Green Lion
Teaching
Amy volunteered at the English Lao Club that had 7 class rooms right in downtown Luang Prabang in the yard of a temple.
The English Club was a 10-minute tuk tuk ride from the guest house. Or a 30-minute walk. She normally walked to the school in the morning and back to her lodging after her afternoon class as the weather was comfortable.
The volunteer is always with a teacher (young teachers. Some of the teachers are still in university others recently graduated). All classes use a workbook. There are different workbooks based on the class level - Pre-beginner, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.
A volunteer's main responsibilities are to:
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pronounce the words/sentences for the class. We go over and over together and separately the pronunciation.
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check over their workbook activities when they are complete (they raise their hand and say “teacher” ) and help them correct any mistakes they may have made.
Sometimes Amy was the only volunteer in the room other times there were more. Green Lion volunteers, French university students - study abroad, volunteers that had volunteered in the past that return on their own
Amy’s morning class was 1-2 students. These are working young adults. The first week she taught with Ms. Si.
Other teachers she taught with or volunteered with. Everyone was incredibly nice.
After the morning class she walked 3-4 blocks to the Big Brother Mouse. This is an organization that sells books and invites locals to come and practice their English with a volunteer. Some days it was quite crowded with locals.
The afternoon classes ranged from 15 - 25 students.
Amy was thrilled her classes had monks in them.
The first week she had pre-beginners and beginners. They covered a lot ranging from new vocabulary words to
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different seasons
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I go / he-she goes
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before / after
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today (play) / tomorrow (playing) / yesterday (played)
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is versus are / single versus plural
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Subject pronouns - I/you, he/him, she/her, it, we, they
Given this is an after school club most kids are there as they want to be so they are motivated to learn.
Schedule (Mon - Fri)
Morning:
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8:30am - 10am (class)
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10am - 11am (Big Brother Mouse)
Afternoon:
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4:30pm - 5:30pm
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5:40 - 6:40pm
What maybe helpful to bring or buy for the school when there:
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During class you may review/ correct a worksheet or answers to questions. Maybe helpful to bring a stamp - “you are a star”, “great job”, A+
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You will introduce yourself to the class. If there is something your country is known for that you can share with each of the students - small flags,
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Games the class could play
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Teacher appreciation
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A4 paper, dry erase markers, pens / pencils, red pen, tape, notebooks
When we were there, they needed A4paper, tape, notebooks for students and some dry erase markers. We were happy to purchase them and donate them too the school.
Amy thoroughly enjoyed this experience and looks forward to doing it again in another country. You must go with a positive attitude. What you put in is what you get out of the experience.