Teaching fraction lesson using ‘egg panel’

‘Online PLC Coaching, an online community where teachers came together to create online teaching resources for students, is introducing ‘Kru Su’ Supaporn Kittayakornnupong, Head of Mathematics Development Unit at Plearnpattana School. She was the first to develop teaching guidelines by integrating simple objects and turning them into teaching materials. For instance, a simple ‘egg panel’ from the kitchen could help 3rd-grade students to understand the fractional lesson. This virtual demonstration has gained public interest, especially school directors and teachers from 16 schools in the Siam Commercial Foundation network and Equitable Education Fund (EFF) network.

From ‘egg panel’ to ‘teaching material’

Just seeing the teacher holding egg panels to class, children became excited and they kept imagining what the egg panel is going to be used for in math class. Even the ones who are having a hard time with mathematics could barely hide the excitement in their faces.

Each group of students received 1 egg panel which can be divided into 5 vertical rows and 6 horizontal rows. Once everyone is ready, the teacher will give them fractional problems such as making half of an egg panel full. The kids enjoyed helping each other arrange eggs in the panel.

“Make 3 over 6 of egg panel full,” said the teacher. After that, students rushed to rearrange the egg panel. This time, they realized that the first and second problem is the same because one-half is equal to 3 over 6. The kids finally understand how to compare fractions in a more concrete view than the drawing on the paper they used to do.

The teacher continued to give students fractional problems and, surprisingly, they enjoyed it. They even asked for more problems because they enjoy helping each other to complete the tasks. This activity does not only make the class more fun but also makes students feel that they belong to the class where nobody is left behind just because they don’t understand math.

It’s clear to see that a simple egg panel could lead to a discussion and knowledge exchange among children. They get to practice with the real materials which connect them to the learning process and their previous experiences. This is called Met Before, whether it’s something they are taught or their own experiences. This leads to knowledge exchange and self-learning methods.

‘Met Before’ drives the learning process 

‘Met Before’ drives the learning process

The appeal of the egg panel is that each kid arranges eggs differently in the same fractional problem. Some arranged them vertically and some horizontally. All of this is based on ‘Met Before’ from the learner’s previous experience, possibly the knowledge that was received from the teacher before, both in theory and in practice.

In each period, teachers must anticipate the ‘learner’s concept’ to create a practical and effective learning process, so that each child with an unequal background knowledge could understand the lesson. Additionally, this learner concept help to create a friendly learning environment for the student.

Learning by doing: Kids enjoy doing while teachers are observing

The hands-on learning process could reflect each student’s talent, ability of learning, and teamwork. When the kids encounter problems, they will think of the best solution to solve without being fear of making mistakes because by working as a team, they get to communicate and share some ideas that lead to further knowledge development.

Furthermore, teachers get to observe the body language, facial expressions, and confidence of each student while they are working in their teams to find the solution to each problem. Some kids might stay quiet which could mean that they are thinking and trying to solve the problems, or that they cannot think of any solutions because they don’t know where to start.

Each student is different and has unequal background knowledge; thus, teachers have to pay attention closely.

Advises from teacher to students

Kru Su has mentioned that after each lesson, she will do an after-class revision to all of her students, especially when she has to check their homework. The teacher would be able to write further suggestions for them, to make all students understand the lesson.

Instead of telling them that they got the wrong answer which could drop a child’s confidence, Kru Su recommended using other questions to help those students to figure out the right answer. She suggested thinking about what a child would feel, no one wants to be told that they do something wrong. If we use other questions, the kids would be willing to find the right answer and admit that they are wrong.

When the atmosphere in class is not competitive and anxious but a form of group learning in which everyone helps each other out, students would feel at ease and feel confident to share their answers with the class. Therefore, ‘teacher’ is an important factor in creating this learning-friendly environment. Teachers have to be a safe zone for students to try out. When students are able to figure it out on their own, they will be more confident and open up to other things.

Teacher Pad Seelwat Susillaworn, Deputy Director, Academic Affairs, of Plearnpattana School, has further suggested that to provide step-by-step learning to students, teachers have to build a scaffolding for them to reach each step. First of all, teachers have to understand the met before of each student and set up the destination of each child. They have to understand the nature of that lesson and the nature of children themselves to set up a proper question or experience.

