Welcome to the end of the weekend!
For some of you, it actually is just another work day, or maybe it's the beginning of your weekend. For most of us, it's back to the 9 to 5 job Monday through Friday.
For me, it is a busy week that I can't wait to get a good start on.
Let's update on what has happened in the past week.
First, I observed the department of Emergency services, meeting ER nurses, doctors, and practical nurses. It was so much fun. There was much energy and, although at first everybody was shy, by the end of each day, I was surrounded by nurses asking me questions. I practiced speaking some of my Thai, and they practiced speaking their English, trying to absorb as much as they could then and there.
Then Friday came, and it was time to celebrate. We were celebrating for four people: one girl recently was promoted, one girl recently became engaged, one girl has her birthday today, and then me and having a job...so far. I will have to admit, that I was not accustomed to the "going out" scene, since I had been removed from it after graduation. Well, that seemed obvious after I happened to forget the how I arrived home. BUT, we met some nice young Swedish men who came to Thailand on holiday. My friends noticed them at dinner, and could not stop talking about them, and by the time we entered the adjoining club, the boys were already inside. Again, my friend oggled them and giggled, chatting about how badly they wanted them to join. So, I used my charm to bring them over and join us. Just a note, in Sweden, English is a second-language taught very strongly in the country, so for the most part, everybody is fluent. So the end of the story, I woke up at 7:30 in the morning, hoarse and hurting. It's an adventure that I plan to not repeat soon.
Back to work, now; I was recently asked to explain what I do, and my method. In the stage, I am currently observing what is known as the "Front Line." This group of people are key to the interaction with patients and customers, with duties ranging from simple greetings and giving directions to a ward, to setting appointments on the phone, to talking to international health insurance representatives, to evaluating vital signs, to giving medication to a patient, to informing the patient of the costs of the services and treatments they received.
Now, the point of observing these different departments is to better understand exactly what each department needs to learn based on their interaction with a patient. In addition to observing and understanding what kind of communication is necessary for the staff with a customer, the observation also allows me to understand the proficiency of each person, via simple conversation, and so on.
After observing each week, with notes taken, I create planning boards which help me visualize the duties, needs, lessons, and incorporated activities to use for each lesson. I'm kin of like a ten year old with these kind of planning projects, where I really need to have something big and in my face, that I can touch, and sift through. They include table, pictures, drawing, questions, phrases, and so on. In a way, these act as part of a work portfolio, for the planning process.
I have been using different resources for each lesson idea: vocabulary (to be incorporated every lesson), games, activities, testing material, images, teaching methods, grammar, reading and writing. The need for different sources is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and there is more than one way to teach effectively. In fact, if the current activity I have planned isn't working, then that means we change the approach.
So, that's really it for right now. I also document every individual meeting, as well as every class, so that I have proof, and can use for future adventures. As I progress more and more into it, I will also have more and more details, and tactics, methods, hints, experiences, and what I've been learning.
Until next time,
K.
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