October 2004, saw the launch of the VTTN Primary Teachers’ Club in Hanoi. This is a club for 40 primary teachers in the Hanoi area where they can meet each month to discuss teaching ideas, attend workshops and borrow teaching resources. A club in Ho Chi Minh city started in April this year.

The focus for the last 6 months has been on using stories as a way of developing children’s listening and speaking skills. The Primary Teachers’ Club meetings have focused on ways of using picture books in class as well as telling stories without a book. Teachers were encouraged to borrow a storybook to try out in their class and then report back at the next meeting on how their lesson went. As part of this reading project, the British Council invited Alec Williams, a UK storyteller and children’s book expert to deliver a series of workshops for World Book Day in April. These workshops gripped both teachers, parents and students alike.

How can you use stories in the classroom?

Jayne Moon, a Primary ELT expert, suggests the following procedure:

• get children seated appropriately
• get their attention
• arouse interest in the topic e.g. getting them to guess the picture in your hand or what is in the bag
• relate the topic to their experience
• revise vocabulary or recall previous learning experience
• introduce the topic of the story and get children to predict what will happen
• give children a purpose for listening
• tell the story and involve children e.g. in doing actions
• elicit children’s reaction/opinions about the story
• retell the story using picture prompts

Over 70 primary teachers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City took part in a 5-week teacher training course to build their practical skills and knowledge for teaching English to primary children. The teachers developed ways to teach English in a more interactive and child-friendly way, based on an understanding of how children learn foreign languages. And for all those primary teachers who were unable to attend the course, you’ll be pleased to know that the next issues of English Now will include some of the activities, ideas and knowledge that you missed!

A day in the life of a novice trainer Nguyen Ngoc Loan -
Doan Thi Diem primary school, Hanoi

Nguyen Ngoc Loan was a trainer-in-training for the Primary Teacher Training course held in Hanoi in March. She observed and delivered input sessions and attended classroom observation and feedback with the main trainer, Jaynee Moon. This is her story…

Saturday...

Today was a very special day because it was the first day of the training course for primary teachers on which I was very lucky to be selected as a trainer in training. I woke up very early, ate breakfast and chose a smart suit to wear. Hmm… it was the first time to be a “shadow tutor” so I felt a little anxious about working with participants who I didn’t actually know yet. I came to class very early. Jaynee Moon, my trainer, was there and we had a chat. I told her I was nervous but she calmed me. Her way of communicating is very friendly so I felt a bit more confident

After a warmer it was time for my activity! I was very nervous at first but then everything was alright. I told myself “Ah, things are not so bad!”. The participants’ enthusiasm and responsiveness put me at ease. After that it was a demo lesson in Nepalese by Jaynee. During the lesson, she used a lot of activities and tips to teach participants a new language. She praised the participants and supported them when they did the activities so they all felt comfortable in class. During discussions Jaynee sometimes walked around the class to help by giving some open – ended suggestions so they could give their own ideas. I could see one more thing I can learn from her - Jaynee gave the participants the chance to discuss freely in Vietnamese so they felt comfortable and did the job effectively. After finishing all the questions we stopped for a well-earned lunch! Ah, training language is such a very hard job. You must be very patient, enthusiastic and experienced.

In the afternoon we watched a video about children learning languages. Jaynee gave participants tasks to find children’s characteristics after watching the video. She explained clearly and carefully and when some things were not clear, she asked me to translate and explain in Vietnamese. In this way, she was sure that all of them could understand and absorb her lesson effectively. Hmm… this is the one more thing I have learnt from her.

While they did the tasks, she walked around and explained, discussed and praised, gave participants positive feedback enthusiastically - the important characteristic of a good trainer, I think. She also asked me to walk around to help and she showed me how to discuss with them, how to encourage participants. She motivated participants by giving them topics that they were interested in, problems that they are facing.She gave them suggestions, not the answers, so that the teachers could see and adapt to their own teaching situations.

At the end of the day , there were two mini demonstrations, Jaynee did one and I did one. Oh, my God! I was so nervous at first. These participants were not my students - they stared at me and waited for the activity. I breathed deeply and told myself “They are my students, don’t be afraid”. Then I explained and demonstrated the activity. They joined in enthusiastically and the room was suddenly full of a cheering atmosphere. I heard some of them say that they would use this activity in their next lesson. Suddenly, in my heart, there was a glimmer of joy!

I had survived! Day One was over and there were many more days to go, but already I could see I had learned a lot from my trainer. She showed me how to become a trainer by modeling ways to work with participants through her lessons and she gave me questions to think about related to my training process. And the most important thing I learned on that first day was that: “When you want to become a trainer you must be the participants’ friend by building up a good relationship, creating a free learning atmosphere with them so that you can understand their needs, their concerns and help them”.

Back to top