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Sustainably develop local education by developing local students

“This program aims to achieve goals that we set up; good students, smart students, and happy students” – Udom Kuldee, director of Aokapor school

‘Inequality’ in the Thai education system is caused by many factors, one important factor is the school’s location. Schools located in rural areas, on the hill or on the island for instance, often deal with lack of resources and travel inconvenience, ergo they have to take a 2-hours car ride or a boat to school. The difficulty in traveling is an obstacle for teachers from other areas to teach in these schools in the long term. And when they move out, schools in rural areas will lack facilitators for a while which would result in a discontinuity in learning.    

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had local teachers?

Kru Rak Thin program sponsored by the Equitable Education Fund (EEF) has emerged from the intention to tackle the shortage of teachers due to the school’s location by producing local teachers who will return to work in their hometown. 

The annual Kru Rak Thin scholarship offering begins with recruiting potential candidates who want to become teachers, come from a poor background, and live in a rural area. They will be granted scholarships to study in the Faculty of Education and after graduation, they are going to work as a core faculty in the school in their own communities. They do not have to adapt to the new environment or learn how to travel to school, they will be able to teach in the long term because there is no need to move elsewhere.           

This program does not only help to provide enough teachers for local schools in order to support continuity in learning but also to develop those schools by increasing quality teachers and creating a network of knowledge exchange.

“Aokrapor School” is the model school in the 1st generation of Kru Rak Thin program. This school is in Pru Nai subdistrict, Koh Yao district, Phang Nga province. It is located in the middle of the Andaman Sea among Phang Nga, Krabi, and Phuket. The fastest route to this school is to take a 1-hour ferry crossing. During the monsoon season, it is more difficult and takes longer to travel, and there are no other routes. All things considered, this school dealt with a high turnover rate in these past years. This school was viewed as a ‘temporary stop’ for teachers from other areas.   

“Teachers in this school usually turnover because they are not local people, they come and go. They became teacher assistants and once they managed to adapt to the new environment, and students started to get familiar with them, they moved out. This results in discontinuity in learning. Some of them have to teach here for 4 years but they proceed to move out after 2 years in special cases.”  Said Udon Kuldee, director of Aokapor school

For this reason, when the school was contacted to join the Kru Rak Thin program, they immediately recruited students who were interested, and we eventually got 2 students in the 1st generation Kru Rak Thin. When the program is over, one of them is going to be teaching here and another is going to teach at Ao Ma Muang school which is nearby.     

Director Udom views this program as a 100% effective solution to solve the existing problem because local students are already familiar with their communities and schools. Once they become teachers here, they will not move out. They would also have a better understanding of the community and its culture than teachers from elsewhere. People in this area are predominantly Muslims. If we have a teacher who understands the culture and Islam, it would be easier to engage with the community.

“I, myself, am a local and my house is 400 meters away from this school. I studied here when I was little, I was an alumnus. I became a teacher here and, later, the deputy director. In the end, I proceeded to become a school director here. Now, I am trying to persuade local teachers to come back and teach at this school.”

Returning teachers to rural schools = Returning future to the children

Director Udom further mentioned that Yala Rajabhat University has coordinated with the school to help with students’ home visits. He brought the team to visit every household which is good because the team gets to see family in person and talk to the parents directly. He never thought the family could be this miserable. In some cases, the parents cried during the visit and said that their children wouldn’t have had a chance to go to university if it’s not because of this program. Similar to 2 students from Aokapor school who joined the Kru Rak Thin program, both of them are good students with good behavior from poor backgrounds. This program helps them to go to university and to pursue their career.  

For the 2nd generation Kru Rak Thin program, the school was informed that there is a quota for local students to teach at Ao Ma Muang school. Director Udom thinks that this will make the process easier because everything falls into place. However, the recruitment will be more difficult because they anticipated that more students would want to join this program due to the outcome of the 1st generation. Moreover, parents want their children to become bureaucrats because of decent welfare. 

Director Udom concluded, “Nowadays, a lot of children are interested in the Kru Rak Thin program, especially when they have seen the example from the previous generation. The villagers also want their children to join this program and become teachers at local schools. And I do believe that this program will help us to achieve the goal we set up, which is to be good students, smart students, and happy students.”

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