What's the purpose of learning a language? To be politically correct, we would probably say something like, "Of course, to be able to communicate in that language.", even though in reality, we don't provide opportunities or deliberately ignore the importance of it because of this test-driven mindset.
It's been the second time to work with The College of Extension Education of National Changhua University of Education, NCUE, on this filming project for my third and fourth English teaching videos. The main idea is that English teachers can learn and benefit from the videos of this project online as part of the in-service training program of the Ministry of Education. These two dedicated videos of "Superlatives" and "Simple Past" were demonstrated with a variety of activities based on the principles of Task Based Learning, which emphasizing the meaningful application of the language in a context.
I hadn't been a
homeroom teacher for three years when I took on the position as full-time
advisor of the English Advisory Group, and I found this job was quite demanding
but also rewarding. I tried some interesting activities in this class that I
used to think they were only for more advanced learners. However, my NORMAL
students have already proved they can be as motivated and willing to learn to
USE English as their gifted counterparts.
Ever since I
decided to leave my previous position as full-time advisor of the English
Advisory Group and go back to KMJH to be a homeroom teacher again, I've turned
down many offers to share my English teaching at workshops because I can't just
take official leave that often as I used to. However, as soon as I got the
invitation to do "Teaching English in a Big Class with Mixed
Abilities" with native-speaking English teachers, I immediately said yes
because I got to speak lots of English.
With this second Skype exchange with Toshi’s students, we
experienced using English to introduce KMJH and Taichung, complete with a
section of Readers Theater performance and the viral PPAP from Japan. Also,
thanks to their counterparts’ hard work, we also got to know some fun facts
about Japanese sports day, school festivals and clubs.
My
students brainstormed some interesting topics to present, including Kuang
Ming’s brief history, stories of the cornerstone (奠基石) and the Land Temple (土地公廟), lunch menu and lunch break,
and even Principal Hu’s motto. They created mind maps to better materialize
what they wanted to present. Furthermore, they also came up with relevant key
vocab and expressions that were in line with their assigned topics and then
completed their scripts and PPT slides.
The
layout of my updated Skype turned out a bit messy. 10 minutes into the session,
I still couldn’t find the “Share Screen” icon and that really gave me a fright.
I was clueless and even more nervous after Skype crashed quite a few times. How
horrifying it was! Luckily, it went back to normal all of a sudden so that we
didn’t have to cancel it.
10
minutes before the end of the today’s meeting, I prompted my students to do a
bit of their RT performance. The Wicked Witch and the Narrator reluctantly came
to the camera because they were shy and blushed, but they did an amazing job by
bringing the character alive with their perfect English pronunciation and
intonation. Also, totally on a whim, I asked whether they would like to do PPAP
for their Japanese partners, and so they did. We were all amused.
Of
course, it still left a lot to be desired. For example, some students really
have to speak up, and some talked too fast. Also, some of them were just
reading their scripts. Despite all that, isn’t it the whole idea of this Skype
English exchange, to provide an authentic environment for students to speak
English and learn to appreciate cultural differences? For that, Toshi, let’s do
it again, shall we?
A gorgeous Russian
TV presenter and radio host visited KMJH and shared her secret to success. I
got to experience a bit of what it's like to be an interpreter. Of course, the
students once again learned to appreciate cultural differences through English.
The purpose of
session 1 is to help my students and their Japanese counterparts from Tokyo Metropolitan Tama High School of Science and Technology get to know
each other and also prepare for the following group presentation sessions about
some shared issues. Collaborative lesson planning is instrumental in making it
happen, so I've closely with my partners, Toshi and Rhi, developed lesson plans, worksheets, and a
checklist. Prior to this session, we went over some details of equipment and
step-by-step procedures.
Well, It’s quite
demanding but definitely rewarding as well when seeing my students speaking and
listening to a lot of English attentively. On top of that, two classrooms were
virtually connected, with students from both sides so engaged throughout the
whole session. My partner also told me that four other colleges of his came to
participate and said many good things about the session. What a pleasant
surprise!
OMG! We did it. Of
all the candidates, only six received the award and won a one hundred thousand
TWD grant from the British Council Taiwan and Education Bureau of Taichung City
Government. All the sweat and tears going into this Skype Exchange Project
finally paid off.
Under the
framework of Identity and Belonging, we developed an action plan in the hope to
create an authentic environment for the students not only to use the language
but experience cultural differences. I cannot thank Akiko Kubo enough for her
determination and dedication to this project.
When I became a
husband and a father of two, I started to think that studying abroad would be
just a dream. I never wanted to be an irresponsible man who could abandon his
family and leave his job in order to satisfy his personal desire. Things have
changed when I learned that the Ministry of Education was going to subsidize
English teachers to study in Australia for five weeks. I felt the door to
complete my “unfinished business” finally opened and I tried so hard to be
admitted. I was jealous of my colleagues who pursued their master’s degree in
the United Kingdom but not until I was with the other amazing English teachers
from Taiwan to study TESOL in Brisbane, Australia.
