Miss Art of Teaching

I have been teaching since mid 2012. I started off teaching casually and gained longer blocks in the Home Economics Faculty and the Creative and Performing Arts faculty. I have taught every single subject through my casual days. I valued these experiences as it allowed me to be flexible, work with different teachers and bond with students in a short period of time. Some days it was challenging and other days it was quite rewarding.  Fast forward to 2017, I am now a permanent Visual Arts teacher. I am also trained in Technological and Applied Studies area but my heart has always been set to become an art teacher. Late last year, I was asked to prepare a workshop on 'Classroom Management' for Term 1 school development day. While researching through the school holidays, I became interested in everything related to my teaching practice. I started considering how the 'look' of the classroom can influence the way students engage with the classroom content. I looked at teac...

How do you protect your teacher's voice? Here are a few strategies that I use in my classroom: NOISE CARDS I designed this system to encourage my classes to monitor their noise level. Every time the class gets noisy, I flip a letter. They need to be quiet for a set amount of time depending on the penalty that is shown behind the card (E:1 min, S: 2 mins, I: 4 mins, O: 8 mins and N:16 mins). You can carry out the penalty during class time and since the first few cards carry only a few minutes weight, it should not slow down your lesson.  I find that I can utilise the 'quiet' period to give out instructions or to give a demonstration. Students usually start monitoring their noise level when a few cards have been flipped. I have shared this system with a few teachers, and some of them warn students about detentions if the letters 'N' and 'O' are left on the board. If all five letters remain unflipped then students will receive 5 Vivos (whole school virtu...

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...

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...

Besides being a classroom teacher and a Year 7 Adviser, I am an advocator for the Positive Behaviour Learning (PBL) team. There are many things that are working successfully at our school such as the ongoing Vivo system for rewarding behavioural expectations, great PBL data results, systems for responding to and managing behaviours. This creates a fun and safe learning environment for everyone. Being part of the PBL team requires me to put in my weight. I volunteer to put posts up on the Facebook page since I am one of the five admins. I re-designed whole school structures for reducing truancy and created a poster that promoted consistent classroom expectations.  I help run the rewards program by asking for monetary and merchandise donations from the school and local community. I maintain the rewards program by frequently updating it with prizes and helping students and staff to reset log in passwords.  Last year I set up a stall with the PBL team leader. W...

I remember primary school teachers using the letters that make up 'noise' to quiet chatty students down. I have modify this method a tiny bit... So every time the class is noisy, I flip 1 letter. Behind each letter there are minutes. They need to be quiet. Otherwise I flip the next letter and it doubles up. I may give initial warnings before starting straight on 'e'. If they are perfect during the lesson they get 5 virtual Vivo points. Every time they are noisy they loose 1 letter = 1 less Vivo point. It works really well with my new kitchen clock timer and my chime. Every time I hit the chime softly they will know that a letter is flipped. And I'll use Velcro to hold it up on my whiteboard. Velcro will be on both sides. I just need to laminate the letters to prolong their life against my whiteboard. I'm not a punisher but the noise at times gets loud and I need to address this sooner rather than later. I love my students and they know that. This y...

I've been writing blog entries to reflect on my daily teaching practice. I must admit that sometimes I forget about the readers. My intentions are not to grab views but rather to document my own journey and share my passion. Thank you if you are popping by for the first time, or returning here for another post. I want to share a few photos of the 'before' and after shots of my Visual Arts high school classroom. I teach in an extremely old demountable. It smells a bit funny. Everything is still in progress as I am always looking at new ways to improve the classroom. A reader asked if I have funding for all the furniture and stationary items in my classroom. I have been using the same furniture for years. Recently, a coworker's father closed his book contacting business and I have been going CRAZY with the free supplies. I have been contacting walls and tables with the assistance of fast finishers. My friend's work place was disposing off tissue papers, col...

Today, I didn't like how I was acting grumpy but it gave me the opportunity to have a serious talk with some of my classes. I spoke to them about how they should line up, what language they should use when talking to a teacher and to other students. I made one of my class line up outside again and do the following steps again: 1. Put bags at the back of the room. 2. Sit down and wait for instructions. Students tend to become walking gypsies in this particular class. They want to walk in and start grabbing their Visual Arts process diaries, pencil tins, materials etc. I told them we will practice walking into the classroom every lesson until we get it right. It may be a hassle at the start but eventually, we will get this right and then our lessons will be smoother. I managed to squeeze in some laughter and connect with my students after we got it out of the way. I also really grilled a student for being late. I expect more from him since he is a senior student. Thi...

