Category: - Bayon English Academy

Bayon English Academy

Ready, Set, Read!

24/9/2014

The BEA kids had a two-day library orientation on how to choose graded readers (books for second language learners) and how to borrow them from our library. When we first start in 2010, we had a mere 300 books in our collection, but now we have over 1000 for the students to choose from. For most of the BEA kids, this is the very first time to experience reading for pleasure and borrowing library books!!! If you'd like to know more about our reading program, you can check out our extensive reading section on our website.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

All in the Family

19/9/2014

Teacher Sarith's library profile poster with all of the BEA family! I love that Sreynet, our librarian, has blue hair!!!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Designing Up a Storm

18/9/2014

The new and returning BEA kids were busy with helping us decorate our library through our "Library Profile Design Project." During our orientation, the BEA kids get to do a bit of artwork and design their own personal poster that introduces themselves. Once they finish their poster, we display them in the library for the entire year as a way to show off their artistic talents to our school visitors. To my surprise, many of the Pre-Intermediate students included a bit of Canada in their posters, the country where I spent my childhood.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Looking Back on 2013-14: Library Posters

20/8/2014

We've finished up our fourth year at BEA, and are now heading into the 2014-15 school year! It's amazing how time has passed so quickly this year. In another week, we'll have our open registration for new students and then from September 1, we'll be running our two-week orientation for both new and returning students. One of the first activities we'll do during our orientation is to have all our students complete "library profile posters" where students design a poster of themselves to display in our library - a way to let visitors know about our students and to make our students a part of the BEA library. Here's a look back on our library posters from the start of our 2013-14 school year - definitely one of my all time favorite art activities that we have as part of our language program.

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides English language education, leadership, and job skills programs to underprivileged youth from well-trained teachers in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Happy Birthday Sreynet!

3/6/2014

The BEA directors, staff and students would like to wish Sreynet, our fabulous librarian and research assistant, a very happy birthday! Affectionately known as "the library hunter," Sreynet runs BEA's library program and keeps our books in tip-top shape. She's even been known to go to students' homes to get overdue books!!! We can't believe how quickly four years has passed since you first started studying and working at BEA! Here's a little trip down memory lane of all your smiles and hard work at BEA during the 2013-14 school year! We are so proud of you each and every day! Happy Birthday Sreynet!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides underprivileged youth with quality English language education and job skills in a safe, clean and professional environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Library Orientation

12/9/2013

The BEA kids finished up their library orientation last week. Now, they're familiar with the BEA library and are ready to start borrowing books. They'll be reading four graded readers during the semester and write book reports on two of them. For most of our new students, it's the first time they've ever used a library and borrowed book!

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an accredited NGO school that provides underprivileged youth with quality English language education with professional teachers in a safe, clean environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

First Week of Teaching 2011-12

15/9/2011

Hi everyone,

It's been an incredibly busy week for both Shally and I since it's our first week of teaching of the 2011-12 school year. All the continuing and new students have settled in after our week orientation, so it's down to some serious teaching and learning for the rest of the semester.

Textbooks
Our textbooks finally arrived yesterday. There was a three-day delay because of the flooding of the Siem Reap River over the weekend. Our printing place was submerged in water, so they didn't have any power over the weekend, which put them behind all of their orders. Regardless, they arrived and we were able to hand them out to our students.

Once again, we're using the Side by Side series. The main reason we decided to use this series was because there is much less cultural content than other EFL textbooks. We do include part of this cultural content in our lessons, but we have localized every single lesson so that the BEA kids can talk about themselves and their own cultures. On average, we use the textbook for about three lessons in each course each week, and the other two lessons are supplemented with other teaching materials. In this way, students don't get bored with the same teaching method, and it keeps them motivated and interested in learning.

Shally will have a bit of an "easier" time teaching this year since we have kept all of our lessons from our courses last year. His main job this year will be revising his lessons from the Basic and Pre-Intermediate courses. Our new Intermediate course will take up most of his planning time this year.

When I head back to Japan this weekend, I'll have a suitcase full of all of Shally's lessons plans and supplementary materials from last year. One of BEA's long-term goals is to eventually design a textbook book and teacher's book specifically for Cambodian teachers and students to use. One of my big tasks over the next year is to start going through all of Shally's lesson plans and putting together a first draft of these books. It just seems there is no end to paperwork...

Library Program
The library program is now up and running. Students from the Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate courses have already started borrowing graded readers from the library. Srey Net, our librarian, was able to process another 30 books yesterday, which now brings our graded reader total to 265 - a humble, but good start to our library collection. In our lessons yesterday, Shally pointed out the "Graded Reader Progress Chart" in the textbooks. BEA students are required to read two graded readers each semester before the "Book Report Workshop" at the end of January. For this workshop, students will participate in discussions about one of their books, give a short presentation and write a book report. Throughout the semester, Shally will be checking these progress charts to make sure students are keeping up with their reading.

