Welcome back to the crazy side






The first day back was SUPER busy...

The day started off with three new Year 7 enrolments. I greeted them among trying to photocopy resources for my five-period day and my attempts at moving all the things into my classroom that I have been stealing from home. I provided the new students with their school diary, assessment booklets, uniform information, fee information sheet, mobile phone policy ALL before school even started. I also managed to assign the students into classes.

Instead of having period 1, there was a formal Anzac Day service. The History teachers and Student Leaders directed the ceremony. They did a fantastic job even down to the finer details - red handmade poppies on skewers.






I was happy to see my students again. They were quite eager to share their holiday stories. I had to use my 'NOISE' strategy to quiet down my first class. It worked tremendously well after flipping through two letters.




Link to 'NOISE' post: http://missartofteaching.blogspot.com.au/2017/03/noise.html

 I gathered a few helpers today to help laminate the 'Safe Classroom' worksheets that I have been working on over the holidays. They are now plastered onto every desk. I went through what makes a safe classroom and my role as their classroom teacher. It helped reinforce the rules and allow students to take ownership of their actions.


Link to 'Safe Classroom' post: http://missartofteaching.blogspot.com.au/2017/04/safe-classroom.html

I have been marking my life away and took home another bundle to cross check. My co-worker has my Year 11 Visual Arts exams and essays bundle and I have his Year 12 Visual Arts Examinations. It is also report time so a lot of teachers are frantically working away.

On a positive note. I have been posting more on Instagram. I am inspired by others and love the idea of resource sharing. 
and...

 My Sephora package came in today! This makeup haul is an early birthday present from my high school friends. We have been friends for more than 10 years now.



and last but not least...I said goodbye to the Origami Horse sculptures at West Ryde.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maintenance of Accreditation

Image
Being a NSW teacher requires one to pay their Teacher Accreditation fee (aka teaching license). My first teaching gig was given to me because another temporary teacher forgot to pay her accreditation fee. This jeopardise her capacity to teach in any school or service in NSW under the Education Standards Authority. Tonight I decided to pay my $100 (tax deductible) Teacher Accreditation Fee before being penalised for forgetting. I also tick a few things off my To-Do list. This included evaluating all my tasks on the NESA eTAMS dashboard (a website built for teachers to record all professional learning). I decided to look into the final processes of my maintenance of accreditation since it is due on Feb 2019. The process has been simplified and one only needs to have a total of 100 hrs (50 NESA Registered and 50 TIPD), all courses evaluated, confirm employment details and press the submit maintenance button. On the NESA e-TAMS website, it is optional for teachers
Read more

Speed Dating Art Critique

Image
A few years ago, during Valentine's day, I made a 'speed dating' activity for my Year 11 Community and Family Studies class (I was on a contract block). I left a trail of cut out hearts from the classroom door to the long tables in the classroom (I am the corny teacher!). I instructed students to seat on either side. At that time, I was teaching them about wellbeing factors. Each student received a character card and they were required to role play. A list of questions was given and it helped assist students with the conversations.  Students enjoyed the activities and there were A LOT of giggles.   Photo from 2014 'Speed Dating' activity: I decided to revisit the concept of speed dating. The idea of speed dating is to meet as many potential partners in a short frame of time. Using this concept, I built a lesson for my Year 11 Visual Arts class. I will be asking students to critique each other's artwork(s) in 5 minute increments. They must follow
Read more

Hamburger analogy

Image
My head teacher came into my Year 11 Senior class today to do an observation lesson. I also asked my co-worker who wanted to do a peer observation to come in at the same time. The purpose of the observations is to allow them to give me feedback on my teaching practice and for them to see the level of engagement in the classroom. At my school, every teacher must do an observation and also have someone seated in their class to provide feedback. I spent a quarter of the lesson going through the hamburger analogy. I adapted this from a shared resource on the 'Relief Teaching Ideas Community' Facebook group. I improved on this resource by using words from my own marking criteria and by picking out desirable and non-desirable behaviours exhibited from my students during the first 9 weeks of the term. After the hamburger analogy, I went through the requirements of HSC Visual Arts. I wanted students to understand why the preliminary program and assessment tasks were designed in a
Read more