Teaching & Learning English
Director Dr Durian 
My first ever middle school performance in appreciation of Shakespeare’s writing took place on the 28th March 2024 and was a great success. However, getting to the point where English Language & Literature (ELL) students across three grades were able to successfully coordinate and perform different Shakespearean pieces was quite a journey. In this article … Read more
My grade 6 students are writing a speech drawing on our analysis of some of Shakespeare’s famous speeches. Here is my example: Is Shakespeare relevant in the world today? I might just as well ask if you prick Shylock, doth he not bleed? Doth a bear not poop in the woods? In short, you do … Read more
Over the last couple of weeks, three of my classes at school have been very busy producing screenplays and stage directions for various performances of Shakespeare’s plays. This was a very significant piece of work with plenty of learning opportunities, for me as well as the students, so it is really important to reflect on … Read more
Welcome to another awesome Creative Writing Project on Mushroom. This article describes the process my grade 6 students used to create Enchantia: Legends & Tales of Good & Bad The aim of this project is to work as a group to produce a fantasy novel. This creative process works as follows: Each participant creates a … Read more
As many of my students know, I was, a long time ago, before I became a teacher, a professional artist. I am therefore going to be transparent about my own efforts at representing Shakespeare through visual art. I will update this post as I progress with my painting. The first step is to map out … Read more
The site is called MUSHROOM so let’s appreciate a random giant, blue mushroom I found in Hangzhou Park, Suzhou. It is a very cold day, but look at that beautiful blue sky! A quirky blue mushroom rises to meet the expansive blue sky 😀
I’m not really a student. This is just an example 🙂 Having travelled widely, there are many exotic foods I could describe. In China alone, I have had the pleasure of eating barbecued scorpions, rabbit head hot pot, stewed dog, horse’s stomach, some unidentifiable green splat and the parts of a male sheep not shared … Read more
I have been doing a lot of research into assessing student-led seminars recently. Here is a QR code that can take you to an article I wrote about this research. My latest seminar sessions have been as productive as the earlier ones and working with students who are readily able to articulate their ideas in … Read more
Confession: I am not a student. This is just an example 🙂 Unlike my students, I was not lucky enough to go on a wonderful hiking trip to Hangzhou at the end of April and I spent my time working in the office instead. I’m not too upset about this because I have been to … Read more