A New Year Begins

Getting back into the groove of things has been a little rough, considering the past month and the time off we've had. This week has progressed rather uneventfully. I graded the rest of my midterms over the weekend so that I could hand back the scores this week. For the most part I was pleasantly surprised, my classes did much better than I was expecting. However, there were still the few that put in little effort in class that are much farther behind their peers, a fact evident after marking their exams. I also think that this kind of evaluation, one written test for five hundred students, is a bit unfair anyway. Some of my classes come into the term already behind the rest, and there are definitely some advanced students to equal the balance. It is hard to come up with one test that will fit the majority, and the grades reflect this. I started a while ago taking more time to individualize lesson plans as a way to keep things on an even keel. Hopefully I can get grades throughout the rest of the semester in each class to help keep an equal balance based on their levels of English.
Our work permits have finally been finished, good news after weeks of processing. It's a lengthy process where forms and papers have to go between the school and the office many times. I signed my name many times and made many trips to City Hall to get it finalized. At the beginning of this week, the process was finally over and we have our work permits in hand. Mine is complete with a picture worse than my passport, a feat I didn't think was possible. We had a celebration lunch and I know all of us, especially our coordinator Achanee who was doing most of the running around, were happy to have it finished. Tuesday we took a trip to the Immigration Office in Kantang, a town about a 20 minute van ride away. In coordination with our non Immigrant B Visa, we have to check in with them every ninety days. It was a few weeks shy of the ninety days, but still, time is flying by! They stamped our passports and sent us on our way, legal to hang out and work in the Kingdom for three more months.
Almost done with the work week, and I am looking forward to the weekend!!