The Nicest Teacher?!
Ever since I moved out of the college dormitory after my freshman year, I have been living with Thai roommates. Every semester, a new student or two comes from Thailand and end up staying with their seniors who happen to be my roommates. So this semester as well, two students named Sanya and Sonthi came to pursue masters degree here at Florida Institute of Technology. Like all my previous roommates are (except one), they are both in Thai Army, Lieutenant and Captain respectively. They work as lecturer in the Military Academy in Thailand.
Generally Thai people are known for their friendliness, so I am not surprised to see them being nice to me all the time. In fact, I should say I am so glad to have them as my roommates. While they are all equally entertaining and inquisitive, Sanya, in particular, is very outgoing and talkative. Although they face hard time communicating in English, he talks nonstop to their friend's hysterical laughs. One thing I noticed about all my Thai roommates was-they are all good at cooking. They cook a lot. And Sanya within no time, became the head cook due to his outstanding cooking skills. (lol) Ever since he came here, he's seen cooking everyday. He would call my name, and ask if I am hungry, and he would cook for me. Unlike other friends, he would knock come in to my room, and ask if it was okay for him to talk with me. We talk about topics ranging from personal lives to careers to cultures so and so forth.
As I will be a teacher in near future, naturally, I asked how he feels being a lecturer and whole teaching learning thing. He says he loves what he is doing, and that he enjoys his life to fullest wherever he goes. But what amused me most was his grading policy! "All my students get at least C", says he, adding that no matter how bad they perform or ill mannered they are, he gives 'C'. Unlike in Bhutan, in his country the grading system is based on letters as also the case in schools and universities in the US. A-being outstanding, B-being very good, C-being good, D-Pass, and F-Fail. On enquiring about the logistic behind his generous grading scheme, he says:
"Let them pass. If I give 'F', they will have to come back, take the class again with me. It is wasting
both my time and their time, and government resources too. The government is spending so much
money on food, so by letting them pass, we can save food for other students. Else they will come
back and eat more food, and its a loss to the government!...."
His reasons are just endless. Not knowing what to say at the beginning, I kept laughing. But as I keep pondering over, it makes lot more sense. I couldn't agree more! I am sure he must be the best teacher of his students.
Now I wonder if I should ever try his ways, lol.
Generally Thai people are known for their friendliness, so I am not surprised to see them being nice to me all the time. In fact, I should say I am so glad to have them as my roommates. While they are all equally entertaining and inquisitive, Sanya, in particular, is very outgoing and talkative. Although they face hard time communicating in English, he talks nonstop to their friend's hysterical laughs. One thing I noticed about all my Thai roommates was-they are all good at cooking. They cook a lot. And Sanya within no time, became the head cook due to his outstanding cooking skills. (lol) Ever since he came here, he's seen cooking everyday. He would call my name, and ask if I am hungry, and he would cook for me. Unlike other friends, he would knock come in to my room, and ask if it was okay for him to talk with me. We talk about topics ranging from personal lives to careers to cultures so and so forth.
As I will be a teacher in near future, naturally, I asked how he feels being a lecturer and whole teaching learning thing. He says he loves what he is doing, and that he enjoys his life to fullest wherever he goes. But what amused me most was his grading policy! "All my students get at least C", says he, adding that no matter how bad they perform or ill mannered they are, he gives 'C'. Unlike in Bhutan, in his country the grading system is based on letters as also the case in schools and universities in the US. A-being outstanding, B-being very good, C-being good, D-Pass, and F-Fail. On enquiring about the logistic behind his generous grading scheme, he says:
"Let them pass. If I give 'F', they will have to come back, take the class again with me. It is wasting
both my time and their time, and government resources too. The government is spending so much
money on food, so by letting them pass, we can save food for other students. Else they will come
back and eat more food, and its a loss to the government!...."
His reasons are just endless. Not knowing what to say at the beginning, I kept laughing. But as I keep pondering over, it makes lot more sense. I couldn't agree more! I am sure he must be the best teacher of his students.
Now I wonder if I should ever try his ways, lol.
:)), a good lesson u learnt. But by doing so, it might hamper the career of that particular student latter as s/he wont be able to give stiff competition with the fellow mates..,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post indeed.
Yeah, to be frank, I have never really thought about in that way. LOL. But he was dead serious about his grading scheme which he says is very holistic in nature. However, like you rightly said, the situation might arise where students take advantage of it, and not pay attention to their studies which ultimately will hamper their competency in the world of work.
ReplyDeletehahahha....this is really funny....even i hv hea in my college one faculty who pass evaone telling that its waste of time and lot more work to fail students......
ReplyDeletegood read!
I know right, Sogyal. Since we have never been into their shoes (as teacher), we are not be able to appreciate or connect to what they are trying to say. Seeing my disapproval on his 'holistic approach', he actually said "Once you become teacher, you will come to realize how tough it is to fail student, and teach them again and again...." lol. So probably, we will only be able to appreciate once we get into their shoes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading by the way!