The Inspiring Teacher of English Award is a national award for English teachers in Singapore schools. It acknowledges teachers who ignite a love for the English language and are effective in helping their students speak and write accurately.
Kuo Chuan Presbyterian School
Even after 49 years of teaching, Mdm Germaine Lee Kwee Ming feels as passionate about teaching as when she first started. She adopts a ‘back to basics' teaching approach to create an interest in and inspire a love for English in her students. Coupled with customised learning resources and a conducive environment, students find themselves understanding concepts and enjoying the learning process in her classroom.
Xingnan Primary School
Ms Claudia Wong Shi-Lei believes that good grammar underpins the English language and clear communication can only be achieved with the use of proper sentence structures. In order to help her students learn and understand these grammar rules and to see how they are applied in everyday situations, Claudia often makes use of role play and dramatisation to make their learning authentic. This technique also encourages her students to practice public speaking and expand their vocabulary with each character they take on.
Crescent Girls' School
There is never a dull moment in Mr Richard Koh Pee Chou's class. Leveraging on technology to ignite his students' passion for Literature, Richard makes lessons come alive by using ICT to facilitate his teaching, group discussions, writing and presentations. For example, when his students were tasked with analysing the Bukit Chandu war poems, Richard brought the lesson closer to them by developing a digital learning trail. His students enjoyed the lesson tremendously as they were able to connect with the poems and so better appreciate the power of words in evoking an emotional response in the reader or listener.
Pasir Ris Secondary School
For Mr Mong Kok Thong, his top priority is to kindle in each student a love for the English language. He understands that the rise of new media has made this a challenging task as his students are easily distracted by visual stimuli. To combat this, Mr Mong effectively uses a variety of media to engage and help his students express themselves clearly in English. These activities include harnessing ICT tools such as Wikispaces where students are given a platform to discuss issues they have identified and the opportunity to express their opinions.
Seng Kang Primary School
It has always been Mdm Lim Chwee Lian's belief that language is acquired through reading and its frequent use. It is through reading, listening to engaging stories, speaking extensively, discussing and sharing views with the teacher and their classmates that students' competency in English is raised. By creating a conducive environment for reading and a culture of good spoken English through the adoption of a whole-school approach, Chwee Lian is then able to achieve the desired outcomes of the STELLAR programme and produce pupils who are effective and confident communicators.
Bedok View Secondary School
Mdm Mischa Leigh Pereira has an underlying belief that an English Language HOD should be a positive role-model for department teachers. Teachers and students should be able to look to the HOD as someone they can turn to for advice, guidance, support and expertise in the teaching of the English Language. Mischa believes that it is also important to be structured, organized and meticulous in the planning, running and monitoring of the department curriculum and programmes to ensure that they are consistent, successful and effective for the students. She also strives to ensure that her department's programmes develop students' language skills needed for real-life experiences.
