LCMS World Mission Blog

“The English teachers’ conference in Vietnam was a one-day event designed to provide prospective English teachers with ideas and strategies for the classroom. All of the participants were Vietnamese, and most attended the college where LCMS volunteer James Rush teaches. Some of the attendees were already teachers in local schools. In total, more than 100 people participated.“The conference focused on three sessions: English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) activities, English writing, and teacher observations. We divided the people into three groups, and they rotated amongst the three sessions. I was in charge of helping with the teacher observation session. I worked with Heidi Greimann (a long-term volunteer from Taiwan) and Viet Hang (local professor at the university) to lead the teacher observations session. For the session, Heidi and I modeled a teacher observation. I taught a mini-lesson to the class and then she observed and made notes about my teaching. After the lesson, we had a conversation about what she observed. We did this to model how a teacher can observe others and to emphasize that observation should not be intimidating. We hammered home the point that these observations can help both the person being observed and the one who is doing the observing. Next Viet Hang provided some good information about how to conduct teacher observations. Finally, we then gave the students their own mini-lessons to teach and they had time to practice by giving each other feedback. I really enjoyed it and I think the students learned from the session.”The entire day went really well. The Vietnamese at the college were very hospitable and the participants seemed eager to learn. On Wednesday, we spent the morning helping in English classrooms. In my class, I spent my time in a small group of about 12 students. They practiced basic conversation with me and asked me to share about myself and the United States. This was one highlight of my time in Vietnam, because I got to have some good personal conversations with the local people. It also gave me a chance to share about customs and holidays. This led into me sharing about Christmas being Jesus’ birthday and Thanksgiving being a time to be thankful for the many good things that God has given us. I could share my beliefs if students asked me about them. Praise God that He provided such opportunities.”

Related posts:

1. From GEO missionary Mark Wolfram in Taiwan “Here at Concordia Middle School (CMS), the religion department...
2. Urgent service opportunity in Macau “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen...
3. Good news from GEO missionaries Raymond and Emilie Dubert in Taiwan “Recently, I [Emilie] have had a few unique experiences...
4. From GEO missionary Anna Meyer in Taiwan “I just arrived home after our weekly Friday Night...