光明-安土 Meet Video Conferencing Exchange

Over 250 Taiwanese and Japanese students experienced promoting the beauty of their hometowns in English, along with school life and cultural difference exchanges in four international virtual exchange sessions

 

The ISA Project of KMJH

The International School Award by British Council Taiwan and Taichung Education Bureau focuses primarily on curriculum design and implementation regarding international education. We won the award back in 2016 and are now working on winning the upgraded version this school year. To achieve this goal, a group of subject teachers, like social studies, Chinese, English, living technology, etc., formed a professional learning community to develop action plans and teaching resources.

 

Through step-by-step guided writing, all eighth graders finished their scripts to describe a famoushistoric building or tourist spot, such as Taichung Railway Station, Taichung Second Market, The National Library of Public Information, and so on in simple English. Following that, they just have to make simple PPT slides to go with their scripts, and they’ll be good to go for virtual online exchange with their counterparts in Japan and Korea.

 

International Collaboration between Partner Schools   

The most critical part of the ISA project would be international collaborations. Schools outside of Taiwan need to work for the same theme, engage students in video conferencing exchanges, and promote critical thinking that leads to actions to make a change in the real world.

 

This is exactly my share of responsibility for the project. Under the topic of the mix of the old and new beauty of Taichung, I teamed up with teachers from 2 Korean and 3 Japanese middle schools and made numerous Zoom, Meet, and Skype sessions happen. The purpose was to provide every eighth-grade class an opportunity to experience what it was like to put their scripts into practice.   

 

PPT Presentation Practice

First of all, I created a Google Classroom for speakers from each class to join. They had to check on the messages I posted there. Then, for five nights in a row, the students and I were practicing for their presentations. They learned to use screen sharing to present their slides. I then made sure their voice was loud and clear for the Japanese participants. It came on such short notice, so I did not correct their errors as long as they got their points across.

 

Azuchi Junior High School

I’ve been working with my Japanese counterparts in the school on video conferencing exchanges since 2018. Professor Takashima of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies helped introduce our partnership. The goal is to create an authentic environment for students to feel the need and have fun using English.

 

During the four Meet sessions, the Japanese students talked about the history and cultural significance of Azuchi. They also showcased some famous tourist spots near the school. On top of that, they also did storytelling and solo singing.

 

The ALT and I exchanged ideas about accent and our Japan experiences. We should not let our English accents hold us back when speaking English. It’s perfectly normal for our students to have an accent. It’s part of our identity.

 

Finally, I’d like to say thank you to Fumiya for his hard work to reschedule and the back-and-forth text messages. Of course, without the director of the Academic Office, I couldn’t enjoy this great opportunity with the four assigned classes. Principal Hu also participated in these sessions to show her support. Last but not least, two English teachers helped pick their students as representative speakers.