The people who light up the future

GD&TĐ - These are teachers who have a lot of passion and solutions in transforming, helping, and educating disadvantaged, inattentive, and disobedient students... so that their path to school is less bumpy and interrupted.

They volunteer to be the "hinge", closing the dark side to open a bright future for students.

Building a technology bridge for games in difficult areas

With nearly 30 years of teaching experience, Ms. Tran Thi My - an English teacher at Bac Lieu High School (Ca Mau) - has always been dedicated, dynamic, creative, and innovative in improving the quality of education. In particular, she has utilized technology and artificial intelligence (AI) as a bridge to help students in remote areas access knowledge.

During the Covid-19 period, Ms. Tran Thi My founded the group “Mekong Creative Teachers” to support teachers in remote areas to get used to online teaching. Thanks to her dedicated guidance, many teachers overcame the fear of “teaching through the screen” and confidently applied technology to maintain the learning pace for students.

Ms. My also participated in the VietTESOL 2021 Conference, sharing experiences in innovating lectures, spreading the spirit of utilizing technology to improve teaching and learning quality, helping students feel that online learning is as close and attractive as in a real classroom.

“With my existing English, I have access to foreign news sources, software, etc. My goal is to spread and help colleagues and students know how to take advantage of technology to make teaching and learning more convenient, improving the quality of teaching and learning,” Ms. My shared.

After the pandemic, Ms. Tran Thi My continued to affirm her capacity for innovation when she was invited to speak at many major universities on the application of technology and AI in teaching English. Her research was highly appreciated for its practicality and support for students in disadvantaged areas.

She has 5 international scientific articles and has been recognized by Microsoft globally for many years as a Creative Education Expert and an ambassador of ClassDojo - Teaching and Learning Management Application; Super Trainer of Quizizz - Effective Teaching Application...

Not only is she a pioneer in applying technology, Ms. Tran Thi My is also loved by her students for her positive spirit, creative teaching style and humane way of inspiring English learning. In particular, she also participates in many meaningful social activities, actively supporting poor and disadvantaged students to excel in their studies.

“For me, students only truly learn well when they feel happy and confident that they can. I pay more attention to students who are struggling, have special needs, or are not doing well in their studies. I don’t want any student to be left behind in the journey of conquering knowledge in the digital age,” Ms. My shared.

Many students at Bac Lieu High School, from having limited and weak English skills, after being taught by Ms. My, have improved their knowledge, including many students passing the university entrance exam for English Language.

A typical example is Ngo Hoang Gia Bao - a student of class 12C4, Bac Lieu High School, who used to be very scared every time he had this class, but with the encouragement and enthusiastic guidance from Ms. My, he gradually learned to love and learn English well.

“Ms. My’s teaching method is new and engaging. For students with poor academic performance, she has her own teaching methods such as incorporating games, guiding self-study, training confidence in English communication… thereby helping students to progress quickly,” Gia Bao said.

As one of the three outstanding teachers of Quang Tri province honored in the program "Sharing with teachers" organized by the Ministry of Education and Training in coordination with the Vietnam Youth Union, Mr. Hoang Duong Hoa (A Ngo Primary and Secondary School) was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Minister of Education and Training on the occasion of Vietnam Teachers' Day. This title comes from the arduous journey, but full of "professional passion" of a teacher who tirelessly "sows" knowledge at the border.

In 2020, he received a decision to transfer to A Ngo Primary & Secondary School - a mountainous school on the Vietnam - Laos border, nearly 150km from home. From here, Mr. Hoa embarked on a completely different journey: long distance, harsh climate, students lacking everything. On the first day of class, he couldn't help but feel sad when the computer room only had three old computers brought out from the school's warehouse.

It is even more heartbreaking to see students seeing a computer for the first time. Many of them are timid, not daring to touch the keyboard or mouse, some have never even seen a real computer.

In the middle of the small room, the curious and apprehensive eyes urged the teacher to persevere and start with the simplest things: Instructions on how to turn on and off the computer, type each letter, practice moving the mouse. The teacher's joy comes from seemingly small things when students can type their names, practice drawing on Paint, and create PowerPoint slides for the first time to present their ideas. Each of those immature keyboard strokes is the step that opens the door to technology for students in the highlands.

Realizing that students in mountainous areas learn more effectively when they practice visually, Mr. Hoa reduced theory, increased the amount of time for experience; encouraged group work; and opened additional free tutoring sessions so that students could have more time to use computers.

