About Me

Welcome to my blog! I am a kindergarten EAL teacher and I have worked in international schools in Japan in Switzerland for over 12 years. I love the international multilingual population of young children and I enjoy (and appreciate) so much that each school year brings new ideas and new learning for myself and my students.

In fall of 2014 I had a revelation when my students would NOT STOP talking. Imagine that, a developing English class would not be quiet!  I soon realized that I needed to embrace this and be excited that I provided a safe and nurturing environment that encouraged independent and authentic risk taking in a new language.

I changed my thinking a few weeks in to this school year and decided that their talking and constant chatter was going to become my curriulum. Their stories were going to be my focus.  Storytelling would become how I teach and how the children learn. I have made a deliberate shift in how I listen to children, plan my next steps and lessons and I have created a classroom that all students in kindergarten come to tell stories, engage in dramatic play and build new worlds (as well as friendships!).


Stories drawn by students and post it notes nothing the sequence of events.
Three boys use pieces of orange and yellow fabric  (mats) and other objects and characters to tell a story.
Princesses and Unicorns find something special in the magic box.
A scene was set up in my small blocks area. Stories about a family dinner and a visit by a dragon happened!
A loose parts story. The rain was falling on the sheep and the bunnies. The eagle rang the bell to ell them to go inside. The sun shone through in the background.
Paintings based on a story we read. Each student created their own scene where the car travelled through various types of weather.
A castle in the making!
A loose parts house with a Christmas storytheme.
A winter wonderland took over the blocks area with a few aded seasonal treasures.
A castle backdrop provided this student the opportunity to tell and retell stories of castles, kingdoms, love, witches and princesses on a daily basis. Children would sit and watch as she created stories with a sing song tone.

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