Saturday, September 3, 2016

OMG! We did it. Of all the candidates, only six received the award and won a one hundred thousand TWD grant from the British Council Taiwan and Education Bureau of Taichung City Government. All the sweat and tears going into this Skype Exchange Project finally paid off.

Under the framework of Identity and Belonging, we developed an action plan in the hope to create an authentic environment for the students not only to use the language but experience cultural differences. I cannot thank Akiko Kubo enough for her determination and dedication to this project.

Most important of all, I believe we offered our students something that no textbooks or cram schools could ever provide. For my students' feedback like: "This is by far the most successful cultural exchange I've experienced from this class. I didn't read my script at all. Furthermore, I added more detail to my presentation.", I'm really proud of ourselves.

With this project, my students got to experience what it was like to talk about school life, music, Taiwanese celebrities, the beauty of Taichung with their counterparts in Tokyo through international video conferencing. On top of that, student volunteers from Malaysia, Australia, and Holland came to my class and had some cultural exchange with my students' presentations in English.

A lot of things can go wrong when carrying out an ISA project like this. Careful planning and taking risks is an integral part of making it happen. Thanks to the full support of the principal and staff of KMJH, I got to fulfill this dream of mine, making English a key to the world.

Friday, September 10, 2021

KMJH is the only secondary school that has ever won the highest-level award by British Council Taiwan, which I took great pride in taking on all the curriculum design and implementation regarding English, international collaborations, and numerous virtual exchange sessions 

What is ISA?

The International School Award, or ISA, is an accreditation process that focuses on curriculum and action plans under a dedicated theme and international partnership. The idea is to raise global awareness, appreciate cultural differences, foster civic responsibility, and national identity. The four levels include Foundation, Intermediate, Accreditation, and Reaccreditation, with the higher level demanding more criteria and standards to meet.  

Take the Accreditation level for example. Your curriculum-based action plans must include:

• one dedicated global theme as a framework

• at least seven cross-curricular action plans, with each including more than two subject areas

• at least three action plans involving international collaborations and foreign language use 

• benefiting the majority of the students of all grades

Curriculum-based Action Plans

Since we won the ISA Accreditation back in 2016, I've been invited to do workshops on this topic, including its application, design, implementation, and evaluation. I cannot emphasize enough how crucial it is to make it curriculum-based:

• learning objectives

• teaching activities

• assessment rubrics

• cross-curricular collaborations

• student end products

British Council Taiwan awards those that can help extend the curriculum experiences to other schools. Fun activities without the five crucial elements are not curriculum-based. That's why you don't want to use picture books, board games, or apps for the sake of their novelty. Instead, they have to contribute to the buildup of the student end products.  

Cross-curricular Learning Community

The Director of the Academic Office, who served as a project manager, put together a team with teachers of various subject areas. We met up regularly to develop the action plans and learning materials together. Director Lin then compiled those worksheets, slides, and survey questionnaires into a manual for all 7th and 8th graders. 

The sense of community helped a lot. Whenever we came back frustrated from the expert guidance meetings, we could always get back on our feet quickly and move on to fix the problems. 

International Collaborations     

Without international collaborations, the whole ISA project wouldn't be eligible for accreditation. A partner school outside of Taiwan is a must, and the following are some relevant elements:

•  a liaison who does all the back-the-forth communication      

• collaborative lesson planning for the predetermined topics

• video conferencing sessions to involve as many students

• comparison and contrast after virtual exchange

I cannot thank my Japanese and Korean counterparts, Toshi, Shusaku, Kiyeong, Sunkyong, Taka jian, Tommy, and Fumiya enough for making all these happen. Jessica was always there when I needed her help. We all have one thing in common. Getting students to feel the need to speak in English and enjoying doing cultural exchanges are just too much fun for us. I'd take pride in conducting eight exchange sessions during the school closure caused by the sudden COVID outbreak in May. 

The Old and New Beauty of Taichung

Under the guidelines of Sustainable Development Goals, we developed curriculum and action plans centering on Goal 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. To make it more specific, I'd call my course "The Old and New Beauty of Taichung. 

For example, Taichung Station comprises two separate stations, with the old one built back in 1917 and the new one beginning operation in 2016. It has a mix of unique esthetic beauty. People in Taichung can appreciate how a city can evolve and preserve the legacies at the same time. 

Taichung Second Market, ASEAN Square, and the National Library of Public Information carry this cultural significance. Wouldn't it be great for Taiwanese students to introduce the beauty of their hometown in simple English with their Japanese and Korean counterparts? With the course design and implementation, students in KMJH finished their scripts through guided writing, made PPT slides to go with their presentation, and promoted Taichung at numerous Zoom and Meet conferencing sessions. 

It's all worth it

I was laughing and smiling when editing the videos after those virtual exchanges. Students from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea exchanged their presentations on our shared topics and showed off their talents, such as beatboxing, dancing, and so on. On top of that, I'd read the students' reflection sheets and feedback again and again, for they left warmhearted comments. 

Winning the ISA Reaccreditation is without a doubt one of the biggest highlights in my career. It's been a blessing to keep working on things I love- creating an authentic environment for students to have fun USING English and making friends with the world.