Model teachers motivate students

September 16, 2018

Inspiring illustrations:

Teachers at TWGHs Ko Teck Kin Memorial Kindergarten use picture books to teach their students communication skills.

Colourful interpretations:

Teachers ask their students to design their own elephants after they read a story about one.

Sporting hybrid:

Dodgebee originated in Taiwan and is a combination of the games dodgeball and frisbee.

Mixing it up:

HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.1 Secondary School uses STEM education to teach traditional subjects.

Download Video| Transcript

Voiceover:
Ask most children what their favourite part of school is and they’re likely to say playtime.

One of the rare opportunities where teachers can get children to keep still and listen is during story time.

Instead of text books, teachers at this kindergarten use picture books to educate their students in the six Kindergarten Education Curriculum areas: “Physical Fitness & Health”, “Language”, “Early Childhood Mathematics”, “Nature & Living”, “Self & Society” and “Arts & Creativity”.
	
TWGHs Ko Teck Kin Memorial Kindergarten teacher May Lee (Translation):
We used to teach subjects separately. Teaching Chinese in Chinese lessons, English in English lessons. Now, we use an integrated way to teach through picture books. Based on the stories in the books, we design different activities and games for the students.

Voiceover:
After reading this picture book about an elephant with rainbow-coloured, patchwork skin, the teachers asked the children to design their own elephants. They also played different musical rhythms for their elephants’ parade.

TWGHs Ko Teck Kin Memorial Kindergarten teacher Polly Wong (Translation):
They learn different skills through these games and activities, for example, art, music and communication skills. They are very creative. They can also express themselves through their work.

May Lee (Translation):
Like the elephant in the story, some children may not know how to appreciate their own unique character. This story can also show them that everyone is different and we should accept diversity.

Polly Wong (Translation):
I am glad to see them expressing their feelings. One of my students, who is usually quiet and passive, showed a different side of herself through the activities. She was happy to share her feelings with other students and even her family after school. 

Voiceover:
Judging from all these sports prizes, it would be difficult to believe that the students who won them actually did not enjoy physical education classes a few years ago.

HKTA Ching Chung Secondary School teacher Ma Ka-chun (Translation):
On one occasion, half of my class did not bring their sports uniform and had to skip the physical education lesson. They did not see PE as a “serious” subject and thought they couldn’t learn anything from it.

Voiceover:
Mr Ma believes there are different reasons why some students are not keen on taking up sport.

Ma Ka-chun (Translation):
They experienced failure and rejection when they were primary students. Some of them were already well-trained and joined the school badminton or basketball teams. While other students thought they just weren’t good enough to play sports. They might have had a negative experience of being teased or rejected by others.

Voiceover:
In a bid to encourage such kids to enjoy sport, Mr Ma introduced some less conventional activities to them.

Ma Ka-chun (Translation):
Dodgebee originated in Taiwan. It’s a combination of dodgeball and frisbee. The Dodgebee disc is soft and light, so it’s suitable for both boys and girls. You don’t need to be physically strong to play and you can easily win if your technique is good enough.

Voiceover:
Dodgebee was a completely new experience for the students who were all beginners and had to learn the skills to play it together. It gradually helped to boost their confidence.

Student Anson Lai (Translation):
I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder which made me feel inferior in the learning environment. When I started playing Dodgebee, I found I was better at it than I thought I would be.

Voiceover:
The teachers not only inspire their students to take up sports, but show them how to train properly too.

HKTA Ching Chung Secondary School teacher Yu Chi-hang (Translation):
I want to teach them how, not tell them what to do. I took them to different training sessions to demonstrate how physically strong members of the Hong Kong team are. When they saw how strong the athletes are, they wanted to be the same, so they would try their best during training.

Voiceover:
A smart water filter with a water quality monitoring function, a smart pillow that can improve sleep, and a gas detector - all of these ingenious devices were invented by youngsters. 

HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.1 Secondary School Principal Willy Kan (Translation):
Technology is not only about programming a computer. You need knowledge of different areas to invent something. STEM can train students to integrate what they have learnt from different subjects and turn it into a real product.

