Senior class

Time is flying...

I will be saying goodbye to my first Senior Year 12 class in a few months timeframe.

I am now on a count down with my Year 12 students. They have 4 days until their 30% Body of Work and Visual Arts Process Diary is due for marking. This is an in school progress mark which is combined with their earlier 20% practical progress mark. The final 50% of their mark will come NESA (NSW Education Standards).

It has definitely been a journey of mixed feeling. We are all exhausted both emotionally and physically. It has been difficult to get them to stay motivated. I will need to work on developing a stricter timeframe, provide more examples of Band 6 artworks and learn how to provide criticisim that does not deflate their self-esteem.

Teaching my first senior class has definitely been an eye opener. Students are used to be given direction at every step from Year 7-10, with the freedom to choose their own concept and materials it can be quite stressing. Some may not be willing to break away from their comfort zone while others develop an understanding of their own strengths and experiment into great lengths. On top of this, students at this age is often dealing with a number of things that may lead to anxiety. This makes it harder to find a way to get through to them.

Teaching is a life time of learning, what might work for one class does not neccesarily work for another class. Some days we feel like a champion and some days we feel defeated. At the end of the day, I still love my job.