Learning Records

[Father Ma][Father Han][Miss Yang][Teacher & Student][Principal Shih]

Activity title:

Interview two teachers—Hsiao, Chang-Chin  and Liao, Chih-Ching

Place:

 School History Room

Time :

November 28th, 2007, Wednesday, 9:25~10:10am

People:

Lin,Shuang-Chu、Wang,Chia-Yu、Lin,Yi-Yun、Chan,Ya-Ting、
Chang,Kai-Hsiang、Chao,Yi-Ching、Chen,Yu-Jou、Chen,Chu-En、
Huang,Yi-Chieh、Lee,Shu-Mei、Huang,Yu-Hsuan、Wang,Tzu-Wei、
Lee, Pi-Chu、Tsai, Hui-Chen、Yang, Fei-Ting

Content:

How are you, Mr. Hsiao and Mr. Liao? We are from the team attending this year International Schools CyberFair. Mr. Hsiao, you are one of the experienced teachers in our school and Mr. Liao, you were Mr. Hsiao’s student. We want to ask you some questions to have a deeper understand of Yu Jen through two different stages of our school.

An interesting interview with two teachers was going to begin.

Lin, Shuang-Chu asked:

When did you start to teach in Yu Jen?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

In 1971. At that time, there was no green parkway beside our school. There were rice fields around our school. Students always fell into those rice fields incautiously. At that time, our school began to offer school buses.

Lin, Shuang-Chu asked:

Could you tell us the reason that you decided to teach in Yu -Jen Catholic Elementary School?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

My professor suggested the school to me while I was going to graduate. The professor said, ‘Yu Jen Elementary School is a great school.’ and he recommended me to serve in Yu Jen. At that time, Sister Shih, Li-Lan is principal.

Chang, Kai-Hsiang asked:

Could you tell us how old you were? Is this your first job?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

I was very young when I came to teach here. I was 23 years old and this is my first job. After I graduated from National Taichung University, I decided to teach in Yu Jen.

Wang, Chia-Yu asked:

What grade did you teach at that time? How many students were there in Yu Jen? Could you tell us the teaching condition at that time?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

When I started to teach, I taught 3rd and 4th grade. The number of the students of Yu Jen before was as many as now. There were around 1,000 students including those of kindergarten.The teaching environment before was much more different than now. With the advent of information, we can make use of PowerPoint and DVD as teaching materials. Before, the Internet and computer were not popular, so we had to search for information and materials by means of other methods. Now we can make use of the Internet to search for information. For example, we usually spent a week making a test sheet because we had to engrave words on a steel plate, stencil paper was thin and easy to break, and we cannot engrave wrong words on the plate. Thanks to engraving steel graves, my handwriting is beautiful.

Huang, Yu-Hsuan asked:

Did you think that the job was very difficult before? Why?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

Mr. Hsiao answered, “Because I was attracted by the school’s good reputation and came to teach, I never thought that the job was difficult and tiresome, but thought that it was happy to teach here instead. Of course, sometimes I was tired and met some difficulty, but I never thought that teaching here was difficult. In the morning, I taught in our school and after work, I studied in Feng-Chia University because I thought my knowledge was not enough. Feng-Chia University is far from my home and it took a while to ride scooter to study. Although I studied after work, I still came to our school on time.

Lin, Yi-Yun asked:

Have you ever met any difficulties and felt frustrated while teaching?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

It is normal that people meet difficulties in every job. For example, Yu Jen is a good school and teachers take care of students as their children. Sometimes I thought that I have taught some parts already, but some students still didn’t understand the parts. At this time, I had to self-exanimate my teaching. This is my difficulty because information I provided is not enough, so I need to search for more information

Wang, Tzu-Wei asked:

What is the big difference between students in old days and current students?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

The one who was my student before is 45 years old now and older than Mr. Liao. Students in old days had to look up dictionaries as their information was not enough. Every time they had looked up a word, they would make a mark on the word. Their dictionaries were almost worn. Moreover, they wrote their answers clearly and beautifully in the math exam sheet. At present, students look up computer instead of dictionaries. However, they have many wrong words and misspellings in their assignments. I feel that students are not careful now. Sometimes they cannot find the answer which is obvious to see because they do not think step by step. Students are smarter than before but their grade is worse than before because their handwriting sometimes is illegible and the answer they write is difficult to tell

Wang, Tzu-Wei asked:

What is the big difference between teaching approaches before and present?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

The big difference is that with the advent of technology, students can get current information easily. Most of information got by students in old days was from their teachers. Before teaching materials were not many, but now teachers have a lot of teaching materials which can be used to inspire students. Please do not regard those teaching materials as toys because those materials are used to instruct students. Moreover, students always make use of formula for math questions without thinking other methods which can also solve those questions. Students used to write down all the process on the answer sheet.

