Miss Art of Teaching

Being a high school teacher, Year 7 Adviser, Facebook admin, rewards program runner keeps me busy. The thing about this job is that our 'work' brain never switches off. We are constantly thinking of our students, our workload and our relationships with people (staff and parents/carers). I regularly maintain my school's Facebook page to promote what we are doing to the wider community. I am one of the five admins. On the Facebook page, you will find important notices for upcoming events, photos of students inside and outside of the classroom (photos taken with permission), prizes that we have up on the school Vivo rewards shop and general information. Parents and carers can like posts, leave comments or give us a private message.  Being an admin has its perks. It works hand in hand with the school Vivo rewards program as I can make announcements of the prizes available and take photos of the prize recipients. Being a Year Adviser, I try to share photos of the Year 7 stud...

I might be overly excited about getting ready for work. I was shopping in Kmart today and saw a number of parents getting their children ready for school. My aim today was to visit Kmart and grab as many gold coins as possible from the party section. The gold coins are sold as a packet of 36 for $2. I was not after the typical plastic coins with the dollar sign, I was after a particular coin set with the words 'I was caught being good!' I am planning to use them as part of my positive behaviour learning strategy. It will be my own reward system in the Art classroom. I envision that every time a student works well, I will give them a gold coin. The coin does not leave the classroom, but contributes to the class jar. There will be little prizes along the way, but when the jar is full, a bigger reward will be provided. This new reward system is something I want to do personally for my students. It is a system on top of my whole school 'Vivo' reward system. The s...