| Portfolio
Portfolio
Teacher and Administrator
Elementary & High School
I started my teaching career at Maple Leaf International School Shanghai in 2018, where I taught English, Career Life Education, and Physical and Health Education to grade 10 and 11 students.
I taught grade 5 and 6 at Maple Leaf Foreign Nationals School Dalian since 2020. As a homeroom teacher, I am responsible for instruction of all core subjects and some specialty subjects: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Arts, Physical and Health Education, Career Education, Applied Design Skills and Technologies. Over the years, I have worked with class sizes between 9 and 16. Many of my students are English Language Learners. My students represent over ten nationalities; it is a diverse environment. Below are some cross-curricular projects that are highlights in our classes this year:
Project 1 – A Wish in the Dark novel study (grade 6)
Curriculum Connections: Language Arts, Social Studies, Career Education
The class read the middle grade novel A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat, which is a Thai-inspired fantasy re-telling of Les Miserables. Throughout the unit, students participated in United Nations simulations, debated topics about laws and prison rules, and created podcast episodes to report about significant events from the novel.
Guiding questions:
- What is prejudice and discrimination?
- How can a city’s laws create more injustice for its people?
- What are different types of government, and how are they formed?
- How do events or choices from our past impact our future?
Project 2 – Picture Book creation (grade 5)
Curriculum Connections: Language Arts, Social Studies, Career Education
After studying parts of a story, elements of plot, conflict resolution strategies, students used what they learned to create their own picture books. They wrote stories to teach others about how to cool down from heightened emotions, in order to manage conflicts from getting bigger. Students then read their pictures to their Kindergarten and Grade 1 buddies.
Guiding questions:
- What makes some popular stories so memorable?
- How does conflict build to the climax/turning point of the story?
- What can we learn about characters through their choices?
- What strategies can help to decrease a conflict with classmates?
- What is an I Statement, and when should I use one?
Project 3 – Coding a model of the solar system (grade 6)
Curriculum Connections: Science, Mathematics, Applied Design Skills and Technologies
Students learned about and explored space by virtually visiting space stations and facilities. They practiced using smaller units to represent larger scales, by using 1 footstep = 1 km in order to represent the distance of each planet from the sun. Students then used the Scratch program to make a model of the solar system that would share a fun fact about each planet out loud when it was prompted. Students still had many questions about space! They chose their own question to guide their research project, which they then presented to the class.
Guiding questions:
- What celestial bodies make up the solar system?
- What is the scope of the solar system and universe?
- How can a scale factor accurately represent a large model?
- How can I take notes from textbooks and websites, and write it in my own words?
Project 4 – Fitness Plan (grade 5)
Curriculum Connections: Science, Physical and Health Education
Students had been learning the importance of proper warm ups, cool downs, and safe physical movements during PE class. Then, students learned about the parts of the musculo-skeletal body system, and how they helped our body function. Students worked together to plan a fitness class, including warm ups, exercises, and cool downs, that targeted various muscles of the body. Finally, they led the class in the activities… everyone was a PE teacher for a day!
Guiding questions:
- What makes my body move?
- How do body systems work together?
- What do I need to do to keep my body safe and healthy?