Sharing Session a Resounding Success! Chinese Independent Secondary School’s Teacher Sharing Session (English)

        On the 19th of August, more than 170 teachers and participants gathered together in Hin Hua High School for the annual CISS Teacher Sharing Session. This year, Hin Hua High School hosted the English teachers from nine schools from Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Penang. The objectives of the session were threefold: to help teachers grasp the concept of assessment for learning to improve students’ performance, provide insights on effective ways to promote the use of English in the campus, and share best practices in classroom teaching and learning.

        We were very honoured to have invited our keynote speaker, Ms Monica Menon from Singapore to share with us about assessment of, as and for learning. Ms Monica has worked with many esteemed institutions, such as the National Institute of Education, Singapore and the Nanyang Institute of Management, Singapore. She also served as the Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education in Singapore, and has nine internationally published works, including Special Education: Perspectives and Practices by Singapore Pearson, and Project Work: Exploring Practices, Processes and Strategies, both by Singapore Pearson. Ms Monica spoke on the purpose of assessments, the different types of assessment, and the different assessment strategies teachers could use in class to effectively evaluate students’ learning progress.

        Ms Monica was also one of the panel speakers for the forum session, chaired by Mr Jason Tan from GPEX Central Sdn Bhd, the organisation which generously sponsored our keynote speaker for the session. The other panel members included Ms Julina Abu Jamin from Kwang Hua Private High School, Klang, and Ms Jolyn Ong Chooi Leng from Hin Hua High School. The topic of the forum was  on promoting the use of the English language in a Chinese independent school where the main medium of education and conversation is Mandarin. Ms Monica shared her experiences teaching in Singapore, and introduced the terms ‘lower progressive, middle progressive and higher progressive’ language learners, whereas Ms Julina enlightened us on her school’s implementation of SET (Speak English Thursday). Ms Jolyn shared the different activities Hin Hua High School organises such as the gingerbread making workshop and Reading Clubs to encourage learning English through various contexts and real-life applications. 

        After the forum, it was time for the poster presentations. Teachers from all participating schools were invited to share their best practices and research via poster presentation. The posters covered a variety of interesting content, ranging from the trending topic of the use of AI in teaching and learning, to the gamification of lessons, interactive approaches to writing, use of buddy systems, Google Maps for project-based learning, and engaging activities for teaching literature. All in all, teachers commended the ideas shared by others, and stated that they learnt a lot and wished they had more time to interact with the presenters to find out more. They also appreciated the collaboration and interaction with teachers from other schools, and that the content was relevant and informative.

        Overall, it was a fruitful and insightful session. We would like to show our appreciation to GPEX Central Sdn Bhd for sponsoring our keynote speaker, HELP University for sponsoring the goody bags, Ms Monica, Mr Jason and Ms Julina for being a part of the panel discussion, and all ELC teachers for helping to make this event a resounding success. We would also like to acknowledge our two emcees, Lim Jia Quan, Philip and Zoe Mak Kar Yan, both from S1 Chicago, and all helpers for their support to ensure the event runs smoothly.

《兴华月报》2023年9月号
https://www.hinhua.edu.my/ebook/2309hinhuamonthly/mobile/index.html