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 ...

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...

Today I presented to the Year 7 cohort a presentation about bullying. It covered important information about bullying from the perspective of the bully and the victim. Strategies were also discussed with students. I also tried to give them examples from my own life. I shared with them my stories of being a bully and also my experiences on the other end of the stick - being a victim. It was a long presentation and it was good to see that students understood the importance of making the right choices and how to use their power of speech to uplift others rather than to pull others down.

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...