The world of Tzu Chi March 2021 (Vol.132)

TZU CHI 132 13 and to ensure that no child is left behind in learning. Mei Teng remarked, “This decision has increased the teachers’ workload, but for the students and parents’ sake, we must persevere no matter how challenging this is.” Teachers overcoming technical challenges MCO brought a whole new ballgame to the teaching world. It was on-the-job learning for teachers in planning and presenting the lessons in order to keep the children focused in the absence of any physical supervision. The teaching slides have to be succinct, enhanced with cute animations and features to encourage students’ interactions and participations. Communication with parents was key in helping to resolve any technical issues which were numerous, and to provide user and teaching guides to parents. TCISKL kindergarten teacher Leong Chu Yoke, who just completed her Master’s degree from Tzu Chi University, had to participate in the first online teaching meeting from her hometown in Temerloh, Pahang, when the MCO came into effect on March 18, 2020. Chu Yoke recalled, “When teaching moved online, we had to submit two presentation slides every day. It took me four to five hours for each! I had to learn how to insert audio to the slides. Thankfully, my colleagues were helpful and willing to share resources. Now I am more familiar with it and am able to produce the slides more efficiently.” Chu Yoke revealed that initially, she had to use her handphone to take close-up video recording of her hand movements to teach students the correct strokes in writing Chinese characters. Now, she has switched to using animated stroke orders, which she can easily insert into her slides. A great improvement indeed! While challenging it was, MCO has also brought out much creativity in Chu Yoke. To further enhance her online classes, Chu Yoke produced a six-minute video clip titled, “The Quilt Has Run Away”. This is based on a picture book to guide students on how to make their bed and fold their blankets. She had to start from ground up in doing everything by herself, which included script writing, props making, directing, acting, post-production, caption and animated expressions. While it was time consuming, Chu Yoke has benefitted much from the process. She shared, “I learnt gratitude. I am grateful for the parents’ trust and cooperation, which enabled a smooth transition to online teaching. I am also grateful for the mutual support amongst colleagues. I was never alone on this journey. In fact, the many difficulties have brought us closer as a team.” 2021 will also be a challenging year as the kindergarten teachers have committed to conducting five days of face-to-face classes and ten online lessons each week. Furthermore, they have to sanitize the classrooms and update parents on their children’s learning progress. With limited manpower, this certainly is very testing on the teachers’ efficiency and effectiveness. Mei Teng said, “In upholding our love for education and caring for our children, we will join forces with parents and share our resources to ensure that the children’s learning is not compromised by the pandemic. This is what we must achieve and this is also how we build a strong tripartite relationship between students, parents and teachers!” Realizing Character Education – First Year Anniversary of TCISKL