Foreign Development Workshop

Sarasas Pittaya School

Foreign Teachers’

Professional Development

Workshop

26th -27th April 2022

“A Synopsis”

INTRODUCTION

Learning is a lifetime process. Teachers should
always have the passion to discover and adopt new
things, ideas, and concepts especially if it caters to
the needs of the learners. The welfare and
academic development of the learner should be the
main priority and would be taken into consideration
in the teaching-learning process.

Professional development workshops like this
will help teachers acquire additional knowledge and
skills to be more fully equipped in the field of
education. The collaboration of ideas within groups
will pave way for new strategies and methodology
in teaching that can engage the learners to
participate in class discussions. For them to speak
their minds, they can develop their speaking ability
in which they can be more confident to use the
English language often in their daily life and subject
matter.

Teachers are duty-bound to mold, build, and
shape the young minds and hearts of students into
citizens of worth and values. Therefore, it is our
responsibility to go beyond and above to fully equip
ourselves with the proper knowledge and skills to
fulfill our zeal. Anent, with the burning passion for
teaching and the wisdom that comes from above,
nothing can go wrong and everything is possible.

DAY 1

“Life can only be understood backward, but it
must be lived forwards.” Indeed, it’s better to look
back at the past to be off better for tomorrow.
That’s why during the morning session we are
tasked to summarize the academic year 2021 in
which we are going to mention the highs and lows
that experience and how did we cope with them. In
our group, we decided to list the problems we
encountered (which are almost similar to those of
the others) with the solution and the things that we
are grateful for.

(1)Weak internet connection, (2)incomplete
attendance, work, and Pas, lack of participation of
students, and (3)limited time of preparation are
some of the adversities included in the list. And we
rise from these difficulties by (1)topping up so we
can use our own data and (2) coordinating with the
Thai administrators and teachers to follow up with
students to submit what is necessary, also
prolonging the deadline, mentioning their names in
LINE and providing them alternatives as well and
that (3) aside from doing the paper works in school,
teachers bring their work at home.

DAY 1

For the highs, we can easily manage the class
because of the number of students, and since the
upper Mathayom is asynchronous (recorded videos
are uploaded in the google classroom), we can have
time to prepare for the lower Mathayom. And the
biggest takeaway from AY 2021 is that we became
tech-savvy, upgraded ourselves from simple
PowerPoint to the most animated slides, recording
and made videos, and used different online
applications for online teaching. In addition, we are
grateful that despite the financial crisis suffered by
the school in the decrease in the number of
students during the pandemic, teachers still have
been paid in full and no pay cuts.

In the afternoon, Master Somwang and Master
Withayaporn taught us how to create an ebook. It
was quick and easy to follow because they are so
competent to explain clearly the step-by-step
procedure. I find it interesting and valuable as well
because I can also use it not only in teaching but
also in my ongoing postgraduate studies. They
assisted us in every step of the way which we do
appreciate and thankful for.

SNAPSHOTS

SNAPSHOTS

SNAPSHOTS

DAY 2

“Who has the greatest responsibility in a child’s
academic development and performance?”, is the
question asked during the morning session. We are
asked to choose from the list: teacher,
administration, parents, and learner. Groupings
were made from the choice that everyone made.
And I was in the teacher’s group. I chose it because
of personal experience that my teachers before
made a great impact on me becoming a teacher. Up
to the moment I chose my degree until I became a
fully pledge teacher. They inculcated all the
necessary knowledge and skills for me to become a
responsible person today. I even feel that every
time I teach Mathematics, I mimic my teacher (way
back in high school). In our group, we established
the fact that any learner spends most of his/her
time in school and that learning takes place more in
school. And that teacher encompasses all the
responsibility of being an administrator and a
parent because teachers are not only there to
impart knowledge and skills but also to guide and to
someone you can talk to. Aside from me sharing my
experiences, Mr. Gil also told a short story about his
elementary teacher attending his college
graduation.

DAY 2

We also listed some personal views and
opinions as to why we didn’t choose the other
options. As to parents, most of them are working
that’s why they don’t have enough time to follow
up/monitor their children’s performance in school.
In the case of the administration, they are not
directly in contact with the learners. They mainly
focus on the teachers. They give orders regarding
the betterment of the school and the endpoint is
it’s the teacher’s responsibility to execute it. For the
learners, we considered them tabula rasa (blank
tablet) and that they are not responsible for their
own development they need someone to motivate
them to learn and that is the teacher. Although life-
long skills are first taught at home, it doesn’t end
there. In order for them to develop fully, they need
someone to direct them and it is mainly the role of
both parents and teachers.

Basically, the four options are all responsible
for any child’s development, because one cannot
function well if one is not present. However, based
on psychology, teachers have the greatest
responsibility for a child’s academic performance
and development because it is what they oath to
do.

DAY 2

Subsequently, we are also asked about; what
do great teachers do differently? And here’s the
result of the collaboration of ideas among the
teachers: A great teacher is someone who never
stops learning, who’s willing to improve themself,
puts extra effort into attending to the different
learners, gets to know the learners, somebody who
accept their students’ differences, who’s patience
never runs out, practice self-evaluation, always
prepared (starts from the lesson plan to execution),
inspires the students, approachable, friendly, and a
role model.

Before the afternoon session began, there are
some important announcements that have been
made such as for the new academic year, parallel
teaching must be observed. It means that the topics
to be taught by the Thai teachers in all subjects are
the same as the foreigners.

Hence, we went to our Mathayom group to
discuss how can we integrate online applications
into the five powerful learning skills in the F2F
(face-to-face) mode of teaching. (1) Power of
thinking: Use videos (related to the topic/realistic
application as motivation by asking questions about
it.

DAY 2

(2) Power of reading: The use of slides which is
incorporated during the discussion like letting the
students read a group of words or paragraph or a
problem. (3) Power of presentation: Let students
use the concept learned through their own creative
way of expressing it. (4) Power of speaking: The use
of Quizizz through open-ended questions, multiple-
choice, and a summary of the topic discussed. And
lastly the (5) Power of writing: Students are asked
to take down notes and let them do the bookwork.

We ended our group discussion with a
conclusion: It is not always possible to follow the
five powerful learning skills while doing the steps in
teaching but we will do it the best way we can. And
in a physical classroom, no fancy application can
ever replace the presence of a teacher. Yes, we can
use applications for teaching to be more engaging
but we must only choose the not-time consuming
and the most suitable apps.

Generally, this 2-day workshop boosted me to
be fully ready for the new academic year 2022. It
was worth attending to. Grateful to the following
facilitators: Mr. Paul, Mr. Somwang and Mr.
Witchayaporn for taking the time and effort to
impart their expertise. Also to Ms. Usa and Ms.
Chirapinya for the photos.

SNAPSHOTS

SNAPSHOTS

“Teachers are like butterflies.”
Butterflies are pollinators they
help plants produce new
seeds…teachers are educators
they help learners generate new
deeds.

Ms. Victoria Saffire Abello Lillo

(Mathayom Math Teacher)
Author of this e-book