Meet the teacher who won first prize at the Nghe An Provincial Excellent Teacher Competition.

With 14 years of teaching experience, Ms. Nguyen Thi To Quyen has achieved many accomplishments, including being recognized as an excellent English teacher at the provincial level and a model worker at the grassroots level for many consecutive years. She has also mentored many students who have won Gold and Bronze medals in the national IOE competition. Photo: My Ha

Ms. Nguyen Thi To Quyen is an English teacher, and this is also the first time that teachers of English, Art, and Physical Education have participated in the Provincial Excellent Teacher Competition for primary schools.

At 36 years old, Ms. Quyen has over 14 years of experience as an English teacher at the primary school level. However, during that time, for 7 years she worked as a contract teacher with a salary of less than 500,000 VND per month. She says that with the high cost of living in the city, it's very difficult to make ends meet with this salary. The only thing that keeps her committed to the profession is her love for teaching and her students.

A lively English lesson for 4th graders. Photo: My Ha

Ms. Le Thi Hong Lam, Principal of Truong Thi Primary School, said that To Quyen is a young teacher, enthusiastic about her work and has many ideas to build a movement for teaching and learning English in the school. She is also a capable, persistent, and hardworking teacher. Almost every day, after work, Quyen stays at school to develop extracurricular activities and ponder over each topic and theme she has set out.

Teacher To Quyen herself admits to being passionate about her profession, believing that once she takes on a task, she must "see it through to the end." "The provincial excellent teacher competition ended nearly three weeks ago. Yet, my daily schedule hasn't returned to normal because I was busy reviewing, organizing lessons, and developing lesson plans. For over a month, my colleagues and I stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m.," Ms. Quyen shared.

English Club meeting at Truong Thi Primary School. Photo: My Ha

At Truong Thi Primary School, there are quite a few active clubs. Among them, the most vibrant is the English Club, led by teacher To Quyen. In October and November, the club will hold activities on the theme of teachers and Vietnamese Women's Day. In December, the club will organize an inter-grade competition with various activities such as answering questions, etiquette tests, and audience games. Weekly, the club also encourages students to write about different topics to enhance their knowledge and skills. At the same time, it creates opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate their English speaking abilities and builds an English-speaking environment throughout the school...

With many years of experience in organizing these activities, Ms. Nguyen Thi To Quyen was quite confident in the practical teaching section of the Provincial Excellent Teacher Competition. Although she only had about a week to prepare her lessons, she delivered impressive teaching sessions for 5th-grade students, focusing on intonation and teaching skills. This section best showcased the teacher's abilities, knowledge, professional skills, and teaching methods.

Regarding the professional competency test, To Quyen said that this was the part she was most worried about. However, it turned out to be the part she performed very successfully and achieved a perfect score. At the end of the competition, with high scores in both categories, teacher To Quyen had the highest score and was the top scorer, receiving commendations from the Department of Education and Training and the Provincial Labor Union.

The Director of the Department of Education and Training presents Certificates of Merit to outstanding teachers at the Provincial Excellent Teacher Competition (Teacher To Quyen is on the far right). Photo: My Ha