My Teaching Experiences

English literature, drama, performance, and theatre .... wonderful subjects ... questions .... energy .... thoughts ... connections ....

 English

                           Year 12 English students and The Handmaid's Tale       

Examples of Assignment Units and Classroom Practice

IB English Standard Level

Year 11 and 12 Seisen English

Year 8 English

Year 7 English

poetry,

short stories,

novels,

IB Year 11 students and their study of selected short stories from Nadine Gordimer

non-fiction,

creative writing,

essays

reflections

Letters to the author Ray Bradbury

Year 11 Students with Bronte's Wuthering Heights

Drama and Performance

role plays

rehearsal

productions

performance

sounds

improvisation

the moment

space

movement

voice

masks

stage

costume

monologues

duologues

hot-seating

in the round

I am influenced by many great people: Gavin Bolton, Dorothy Heathcote, Peter Moore, Samuel Beckett, Shakespeare, Augustus Boal, Moliere, and Antonin Artuad.

After School Involvement - Extra Curricular Activities

Model United Nations

I have MUN fever. I am so impressed with MUN and all of the conferences I have seen amaze me.  MUN conferences allow students to be more engaged oin current global issues ranging from geo-political, social, environmental, legal, international security, and human rights. It also helps them to develop their social, communicative, and speaking skills.

I first started being a director of MUN in 1999 at the Shanghai American School. That year, we went to BEIMUN 5, run by Irwin Steiner. I took 16 students and had 2 students in the Security Council.

                                    Singapore MUN 2006

Tokyo MUN 2009

The following year, 2000, I went to the Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan, and became the assistant director of the school's MUN club with Stephen Powers as the Director. That year, we went to 3 conferences: a local MUN at Marist Brothers International School, a medium-sized conference at Seoul International School, and back to BEIMUN 6 in Beijing, China. In 2001, I became the director on the club and we participated in the same 3 conferences.

    The Great Wall of China, Beijing MUN, 2006.

In 2003, I started the MUN Club at Seisen International School and founded the  Kanto Plain MUN conference in Tokyo. From 2003 to 2010, I have also taken my MUN group to consecutive Beijing and Singapore MUN conferences. The Singapore MUN is organised by The Hague THIMUN and over 1000 students participate.

Debate - both Cross X and Oxford style

I have been the head coach of Seisen's Debate Team for the last 8 years. During this time, we participated in the Kanto Plain Debate League with 4 or 5 other schools, depending on the season. Some of the topics that we have debated include: the female of the species is the most deadly, its better to use nuclear energy than coal, internet downloading should be free and legal, and its better to let people starve than give them genetically modified food.

These topics have created quite a stir and the enthusiasm amongst the students was infectious. Over the years, I have seen many informative and convincing speeches presented.

Debate Varsity Award winners 2007

                                Our JV Debate team, 2009

School Theatre Productions

Seisen's One Act Play

Summer School

As a director of drama, I am often shaking my head in awe at how talented our students are. I have been the co-director of Seisen's One Act Play for the last 8 years. We have performed many comedies, detective , and mysteries genre plays. It's been a lot of fun and hard work too.

The One Act Play in rehearsals 2009

Rehearsals would take place after school from 4 to 5.30 / 6 for around 8 weeks. We would perform 3 or 4 times to a combined audience of around 500 people. We would also take the students to the local Kanto Plain Theatre Festival on a Saturday where they would work with local directors and present improvisations.

                       The One Act cast celebrating, post performance 2008

During this time, the students have also performed many of my own plays such as "Shibuya", "A Day in the Life of a Seisen Student", "The Bus Stop",  "Air Annoyance", "The V.S. Show", "Telephones", "The Mime", "The Broken Vase", "The Grade 7 and 8 Dance" and "Emotions".

               The One Act 2004