Miss Art of Teaching

During the Term 2 holidays, I started prepping for the 'Rock Colourful Pathway Project'. My Deputy Principal read up an article about an elementary school teacher at Indiana who started a project where every student painted a rock to make up a bright and colourful pathway. She kindly suggested that this might be a good Project Based Learning project. This project has gone bigger and it is now a whole school project. It is one of the Positive Behaviour for Learning initiative. Every student, teacher and staff are encouraged to paint a rock. We want to send out creative and positive vibes throughout the school and local community. At the moment I am trying to prepare for a 'Rock' stall for the school's Heritage (Multicultural) day so that I can get some parents and carers involved with the painting process. Local businesses have assisted by donating rocks! Flower Power and Bunnings are our biggest supporters. I am blessed to be working in a community where busi...

My weekend has been quite busy. I've only slowed down today. On Friday night, I went out with some close friends and we celebrated that I am finally permanent after being five years on the contract. We went to a lovely Italian restaurant in the city called 'Fratelli Fresh'. I didn't manage to take any photos as the food was too delicious and I was preoccupied with the experience. Yesterday, I went to the Etsy handmade markets to support local artists and designers. I managed to purchase a number of handmade jewellery along with my high school friends. I have this fascination to expand my art teacher jewellery collection. We stopped for brunch around 12:30pm at the 'Lord Gladstone Hotel'. I was pretty much starving at that point. The food was very satisfying. Afterwards, we headed to the Archibald Prize and the Wynne and Sulman exhibition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Here are some of my favourite artworks: ...

S o yesterday I mentioned that I received my survey responses from my Year 11 Visuals Art class. Classroom survey blog post Now action needs to take place so that I can use this feedback effectively to improve on my teaching practice. I want students to be able to improve risk-taking behaviours in the classroom. Strategies that I will implement to encourage risk-taking behaviours: 1. ACKNOWLEDGE STUDENTS FOR TRYING/REMIND STUDENTS OF THEIR ABILITIES AND INTELLIGENCE: Use more praises in the classroom. Comment on effort made to put students in a growth mindset to increase learning and achievement. This will help make students more comfortable in the classroom. 2. PROVIDE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK: Notice what is successful in students' artworks. This helps build a positive relationship with the student and starts the conversation off on a good note. This will then allow them to be more receptive to constructive criticism. Be specific with the feedback so students...

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 ...

I always get excited about teaching the Cyberpunk/Steampunk program to Year 7 students. This is my third year teaching it and it gets better every year. The first year, students did not take responsibility with bringing in their own 'materials' to create a mask. This ended up with a lot of masks looking similar and lacking the detail required to create interest. Last year, all my students were motivated even the ones who had difficulties completing homework throughout the year.  I loveeeee this project as I am a hands on person. Students will be using plaster bandage, hot glue gun, spray paint and also found objects. The combination makes it fun to teach. Students have started bringing in materials. A student told me today that he would use his broken fire alarm as part of his mask. I want students to see the potential in every household material. Anything can be made into a mask. We started the project yesterday and I am so happy to see students being eager to learn. I ha...

I know it is only the start of the term BUT time flies! I am trying to prepare my students for their Yearly Examination, which consists of short responses and long responses (essays). I recently received a set of textbooks from my head teacher. It has been so useful to prepare my theory lessons and to help students formulate their answers. If you teach senior visual arts classes, I suggest the Senior Artwise Visual Arts 11-12 Second edition. It can be purchased as a hard or digital copy. Every week I plan on introducing students to a new artist. For every artist, the textbooks cover the art marking practice and provides examples of artworks. The best part about this textbook is the additional artist statements (quotes) and written responses by previous students. I also love the questions regarding frames and conceptual framework. To prepare students for their essay, I came up with something cheesy - hamburger essay. In the holidays, I went to Kmart to buy a hamburger notepad. I want...

I am now officially appointed as a permanent teacher at my high school. I have been working for a total of 5 years and this is my fourth year at my current school. It feels like a long journey but it is only the start with a lot of learning to take place. I hope to grow into a better teacher by regularly reflecting on my teaching and being aware of new pedagogy practices. First day back means updating the theme/look of my classroom. I may have gone crazy with buying new containers and falling into the trap of liking blue-mints-turquoise.