Miss Art of Teaching

Change is inevitable and as teachers we need to be flexible and positive about new ideas and approaches to teaching. Teaching is a challenging job where we need to know our content and find ways to make learning fun. Lately, I have been asking students about how they feel about the subject and what we can do as a faculty to make learning more accessible to them. This has led me back to my blog and I am now sitting here thinking of new ways to deliver content: 1. Make learning more relevant. This year we have been looking at Environmental Issues and Street Art with Stage 5 (Year 9/10). However, compared to previous year, this particular cohort seem to find the projects less engaging. My faculty plans to create four shorter projects for 2020. We need to provide them with topics/issues that are more RELEVANT to them. Make them interested and CURIOUS. Give opportunities for students to generate their own research questions and search for explanations. 2. Make learning clear. Student

I love when teachers share ideas! A teacher friend commented on one of my Instagram posts (missartofteaching) about a cool online planner that she uses daily. She introduced me to 'Planboard' (free teacher online planner) where you can set up your timetable and then attach lesson plans, worksheets, and outcomes to each lesson.  It also syncs to Google Drive making it convenient. You can work on it from the computer or download an app for Iphones and Andriods. It took a while to set up, but I can see the benefits of using this online planner. I can edit my notes, select my standards and view my lesson attachments all under my fingertips. You can literally plan lessons anywhere and everything is in one place! I'll be using it to record class discussions and attach photos. A few examples:

Back to school... the three words that you probably love and hate at the same time. I will miss the holiday sleep in, naps, dog cuddles and taking my time for my morning run. But I am ready for another year of learning and nurturing my students with love and care.  Recently I stocked up at The Reject Shop and purchased half price pens from Woolworths. I am looking at implementing a system in my classroom where students are held accountable for borrowed resources: pencils and pens. I will be in two classrooms this year and have decided that I will need two caddies filled with supplies. One caddy will have pencils and pens based on the table number/colour and the other caddy will be based on numbers from 1-20 (since it is a flexible classroom). To be dismissed from class, I will need the pen/pencil to be returned. No more walkabouts.