I really enjoy my classes this year. I've been enjoying my classes ever since being a full-time Visual Arts teacher. I have experience in teaching TAS (Technological Applied Studies) subjects but have always had a soft spot for Art. Above: Year 9/10 students have been working on developing their artworks with a focus on 'Environmental Issues'.  Above: I find the students are trying more and willing to experiment. Perhaps my 'Donut Give Up!' sign is working :P Above: I started using my classroom management signs today. I am definitely the crazy art teacher! Above: seems like a few teachers are interested :) I am also thinking of making my own signs in the future after my purchase one dies from wear and tear.

I've had a really good week with my classes. I enjoyed knowing my students more and being able to teach my content with little disturbance. I hoped they enjoyed their time in the art classroom. Throughout this week I focused on understanding the ALARM matrix, getting out my Year 11 theory assessment task, making my students aware of their time management and productivity during class time, assisting Year 7 with their self-portrait drawings and decorating my classroom. During the week I also focused on looking for more prizes for the school rewards system: Vivo miles. I posted on different Facebook groups and had one response from a gentleman who works for Eckersley. He is offering art supplies and free medium workshops. I also promoted new prizes on assembly, through the school Facebook page and through student's notices. Students are snapping up raffle tickets to build a higher chance of winning a double pass to our local wildlife park. On the side, I am still activ...

I received a kind donation from a coworker on Thursday and only had time today to pick them up today. Her father owns a contact paper business and has kindly donated a bundle before closing up. I appreciate her thinking of my art classroom. I plan to use them to cover my shelves or wall. Some of the contacts are 'feelies' which means they have texture. I am particular excited about the raindrops one. Once the project is completed, I will post some photos up. Above: Contact paper I caved in and purchased more things for my classroom. I am 'Dory' from 'Finding Nemo' (please refer to my previous post). I found 6 classroom signs at $10 plus an additional $5 for postage. This means it is around $2.50 per sign. However, these signs are a MUST in my classroom as I can see myself actively using it. YAYYYYYYYYY. They will work beautifully with my chime in my classroom. When I ring the chime, I will hold up a sign and students need to respond to the instructio...

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...

Yesterday I decided to take my teacher planner folder home to do some work. Instead it got viciously attacked by a mega size slurpee. I had purchased the slurpee from a 7/11 petrol station and was quite careless when driving around a roundabout. It landed on my folder and car seat. I spent almost 20 mins in the 40-degree heat trying to baby wipe everything (I always carry around spare baby wipes). I had to throw away most of my printed yellow resources as it did not survive the brutal attack. On a positive note, I reprinted all my pages in pink instead of yellow. I think it reflects my personality better. Something nice always comes out of something unpleasant.  I spent today directing lost Year 7's as they made their way around assembly for whole school announcements and to their roll call classrooms. A lot of meetings occurred today including house meetings and sport selection meetings. From period 2-4, Year 7's finished off their Peer Support activities in the ...

Work started yesterday for teachers. It was also my first time presenting during staff development day. I have never been so busy on the first day back. I was so busy that I didn't have time to be nervous which was a bonus! The presentation on 'Classroom Management' went smoothly and I am thankful for my coworker who joined me in presenting. We covered areas such as: 1. Minimise crowding and distraction. 2. Maximise structure and stability. 3. Positively stated expectations. 4. Give frequent acknowledgment. 5. Provide multiple opportunities to respond. 6. Actively engage students. 7. Actively supervise. 9. Encourage appropriate behaviours. 10. Discourage inappropriate behaviours. Making the presentation encouraged me to reflect on my own classroom management skills and look at new strategies to employ for 2017. I hope the rest of the staff took something away.  During the day I tried to fit in a photocopy run, catch up with people, speak to coworkers in regard...

School starts tomorrow for teachers. I have already made two trips to school in the past two weeks. Each time I look like I am going camping for an extended amount of time. Bags, bags, bags and more BAGSSSSS.... In prep for school, I have done two Aldi runs during their 'Back to School' sale. I am in love with the new rose gold range (magazine holders, pencil holders and rubbish bin). From my latest Aldi trip, I also bought a 2 in 1 office cutter and a large calender desk planner. Above: I have cleaned out my desk and put in my new purchases from ALDI. Tomorrow I am doing a presentation on 'Classroom Management'. This is one of the reasons why I started my blog and how I got interested in DIY projects. Here are some pictures of how I am getting my classroom management in place and making my classroom a tiny bit more inviting. I live and breath inside an old demountable and plan to give it a more refreshed look throughout the year. Above: I wonde...