The teacher both teaches biology and entrepreneurship.

Bringing the 'fruit garden' into the classroom, taking students on field trips, instructing them on how to make grapefruit essential oil, perilla tea... Ms. Oanh's lessons ignite students' passion for exploration, inspiring them to start a business right in their hometown.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Oanh introduces clean products made by students using local agricultural ingredients - Photo: VINH HA

Loving the subject more when knowing how to apply knowledge to create products and start a business from the agricultural products of one's hometown is what teacher Nguyen Thi Oanh, Tran Nhat Duat High School (Yen Binh district, Yen Bai ), brings to students.

Bringing the "orchard" into the classroom

In a class with 10th graders, Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh gave suggestions for starting a business by creating products using available and famous agricultural materials in Yen Bai. The class attracted the attention of students because of the way the teacher suggested and interacted with them.

She asks questions for students to answer about their understanding of famous agricultural products and the products processed from those agricultural sources that they know. In particular, she always explains with biological knowledge so that students can connect the knowledge they have learned with the practical life around them.

On the teacher's desk are many products: shampoo, grapefruit essential oil extracted from the main ingredient of Dai Minh grapefruit, milk made from germinated purple corn of the Mong people in Mu Cang Chai, tea using oranges from the Luc Yen region as the main ingredient...

Many other products are extracted and processed from typical products of Yen Bai such as hawthorn, cinnamon, green rice... Interestingly, these products are all part of the creative research and start-up project that Ms. Oanh guided previous generations of students.

"Students can be proud when they understand more about the typical natural products of their hometown. That can also kindle in them a passion for exploration, research and help them visualize the possible career paths they can choose," said Ms. Oanh.

Ms. Oanh's entrepreneurship lesson, taught to students in grades 10, 11, and 12, is flexibly implemented in class activities, extracurricular activities, or integrated into the biology subject she teaches. Students not only listen to lectures in class, but also experience and practice under the teacher's guidance.

Since 2020, Ms. Oanh started to have the idea of ​​teaching entrepreneurship to students after learning about the Prime Minister 's Project 1665 on "Supporting students to start businesses until 2025". In addition to teaching classes, she organizes research and startup projects for students.

The students were accompanied by their teachers to raw material areas to directly select raw material samples, and participate in researching formulas, processes and implementing the steps to create the products. They also became familiar with financial calculations, business plans, product marketing and promotion, etc.

In the past 4 years, there have been products of students guided by Ms. Oanh that won prizes in scientific research and start-up competitions. Some of these products have been upgraded to have commercial value and be competitive in the market. These include plant milk made from germinated purple corn, products made from grapefruit in Dai Minh such as tea, shampoo, hair conditioner essential oil, etc.

Nguyen Phuong Linh, a 12th grade student at Tran Nhat Duat High School (Yen Binh, Yen Bai), talks with Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh about the product her group made under her guidance - Photo: VINH HA

The teacher's passion has been passed on to generations of students. Nguyen Phuong Linh, a student at Tran Nhat Duat High School, participated in the project to create products from Dai Minh grapefruit and shared: "Before, I thought 'business' had to be a big deal, but when I did the project with her, I realized that starting a business can start from the things around us.

Of course, to be successful and make a living from the career you started, you need to learn and make an effort. But at least now we can have a clearer picture of creating a product to sell. The interesting thing is that the product is clean and useful.

We learned a lot from the project, gained more experience and necessary skills. What I clearly saw was that participating in the project made me understand the knowledge taught better. Biology was quite difficult for us when we had to learn the theory, but now I understand its meaning in life so I feel more interested."

Not only guiding students to research and create products, Ms. Oanh also accompanies the group of students and parents to make the products qualified for the market. The milk product from purple corn, she had to pursue for 4 years to have a trademark certificate bearing the names of the participating students. When researching, the group of students were in grade 12, now they are in their final year of university.

Teaching innovation

According to Ms. Luu Thi Huong - Vice Principal of Tran Nhat Duat High School, Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh is one of the leading teachers in innovating teaching methods, from teaching STEM topics to giving students practical experiences... This has spread to many other teachers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh's lessons always make students interested because they find the connection between knowledge and reality - Photo: VINH HA

Sharing more, Ms. Oanh said: "Instead of teaching knowledge in a separate, discrete way, I combine them into learning topics based on practical applications. For example, when teaching plant hormones (11th grade biology), I guide students to research the use of salicylic acid to create a solution to preserve diamond chrysanthemum flowers.

Or when teaching cell biology (biology 10, part II), I guide students to research some nutritional indicators in germinated purple corn seeds with the orientation of creating plant milk. In addition, I also guide students to apply the knowledge they have learned to create practical products such as soap, antibacterial hand sanitizer, yogurt, rice wine...

According to Ms. Oanh, designing lessons based on STEM topics will include specific requirements for students. Students must proactively research knowledge related to practical problems posed by the lesson (through textbooks, learning materials, experimental equipment, and technological equipment) and use them to solve the problems posed.

That process helps students learn scientific knowledge and learn how to apply that knowledge in practice. It also makes students not feel that biology is abstract, difficult to understand or boring. Ms. Oanh's STEM-themed teaching also helps students gain additional skills: communication, cooperation, management, operation...

At the end of 2023, Ms. Oanh was awarded the title of Excellent Teacher. This is a worthy recognition, but for her, the maturity and change from her students is the most meaningful gift.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/co-giao-vua-day-mon-sinh-vua-day-tro-khoi-nghiep-20241118114424723.htm