Teacher Training
I'll write more about Shally's teacher training program in more detail in a later because there's too much to write about for just one single posting. For the first week of classes, we've been able to get in some team teaching with a few feedback sessions. We usually spend more time on teacher training in February when we have a bit more time between the first and second semesters. However, I've been completely impressed with the progress he has made over the past year, especially in his elicitation and monitoring skills. It really seems that he's been teaching much longer than just five years!

As usual, I'll be assisting him with lesson planning once I'm back in Japan. Last year, I planned the majority of his reading and listening lessons, as well as the more challenging speaking lessons. After he had read through the plan, he would skype me to discuss any questions. Finally, after he taught the lesson, we had a short skype feedback session to discuss what worked well and what needed to be improved. For this year, I'll be focusing most of my lesson planning on the Intermediate speaking lessons so that Shally can learn new practice and use activities.

Staff Dinner
I finished up my last teaching day at BEA yesterday so that I can have a day to finish up last-minute administrative matters before I head back to Japan. We were finally to have our staff dinner at a suki soup restaurant. This is a type of dish where you can order different types of meats and vegetables, and then they are boiled in a big pot at your table. It was a great way to end the day, and to give a big thanks to the staff for al their hard work.

Back to paperwork...

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an NGO school that provides underprivileged youth with quality English language education in a safe, clean environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Library Program and Profile Design Project

9/9/2011

Hi everyone,

Orientation week is almost over at BEA, but there’s still one more day to go and a lot more for BEA students to do. Orientation lessons have given us a chance to get to know our new students, as well as for them to become comfortable with their new school. Shally noticed in Wednesdays and Thursdays lessons that those students are fitting in well with our continuing students, but still seem a little unsure of who we are and what type of English language education they’ll be getting. Most of our new students have never even been in a building with more than one storey let alone a classroom with air-conditioning. Similar to last year, there is always a period of “accustomization” for the students.

Library Reading Program
On Tuesday, all of our continuing and new students were introduced to our library reading program. During the semester, students are required to read two graded readers on their own. These are books of varying genres that are specifically written for English language learners. As part of our language program, students have one reading lesson per week where they are taught reading strategies to help them understand a reading passage. Shally runs these classes during the semester and monitors the students' progress. In January, students will then participate in a one-week "Book Report" workshop where they will learn how to critically discuss their book and how to write a report about it. I'll be running this workshop while training Shally how to run it as well.

For our library orientation for the Basic course, I introduced the concept of graded readers and how to choose an appropriate level and genre, as well as how to borrow a book from the library. For the orientation for the remaining classes, Shally took over with the help of our librarian Srey Net. This is one of the most important aspects of BEA's teacher training. I will model a lesson, and then Shally will teach the remaining lessons while I observe or assist him. In this way, he'll be able to eventually run teacher training programs himself!

For the remaining part of each lesson, students got about 20 minutes to go through our collection and to note down some interesting titles to borrow from next week. If you would like to know more about our library program, you can view our guidelines at the end of today's posting.

Profile Design Project
In Wednesdays and Thursdays lessons, students got the chance to show off their artistic abilities in our Profile Design Project. This is a small two-day program in which students receive a photo of themselves and then design a small poster to put up in our library. Students got colored paper, markers and pencils crayons to make their posters. Unfortunately, many BEA students who attend public school do not have art as part of the school’s curriculum, so this introductory project is a chance for students to foster their creative talents. They also get to use their artistic talent in our task-based project program, but these require much more work and group cooperation. This small project is therefore a way to ease them into larger projects, which will demand more of their creativity throughout the semester. Furthermore, these profiles help make the students feel a part of BEA and that BEA belongs to them since they can display their work in our library. It’s also a great way for visitors to see our student body during visiting hours.

As usual, I was amazed at the students’ artistic talents, and would eventually like to offer a more permanent program in the future to help develop these talents. Many of the profiles had our bee logo while others had scenes of Angkor Wat and Cambodia’s natural beauty, such as its dense jungles and fresh-water lakes. Shally ran all of these lessons this year, which gave me time to get caught up on administrative work and pop into the classroom to take photos. I noticed that he was also making his own profile poster, which I’ll have to get a photo of later on today. As usual, he put my artistic skills to shame. As my students know very well, I couldn’t draw to save my life!!!

Donation from Mr. Bill McWhorter
We got some fantastic news yesterday about a donation. Mr. Bill McWhorter, the Chief Operating Officer at OCTG, sent us a very generous donation. We are so truly thankful for your generosity and for believing in BEA’s mission. Your support is giving the BEA kids the chance of a better future. A million thanks!!!

