Weekend getaway

On Saturday morning I took the bus to HCMC and met up with Violet, Brittanye, and Kelly. After a delicious home-cooked lunch of utterly western burgers at the house of a consular employee who is a friend of a friend, Violet and I went looking for a tailor. Lam had given me the address of a good tailor outside of downtown, outside of the tourist area. Unfortunately, when our taxi deposited us at the given address, there was neither a tailor nor any of Lam's other landmarks in sight. After doing some wandering and asking around, Violet and I gave up on the quest, and just went shopping instead. It was raining in torrential spurts, so the shopping helped us stay dry. We didn't buy anything; we just partook of the ritual of trying on clothes that will never fit, central to life as a shopping-inclined westerner in Vietnam.

We stopped at a smoothie place and I had the best (only) avocado smoothie I've had in a long long time. Vincent, who teaches with Violet in Tra Vinh, and several of their students met us there, and then we all went back downtown. We went out for a few drinks and then went to dinner. After our western pizza dinner we went to a Vietnamese place for more food. We had a great time, and it was interesting to see how precocious and adventurous the Tra Vinh students are compared to mine.

Despite our late night out on Saturday, we got up at a decent time on Sunday and went to English mass at the cathedral. It was nice to go to church, even nicer to go with friends, and even nicer to be able to understand the language being spoken. After lunch we went to brunch at an American restaurant that actually felt like being and eating in America. So many times, western food just isn't quite right, which is why most of the time I prefer to eat good Vietnamese food rather than an approximation of American food that will never really satisfy my craving. But this food was good.

After that it was time to come back to Ben Tre. Violet and Vincent had gone to HCMC on Vincent's motorbike, and since Ben Tre is halfway between there and home, they stopped for a few hours in Ben Tre on the way back. We went out to dinner together and enjoyed some local specialties that I only get to eat when I have company. They also got to try some sweet Ben Tre coconuts before getting back on the road.

On Wednesday, the last USA class, I gave out course evaluations. One of the questions I asked was "What did you think about the quizzes?" I was very curious whether my students would feel that they were helpful, too difficult, or what. Here are some of the replies I got:

• I don't like quizzes because there is less time to remember the lesson. And the quizz that is immediate will not be good.
• It is pretty difficult but after the quizzes we can remember something from lessons.
• They are useful and necessary.
• The first, I think it help me developing my writing skill. The second, according to the quizzes, I can test my ability, my knowledge, my understood after readed material.
• I thought the quizzes were a good way of measuring my understanding of the material so that I could try more. 
• I think it's very necessary. It help us can express our opinion.
• I like doing quizzes after finishing the lesson. I can summarize what I learn in the class. I think the quizzes is very useful. If I can't understand the material clearly, but (after) when doing the quizzed I can know the main ideas or special line.
• I think it's not difficult and not easy too. But I must try more to get good marks.
• Quizzes are very important and necessary. It focuses on main points. They help me consolidate what I learn and test my knowledge on it.

"What is something the teacher did very well?" Got several replies like this one:

• Explaining the reading and materials clearly; preparing for lesson (techniques, photocopied papers, teaching devices); be friendly, kind, lovely

"What lessons or activities did you like? Why?":

• I like the revision games in the last lesson because it helped me remember the lesson and I felt very interesting.
• Game and work group because it help more interesting when I learning and it help improve many skills.
•  I'm very happy about spotlight on the U.S.A. Through the course I know more about the U.S. (people culture, states,...)
• I like work in group (speaking). Work in group, I can talk about my idea. 
• I like discussing in groups and answering teacher's question. I like the way which teacher describe something for us. I mean: body language.
• I like work in groups because I can discuss with my friends, I will solve matters quickly. And I feel more comfortable and confident.

I was happy to see that the students' response to the quizzes was largely positive. Of course I am a teacher and quizzes are a teaching tool, but with the quizzes' rocky start, I felt some level of guilt about implementing them. The students' replies showed me that they could see why I had quizzes, and the quizzes accomplished what I intended. I had also been curious about students' thought about how often we did group work (almost every class). I asked them if they liked group work and solo work in the first section of the evaluation, where students circled a number, ranging from 1 - strongly disagree to 5 - strongly agree. All students agreed with the statement "I like it when we work in groups" and most students disagreed with "I prefer to work alone." I was grateful that several students chose to address this further in their answers to the open ended questions, as you can see above. Students saw group work as an opportunity to practice speaking, help or learn from their friends, and get more comfortable with the material.

In the additional comments section, one student wrote, "I think we should have more periods with American teacher in a week." Another said, "I love to do with Adelina, teacher. I hope she can stay more time in Vietn Nam." I'd call that very positive feedback.