|
Local children taught English by Grade 11 Prem students
Tara Colen
Grade 11 students at Prem Tinsulanonda International
School are participating in a successful program called “English Language
Learning” (ELL), now in its fourth year, as part of the Creativity,
Action, Service (CAS) component of the IB Diploma. The program gives Prem
students the opportunity to teach local Thai students English for 1.5 hours
a week, for one semester. Grade 11 student Denise Gan said, “It gives us
an opportunity to think about people other than ourselves.” This idea is
one of the main goals of the service aspect of CAS.
Moss
Chanthanasirikun, Lena Zimpfer, and Alex Kozlow teach students at Wat
Nahuek.
Returning students began preparation for the program in
Grade 10, during Term 4 last year. New Grade 11 students had the opportunity
to go through an intensive training at the beginning of this school year.
Students are supervised by Ajarn Jason (an ESOL teacher) and Ajarn Randall
(CAS coordinator), who give tips on teaching the English language. Prem
students have one week to prepare lessons, then, for the next two weeks,
teach Thai students at five different local schools. Local schools that
participate in the ELL program are Ban Nongplaman, Maharaj, Budhakasetra
Foundation, Wat Sai Moon, and Wat Nahuek. Five teachers from Prem go along
with students to provide support - A.Isabelle, A.Marie, A.Lucy, A.Ali, and
A.Maurice who stays with his group at Prem while the Budhakasetra students
come to campus.
The idea behind the ELL program is to have “learning
perpetuated,” according to A. Randall. Current students can use the
materials from previous years as well as make their own. Randall commented,
“We love the interaction between our students and the village children.
The students are committed and dedicated.” He also noted, “It could not
be done without our teacher support. It is great to have qualified educators
involved because they provide an insight into their jobs.”
Vlad
Hird and Hannah Smith show a student the color white at Wat Nahuek.
Current Grade 12 student, Sabrina Haider said of her
experience with the program last year, “We now understand how hard it is
to be a teacher and to control students!” This year’s Grade 11 students
seem to really love the program, as they too learn what it is like to be a
teacher. Their excitement in the classroom shone through as they taught
colors to various classes of students at Wat Nahuek. They were most
definitely enjoying the interaction with local children. The 11th graders
brought materials and made up games to play so that the children could learn
colors. Prem student Hannah Smith commented to her teaching partner Vlad
Hird, “I told you they would learn it through a game!” By the end of
their session the small group of students in their class had learned red,
yellow, and green, whilst they could name the colors instantly.
To follow International Baccalaureate (IB) guidelines for
CAS, Diploma students must log 150 hours of creativity, action, and service.
With each service component, they are required to write several reflection
papers, as well as self-evaluations. Supervisors evaluate the students and
students have the option of receiving letters of reference from the CAS
coordinator to apply for scholarships as well as places in tertiary
institutions.
A new principal at CDSC
Dominique Leutwiler
The Christian German School Chiang Mai (CDSC) welcomes a
new principal this year. Matthias Wolf has moved to Chiang Mai after
spending the past four years in his native country Germany. Even though his
function as principal is new, Matthias is not a stranger to Chiang Mai and
CDSC.
The following interview is a short introduction:
Q: How long have you been in Chiang Mai now?
A: My family and I have now been here for over a month. We arrived on 10th
of August but we have previously been in Chiang Mai and CDSC.
Q: Why did you come back again?
 Matthias
Wolf and his family
A: About one and a half years ago, we were asked by the Marburger Mission
Germany whether we would like to return and take on the CDSC for a second
time. We discussed it as a family and gladly decided to return.
Q: Has the CDSC changed in the past four years?
A: Yes, the amount of students increased, a new building has been added, the
sports court is something new for me and the number of co-workers has
increased as well. What stayed the same was the wonderful location on the
outskirts of Chiang Mai and the friendly atmosphere that I still remember
from the last time I was here.
Q: What are your visions for CDSC?