Two Wonderful Roommates
The honeymoon
period was undoubtedly enjoyable during the first days of my stay in Brisbane.
I had two wonderful roommates. We shared a quite small room but their
friendliness created a warm atmosphere inside. We would go to school together,
shop together and cook our own food together. Just like any kind of adventure,
our beginning was never easy. We had to learn how to get economical during our
stay in Brisbane. It was all shared effort and through that we managed to save
up to seven dollars every day. We got on a free ferry and inter-campus shuttle
after a few days of trial and error.
The Beauty of Brisbane
For many times,
I missed home. However, the beauty of Brisbane has caused me some distractions as
its breathtaking tourist spots around the city would entice me to move around.
With the variety of gourmet food I could try at the Sunday Riverside markets
and South Bank markets on Saturday night, I felt like roaming around Taiwan's
night market. Other captivating sights can be seen at the Gallery of Modern
Art, the State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Art Gallery, and the
Queensland Museum in South Bank. Even I who was not so enthusiastic about art
could not easily get my eyes away from what they had inside. By taking a trip
on the City Cat ferry, that could carry commuters and visitors up and down the
Brisbane River, which winds its way through the City and suburbs, my classmates
and I would just add more convenience.
The Orientation
The most
important part of my trip to Brisbane started in 3 days. In that training
program, participants were expected to gain a new perspective and some
innovative skills on English teaching. The first week was more like an
orientation. We applied for our ID card, got the username and password, and
learned to use it to have access to the library of the Queensland University of
Technology or QUT. Moreover, they shared a brief introduction to
Australia—their culture, family life, land territory, and about the
aboriginals. Classes were conducted in a more student-centered way, mainly with
group discussion and even some hands-on activities wherein participants of this
program must actively engage in sharing their ideas with the group in English.
I thought of it as a great opportunity for us to refine our communication
skills. By the end of the whole program, we had to submit our project report.
They introduced us the basics of the Independent Study that all participants
should apply in deciding on a specific topic related to an actual problem
encountered in the classroom and they gave us a tour of the library to know how
we could efficiently make use of it while working on our report. The project
was the reflection of what we learned and they hoped our new ideas and
developed or improved skills would benefit students in Taiwan.
With this semester
coming to an end soon, I'd really like my students to have one more opportunity
to speak English with the help of Albert, who I've been practicing speaking
with for the past two years. By making video calls via Skype, the students worked
in groups of two or three, doing self-introduction and talking about their
hobbies, favorite subjects, food and so on, complete with describing
interesting pictures in English.
I've been
practicing speaking English one on one via Skype over eight years. I've also
been to Brisbane for a dedicated TESOL program subsidized by the MOE for five
weeks. On top of that, I've been lucky enough to attend the Global English
workshop in Seoul, meeting many wonderful English teachers from neighboring
Asian countries. The point is that I really, really enjoy both using English to
express myself and getting to meet people outside of Taiwan and their cultures.
Can I also create an authentic environment that my students will be motivated
to use the language? Well, at least to have a glimpse of what it's like without
leaving the country?
I have been doing
lots of sharing at workshops and teaching demonstrations at different schools.
However, today it was the first time that I shared and displayed some
achievements in front of all the ninth graders in the very auditorium of my own
school. Based on my perspective of how they responded, I think I did a good job
today.
This
tenth teaching demonstration of mine was performed at MingjianJunior High School
on May 21. By the request of the event planner, the main idea was to create
opportunities for students to USE English and to showcase how activities can be
set up also using the language as well. In other words, it was more like an
English camp, which I was given total freedom to decide on what to teach and
enjoyed watching students busy applying what they've learned from textbooks. Teaching
procedures are stated as bold and highlighted:
The goal of this
class is very simple: to have the students use the language and get to know
more about other cultures. Thanks to Professor Meei-ling Liaw and her
assistant, Jessica, I got to invite three international students of NTCU, Jacklyn, Joyce, and Rachel, to come to my class and do cultural exchange
about Malaysian food, tourist attractions, and traditional costumes. The agenda
is stated as follows:
Three years ago, I
embarked on this great journey of gradually reinventing my ways of teaching
with ideas and techniques from Cooperative Learning, Task Based Learning,
lesson planning with ABCD objectives, to name just a few. I kept on trying out
new strategies in my own class, microteaching, and teaching demonstrations. Of
course, some worked so well, but some didn't. However, I've learned a great
deal through this trial and error and eventually found a pattern that not only
suits me so well but helps achieve the goal of getting students to talk in
English.
Ever since I
learned how to use Screencastify at the workshop a few weeks ago, I've been
thinking about how I can also get my students to practice English with it.
