The glory of students is the happiness of teachers.

The joy was multiplied when many students won prizes at the competition.National Excellent Studentand many students in the class she is in charge of were honored at the Provincial Commendation Ceremony taking place tonight.

Before the 2020 award ceremony, teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh shared about her work and the success stories of her students.

“Students are the motivation to stick with the profession”

PV:As one of the very young teachers, she has a long history of outstanding achievements, especially in the past 5 years, she has had students win Gold and Silver medals twice at the competition.International Chemistry OlympiadMaybe Quynh Anh was born for the Pedagogy industry?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:I belong to the early 8X generation and studied at Huynh Thuc Khang High School; at that time, very few students chose the Pedagogy major. Personally, when I was first admitted to Hanoi Pedagogical University, I was not really committed to my job. However, at that time, many people encouraged me and affirmed that "Quynh Anh is very suitable for the teaching profession" and I followed the profession emotionally like that. Even when I graduated, although I was the second best student of the course, I did not have any information about recruitment and just submitted my application to the Department of Education and Training. Luckily, the Department of Education and Training later created conditions for me to teach atPhan Boi Chau High School for the GiftedI remember, I received this decision on the evening of September 4, one day before the opening ceremony. At that time, I was in Hanoi and was planning to work at a famous private school at that time. So I returned, with almost nothing to prepare for the first day of school. Even for the opening ceremony, I did not have time to prepare a decent ao dai.

Class 12A4 and teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh had a successful school year. Photo: NVCC

In the early days, the job was not easy. For example, the students here are very individualistic and I was quite surprised when there were cases where students specifically requested this or that teacher to teach the class... And it took 3 years, until the 36th class of students of the school, for me to really get attached and love my job more. That was the first class I taught class A1, specializing in Math, and I felt the affection my students had for me. This started with a message from an anonymous student who shared that he loved Chemistry lessons... Such a simple message was the motivation for me to overcome the initial difficulties and I realized that the teaching profession is truly precious!

PV:You have just finished a very successful school year and have just started a new school year with a new batch of students. What is your message to your students during the first days of the new school year?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:As soon as the school year started, I made a presentation for the new students to talk about their goals in school. Through that, I hope that they will set clear goals when entering Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted. Secondly, I also talked to them about success, especially success after failure. Because, for Phan students, they are under a lot of pressure to compete in the National Excellent Student Competition Team and many students, after being eliminated from the team, lost their goals and fell into a state of sadness. And so, through this analysis, I just want to tell them that success can come after thousands of failures...

Through the first survey of this new course, I am also very confident because the students have set very clear goals and some of them have written very enthusiastically and completely... Fortunately, the number of students who aspire to be excellent students has increased and have specific plans for each school year.

PV:As you have surveyed and analyzed, students today are under a lot of pressure to study. Do you feel sorry for them when they have to set such high and early goals?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:If we talk about pitying students, it is probably most obvious when reviewing for the national team, because they are truly “burying their heads in their studies” - as Pham Trung Quoc Anh (Gold Medalist of the 2020 International Chemistry Olympiad) once shared. That is, for these students, the amount of knowledge they need to learn is huge, the homework is at a very high level and in order to pursue the exams, they only know how to study hard, have to really “suffer”.

However, besides the hardships, the students have also gained a lot. For example, the ability to self-study and read documents. And for these students, it is very convenient for them to go to university. Teachers can only provide documents, not teach, but students can still self-study.

PV:Up to now, you have had 3 training courses for the National Excellent Student Team. To achieve these successes, you must have gone through many difficulties?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:When I was first assigned the responsibility of training the National Excellent Student Team, I was very confident and thought that this was an opportunity for me to prove myself. But in reality, only the first course was smooth; but later on, it became more and more difficult because the knowledge of Chemistry is always new. Therefore, if I do not diligently research and update new exam questions, it will be difficult to help students pass the rounds.

In reality, the process of training and updating knowledge has many contents that even teachers do not understand. Meanwhile, students may understand what they read. Therefore, if in the past, I thought I needed to know everything to teach students, then by the second course I knew I could not be better than the students. There were many cases where I personally did not understand and had to discuss and listen to the students. To continuously pursue knowledge like that is also very hard and there are times when we have to "pause". If students follow the team and "bury their heads in studying", teachers must also rush in with them. We determined that, in any circumstance, we should not turn our limits into the limits of the students, so that they can develop their full potential.

PV:So, with the results you have achieved, are you satisfied with your work?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:Before that, perhaps because I did not come to this profession because of my passion, I personally still felt that, compared to many of my colleagues, I still had a lot to learn. Many of my colleagues seemed to be born for the teaching profession, which was clearly shown in their style, pedagogical talent, through contact with students, the way they taught, their writing...

Although I am not satisfied with myself, I think I will try my best to do my job well. I will try to be a loving person and give love to my students and my job.

PV:Ms. Quynh Anh's success in training excellent students is always associated with her husband and colleague - teacher Nguyen Tuong Lan. In reality, how did the two support each other to have many successful exam seasons?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:Personally, we are two independent departments - one teaches Inorganic Chemistry and one teaches Organic Chemistry. However, we can support each other in the teaching process such as searching for documents, translating foreign exam questions. Personally, I mainly grade papers, monitor students' progress... We also try to respect each other's personal work, avoid arguing to bring the best results.

PV:This school year, she had a "golden" season when she had students win Gold Medals at the International Chemistry Olympiad and 5 students won prizes at the National Excellent Student Competition. Her class also had 2 students with high scores at the 2020 High School Graduation Exam and received Certificates of Merit from the Provincial People's Committee atCommendation ceremonyWhat do these achievements mean to you and your students?

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh:Although this is a ceremony dedicated to students, every season of recognition we feel happy and proud because after many efforts of students have been rewarded. I must affirm, this is the effort of students and the achievement of students, even with Quoc Anh. Because, we are only the guides, the ones who teach the first steps, and later on, students will learn and strive by themselves.

For students, the commendation ceremony is also a goal that they aim for on their journey of learning and training. Standing on the commendation podium is an opportunity for them to repay their parents' kindness, to make their teachers proud... This is an opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of 12 years of study and that is very necessary, it is an encouragement for students to strive.

Teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh and members of the excellent student team. Photo: NVCC

The success of the students is also the success of the teachers, the school and the “silent” teachers behind. And we are always happy when after each exam season, there are more students whose names are on the province’s golden achievement list and are honored.

At the ceremony to honor excellent international and national students and students with high scores in 2020 on the evening of September 19, teacher Tran Thi Quynh Anh and teacher Nguyen Tuong Lan were both awarded Certificates of Merit and rewards by the Provincial People's Committee for their achievements in training Pham Trung Quoc Anh to win a Gold Medal at the 2020 International Chemistry Olympiad.