He also accompanies and encourages students to participate in creative playgrounds such as Young Creativity, Young Informatics, technology application competitions, and research documents via the Internet. From simple classes, many products of A Ngo students won prizes at the Quang Tri Province Tourism Ambassador Competition, Young Informatics at the district (old) and provincial levels - vivid proof that children in mountainous areas can completely master technology if given the opportunity.

Ms. Bui Thi Canh - teacher at Tan Phu Primary School, instructs students during class. Photo: Ho Phuc

The one who sows dreams

Ms. Bui Thi Canh - a teacher at Tan Phu Primary School (Binh Phuoc Ward, Dong Nai Province), shared that about 30 years ago, in an area where parents mainly worked in the fields, working from morning to night, students often lacked attention. Many children had difficult circumstances, their parents were separated, and they had to take care of each other. Therefore, when they came to class, they not only lacked material things, but also had an inferiority complex, were timid, had "empty" knowledge, and even skipped school. That is the reality that every teacher has to find a solution for every day.

“For me, to educate disadvantaged, untalented, and undisciplined students, the first solution is not a lesson plan, but understanding and love,” she said. In the 2016-2017 school year, class 3, which Ms. Canh is in charge of, had Nguyen Khanh Hung, who was cognitively disabled. Hung was very slow to learn, his family situation was difficult, his mother worked all day, and after school he wandered around the school gate.

She asked to be on duty at noon to tutor him little by little; when he skipped school, she went to look for him. She still remembers the rainy afternoon when she spent almost the whole morning just going to his house to convince his parents to let him continue going to school. She “taught and coaxed him”, bought him clothes, sandals, and even paid for his insurance. Finally, using the method of mind mapping and memorizing images, Hung was qualified to move up to the next grade.

In the 2024-2025 school year, Ms. Canh took on a class with many students who were "afraid" of Math due to gaps in their knowledge during the two years of the Covid pandemic. She created a method of "teaching Math with music", composing math formula songs for students to sing and learn at the same time. The most surprising result was that Bao An, class 5/2, a hyperactive student with difficult circumstances, went from not liking Math to achieving 9 points at the end of the year.

Instead of going to school far away

Since the beginning of November, every morning, Ms. Dinh Thi Hoc - a teacher at Ngoc Linh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (Tra Linh Commune, Da Nang City), spends nearly 2 hours walking through the forest to teach, instead of just a few steps to Tak Ngo school like before.

Due to the impact of prolonged storms and floods, Tak Ngo school suffered serious landslides and subsidence, and was unsafe, so the Board of Directors of Ngoc Linh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities decided to transfer all 34 students of grades 1-2 to study at the main school and stay in the boarding school. Ms. Dinh Thi Hoc became the one who "went to school far away" instead of her students.

From her small house in Tak Ngo village, every morning, she begins a journey of more than two hours, crossing foggy slopes and landslides, just to stand on the podium in time. For her, that distance is not a challenge, but a responsibility - because "the children are familiar with her, seeing her makes them feel secure in studying". After school, she rushes back to Tak Ngo village with two students. These are two cases where parents do not agree to let their children stay at the main school.

Mr. Nguyen Tran Vy - Principal of Ngoc Linh Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, shared: "Understanding the dangers that young students face when studying far away, the school decided to arrange free boarding for 34 students, even though they only receive lunch support from the State. Funds can be mobilized from many sources, but the most persistent is still convincing parents to let their children stay in boarding school, because the children are too young."

The school board visited each parent's house many times to persuade them, then invited them to come and see their children's new living and studying conditions. Most parents agreed when they saw the new living and studying conditions for their children. However, there were 2 families who did not let their children stay at the boarding school. The school assigned teachers to pick up and drop off their children every day to ensure their safety.

In the middle of Ngoc Linh mountains, the perseverance of Ms. Hoc - the person who "carries the classroom on her feet" every day - has given the students in the highlands confidence not to give up their journey to school.

For Ms. Canh, the success of a teacher is to discover the strengths of each student and inspire and create conditions for them to develop. Like Nong Thuc Khue - a small, self-conscious Tay ethnic student who was illiterate while her friends could read and write fluently. She encouraged parents to "let me train their children" and the two teachers and students diligently practiced Violympic. As a result, Khue won 2 second prizes at the provincial level in Vietnamese Math and English Math.

Source: https://giaoducthoidai.vn/nhung-nguoi-thap-sang-tuong-lai-post757461.html