Miss Art of Teaching

Year 11 Visual Arts artworks were due on Friday. They had to create three artworks based on one sentimental object. Here are some examples:

Term One is almost over and I am so proud of all the Year 7 students. They have made my job as the Year Adviser very rewarding. Students have settled in well and are enjoying all the different classes. By teaching four Year 7 classes, I have been able to build strong relationships with students. I am able to learn about their strengths, build onto their confidence and make sure they feel safe to thrive in this new environment.  I always remind students that they are responsible for building onto other people's memories. At my school we do not tolerate verbal, emotional, physical bullying or exclusion. Students have the power to make the right choices and to make a positive impact. It is lovely to see students putting in the extra effort to include others. They also understand that if something is not right, they tell a teacher straight away and don't fight back. By fighting back, they can make the situation worse, get hurt or be blamed for initiating the incident. It...

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...

With the permission of my talented friend who made me a journal from scratch, I changed the front and back cover of the journal to suit my personality. I think I am falling in love with scrapbooking. I love the DIY factor. I simply used watered down PVA glue to attach the designs onto the journal. I changed the journal cover while my Year 7 students were quietly working on their self-portraits mixed media artwork. I love how my 4 x Year 7 classes have dramatically changed from being 'noisy' to now working quietly. They can monitor their voices due to the 'NOISE' signs that I made. I also have a student who is the 'shh-sha'. The shh-sha reminds students of the correct voice level if it is louder than usual. The NOISE sign works by flipping each letter (starting from E).  When letters are flipped, there are minutes written on the other side (E= 1 min, S = 2 min, I = 4 mins, S = 8 mins and E = 16 mins). The class needs to remain quiet for the entire duration. ...

I have a friend who I love to bits. She is my mentor and the kindest soul on this planet. When she used to work with me, I would often wonder to myself...'What did I do to deserve such a genuine friend/coworker in my life?' She has truly lifted my wellbeing up from being at the rock bottom to becoming a passionate and hardworking teacher (mirroring her work ethics). Although she has now retired from her job after 24 years of service to the Department of Education, she still thinks of the students every day. She has made me a 'To do' journal and another handful of handmade letter sets and journals for students as 'reward prizes'. Above: My lovely journal. Above: Handmade letter sets. Each bundle contains 3 original designs. Above: More handmade journals. Every page is carefully put together. It is a scrapbook heaven. She prints each image herself. At times the artworks are designed and painted by this talented woman, other times she sea...

I have a large bundle of papers to mark and I am only on my first pile. My baby (fluffy shih tzu) is jealous that I am giving more attention to the papers than on her. I will be getting another four class sets of papers to mark in the next two weeks. I will also need to mark all practical assignments on top of the essays and one class set of senior exams. Most people think Visual Arts is all practical, but there is actually a lot of theory behind. Students need to be able to describe, analyse, interpret and make a judgement. They need to understand the four frames, conceptual framework and the art practice.  I hope to use my holiday time well and contribute to the marking and preparation for report time. It is a relief that Year Advisers do not need to read 'every' report with the new structure in place. I will be pulling my hair out if that was a role on top of all my other duties. The peer checking system we have at my school requires a co-worker to read your reports befor...

I informed some of my students about this blog. One of the students wanted to include something small here: My Experience In Miss Kwan's Class For the past 3 years, I have been lucky enough to have Miss Kwan as an art teacher. We have laughed together and we have argued, but all in all, we have had a great time and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher. Miss always has new and creative ways to teach her classes. From the first day of year 7, to now I have seen every reward system you could imagine. Day in and day out, Miss Kwan takes time and money of her own, and puts it toward students and our learning environment. Although we may not always show it, we are all very grateful for the extra effort Miss Kwan puts in for us.  In class we share, laughs, smiles and jokes and I hope that I am lucky enough to share my art experience with Miss Kwan again next year.  On behalf of the class and myself, I would like to say thank you for bein...

I am going to keep today's post quite light.  I recently purchased a laptop bag for $34.99 from Forever New. I am loving it. It is easy for me to carry my class worksheets, a notebook with my checklist, phone, and even a water bottle. It goes well with all outfits and it is comfortable to hold.  For the entire week, I have been pairing all my outfits with my cat shoes. They are the only wedges that make me feel like I am walking on heaven. I can easily last a six-period day in them and still feel good. The students love them and I receive a lot of compliments. It goes with everything.  Today the Year 7's received their photo package and showed me my photo. I am so glad that my face is not as greasy compared to the previous years.  My favourite person gave the CAPA faculty a visit today. All the art teachers got into one photo. I used to team teach with her. She is a fantastic mentor and friend.

All my students are getting ready for the assessment period. Senior students have their half-yearly examination in the next two weeks. My junior students also need to submit their art case study assignment soon. During this busy period, there are always students who can benefit from the extra help. I usually book the learning centre if students need one on one assistance. The learning centre is where students can go during class time to complete assignments with the assistance of support teachers. Last year I made a 'Homework Centre' poster using the website Canva. I shared this poster on the school Facebook page to remind everyone about this free service. It is useful for students who may not have computers or wifi at home. I also verbally recommend this to students who may want extra help with homework and assignments. There is always a classroom teacher and a few Year 12 Student Leaders available to help students. Often the Year 12 students have experience in completi...

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 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 was introduced to 'Remind' while chatting to a coworker about cool phone apps to use in my everyday teaching. I value having informal conversations with coworkers as they help drive my passion and provide tips/feedback to improve my teaching practice. Plus it's great for my wellbeing. Remind has been a life saver for my students. I often send out reminders to students. Being an Art teacher, I like to share photos for inspiration and to give one on one feedback to students. It has made communication easier. 70% of public schools in U.S use Remind. I'm not sure what our stats are in Australia. It will be interesting to know how many Australian teachers use this app. My favourite apps for teaching include: Remind, Pinterest, Canva, Scannable and Charades for games. You can download Remind on both Iphones and Andriod phones. Once downloaded you can create a class. I have only asked my Senior Year 11 students to download the app. Once downloaded, they need th...