Chen, Chu-En asked:

Since you have served in Yu Jen for many years, could you describe the development of Yu Jen Elementary School from several years ago to now?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

Since Yu Jen Elementary School established in around 40 years ago, it has had an excellent reputation. When we took our students to go out, many people always recognized that they are from Yu Jen. In addition, every time our Chinese Orchestra, Chorus, and Rhythm Music are in some competitions, other participants are afraid of our team. Therefore, Yu Jen has a fine reputation since our students’ excellent presentation. Although there are more and more private schools now and we have more opponents, our school always keeps progressing such as constructing our new building under our principal’s plan. At present, Yu Jen is still outstanding and has a fine reputation. Purchasing hardware and software facilities in order to catch up with the new age is one of the biggest progress.

Lee, Shu-Mei asked:

Does any student impress you a lot? Do your students become famous now?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

Actually, everyone taught by me all impressed me a lot. One of my students is 40 years old and he will send Christmas card every year to tell me his life in the U.S. I always think of his behavior and appearance while he was an elementary school student. Everyone graduated from Yu Jen is excellent. In my heart, my students are all famous people and excellent.

Huang, Yi-Chieh asked:

Have you ever taught students who are your students’ children?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

Yes. Huang, Yu-Hsuan is one of the examples. Her father was my student and works as hard as before. After he finished his study in the U.S., he came back to Taiwan to work. Now he studies in the Ph.D. program in National Taiwan University and his major is very special and hard—Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Lin, Yi-Yun asked:

We heard that you were Mr. Liao’s teacher from Miss Yang. What do you think that your students teach in Yu Jen?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

I am very happy that my students teach in Yu Jen. Two of my students are teachers in Yu Jen—namely, one is Mr. Liao and the other one is Mr. Ching-Lung Lin who left Yu Jen for the U.S. for advanced study. I am very happy that Mr. Liao can come back to Yu Jen and teach here. This represents that the knowledge pass on generations. From Mr. Liao, I can feel that people said, ‘The pupil surpasses the master.’ I have learned a lot from him.

Chao, Yi-Ching asked:

Do you think what kind of student Mr. Liao is? Was he mischievous? Is there any special which happen on Mr. Liao?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

The deep impression is that Mr. Liao was short, chubby, and cute. He often raised his hand to show his opinions and went to school with big smile every day. He got along well with everyone and well-behaved in class. Therefore, he was a well-behaved student and there was no special thing happened on him.

Chen, Yu-Jou asked:

Do you think that our education needs to make any improvement?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

Because technology is well-developed now and students rely too much on technology, they do not look up other references. In addition, technology is too convenient, so some of students always get lost and call their friends to ask direction. They are not aware of the cost of calls and also waste time. Students need to discipline themselves and take care of themselves.

Chan, Ya-Ting asked:

Could Mr. Hsiao say some encourages to us?

Mr. Hsiao answered:

I got a little story to share with you. In October, I attended one of my students’ wedding and the first line said by her father is, ‘I am grateful to those teachers and principal of Yu Jen. Because of you, my daughter can be so successful now and can have a great wedding like this.’ I hope that I can attend your weddings ten years later and your fathers will say the same words. You need to work hard and can have a great achievement that you can’t imagine. Success shows the efforts made by you.

Wang, Chia-Yu asked:

Was being a teacher a dream for you? Is this your first job? Why did you decide to teach in Yu Jen? Is this someone’s recommendation or your own decision? How long have you taught in Yu Jen?

Mr. Liao answered:

I did not want to be a teacher until I involved in a club in my university and got along with elementary school students. Because there is none of my family being a teacher, I never wanted to be a teacher. Because I never wanted to be a teacher, I attended a teacher certificate program after I graduated from a university and finished the military service. Because I missed the certificate exam, I had to wait for 2 years. I worked at a mechanical factory for one and half year during the 2 years, so teaching is my second job. Teaching in Yu Jen is my own decision and it’s my destiny to teach here. While my practical training was almost completed, I decided to visit my elementary school to meet with Mr. Chang-Chin Hsiao and Miss Shu-Ji Hung to ask for their opinions. Although I know that it is not easy to have a chance to teach in Yu Jen, I still wanted to discuss with those teachers. I was so lucky because of Miss Hung’s information and meeting with principal Shih, I know that there was a space for a new teacher. Later, principal Shih asked me if I was interested in teaching here. It’s my pleasure to teach here, so I decided to come here and have taught for 10 years.