Then, I introduced them some famous teen YouTubers and their videos for the
next project, Self-Introduction in English. To motivate their interest of
learning, I also told them that they could showcase their talents, introduce
their hobbies or pets, and anything like that. As usual, they came up with the
script first, and then I helped revise it.
This is the 9th teaching demonstration outside of my school, with
students I've never met before and all the English teachers there sitting in
the back. Words are difficult to describe how I feel now. Well, let's just say
I am completely blown away.
Due to
this national policy of promoting Cooperative Learning throughout all the
junior high schools in the country, I get to travel to many schools to not only share what
I've learned related to this teaching approach but observe other teachers'
classes and give my professional feedback and suggestions. When it comes to
classroom observation, I probably have done this over twenty times, gaining
plenty of experience and STEALING many brilliant ideas from it as well. So,
I've developed my own framework of participation and discussion in terms of Cooperative Learning, jotting down
everything, including the highlights, my questions and suggestions, to share with all
the participants right after the teaching demonstration.
Before Demonstration
I'll tell
the event planner that I'm really willing to help check the teacher's lesson
plan prior to the real performance if that's fine with him or her. Of course,
this is not mandatory, but if I do
Creating an
authentic environment for my students to speak the language and get to
experience cultural exchanges are always the main ideas throughout this course
of International Education. Toshi, a Japanese English teacher who is also a
Global English alumni of the UO AEI, came to visit me during his trip to Taiwan
this February. We toured places including 刑務演武場, 光明國中, 逢甲夜市 and 東豐自行車道. It was such a pleasant experience for me
to introduce the beauty of Taichung to Toshi in English, and I also gained new
perspectives from his points of view. What if I could duplicate what I learned
and extend Toshi's visit to benefit my students by getting them to make oral
presentations about the same tourist attractions?
I shared the
process and progress of how the English Advisory Group strived to promote
Professional Learning Community and collaborative lesson planning to the junior
high English teachers by sharing all the hard work of every member on our
official website, including lesson plans, worksheets and reflections as well.
On top of that, by doing microteaching and teaching demonstrations at many
schools in Taichung, we didn't just walk the walk but engaged the participants
with genuine teaching activities that can be applied in the classroom.
"Our teacher
told us this was the last time we spoke to Akiko's students. We wanted to give
them a surprise. We shouted "Happy Graduation" out loud in Japanese
together, and they seemed a bit shocked and also quite glad to hear it.";
"I come to realize English is absolutely a magical tool for communication
because we can talk about so much with each other without worrying about making
mistakes."; "I felt a lot less stressed speaking to them in English today.
I tried to say whatever came to my mind even though my spoken English was not
very good at all." Well, I just can read their reflection and comments
again and again with a smile on my face while also reliving some of the very
unforgettable moments during the two-hour session, which is exactly the driving
force that will keep me going no matter what.
I still remember
vividly how I made up my mind and determined to take on the position as
Full-time Advisor about three years ago, which totally turned over a new leaf
in my life. This job requires me mainly to organize workshops for the whole
junior high English teachers here in Taichung. It takes lots of time and energy
on paperwork, meetings, phone calls, and sometimes even difficult negotiations,
to get the job done. However, when looking back, I would definitely say it is
all worth it and rewarding because I've tapped some very unlikely potential.
This is actually the second time that I attended
the TBL workshop by the British Council. The first one helped me a lot understand how the ideas and
techniques of this communicative approach take shape in the real world. It’s
really good I can refresh my memory and also gain new perspectives in terms
of TBL, especially I know I’m on the right track after briefly talking about one of my TBL lesson plans with the Director English, Jamie. Also, he kindly offered some very useful suggestions of differentiating some of the activities in the main tasks :
All the activities
were set up using only English as the medium of instruction. The whole idea is
to create an environment where students have to work in groups and complete all
the tasks targeting travel English, including how to go through customs, take public
transportation, check in at a hotel, order food at a restaurant, and so on in English. Of
course, making French toast is always a popular activity which engages all the
students while also helping them pick up some useful English expressions.
Here are 6 activities used in the course.
It is my honor and pleasure today to film for the “Teaching Demonstration Project” with the National Changhua University of Education. The idea is to demonstrate some innovative teaching strategies targeting reading and grammar in textbooks for all the junior high English teachers. On top of that, it is also my privilege to work with those lovely students in雅心書軒for the very first time after its unveiling ceremony at PHJH.
The movie, Our Times (我的少女時代), is a blockbuster describing memories of
Truly Lin’s high-school-years (林真心), with her struggles to become pretty and popular.
It also nostalgically recalls romantic events and puppy love affair with a bad
boy in the 1990s. The theme song, A Little Happiness (小幸運), has quickly gone viral on You Tube with more
than 45 million views. Today, I decided to develop a worksheet and a few activities
revolving around an
English cover version with beautifully rewritten lyrics.
