You can find out more about Khoa on his website >>
The ULearn12 channel has many more videos recorded at the conference.
To register for upcoming conferences, visit ICOT2013 and the Learning@School2013 Roadshow.
You can find out more about Khoa on his website >>
The ULearn12 channel has many more videos recorded at the conference.
To register for upcoming conferences, visit ICOT2013 and the Learning@School2013 Roadshow.
Khoa Do, Young Australian of the Year, film director, screenwriter and teacher, sat down to talk with us at ULearn2012. He tells stories about his life, and at the same time reveals important educational ideas. Ideas that reveal the depth of the principles and key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum.
I actually came to Australia as a young refugee on a boat. Myself, my brother, my parents, we fled Vietnam in 1980 in a tiny 9m fishing boat. Five days out at sea, attacked by pirates. Very difficult journey and I almost lost my life on the journey, I was only an infant at the time. And it's basically going from that till eventually 25 years later becoming the young Australian of the year. Which back home in Australia is quite an honor. Previous recipients of the award have been people like Lleyton Hewitt, Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman. And for many people I would probably be the last person they would expect to receive such an award. What got me from there to here are really the values which I learnt as a kid. As a kid, myself, my brother, my family, we went through some really tough times. I remember coming home from school one afternoon finding out the electricity had been turned off, going to school with sticky taped shoes. And but I remember in these times rather than seeing life as so negative and so difficult and challenging, mum would say, "Invent a game to play in the dark". And so we did. So in my speech I share a lot of personal stories, a lot of family stories, and I always tell everyone, One thing that you can never have enough of, is resilience, overcoming, and who I learnt that from was actually my mum. I learned it from a lot of people but she really embodies it in a big way. One story which I shared with the audience today was that, for her for example, when she was a young girl of 17 she saw this monk. The monk looked at her and said, the next 33 years of your life until you turn 50 are going to be really really challenging, you're going to face every single obstacle imaginable. Mum looks at this monk and says "No I don't believe you". And guess what happens? The next 33 years of her life turns out exactly as this monk says and she faced a pretty tough life, many many challenges. It wasn't until she turned 50 and life got easier for her, and she started to go back and pursue all of her dreams. And a few years ago she went back to pursue one of her life's greatest dreams which was to learn English properly at TAFE college, which is an educational institution back home. So a few years ago she went back and did that. One day she comes over all worried, and I go, "Mum, what's wrong". And she looks at me and she goes, "Khoa, today the teacher gave us homework." and she goes, "We all have to write a 500 word story in English." And she goes, "Can you help me?" And I looked at her and I said, "You know what mum, I want you to try this one yourself." She looks at me and she goes, "Oh okay." She walks away, she sits down and she writes, and she writes, and she writes. Three days later she finishes and she comes over and she shows me what she's written. I read it and I basically started crying, it was beautiful. She had written a five hundred word story in English called "My life". I said, "Mum, you've got to hand this in to your teacher".The next day she goes to class, she hands it into her teacher. Two days after that she comes over all excited going, "Khoa, Khoa, Khoa". I said, "Mum, what is it?" She gives me her story. And on it the teacher had written ten out of ten. I said, "Mum, that's brilliant." And she looks at me, and in English she goes, "Khoa, now I know why you're a good writer." I said, "Why mum?" and she goes, "Because I'm a good writer, look!"All of us, no matter who we are, no matter which teacher, which school we work in, we have the potential to make a difference in the lives of the kids that we work with. And we should focus on what we have to work with rather than what we are lacking. Ultimately we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. I think ultimately, today what I wanted the teachers to walk away with is that one, anything is possible, and two, don't take life too seriously.
Khoa Do, Young Australian of the Year, film director, screenwriter and teacher, sat down to talk with us at ULearn2012. He tells stories about his life, and at the same time reveals important educational ideas. Ideas that reveal the depth of the principles and key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum.
