past four months has been more than a life changing experience. I always thought that high school teachers have one of the most difficult jobs, dealing with the typical adolescent behaviour, but I’ve gained a fresh perspective. There’ll always be a few troublemakers in each class, but they’re easy to deal with once you learn the ropes. I never got to the point of simply leaving a classroom out of frustration, unlike others who’ve taught at my school. Flicking the lights usually helped quiet the students down, as well as bringing out the red pen. Marking a red ‘x’ beside their name on the participation record induces all sorts of pleading. When the higher-ups get a hold of those records the marked up students are in some kind of trouble that’s bad enough for them to understand that red x’s are to be avoided. Also, when the test scores are processed they’re matched with the participation records, explaining why the lowest marks belong to those with the most red x’s. It’s upsetting to see students fail, but it’s overridden by seeing those 100%-ers. My over-achievers were some of my favourite students, simply because they were so eager to learn. You feel like you make a real difference in their lives when you see true improvement over the course of a semester. Being able to have an actual conversation with the few we ran into during our last adventures around town was very gratifying. It was also great to see the few sights left in Hat Yai before moving on, giving us a sense of completion with the city.
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