Demis Yuxuan (Eason) Wu

At noon on Tuesday, March 12, all the Year 9 students at HFI participated in an engaging summative assessment project of General English (GE), a gallery walk organized by our GE teacher, Dolores Zhang. Unlike ordinary gallery walk projects, this one encouraged students to present traditional Chinese cultures with various props to interact with visitors. Each group of students got to choose a specific topic we were interested in. After completing all the preparatory work, we were ready to present our group work in front of the International Department's teaching building. All of us looked forward to this challenging project with great anticipation.

Our group decided to give a presentation on traditional Chinese shadow puppetry. To ensure our team would collaborate effectively, we discussed a lot and assigned tasks accordingly. My friend Gavin and I were responsible for writing a detailed introduction to the development and promotion of traditional Chinese shadow puppetry in the current era and its potential future development. Just like us, other members of our group also dedicated themselves to preparing for the Gallery Walk. A few days later, our group compiled all the prepared information into a document. However, we realized that the information we had needed to be more varied and more textual, which meant that the audience might lose interest in our presentation during the actual showcase. To avoid this problem, we brainstormed and achieved excellent results. For one of the most critical parts of the Gallery Walk, the poster, Angel redesigned our poster's layout and added vivid drawings while reducing some redundant text. Surprisingly, Ranee found a shadow puppetry collection at her grandparents' house. This exquisite craftsmanship made our group members unanimously determine to display this collection to the entire school.

Additionally, Tony found some short videos and photos of different types of shadow puppetry for the audience to enjoy. Gavin and I also gained some inspiration while watching the news; we planned to use Bing Dwen Dwen, a new product from the year of the Jia Chen Dragon in China, as an analogy for the future inheritance and development of shadow puppetry. However, a new problem emerged. Due to the time limit of our presentation, we had to cut down some of the textual content, which could potentially lead to the audience missing out on some essential parts, making the overall presentation less seamless. Consequently, we decided to bring a simplified version of shadow puppetry to all audiences, including a few shadow puppets, a screen, and a multifunctional flashlight to simulate an actual shadow puppetry performance and to give the audience a chance to try it themselves. Finally, we finished all the preparatory work.

Video Review: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1hz421U7Y3/?vd_source=b56fa8a9c4750e6119ef5f87347a4e82

During the gallery walk event, some unexpected situations arose as our group's presentation became increasingly popular. Questions from different visitors disrupted the flow of our presentation, but we still managed to ensure the smooth progression of the entire presentation through teamwork, earning praise from the audience. After completing our presentation, my teammates and I visited other groups' stations to experience different aspects of Chinese traditional culture. To my surprise, all the students who participated in the Gallery Walk fully immersed themselves in this activity. They enlivened the entire event with vivid and engaging presentations and genuine interactions with the visitors. In the process, some groups pulled out all the stops to attract more visitors to their stations and experience the Chinese traditional culture they were introducing. For instance, the traditional Chinese martial arts group shouted some catchy slogans at the beginning of their presentation. They brought several props, including nunchucks, Chinese swords, and prop knives used in their performance. They even demonstrated some martial arts moves, which were highly captivating! The group introducing the traditional Chinese tea culture meticulously outlined the similarities and differences between each type of tea, brought actual tea leaves, and offered refreshing tea to the visitors, making the overall experience more enjoyable. Such a lively scene was something traditional summative projects could not achieve.

It was evident that this project served not only as a test but also as a significant opportunity for us to learn and grow. In summary, we students were required to engage in extensive literature review, followed by the composition and editing of our speech manuscripts, as well as refining our speaking and listening skills through practice before ultimately presenting them. All of these elements showcased the academic rigor and interdisciplinary nature of this project while also reflecting the innovative spirit that contemporary international school educators and students ought to embody. Despite initially believing that, as a Chinese, my understanding of Chinese traditional culture was comprehensive, only after fully participating in this Gallery Walk project did I realize there were still many interesting and meaningful aspects of Chinese traditional culture I had yet to discover. Therefore, this was both a learning experience about Chinese traditional culture and an opportunity to disseminate it.

Moreover, some of us might have been worried about our performance before this happened. However, it turned out well. This experience undoubtedly made us more confident and encouraged us to showcase ourselves and be open to trying new things. For me, this event allowed me to accumulate valuable experience. For instance, it became clear that before the commencement of any significant activity, it is crucial to confirm the availability of all necessary materials, even if they seem unlikely to affect the overall flow of the presentation. Furthermore, during the rehearsal phase before the event, it was essential to focus on teamwork among members, paying particular attention to how unexpected situations could be handled.