Innovation to improve teaching quality

(Baonghean) - Aiming to innovate teaching methods and improve the quality of education, many teachers have proactively created their own teaching aids. This is a process of self-learning, professional development, promoting creativity, and at the same time demonstrating each teacher's love for the profession.

The practice hours of 5-year-old children at Nghi Lam Kindergarten (Nghi Loc) are more exciting with the game "Attaching fruits to the tree". These are teaching aids that the school's teachers themselves collect and recycle from very simple items such as tree branches, flowers, dried fruits, foam pieces, plastic bottles, etc., then decorate them with colors. Teacher Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan said: "These are "open" teaching aids, so they encourage children's initiative and creativity and train them in many skills such as teamwork, distinguishing colors, flowers, fruits, etc. To have lessons that meet the needs and abilities of children, we often take advantage of time after class to create tools and toys."

Teachers and students of Nghi Lam Kindergarten - Nghi Loc with the game "Attaching fruits on the tree".

Preschool lessons are often taught by topic, so the toys and learning materials provided are difficult to fully meet the necessary needs. Therefore, "Every year, the school launches 3 campaigns to make teaching materials by topic. They are graded and classified, using that as a criterion for year-end evaluation for each teacher. Thanks to that, up to now, the number of teaching materials made by teachers themselves accounts for about 30% of the school's teaching materials; these types of materials can be used for 3-4 school years", said Ms. Nguyen Thi Quyen - Principal of Nghi Lam Kindergarten.

In Nghi Loc district, there are 30 kindergartens, 100% of which maintain the activity of teachers making their own teaching aids. Every two years, the district education department organizes a contest for teachers making their own teaching aids. Therefore, the activity of creating teaching aids is always focused on by kindergartens in the district.

In the mountainous district of Tuong Duong, schools have taken the initiative to mobilize parents and teachers to make toys for children. Through the "Parents raise healthy children, teach good children" club, teachers at schools have guided parents to make their own toys by utilizing natural materials. Thanks to that, all kindergartens in the district have a toy corner that is both diverse and imbued with national identity. "According to statistics for the 2012-2013 school year, teachers at 18 kindergartens in the district have created 2,771 toy products to serve teaching and learning for children. Currently, there are 137 "Parent-friendly toy corners for children" in schools. These are not only visual aids that help children easily recognize and remember, but also serve as entertainment for children, helping them learn about the customs and cultural features of their own ethnic group," said Ms. Le Hong Quang, specialist in charge of kindergartens, Department of Education and Training of Tuong Duong district.

At higher levels of education, teachers' creative teaching aids come from the need to innovate educational methods. Therefore, Anh Son Secondary School considers this as a professional task of each teacher. In most subjects, the school encourages teachers to make their own teaching aids. To improve the quality of English lessons, Ms. Dang Thi Hien Luong created a "Multi-purpose Dynamic Picture Set". This product won first prize at the provincial level in the Self-made Teaching Aids Competition last school year. Thanks to the support of this "Multi-purpose Dynamic Picture Set", students can more easily memorize dictionaries, practice speaking, writing, etc.

Ms. Luong shared: “English needs the support of teaching aids to increase critical thinking and attract students. Therefore, since applying the animated pictures to teaching, students have been very interested, active and proactive in building lessons. Learning outcomes have improved significantly”. To encourage teachers to participate in making teaching aids, from 2006 to now, every 3 years, the Anh Son District Education Department organizes a contest to make their own teaching aids. Each creative product of the winning teacher is recognized as an educational experience initiative, thanks to which it is actively responded by many teachers. Homemade teaching aids account for about 30-40% of teaching aids and equipment in schools today.

In the current limited budget for providing educational equipment, the activity of creating teaching aids also means sharing the difficulties of the teaching staff with the industry. However, in many schools, the activity of making teaching aids depends a lot on the ability and conditions of each teacher (the school only supports a small part of the budget for implementation). To encourage the movement of making teaching aids in schools, according to Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Deputy Chief of Office of the Department of Education and Training, in the near future, the Department will develop regulations on the cycle of organizing the "Contest of Making Teaching Aids"; orienting to include it in the emulation movement for teachers and schools; the winning teaching aids will be recognized as provincial-level initiatives and experiences and exchanged with the technology application center for replication.

Dinh Minh Nguyet