Teaching has been such an adventure in Vietnam. Seeing the difference in teaching English, different classroom managements and seeing teacher-student relationships have been so amazing to witness and experience. I continue to be amazed with the different games the teacher creates for their students on PowerPoint. Students develop a sense of joy seeing the various games we bring in and become so eager to participate and earn points. I had never thought that we could create games on PowerPoints! Bowling, Mole Hunt and Brown Squirrel and Acorn were a few games that I found interesting within my teachers slides. However, within these games I believe having motion within their learning is essential within a classroom. Therefore, I add another element to these games where students are told to hit the board with a toy hammer to tell me the answer. For example, I would put a, b, c on the board and have 1 student from each group come up in front of the class. On my count, the students must run up to the board and hit the letter with their hammer. Whoever is correct and/or first gets the point. This provides students with extra enjoyment in addition to movement within their learning.
Although the slides are colorful and creative, I believe having something written on the board is effective for their learning. While we are learning new concepts I take the time to rewrite what’s on the slides on the black board. Additionally, if I have colorful chalks, I try to color code my word so that students can easily understand the content.
Apart from teaching within classrooms and spending time with students, we were given the opportunity to join the grade 5 class on a field trip to VinWonders in Hoi An. Students were so happy to see us join them on their trip and we were equally excited. A tour guide was appointed to each section. VinWonders was a mixture between an amusement park, zoo and river safari. We were in the zoo and river safari section of the area and it was so interesting to see the layout be so different from Calgary. There was a small section where we got to see a few animals and enjoy playing on swings and in the river safari we got to go on a boat and observe all the different animals in the open. It was so nice to see the different animals! My favorite was the monkey because I got to see it swing on a rope! After enjoying the zoo, the tour guide took us to a resort where the students and teachers were provided with lunch! As soon as lunch finished, the students were given 2 hours to play around in the area. They got to sing, dance and play with balloons and confetti. While the students were enjoying their time, teachers got the opportunity to enjoy the resort. We took the time to explore the area. Our teachers then invited us to take group photos! This was such an interesting time spent because we made videos and took so many pictures to capture the beautiful memories! It was cool to see how field trips in Vietnam are different in comparison to Calgary. Tour guides are appointed to take the students on the field trip where teachers act as the chaperone while in Calgary parents are invited to be the chaperons.
After the field trip, Hiba and I decided to stay in Hoi An for the weekend. It was such an amazing experience as we got to enjoy the “Memory Show” that is an outdoor theatrical play done each day. A story of Hoi An was presented and all the actors and props were fabulous. My teacher had recommended that we see the show and we were so glad we got the opportunity to do so. We also went to do another cooking class with Mimi and she was so happy to see we came back to enjoy another session. Although we made similar items, the atmosphere was so amazing which made the experience so beautiful. Mimi was such an amazing individual who taught us to cook Vietnamese cuisine and I would recommend everyone to go and check her out when in Hoi An!
Hoi A was a nice get away, however we were excited to go back to the school to volunteer. This is because we were invited to become judges in an English competition. The school conducts various competitions and assemblies where students can present their English speaking skills. Being able to judge them based on their presentation, pronunciation, content and the time spent was a unique experience! There are 2 weeks held for the English competition and each TAB individual has been separated to judge a certain aspect of the competition. Seeing all the students present their English skills was so amazing as we got to see the impact we as teachers are making on students as they develop their second language skills.
The experiences and memories have been so amazing overall and it is said to see the time fly by so fast! There are only 2 weeks till I go back and I already know that I will miss Vietnam and the students.