Facebook Page
We would also like to thank all of our Facebook friends for clicking “like” on our BEA page so that we could get our own username. Our page can now be viewed publically, and this will help get the word out about the BEA kids and our unique program. Thank you so much for taking the time to help us.

Back to the books…
The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an NGO school that provides underprivileged youth with quality English language education in a safe, clean environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Library Reading Program
File Size:	188 kb
File Type:	pdf

First Day of the 2011-12 BEA School Year

6/9/2011

Hi everyone,

It was a long, hard day yesterday, but so rewarding to welcome our continuing and new students to the 2011-12 school year. The day was incredibly busy, especially for Shally since he had to defend his university thesis in morning! He passed it with flying colors, but there was no time for celebration since we both had to rush off to take care of last minute errands before our first class at 3 o’clock. As usual, I was never able to get everything completed on my never-ending list. There are times when I can have just one single thing on my list, but I can’t even get that done!

In addition to attending Shally’s thesis defense, most of my morning was spent with my printer. I got an early start to get most of our curriculum and daily lesson schedules printed before 8 o’clock – just in case the power was cut. It has a tendency to be cut around 8 o’clock in my neighborhood. However, luck was on my side, and I managed to get all the curriculum manuals printed, as well as the Library Program manual. I also made up our “Getting to Know You” introductions activity for the first-day of class.

Library Program
I went into BEA about an hour before our first class at 3 o’clock to finish labeling the bookshelves with 15 different genre labels. In most cases, we can get the majority of BEA’s supplies in Siem Reap, but things like those labels on bookshelves in libraries cannot be found anywhere here. As usual, I improvised with key rings. I simply cut of the metal key ring and was left with the plastic “label” that had a paper insert. It was actually the perfect fit for the library shelves. We’ve processed all of our books and have them entered in a database now, and students will be able to start borrowing books from this week. Srey Net, BEA’s librarian, will go through just a bit more training later on today on how to sign-out books to students and how to deal with problems, such as lost or damaged books.

First Day of Classes: Getting to Know You
Once 3:00pm rolled around, it was non-stop for both Shally and I until our last class finished at 7:00pm. We now have four courses this year, Basic, two Pre-Intermediate, and Intermediate. For the first part of each lesson, I ran a “Getting to Know You” activity while Shally took over the last half, which he spent explaining BEA’s policy and course guidelines.

For the “Getting to Know You” activity, it was a straightforward introductions activity. Each student received a handout with six blocks. For each one of these blocks, students had to complete the missing information through interviewing six other students. It was a perfect activity because it could be used for different levels. Basic students could complete it because of the simple question-answer format while pre-intermediate and intermediate could expand the activity by asking their own questions. Once students had completed their interviews, Shally called on volunteers to introduce a student they had talked to during the activity. This activity was especially useful for our Basic course since ALL of the students are new to BEA. They got the chance to experience our teaching methods, such as group work and volunteer feedback sessions.

For those interested teachers, the “Getting to Know You” activity has been uploaded at the end of today’s blog comment. It’s a Word document, so you can change it to suit your own students.

First day of Classes: Course Guidelines
For the last half of each lesson, Shally spent the time going through BEA’s policies and the course guidelines. This is one of the most important parts of our orientation week, especially for our new students. This was done in Khmer to make sure that students had no misunderstandings about BEA’s policies and their course. For many new students, BEA’s policies may seem strict, but as the semester goes on, they realize why we have them. In order for students to improve quickly, they have to attend lessons every day from Monday to Friday, and lateness is not tolerated. When students are late, it has a big effect on the learning of our other students. The late student interrupts them in the middle of an activity, and the group has to stop to help them catch up with what they’ve missed during the lesson. Shally and I promise to always be on time, so we have our students make the same promise.

Most students are very surprised at our building since it is similar to what you would find in a developed country, but of course, minus the dust and geckos. We installed an air conditioner in our classroom last March, and such a classroom is a first for all of our students. One of the reasons why students are able to improve is because they are in a comfortable environment. We no longer have to try to keep them awake in 40C heat!

In addition, students are shocked that all of their textbooks, notebooks and writing supplies are free. Similar to last year, students asked Shally during question time…”well, what do you want from us?” At BEA, the answer is quite simple…”just your hard work”.

For those of you who are interested in our course guidelines, I’ve uploaded the guidelines for this year’s Intermediate course at the end of today’s blog posting.

