Proctored

Finish the first day of mid-term proctoring for 01/2005. I went in very early (6 am to the Hua Mak campus) to avoid any traffic. Spent the morning finishing stray assignments and then proofed Ms. N's Chapter 4 MA Thesis. She will have a lot of work to do for her thesis to be ready.

Some definitions are in order concerning Assumption University.

proctor - the act of overseeing mid-term and final exams. As part of our duty, we must insure our students do not accidently get answers from elsewhere. We do this about six or seven times each exam period.

Ajarn - Thai word for professor

Hua Mak Campus - the original campus of Assumption Business and Accounting College (ABAC) now Assumption University

Bangna Campus - the new campus of Assumption University located about an hour by big coach bus from the Hua Mak campus. It is too amazing to describe. A cross between Stanford University, Notre Dame and the Vatican. There is no place like it on the planet.

I proctored my own Conversation and Discussion class plus 5 at 1500 this afternoon. The plus 5 is the extra 5 students I had with my class of 40. Yep, I have a conversation class with 40 students in it.

This course is not my favorite (I do not plan to teach it next term) but this class of 40 is by far the best group of students I have ever had at Assumption University. About half the class I have seen in my Reading in Business English courses and the other half are super engaged. This class will probably be the focus of this blog until the end of the semester.

Focus

Had a great time joking with three of my students while waiting for the C & D test to begin. Cute does not really do benefit to the three Thai students. Ms. O, Ms. C and Ms. S are all previous students with charming personalities and "cute as dolls" looks. Ms. O especially enjoys calling me "the pumpkin man" a name she got from her younger sister who I had allowed to visit the class for a couple of weeks.

I have decided that I must do something very special and very taxing for these 40 students to benefit from the class. Not sure what it will be but they are just too good to not be challenged. Whatever it is, I plan to video tape it for future reference.

Saw Ajarn R. after our test and asked how her test had gone. It was from her that I found I should have let my students watch the Friends clip twice. I only allowed them to watch it one time. It will not be easy but then what are mid-term tests for anyway. We will see how the group does on the test.

Tomorrow I have three proctorings, an obviously long day.