Miss Art of Teaching

This morning I asked my students to help me rearrange my classroom furniture into a group layout. I have around 6 groups in my classroom right now. I changed my room layout so that my elective art students can easily collaborate when they partake in their Project Based Learning project. Since 2016, I have been part of the Project Based Learning Action team at my high school. This means I develop program and writing assessments with a focused on hypothetical real life situations. Last year, I invited an artist to come in to talk about the process of mural painting and encouraged students to work collaboratively to create two murals for dance and drama. This year students are working in groups to investigate street art and learn how artworks can serve a purpose in the community. Students must: Submit the completion of the 6 D worksheets. This takes students through the process of defining, discovering, dreaming, designing, delivering and debriefing of the project. Create an i...

Visual Arts Year 6 Term 2 My high school offers transition lessons for our local primary school. Every Tuesday afternoon, our local primary school brings over their Year 6 students. The students are split off into groups to try a few taster classes. It helps prepare them for high school as they learn about the school structure and routines. Inside my classroom, they have been working together to make the 'What Lifts You' mural. Every student contributes by making a feather design. Resources that can benefit Year 6 students: Instructions:  What Lifts You Year 7 Term 1 Every year we start off with a Self-portrait unit with the Year 7 students. I decided to spice things up and use Snapchat filters on my students. We used the dog filter on Snapchat as it still allowed a reasonable amount of realism to be portrayed in their artworks. Students' artworks are now on display in the CAPA corridors. Resources that can benefit Year 7 students: Instruction...

I LOVE MY CLASSES. This year I have been blessed with really good classes. I still get my dose of challenging students but overall the students are settled and I get to be myself in front of them. I can be silly, make jokes and do some horrible dabbing.  Teaching is about knowing your students and working on building good relationships with them. At the same time NOT letting them get away with things like coming late to class, incomplete assessments tasks and being rude. It is important to have consistent instructions and consequences. Students do three things when they walk into my classroom: 1. Bags off (and placed at the back of the room). 2. Sit down. 3. Zip it. This is to get the class settled quickly without interruptions. Once the introduction is done (for practical lessons), students can start on their own project. If it is a theory lesson, students need to remain quiet unless there is a class discussion. I am generally more flexible with senior s...

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 ...

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...