Miss Art of Teaching

Surveys are a useful way to gain student feedback. If you want students to be honest with their answers, always make the survey anonymous.  I'm working with a small group of teachers to improve risk taking behaviours in the classroom. The purpose of the survey is to understand the link between students taking learning risks and the development of a safe classroom. The survey allows us to understand whether our existing strategies are helpful to our students. It also provides us with an insight into how students are going at the moment. Last week, I gave my Year 11 students a link to the online survey. I was surprised with the positive feedback from my Yr 11 Visual Arts class.  Surveys are a great way to understand what is working and what needs improvement in the classroom. From reading the responses, I can also identify areas that I need to improve- provide more positive / constructive feedback, understand my students and make the classroom a comfortable place ...

What do teachers do in the school holidays? -Relax and c atch up with friends -Resist temptation to visit stores (JUST JOKING!) -Do school work For the last two days I have visited: -Kmart -Target -Big W -Kikki.K -Aldi -Typo  -Tk Maxx -and many more. I can't switch my teacher mind off and always seem to be considering what I can do to make my classroom look and function better. I'm a teacher who enjoys organisation. I also love working on my own living space.  I made an earring holder using a Kmart $6 storage grid. Shoes seem to be my latest obsession. Four new pairs came home with me. I'm excited about the new comfortable work shoes! Above: Teacher shopping! Above: I love these storage systems but unfortunately the colours don't work for me. Above: The storage systems are from Tk Maxx and prices range from $16- 35 Aud. Above: Cute prints! Above: This was $20 but not necessary in my classroom as I organise my resou...

For today's blog entry, I decided to share a newsletter article that I compiled with teacher and students' feedback on Vivo (virtual points reward system) prizes. The school's 'Vivo' reward system works by having accounts set up for both the teacher and student. The cost of running the 'Vivo Miles' program depends on the number of students at your school. Teachers can reward students based on how well they are meeting the school's values of being a respectful, engaged and an active learner. Students can look up their virtual points and the messages that go along with it on their computer/mobile app and trade their points in for prizes of their own choice i.e. tangible prize or a teacher service prize.  To get a bit of a background about Vivo, please read the following post on: Ways to get donations/prizes Love my classes Newsletter article: A BIG thank you to all the teachers and staff who have donated their time providing these amazing Vivo T...

Thank you for visiting my blog! I started blogging this year and I tend to share a lot of stories inside and outside of my classroom. I like covering areas such as DIY, classroom organisation, classroom management, Art resources and anything to do with teaching. Sometimes you will see a few posts about my Shih Tzu, my shopping and what I am doing to de-stress. After all, teachers are humans too! I am so thankful that my Friday post about 'Ultimate Teacher Storage Box' has reached more than 4300 views. Here is the link: Ultimate Teacher Storage Box I am glad that teachers are enjoying the post. Australian teachers are my biggest viewers this week but my biggest page view country is from the United States. Crazy how the internet allows you to share. Over in Australia, we are enjoying our long weekend due to the Queen's birthday. I have been binge-watching Season 5 of 'Orange Is the New Black'. I can shamefully say that I have finished all 15 episodes withi...

I have previously recommended a few websites that are great for teachers. Please check out my 'Canva' blog post from April.  Canva is a free website that allows users to make quick and simple designs (posters, invitations etc). They have templates ready for users to create designs for web or print. Today, I will be recommending 'Slideshare'. This is a free website and has been a life saver for my role as a classroom teacher and as a year 7 adviser. It is a website where you can find presentations (PowerPoints, PDF files), infographics, documents and more. The information is shared by teachers and experts from the field.  Most of the files can be downloaded.  I will still advise that you go through the slides and 'edit' the information to suit your classroom. Some files do not have a download option, but you can still show your class the PowerPoint if you log onto Slideshare. I plan to show this 'Study, Do It Well' to my Year 7 cohort. I have a y...

Since joining the different teaching Facebook groups, I am more aware of the types of resources that teachers use across the continent. Art Prof seems to be a great resource for Visual Arts teacher in America. It is a free online educational platform for Visual Arts people.  I plan on sharing this video with my senior Year 11 class during my Period 5 lesson on Wednesday. The video is directed at students as it helps explain why art critique is important. I want to show this video AFTER I spend a lesson focused on rebuilding relationships with students and learning to let go of my control (when appropriate) to let students hold ownership of their artmaking.  I have been using the 'Remind' app with my Year 11 class and it never occurred to me that I can use it during class time. Remind is a free app that allows teachers and students to communicate without exposing any phone numbers or private information. I use it to send whole class announcements or provide one on one f...

A simple picture to sum up what teaching means to me. Quote found online and letters arranged by myself on my 'Typo' board. The cactus plants in the glasshouse are for my classroom garden (still planning it out).

My high school has partnered with the University of Western Sydney (WSU). We are currently in our early stages of our Professional Learning Project. The project involves professional development using an action research model with topics identified by the teachers. Action research is a process involving enquiry into an important question relating to classroom and school practice. The first step to this project was to complete a survey so that all the 72 teachers including the executives of this school could be separated into groups of similar interest. Teachers were joined by others who have similar wonderings/interest to form project groups. The project groups links to one of the 6 WSU academics with expertise in the group's chosen focus area.  The WSU academic partners will then provide up to 10 hours of support to each group. This includes advice on readings, resources and so forth. I was placed into a group with three other teachers who were interested in Positive Be...