Miss Art of Teaching

I am quite pleased with the purchase of my sparkling brand new whiteboard from Daiso. It is an awesome little monthly schedule calender. They even reposted my picture on Instagram. At 8am today I had my Work Health and Safety workshop on how to use a fire extinguisher. I actually need to buy one for my own house! I had Year 7 classes from Period 1-3 and most of them are finishing off their oil pastel drawings. Some are starting the painting process. Here are a few photos: At recess, I went to visit my Deputy Princpal to talk about cabin organisation for the Year 8 camp. Careful consideration must be given to how groups are form to minimise discipline issues and conflict. My first break from teaching Year 7 (don't get me wrong, I love them!) was during Period 4. I took my Year 9/10 combined class to the darkroom. I have not been in the darkroom for about two years now. Need to brush up my skills and reorganise the room. There n...

1) Sorting out pencil supplies There is something about sorting things out that makes everything seem therapeutic. I had students begging me today to stay back at recess and lunch just to sort out my pencils. At the same time, I have students who hate repetitive tasks. Usually, students who complete detentions for me are asked to tidy the room and to sharpen pencils. I just have to wave a cup of pencils around and you will see them switching their focus back onto their art making activity. I may have a bit of OCD. I want my pencils in different piles and colour coordinated. The piles include 'dull' and 'sharp' pencils. 2) Having a borrowing system I realised I needed a borrowing system and found the following idea from one of the art teachers on my Instagram account. I was unable to locate an old library box but did manage to find a letter holder from Daiso for $2.80 Aud. I have made individual cards for my Elective and Senior classes. If they ...

I truly believe that decorating my room has made an impact to my students' learning. This year is my first year investing the time to decorate. They can tell that I care about my classroom and as a result respect the place more. It also helps with my classroom management and has made me a more organised teacher. Students don't often get to see high school rooms decorated so I think it is good for them to see a classroom that has been decorated for them and for myself. I have been squeezing in time during the morning to decorate my room. I have covered my ugly pin boards with blue tissue paper to match the teacher's desk. My classroom is really old, and all the pin boards have been tagged with a black whiteboard marker.  After work today, I popped into Kmart, Dollar stores and Daiso in hope to find something nice to decorate my classroom. Kmart seems to be the place to go and I purchased all my decorations from the one destination. I plan to have the decor...