Miss Art of Teaching

I LOVE MY CLASSES. This year I have been blessed with really good classes. I still get my dose of challenging students but overall the students are settled and I get to be myself in front of them. I can be silly, make jokes and do some horrible dabbing.  Teaching is about knowing your students and working on building good relationships with them. At the same time NOT letting them get away with things like coming late to class, incomplete assessments tasks and being rude. It is important to have consistent instructions and consequences. Students do three things when they walk into my classroom: 1. Bags off (and placed at the back of the room). 2. Sit down. 3. Zip it. This is to get the class settled quickly without interruptions. Once the introduction is done (for practical lessons), students can start on their own project. If it is a theory lesson, students need to remain quiet unless there is a class discussion. I am generally more flexible with senior s...

It was POURING today after work so I decided to stay for a few more hours. On a normal day, I prefer taking work home. I still have a list of things to do before tomorrow! I used the time at work today to call home to parents/carers. I am sending home five letter of concerns and decided to call parents to let them know that they will be receiving it shortly by mail. I also decided to choose respectful, engaged active learners from each class and call home to give them the recognition.  Calling parents/carers take up a lot of time as I try to engage in a conversation with them rather than just treating them as an item to tick off my list. I find that it is important to talk to parents/carers as it gives you an insight into the home life and shows the parents/carers that you do care about their child. It is good to get support (when possible) from parents as well. One of the best phone calls this afternoon was when I called home to a parent whose child was having a hard time an...

Sometimes they surprise you with kindness. Today a handful of Year 7 students insisted on staying back during break time to clean my room. The students took the initiative to do something nice without being asked. They were actually really excited about cleaning. The four boys helped clean my storeroom, threw out rubbish, mopped the floor and moved furniture around. The boys have asked if they can come again tomorrow. I'll probably give them a break. The classroom was spotless until the very last period. A pity that my Year 11 students were not able to respect the classroom in the same way. Half my sink was filled with used paintbrushes and palettes. I will be giving them a lecture tomorrow. I just finished calling home in regards to the Year 7 students. I wanted to say THANK YOU to the students by letting their parents know how kind and generous they were with their time today. Every time I call home the parents get a bit worried. They expect a negative comment. The wo...