I actually came to Australia as a young refugee on a boat. Myself, my brother, my parents, we fled Vietnam in 1980 in a tiny 9m fishing boat. Five days out at sea, attacked by pirates. Very difficult journey and I almost lost my life on the journey, I was only an infant at the time. And it's basically going from that till eventually 25 years later becoming the young Australian of the year. Which back home in Australia is quite an honor. Previous recipients of the award have been people like Lleyton Hewitt, Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman. And for many people I would probably be the last person they would expect to receive such an award. What got me from there to here are really the values which I learnt as a kid. As a kid, myself, my brother, my family, we went through some really tough times. I remember coming home from school one afternoon finding out the electricity had been turned off, going to school with sticky taped shoes. And but I remember in these times rather than seeing life as so negative and so difficult and challenging, mum would say, "Invent a game to play in the dark". And so we did. So in my speech I share a lot of personal stories, a lot of family stories, and I always tell everyone, One thing that you can never have enough of, is resilience, overcoming, and who I learnt that from was actually my mum. I learned it from a lot of people but she really embodies it in a big way. One story which I shared with the audience today was that, for her for example, when she was a young girl of 17 she saw this monk. The monk looked at her and said, the next 33 years of your life until you turn 50 are going to be really really challenging, you're going to face every single obstacle imaginable. Mum looks at this monk and says "No I don't believe you". And guess what happens? The next 33 years of her life turns out exactly as this monk says and she faced a pretty tough life, many many challenges. It wasn't until she turned 50 and life got easier for her, and she started to go back and pursue all of her dreams. And a few years ago she went back to pursue one of her life's greatest dreams which was to learn English properly at TAFE college, which is an educational institution back home. So a few years ago she went back and did that. One day she comes over all worried, and I go, "Mum, what's wrong". And she looks at me and she goes, "Khoa, today the teacher gave us homework." and she goes, "We all have to write a 500 word story in English." And she goes, "Can you help me?" And I looked at her and I said, "You know what mum, I want you to try this one yourself." She looks at me and she goes, "Oh okay." She walks away, she sits down and she writes, and she writes, and she writes. Three days later she finishes and she comes over and she shows me what she's written. I read it and I basically started crying, it was beautiful. She had written a five hundred word story in English called "My life". I said, "Mum, you've got to hand this in to your teacher".The next day she goes to class, she hands it into her teacher. Two days after that she comes over all excited going, "Khoa, Khoa, Khoa". I said, "Mum, what is it?" She gives me her story. And on it the teacher had written ten out of ten. I said, "Mum, that's brilliant." And she looks at me, and in English she goes, "Khoa, now I know why you're a good writer." I said, "Why mum?" and she goes, "Because I'm a good writer, look!"All of us, no matter who we are, no matter which teacher, which school we work in, we have the potential to make a difference in the lives of the kids that we work with. And we should focus on what we have to work with rather than what we are lacking. Ultimately we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. I think ultimately, today what I wanted the teachers to walk away with is that one, anything is possible, and two, don't take life too seriously.
Khoa Do, Young Australian of the Year, film director, screenwriter and teacher, sat down to talk with us at ULearn2012. He tells stories about his life, and at the same time reveals important educational ideas. Ideas that reveal the depth of the principles and key competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum.
I actually came to Australia as a young refugee on a boat. Myself, my brother, my parents, we fled Vietnam in 1980 in a tiny 9m fishing boat. Five days out at sea, attacked by pirates. Very difficult journey and I almost lost my life on the journey, I was only an infant at the time. And it's basically going from that till eventually 25 years later becoming the young Australian of the year. Which back home in Australia is quite an honor. Previous recipients of the award have been people like Lleyton Hewitt, Ian Thorpe and Cathy Freeman. And for many people I would probably be the last person they would expect to receive such an award. What got me from there to here are really the values which I learnt as a kid. As a kid, myself, my brother, my family, we went through some really tough times. I remember coming home from school one afternoon finding out the electricity had been turned off, going to school with sticky taped shoes. And but I remember in these times rather than seeing life as so negative and so difficult and challenging, mum would say, "Invent a game to play in the dark". And so we did. So in my speech I share a lot of personal stories, a lot of family stories, and I always tell everyone, One thing that you can never have enough of, is resilience, overcoming, and who I learnt that from was actually my mum. I learned it from a lot of people but she really embodies it in a big way. One story which I shared with the audience today was that, for her for example, when she was a young girl of 17 she saw this monk. The monk looked at her and said, the next 33 years of your life until you turn 50 are going to be really really challenging, you're going to face every single obstacle imaginable. Mum looks at this monk and says "No I don't believe you". And guess what happens? The next 33 years of her life turns out exactly as this monk says and she faced a pretty tough life, many many challenges. It wasn't until she turned 50 and life got easier for her, and she started to go back and pursue all of her dreams. And a few years ago she went back to pursue one of her life's greatest dreams which was to learn English properly at TAFE college, which is an educational institution back home. So a few years ago she went back and did that. One day she comes over all worried, and I go, "Mum, what's wrong". And she looks at me and she goes, "Khoa, today the teacher gave us homework." and she goes, "We all have to write a 500 word story in English." And she goes, "Can you help me?" And I looked at her and I said, "You know what mum, I want you to try this one yourself." She looks at me and she goes, "Oh okay." She walks away, she sits down and she writes, and she writes, and she writes. Three days later she finishes and she comes over and she shows me what she's written. I read it and I basically started crying, it was beautiful. She had written a five hundred word story in English called "My life". I said, "Mum, you've got to hand this in to your teacher".The next day she goes to class, she hands it into her teacher. Two days after that she comes over all excited going, "Khoa, Khoa, Khoa". I said, "Mum, what is it?" She gives me her story. And on it the teacher had written ten out of ten. I said, "Mum, that's brilliant." And she looks at me, and in English she goes, "Khoa, now I know why you're a good writer." I said, "Why mum?" and she goes, "Because I'm a good writer, look!"All of us, no matter who we are, no matter which teacher, which school we work in, we have the potential to make a difference in the lives of the kids that we work with. And we should focus on what we have to work with rather than what we are lacking. Ultimately we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. I think ultimately, today what I wanted the teachers to walk away with is that one, anything is possible, and two, don't take life too seriously.
You can find out more about Khoa on his website >>
The ULearn12 channel has many more videos recorded at the conference.
To register for upcoming conferences, visit ICOT2013 and the Learning@School2013 Roadshow.
Kevin Honeycutt was a keynote speaker at ULearn12. In this talk he provides us with three challenges: Don't stop believing in the children, leverage the available tools; and don't wait until you're good at it to do it.
Glenn Capelli was a keynote speaker at ULearn12. In this entertaining and inspirational talk he explores the layers of learning which he describes as: philosophy, conversations, strategies, and methodology.