The Rest of the Week
We had a great start to the new school year on our first day of classes. The students will be kept quite busy for the rest of the week with different orientation activities. On Tuesday, we’ll introduce our Library Graded Reader Program to our students. Graded readers are books of various genres that are specially written for learners of English as a foreign language. They have simplified vocabulary and grammar so that language learners can easily understand the story.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we’ll have the students complete a “Library Profile Poster”. They will design a small poster with their photos that will be put in the library. In this way, students feel that they are a part of BEA and it is also an easy way for guests to “meet” our students.

In Friday’s class for the Intermediate and Pre-Intermediate courses, we’ll go through the guidelines for their Cambodian-Japanese Letter Writing Exchange Program. For this program, BEA students will be paired with 53 of my Japanese students at Aoyama Gakuin University, and they’ll exchange 3-4 themed-letters during the semester. More about this program in Friday’s blog…

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an NGO school that provides underprivileged youth with quality English language education in a safe, clean environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Intermediate Course Guidelines
File Size:	450 kb
File Type:	pdf

Getting to Know You
File Size:	81 kb
File Type:	doc

53 New Students Registered

3/9/2011

Hi everyone,

BEA welcomed 53 new students to our school on Thursday, September 1. We now have 93 BEA kids who are early waiting to start classes from this Monday. It was a 5:30am start on Thursday to do a final check of all our documents before I set out to BEA to meet Shally and our staff at 7:30am. When I arrived at BEA, there were already over 150 students who had been waiting well before 7 o'clock to get one of the interview time slot cards. I had expect quite a few students to be waiting before the opening of registration, but I definitely didn't expect such a crowd.

The Registration Numbering System
Overall, our registration process went according to plan, and it was without any of the chaos that we encountered last year. The main reason for this is because we developed a interview numbering system so that we wouldn't have our library overflowing with potential BEA students.

Once registration opened, Shally explained the procedure to all of those waiting. First of all, they had to line-up into two groups: one line for girls and the other for boys. Srey Net, our school librarian and my assistant for the day, handed out evenly-numbered blue cards to the girl. Los, our school's assistant, gave oddly-numbered yellow cards to the boys. In this way, both the boys and girls would have a fair chance at getting a place at BEA.

One of the problems we had last year for registration was that we didn't have an equal ration of boys to girls in our courses. The boys slightly outnumbered the girls. In order to balance this out, we reserved places for girls in each course. For example, in our Intermediate course, we had 10 boys and 6 girls continuing from last year. Therefore, we kept 6 spots for girls and only 2 for the boys, which would give us a gender-balanced classroom of 12 boys and 12 girls.

Once potential students got their cards, they had to check the notice board for their interview time. Cards 1 through 10 would come from 8:00-9:00, cards 11-23 would come from 9:00-10:00, and so on. Students could then return for their interview time later in the day rather than waiting around for hours. Because of this, our security guard, Net, had a much easier job monitoring the 10 students in the library and the bicycles outside the school.

Registration with Shally
After the potential student arrived for his/her interview time, Shally called each one for an interview. First, he gave a short explanation about BEA to the student and then assessed his/her English level. Once he determined the level, either Basic, Pre-Intermediate or Intermediate, he asked the student if he/she could come at the designated course time. Once this was finalized, he completed the first part of our school's data base, which included questions about date of birth, education and reasons for study. Shally then gave them a colored-coded course card and sent upstairs to complete the second part of the registration with me.

Registration with Nicole
The reason we divided the interview process into two parts was to decrease the interview time with Shally. Last year, some interviews took as long as 20 minutes, which meant students had to wait even longer for their interview. Both Shally and I were working on the same data base spreadsheets, so at the end of the day, all we had to do was merge them together.

For the second part of the interview, I asked students for their place of birth, the address, and information about their parents. The reason why I got the place of birth and address questions is that they take the longest to answer because students in most cases don't know how to spell Cambodian place names in English. Giving me these questions allowed Shally to process the students much more quickly this year. I also had Deny working with me during the day to help with interpreting for the basic level students. Students then got their photo taken for their ID badges and for school projects. Finally, they were give a "reminder card" telling them when to come to their first class on September 5.

Library Program Training
Between student interviews, I was also training Srey Net, our school's librarian, on our library program. She spent the entire day processing all of our graded readers, which consisted of placing pockets and cards in the back of each card, and making book column labels. We'll have our library up and running by the first day of class. Students will also receive a "library program orientation" lesson during the first week of classes.

New Students
By the time four o'clock rolled around, we had registered 53 new students to BEA. We now have a total of 93 students for the 2011-12 school year, with 43 of those continuing from last year. Both Shally and I are so very forward to our second year at BEA. We definitely met some "superstars" during registration, and can't wait to help them learn.

Now, the hard work begins...

The Bayon English Academy (BEA) is an NGO school that provides underprivileged youth with quality English language education in a safe, clean environment in Siem Reap, Cambodia.