Voiceover:
The Information Technology teachers at this school educate not only their students, but fellow teachers too.

HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.1 Secondary School teacher Jeff Lee (Translation):
Technology can help boost students’ interest in learning different subjects. For example, they need to spell in English lessons, which they may not enjoy. But spelling can be fun if we use AR technology to show the letters and pictures on a tablet.

HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.1 Secondary School teacher Kwok Chun-ting (Translation):
Other teachers may not know how to make use of technology, so we teach them how to use these programmes during teacher training days. 

Voiceover:
A common misconception about STEM education is that students sit in front of a computer all day, but they do venture out of the classroom. These students were taught how to use panoramic cameras and virtual reality to showcase the different landmarks at the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus. Shooting footage, video editing, writing scripts and recording voice overs, they acquired a different set of skills in this lesson.

HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.1 Secondary School teacher Eric Kwan (Translation):
We used to give the students worksheets to teach Chinese. It makes a big difference when I ask them the same questions through using games on a tablet.

Voiceover:
Mr Kwan added the trend of using technology as a teaching tool means educators need to update their skills and knowledge as well. The satisfaction of seeing their students improve over time, gives teachers the best motivation to keep learning too.

In a continually changing and increasingly demanding social environment, educators are faced with the challenge of keeping up with those changes as they prepare students for life in a modern society.

Three groups of kindergarten and secondary school teachers have been recognised with the Chief Executive’s Award for Teaching Excellence for implementing effective teaching practices and for their dedication to the profession.

Starting young

Instead of text books, teachers at the TWGHs Ko Teck Kin Memorial Kindergarten use picture books to educate their students in the six Kindergarten Education Curriculum learning areas: Physical Fitness & Health, Language, Early Childhood Mathematics, Nature & Living, Self & Society and Arts & Creativity.

During one class, the students were shown a picture book about an elephant with rainbow-coloured, patchwork skin. The children designed their own elephants and played different musical rhythms for their elephants’ parade. Through such an enjoyable medium, the youngsters were able to enhance their artistic, musical and communication skills.

Teacher, Polly Wong noticed that some students who were usually shy and passive in class, were brought out of their shell through these activities.

Cultivating sporting prowess

For some older students at The Hong Kong Taoist Association Ching Chung Secondary School, physical education class was not high up on their list of priorities - that is, until their school teams started winning competitions.

Teacher, Ma Ka-chun noted some of his students were already well-trained and joined the badminton or basketball teams, while other students believed they were not good enough to play sports, as a result of having a past negative experience of being teased or rejected by others.

In a bid to encourage such kids to enjoy sport, Mr Ma introduced some less conventional activities to them such as dodgebee. Originating from Taiwan, it combines dodgeball and frisbee. Dodgebee was a completely new experience for the students who were all beginners and had to learn the skills to play it together. This gradually helped to boost their confidence.

“I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder which made me feel inferior in the learning environment. When I started playing dodgebee, I found I was better at it than I thought I would be,” said student Anson Lai.

Tech teaching

A smart water filter with a water quality monitoring function, a smart pillow that can improve sleep, and a gas detector - all of these ingenious devices were invented by youngsters at HKTA The Yuen Yuen Institute No.1 Secondary School. The school uses Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics or STEM teaching to train its students to integrate what they have learnt in the classroom into real life.

“Technology is not only about programming a computer. You need knowledge of different areas to invent something,” said Principal Willy Kan.

A common misconception about STEM education is that students sit in front of a computer all day, but they do venture out of the classroom. Some of the students were taught how to use panoramic cameras and virtual reality to showcase the different landmarks at the Chinese University of Hong Kong campus. Through shooting footage, video editing, writing scripts and recording voice overs, they acquired a different set of skills.

Teacher, Eric Kwan noted the trend of using technology as a teaching tool means educators also need to update their skills and knowledge to keep up. He added the satisfaction of seeing the students improve over time, gives teachers the best motivation to keep learning too.