Grade 2 PYP — Exploring Identity Through Storytelling
Identity and storytelling isn't just a unit I teach — it's something I've lived. Building a life and a career across three languages and two very different education systems has taught me how much of who we are comes through the stories we tell and the ones we're told.
See-Think-Wonder routine with a cultural object. Students observe and ask: What do you see? What do you think? What do you wonder? This opens genuine inquiry before any content is introduced.
Family elder visit or recorded folktale. Guided discussion: Who is telling the story? What do we learn about them? How does it connect to our own lives?
Students draw a story memory and share feelings or lessons. Launch a Wonder Wall — students post questions about stories and cultures to investigate further.
Student Action
Students interview a family member about a personal or cultural story, contribute to a collaborative class "Story Quilt," and help plan a storytelling showcase for families and the community.
Formative Assessment Design
Students move through three progressive tasks: Story Structure (teacher model → guided sequencing → pair retelling → sharing) → Personal Story (preparation → interview → plan → practice → present) → Independent Storytelling Showcase. Each stage builds on the last, ensuring readiness before the summative performance.
Grade 7 MYP — Ordering Food Politely
A clinical practice lesson from my Moreland University M.Ed. (Module 8, InTASC Standard 1) — taught to 30 Grade 7 ESL students at BI Zandem Academy, Chongqing. This 15-minute highlight lesson demonstrates bilingual restaurant role-plays integrating scaffolding (I Do → We Do → You Do), UDL principles, and IB learner profile traits.
Food-country matching task (vocabulary comprehension). Success criteria: 3 = All correct · 2 = Most · 1 = Few.
Pronunciation & tone check (oral fluency). Success criteria: 3 = Clear and polite · 2 = Mostly correct · 1 = Needs help.
Role-play rubric: 3 = Accurate + polite + culturally aware. Peer and teacher observation.
IB-style reflection chart: 3 = Thoughtful · 2 = Basic · 1 = Minimal. Exit ticket: one polite phrase + one cultural difference.
Key Reflection
Students communicated most confidently during the Chinese-style restaurant dialogue because it reflected familiar cultural norms and reduced anxiety. Once comfortable using polite expressions such as "May I have…" in the Chinese scenario, they successfully transferred these skills to the Western restaurant context. This progression illustrates Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development — moving from known to new with appropriate scaffolding.
Grade 7 MYP — Hotel Research Project
An interdisciplinary unit integrating language acquisition, real-world research skills, and cross-cultural communication. Students researched and presented hotel booking scenarios in English, drawing on local Chongqing context and connecting to global hospitality culture. A full bilingual lesson package (13 documents) was produced for school-wide use and designed for management observation as part of IB authorization preparation. This unit contributed to the Outstanding Teaching Design Award received from Zandem Academy in July 2026, recognising the integration of IB inquiry pathways with China's New Curriculum Standards through "Big Unit Teaching."
World Culture Week — ESL Advocacy Initiative
A school-wide leadership project positioning students' home languages and cultures as academic assets. World Culture Week uses storytelling, role-play, music, food, and discussion to give ELLs authentic, meaningful opportunities to use English in a culturally affirming context — reducing linguistic marginalization and increasing ELL participation and confidence.
- Grounded in ELL research — linguistic and cultural diversity as academic advantage, not deficit
- Directly connected to IB international mindedness and the PYP transdisciplinary theme How We Express Ourselves
- Designed for BI Zandem's bilingual school context in Chongqing
Bilingual Formative Assessment System
Achievement-band comment banks for Grades 2–8, bridging IB standards and Chinese national curriculum requirements. Designed to support both foreign and Chinese teaching teams with consistent, bilingual assessment language across all English-medium subjects. Includes oral assessment templates and IELTS Speaking mock materials with localized Chongqing prompts.
IELTS Speaking Preparation — Grades 5–8
Developing students' fluency, pronunciation, and confidence for exam contexts through mock tests, structured speaking practice, and localized prompts using Chongqing landmarks and culturally relevant topics. Original SVG illustrations developed for speaking materials to give students visual anchors for unfamiliar vocabulary.
A note on student privacy
Any classroom or student images used on this site are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs of real students. Protecting student privacy is a non-negotiable ethical commitment in my practice — and a core value of the IB framework I work within. Real student work samples shared here are anonymised.