A: I’m glad that CDSC was able to improve on its offer of a German
language education in Northern Thailand, the many requests we receive
definitely show that people are interested. We also got into the circle of
German schools in foreign countries of the region 20/21 (southeast
Asia/Australia) and are excited about the possibility of an exchange with
these schools - with our nearly 90 students, we are not the smallest of
these schools. I also would like to keep building the contact with the local
international schools, something that has already been successful with the
different sporting events in Chiang Mai.
Our school should be a place where children enjoy learning, a place to feel
secure. In this fast-moving world today it is important to ask ourselves
which values we want to learn and hold on to and also to be flexible enough
to face constantly changing situations.
Q: Which are the highlights in this new school year that you’re looking
forward to?
A: Every day should have its highlights besides our daily work. The CDSC
also has its outstanding moments like participating in the sport events with
the other international schools, or the festivities during the year and also
the excursions with the students. These are all moments for our students to
experience and remember for life. These are all events that I’m really
looking forward to.
Crowds enjoyed MBA World Forum-North
Mike Hock and Sutthichok
Linprasert
Over 400 people gathered at the International Center of
Chiang Mai University to explore and discuss issues and educational options
for MBA degrees during BankThai’s MBA World Forum-North. Judging by
“buzz” levels, a lot of excitement went on in those few hours.
Despite constant rain, all four sessions of free TOEFL
& IELTS practice tests were full, as seats were reserved weeks in
advance. IC-ACE, EducationUSA Advising Center in CMU-IC, stepped up to offer
extra TOEFL practice tests for those on waitlists.
Smiling
faces, the scholarship winners.
Adding to the fun of the day, IC-ACE went beyond original
plans for scholarships. “We ended up giving away additional scholarships
for a total value over 20,000 baht. IC-ACE is happy to help students keen to
improve themselves in our Center or abroad,” explained Dr. Busabong
Jamroendararasame, Director of CMU-IC. The biggest prizes for 9,000 baht of
GMAT/GRE Prep scholarships went to a trio of lucky CMU students, including
Antika Shinawatra who had just finished TOEFL Prep at CMU-IC. Other
scholarships were given for specialized training in TOEFL, TOEIC, Global
English and Teen-Trendy-Talk.
Visitors enjoyed unique opportunities to experience
demonstration classes by “star” lecturers from leading MBA programs in
Thailand. Dr. Krittinee Nutthavuthisit from Sasin engaged her audience on
“Generic Experiential Marketing”, Dr. Siriwut Buranapin of CMU conducted
a popular session on “System Thinking & Business Dynamics”, while
Dr. Philip Hallinger of Mahidol University helped listeners with
“Developing Emotional Intelligence, E.Q.”
The event’s highlight was the MBA World Forum panel
talk by representatives for education in USA, UK, Thailand, Japan, and
Australia. In his presentation on U.S. MBA programs, Mike Hock of IC-ACE
guided students to “look beyond Top 10 lists, and focus instead on
specializations needed for Thailand’s economic development”. He also
stressed that GMAT test cores were absolutely essential for admissions to
the best MBA programs, i.e. the 430 accredited by AACSB. This advice was
endorsed by Ms. Vatcharaporn Ratanayanont of the Royal Thai Government’s
Office of Civil Service Commissions (which provides various scholarships).
Violinist Ohm Chanteyoon at Payap
Jan Verwers
Unfortunately many Chiang Mai music lovers missed this
concert, as for some reason Payap’s Music Department did not give much
publicity to this event.
 Young
violinist Ohm Chanteyoon (21) gave his Senior Recital, part of his music
studies at Payap. “This was a nice opportunity to show my skills at this
moment. I decided to play a varied program to have the possibility to show
different sides of myself,” Ohm told us after the concert.
First he had chosen one of Vivaldi’s violin concertos,
‘L’Estro Armonico’, in which Ohm was both the soloist and the
conductor. He hand-picked, some months ago, the string ensemble that
accompanied him. “They are the new generation of string players in
Chiangmai, you will hear more of them,” said a proud Ohm.