Chen, Yu-Jou asked:

How did you feel when you come back here as a teacher?

Mr. Liao answered:

Well, when I came back here as a teacher, I felt very familiar with Yu Jen and was not afraid of the environment because I know most of teachers here including Mr. Hsiao. It was like that I came back to the big family. I felt steady. As for a new teacher, I am more familiar with the environment because this is the school I attended before and there are many teachers who can help me. There are 5 children in my family and all of us studied in Yu Jen Elementary School. I started to teach here as I was 30 years old. I think that if I retire at the age of 65, I will have taught here for 35 years old. This is my dream. In order to make my dream come true, I need to make more efforts.

Chao, Yi-Ching asked:

What is the big difference between students you taught before and now?

Mr. Liao answered:

At that time, our classrooms were in the old building. Because students were many, it was crowded. The big difference is that teachers can punish students, so students were all well-behaved and obeyed what teachers told. At present, our country is more free, so students have their own opinions and will ask questions if they are not understand what teachers teach. This condition is very different from before.

Lin,Yi-Yun asked:

You must like the teaching job. Could you tell us your teaching ideal?

Mr. Liao answered:

It's true that I like the teaching job after I tried other job. My teaching ideal is that people said, ‘To teach excellent students is undoubtedly a great pleasure of one’s life.’ While I decided to teach in Yu Jen, I hoped that I can teach outstanding students. You are all outstanding. During growing up, it is possible to meet people who can help you a lot. I want to be a person who can help you. If you can have a good future after I help you, I think it is worthwhile.

Huang, Yi-Chieh asked:

Have you ever met difficulty during teaching?

Mr. Liao answered:

Of course. Because students are more active than before, it is not easy to keep the class quiet. Class order is hard to control, so I have to think more methods such as appropriate punishment to control the class. Sometimes I will ask Mr. Hsiao or Miss Yang.

Lin, Shuang-Chu:

We know that you were Mr. Hsiao’s student. Could you tell us that what kind of teacher Mr. Hsiao was? Was he demanding?

Mr. Liao answered:

When he taught me, he was around 30 years old. He was young and handsome. He was the most handsome teacher in Yu Jen. We all respect for Mr. Hsiao but were not afraid of him. He has a good sense of humor in class. If we were well-behaved, he would not scold us.

Chen, Chu-En asked:

Do Mr. Hsiao have a great influence on you? Will you ask for his opinions if you meet problems?

Mr. Liao answered:

Because this is my first time to be a teacher, I did not understand teaching very much. Mr. Hsiao is my treasure island and I always go to ask his opinions while I have problems about class management. Among those teachers in Yu Jen, I regard Mr. Hsiao as my important person. Mr. Hsiao has a great influence on me and I always tell the story about why I became interested in math. While I was in the 4th grade, we were doing some math questions which Mr. Hsiao asked us to do. After finishing those questions, Mr. Hsiao asked to exchange our answer sheets with each other to grade. Mr. Hsiao said that if the equation is wrong and the answer is correct, the question will be wrong. I went to discuss with Mr. Hsiao about my answer because although my operation was simple, my answer was correct. After I went to Mr. Hsiao for the question, he asked me to explain to everyone in class. Mr. Hsiao said that although my operation was simple, the method was quick. After being praised by Mr. Hsiao, I have more confidence in Math. This is the most important influence on me.

Chang, Kai-Hsiang asked:

Do you think that it is possible that your students will come back to teach in Yu Jen?

Mr. Liao answered:

Of course, it is possible. It is like what Mr. Hsiao said, ‘Things pass on from generation to generation’ If you are interested in teaching, you can come back here to teach. I also look forward to having my students teach here and being colleagues with you. It is very special.

Lee, Shu-Mei asked:

Could you give us some encouragements?

Mr. Liao answered:

「Try your best to do everything. Be persistent and never give up.」 This is my motto and I hope this will be helpful for you.，

 A picture of teachers and us.

Learning Records

[Father Ma][Father Han][Miss Yang][Teacher & Student][Principal Shih]