Inspiring Teachers of English Award

Award Ceremony 2012

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:37:54 +0000

Jointly presented by the Speak Good English Movement and The Straits Times and supported by the Ministry of Education, the Inspiring Teacher of English Award honours English teachers who have inspired a love for the English Language in their students and fellow teachers/colleagues.

This year, a total of 63 teachers were nominated for the award by their students, parents and fellow teachers.

The fifth Inspiring Teacher of English Award ceremony was held at The Pod at the National Library Building on 16 October 2012. The winners, their schools’ principals, friends and family gathered at the cosy ceremony which celebrated their efforts and contributions towards the teaching of the English language.

Mr Lawrence Wong, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, graced the ceremony as Guest-of-Honour.

Mr Goh Eck Kheng, Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement, delivered the welcome address. He thanked the teachers for their efforts in improving the standard of English and being good role models to their fellow teachers.

In line with the Speak Good English Movement’s 2012/13 message –“Make Good English Stick”, Mr Goh also reminded the teachers to “set the tone of spoken English in school by using Standard English when they speak with colleagues – and not just students – even in informal situations”.

Our Guest of Honour, SMS Lawrence Wong, added on to say in his speech that English teachers are role models that make us aware that we can all develop confidence in using English well if we use the language regularly and are open to further developing our language abilities.

He told the 100-strong crowd, “We must use the language with a genuine desire to do better, humility to learn from others, and a willingness to practise consistently.”

Brandon Hirokazu Kobayashi from Innova Junior College, performed his winning YMCA Plain English Speaking Awards speech, titled “Love Makes a Difference”. His heartfelt speech, which was inspired by a visit to Dignity Kitchen was met with rousing applause.

The 9 recipients of the Inspiring Teacher of English Award 2012 were then presented with a trophy each and a personal cash award. Their schools’ principals were also present to share this significant moment with them, accepting a plaque on behalf of their schools.

Mr Muhammad Ahmad (Tanjong Katong Girls’ School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:34:25 +0000

Ahmad enjoys using references from media and pop culture to enliven his class of teenagers. In a lesson teaching the usage of similes and metaphors, he created videos, including his own original video mash ups, of examples in music and film to allow his students to learn in a context familiar to them. Ahmad also designed the “Graphic Novel Project” as a platform to encourage higher order thinking, teach visual literacy as well as elements of drama such as tableaux. An active user of ICT where appropriate, his students used Google Docs while working on the Project, allowing them to engage in real time collaborative work.

Ms Chia Hui Ping (Nanyang Girls’ High School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:33:10 +0000

Hui Ping’s approach to teaching is simple: love what you are learning, learn along with your studentsThe ability to think and write well, analyse and express an idea lucidly and rigorously is a gift , and she has taken steps in her career to help students realise that.This has led Hui Ping to pilot, plan and write the school’s Philosophy curriculum. Philosophy has benefited her students in developing logical thinking habits which have greatly contributed to their skills in oral presentation, exposition writing and tackling Stimulus Response Question tasks. Hui Ping also incorporates ICT tools, audio visual aids, kinaesthetic and oral activities in her lessons to cater to the needs of all kinds of learners in her classroom.

Mr Jared Quek (Fuhua Secondary School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:31:39 +0000

One of the main beliefs that shape Jared’s teaching is that language teaching is enhanced if it is integrated with the teaching of thinking skills and moral reasoning. For example, Jared tasks his class to craft and critique cause-effect chains of action when creating a story so that they can discover their own logical flaws in terms of story progression, a skill that his students can also apply to other subjects. Another example would be Jared’s “Walk-the-Talk” programme that requires students to tackle a fictional text, a non-fiction text and a video to develop their critical thinking skills and help them acquire greater general knowledge, oracy skills and improved comprehension skills.

Ms Solastri Suyot (Tanglin Secondary School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:28:33 +0000

Solastri Suyot strives to provide a rich language learning experience to all her students. She is always mindful that she is there with her students to construct knowledge and meaning about themselves and the world through the English language. Some of the many English activities she has conducted for her class include a Spelling Bee, poetry recitation and Reader’s Theatre. The Reader’s Theatre took students through the entire process of writing and performing an original story – students researched on the theme, plotted story maps, took meeting minutes and finally the winning group presented their story to the entire school during morning assembly. Students were engaged throughout the whole process and many became excited and enthusiastic about reading as a result.

Ms Ignatia Wong (Yu Neng Primary School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:26:42 +0000

Ignatia Wong enjoys integrating music into her English lessons as she realises that young learners respond especially well to music and movement. Putting this approach to good use, Ignatia adapts familiar tunes to reinforce the alphabet, telling the time, the use of questions words and grammar. This enhances learning and helps her pupils to easily remember and recall what she has taught.

To help weaker pupils, she provides structured scaffolding to cater to the different ability groups in her class. This includes breaking down a writing exercise into smaller parts and getting the class to piece the story together. This exercise also allows pupils to work in groups and boosts their confidence in writing.

Ms Charissa Chan (St. Margaret’s Primary School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:25:22 +0000

Charissa Chan believes that fun and games are key to unlocking children’s enthusiasm for learning – when they are engaged, they learn more effectively. To develop a school of confident learners with a love for the English language, Charissa, together with a colleague, pioneered the Primary 4 literature programme in 2010. Besides developing an awareness and appreciation for the creative use of language, Charissa uses literature to teach comprehension skills and simple literary concepts. The lesson incorporates listening, speaking, reading and writing and engages all the five senses. The literature programmes has proven to be a success as many have expressed their desire to see it being implemented at the Primary 5 level as well.

Ms Fong Wee Miang (St. Hilda’s Primary School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:22:00 +0000

Wee Miang’s objective in teaching English is to lay a good foundation for her pupils to be able to read, write and speak the language effectively for a lifetime.

One of the methods she uses to achieve her objective is a set of hand signals which she developed and uses with her class. These signals alert the presenter if he or she needs to speak with more clarity or improve his or her rhythm. This way, the presenter is able to improve with minimal disruption from the class. Wee Miang also worked closely with her colleagues to conceptualise a Writing Framework that helps teachers to teach students how to write well and provide pupils with the scaffolding necessary to do so.

Ms Jacqueline Yeo (Nanyang Primary School)

ineo — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:20:18 +0000

Jacqueline believes in delivering lessons that are meaningful and fun for her students. She uses humour and wordplay in her lessons to add interest and reads entertaining stories, which she has written, to her classes. She also firmly believes that pupils need to have a strong foundation in grammar, built through systematic and explicit instruction. For many of her pupils, writing is one of the most challenging skills to master. Thus, she actively helps her pupils to develop their writing skills by providing good examples and a clear and practical guide to writing well-structured, entertaining stories.

Ms Rosvinder Kaur (Eunos Primary School)

ineo — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:21:22 +0000

“I work with a classroom of learners. One of the learners is me.” – this is the guiding belief and philosophy that Rosvinder abides by as a teacher. Constantly learning, she studies the curriculum and uses her knowledge gained through years of experience to build upon teaching strategies that will best meet the needs of her primary school students. Realising that her pupils are IT-savvy, she widely utilises ICT as a valuable tool that engages and promotes learning among pupils. For example, to develop her pupils’ oracy skills, she uses Screenr, an online software which allows pupils to record and learn from the mistakes they make in their oral discussions. This has helped encourage even the shy pupils to open up and record their own readings