Then followed Mozart’s Flute Quartet, KV.285, in which
Ohm played the first violin, together with flutist Pornjan Danpongpee,
violist Annop Ruangmanee and cellist Karin Mekara.
After the intermission, Ohm was accompanied by harpist
Judith Utley in Massenet’s ‘M้ditation de Tha๏s’, and
later by pianist David Wilson in compositions by Dvorak, Wieniaswki and
Delibes.
I asked Ohm, which part of the program he was most proud
of. “Wieniawski”, he said, “It is a beautiful piece, but very
difficult for the violinist. And I think I did it well, also thanks to the
great support Ajarn Dave gave me. It is such a pleasure to work with him.”
Ohm, who just returned from the USA, where he studied
violin for one year as an international exchange student at the University
of Oregon, has been playing his instrument since he was at the age of seven.
Born in Chiang Mai, he had lessons from many teachers here in town, but also
in London and in Melbourne. He experimented with other instruments as well:
piano, Thai instruments, even guitar in a rock band. Now he is in his last
year at Payap.
What will be next? “I want to return to Oregon for some
time, to study more,” he said. “And later I would like to go to Europe
to practice in playing chamber music. Vienna would be the right place, but
there might be some language problems.”.
Quantity versus Quality in bachelor degree education
Preeyanoot Jittawong
Quantity versus Quality in bachelor degree education was
the subject of a seminar organized by the Graduate School at Chiang Mai
Rajabhat University in cooperation with the Deans’ Council of Thailand on
September 14-15.
 Prof
Dr Kasem Wattanachai, Privy Councilor, addresses delegates at the bachelor
degree education Quantity versus Quality seminar.
Privy Councilor Prof Dr Kasem Wattanachai presided over
the seminar opening, saying that bachelor degree education standards at
present emphasizes quantity more than quality. He suggested that the quality
aspect be stressed and that the educational administrators should accept
changes to the system rather than hold on to old methods that might not
achieve the best standards.
Asst. Prof. Ruangdech Wonglah, president of Chiang Mai Rajabhat
University, and Prof. Sommai Preeprem, president of committees of the
Deans’ Council of Thailand, were also present at the event, which was
attended by about 150 administrators and education institute
representatives.
Prem’s Grade 4 visits Chiangmai Mail Offices
Chiangmai Mail Reporters
Grade 4 students from Prem Tinsulanonda International School toured Chiangmai
Mail Offices last week, on a mission to find out more about “Creative
Cooperation”, a subject they are currently working on in class.
Accompanied by Ajarn Declan and Ajarn Tammie, the students came very well
prepared, equipped with notebooks and pencils, and directed questions such
as “How do we work as a team”, “How do we reach a goal”, and “How
do we solve problems” to Chiangmai Mail’s Managing Director
Michael Vogt, who was happy to answer and shed some light on the mysteries
of management. Upon completion of the Q and A session, one student stepped
forward and, on behalf of his student colleagues, thanked Michael for his
time, and also presented him with a box of cookies, which was very much
appreciated by the staff (and Michael).
CMU software students first runners-up in Microsoft contest
Chiangmai Mail Reporters
A team of students from the computer engineering division
of the Chiang Mai University, faculty of engineering, has been named first
runner-up in the Imagine Cup 2005 software competition organized by
Microsoft (Thailand).
A total of 111 teams entered this competition to select
Thai representatives to go on to compete in Yokohama, Japan.
The Chiang Mai team consisted of Promook
Chuentosaponchai, Pongsak Sawhaew, Wiphusit Udomsrisook and Pantitra
Sawaspong, advised by Wanasanan Thongsongkrit.
Their entry was Harmony Jigsaw, a program to explain feelings between
sender and receptor by picture sending that eventually pieces together like
a jigsaw.
|
