Miss Art of Teaching

To prepare my Stage 5 students for their 'Street Art' unit, I have invested one lesson on stenciling. I wanted them to understand both positive and negative space. It was also important for them to understand the purpose of 'bridges' and how to apply the paint (if they choose to use paint over spray paint). The teacher samples proved to be an effective way to explain the importance of planning their work ahead. I also demonstrated how to use a scalpel knife correctly. Students were asked to create a simple stencil using the initials of their name. At this point, it is not important to develop a conceptually strong stencil. They are still planning their 'social issues' ideas for this new unit. Students are super keen on starting this unit. I surprised them with a few furniture that I have kept aside for them to work on. They will be transferring their designs onto desks, tables, books shelves and filing cabinets. Students will still be marked

I'm always on Facebook and Instagram but for the right reasons. I love looking at what other teachers are doing. They become my source of inspiration. The purpose of my blog is to reflect on my own teaching practice and to share resources. Some ideas of mine are original and others have been borrowed or modified to suit my own classroom. There is so much to learn from one another. I'll use my lesson from today as an example of how I used what I learnt from social media. Year 11 (Senior students) Visual Arts: FIRST INSPIRATION  I joined the 'High School TAB' American Facebook page recently (just yesterday) and even though the system in America is different to Australia, I was still able to get A LOT of ideas! First, I found a blog post about 'Creating a High School Schedule and Culture in My TAB Classroom'. The teacher shared her methods of organising her lesson structures in advance. I was interested in how she experiments with assessment to help push

I've been thinking of ways to make theory more fun AND to encourage class participation when it comes to discussion time. I don't want the same students to be giving me the answers. I want the whole class to contribute. What works: I downloaded the free PDF file from 'Expressive Monkey' on Teachers Pay Teachers. The resource is called 'Ping Pong Art Critique'. It provides a list of 32 questions to help facilitate class discussions on ANY piece of artwork. For example: -What title would you give this art? -What feeling or emotion did the artist create? -Where did the artist create contrast? -Does this art tell a story? -What would you change about this art? -Would you display this art in your house? Why? Why not? You can either purchase real ping pong balls and write the questions on top or simply print and laminate the resources. I decided to save money and go with the second option. I passed out one ping pong ball per st

Every month, I try to prepare something for the school newsletter. I think it is a fantastic opportunity to communicate home to parents and carers. The newsletter article is a follow up to my Tuesday's presentation about  'study skills' and the '7 habits of highly effective students'.  

My Stage 5 (Year 9/10) class is starting their 'Street Art' unit. I have been getting ready for this unit by looking for new resources (Youtube videos, artist to study etc) and planning ways to distribute and keep track of who is using what. This is extremely important as a missing scalpel knife can lead to an accident. The same applies to a spray can. I have traced my 'birdie' paperweight to get the shape of the birds. They have been laminated and attached to the painting via the use of velcro. Each birdie has a yellow wing which is also attached by velcro. Each birdie has my student's name. If they use spray can 'number 4', they will need to attach the correct wing onto their birdie. This helps me keep track of everything. Videos that I plan to use to introduce the unit: The above video will be used to show the 'power' of Art. I want students to think about how Street Art can be used positively. The video does not address Street Ar

I love my free pencil notepad birthday gift from Kikki.K. I have used it as a classroom decor and also as a teaching resource. By simply laminating the 'pencils', I am able to prolong its life. I am still planning out how to use it in the most effective way as a teaching resource. I will probably make it into a 'matching' game where students have to organise the pencils according to the features of the four frames and the conceptual framework. I am planning to use it for different topics.  

Warning...this post has nothing to do with teaching. Today is all about raising awareness on animal cruelty through the participation in the 'Million Paws Walk'. It is a National event organised by RSPCA. Each state and territory of Australia have an RSPCA organisation that promotes animal welfare.

Kikki.K is one of my favorite shops. It is a Swedish stationary brand founded by Kristina Karlsson. Besides being aesthetically pleasing to the eye their designs work well for the classroom teacher.  Today, I walked into the store to spend my $10 rewards birthday voucher. I was contemplating on what I needed in the classroom. I ended up purchasing the pencil shape notepad. I plan to laminate them and let students write on top of it for a lesson activity. If it is laminated the surface is almost like a whiteboard. I can also have words/procedures/names of artists/art movements on them and let students rearrange it into the correct order.  At the same time, I can use it as a classroom decoration by making it into a bunting.  I was very close to buying this massive sand timer. The RRP price is $20. I like it quite a bit but I have the smaller version. I spent some time today looking for a storage system for my scalpel knives. Students will be starting their 'Street A

Year 7 Visual Arts: Unit: Plants and insects. Year 7 Technology Mandatory: Unit: Game design (using Adobe Illustrator) Year 9/10 Visual Arts (combined class): Environmental Art Year 11 Visual Arts: Portraits Unit For more photos, please follow me on Instagram: Missartofteaching

I had a 6 period day with a deathly cold!!!! I don't have much luck on my birthdays. My partner made me the most adorable video for my birthday with our Shih Tzu daughter:

Yesterday's post: Parent Teacher Night is on this evening from 3:30-7:30 pm. Some parents have been using the new online booking system to arrange meetings with teachers. Others are making bookings by asking teachers in person to see if the time slot is still available. This event is a great opportunity to communicate with parents/carers about the student's progress and provide suggestions on areas of improvement. It is crucial to be prepared for the evening. I always have a folder ready with: -Student reports. -Grades. -Printed photos of student artworks. -Examples of assessment tasks and class handouts. -Examples of a good Visual Arts process diary. I also like to hand back their Case Study (essays) and go over how they can improve their responses. I suggest bringing water and some mints. I currently have a bad throat so I will also bring along all my cough lollies. Photo from last night: