Miss Art of Teaching

I've been really enjoying my time teaching Year 7 students. They seem to be much settle this year and love my classroom systems. My rules are pretty consistent: 1. Line up in two lines. 2. Place bags at the back of the room. 3. Sit down and look at the classroom jobs chart. 4. Students who are assign to taking out Visual Arts Process Diaries get up to pass out the journals. 5. Classroom helpers take out the laminated photographs, white pencils, posca markers and oil crayons. 6. Start work. 7. Classroom timer (another student job) reminds class to pack up 5 mins before the bell. 8. Resources are returned back to the right location by the helpers. They have only recently earn the priviledge of listening to music during class time. I even brought in my bluetooth speakers to play songs for students who prefer to listen to my songs. Photos from this morning (besides the one with the fly):

Here are some progress photos. I am having a lot of fun with my classes: Year 7: Cyberpunk mask unit. Students are learning how to create masks using plaster bandage and found objects. They can use a variety of materials to give their masks a unique quality that carries a Steampunk or Cyberpunk feel. Year 9/10 Elective Art: Students are having a blast creating stencils based on a social issue. Some are exploring war, politics, environment, crime and mental state. They will be spray painting their designs on an old furniture piece. Students are invited to decorate the surface before spray painting.  Year 11: Students are continuing their body of work. Every week we are studying two artists to prepare them for their Yearly Examination. I enjoy getting my students to work together in groups before sharing answers to the whole class. Rock project: On the side, I am organising a rock p...

I always get excited about teaching the Cyberpunk/Steampunk program to Year 7 students. This is my third year teaching it and it gets better every year. The first year, students did not take responsibility with bringing in their own 'materials' to create a mask. This ended up with a lot of masks looking similar and lacking the detail required to create interest. Last year, all my students were motivated even the ones who had difficulties completing homework throughout the year.  I loveeeee this project as I am a hands on person. Students will be using plaster bandage, hot glue gun, spray paint and also found objects. The combination makes it fun to teach. Students have started bringing in materials. A student told me today that he would use his broken fire alarm as part of his mask. I want students to see the potential in every household material. Anything can be made into a mask. We started the project yesterday and I am so happy to see students being eager to learn. I ha...