Miss Art of Teaching

Besides being a classroom teacher and a Year 7 Adviser, I am an advocator for the Positive Behaviour Learning (PBL) team. There are many things that are working successfully at our school such as the ongoing Vivo system for rewarding behavioural expectations, great PBL data results, systems for responding to and managing behaviours. This creates a fun and safe learning environment for everyone. Being part of the PBL team requires me to put in my weight. I volunteer to put posts up on the Facebook page since I am one of the five admins. I re-designed whole school structures for reducing truancy and created a poster that promoted consistent classroom expectations.  I help run the rewards program by asking for monetary and merchandise donations from the school and local community. I maintain the rewards program by frequently updating it with prizes and helping students and staff to reset log in passwords.  Last year I set up a stall with the PBL team leader. W...

With the permission of my talented friend who made me a journal from scratch, I changed the front and back cover of the journal to suit my personality. I think I am falling in love with scrapbooking. I love the DIY factor. I simply used watered down PVA glue to attach the designs onto the journal. I changed the journal cover while my Year 7 students were quietly working on their self-portraits mixed media artwork. I love how my 4 x Year 7 classes have dramatically changed from being 'noisy' to now working quietly. They can monitor their voices due to the 'NOISE' signs that I made. I also have a student who is the 'shh-sha'. The shh-sha reminds students of the correct voice level if it is louder than usual. The NOISE sign works by flipping each letter (starting from E).  When letters are flipped, there are minutes written on the other side (E= 1 min, S = 2 min, I = 4 mins, S = 8 mins and E = 16 mins). The class needs to remain quiet for the entire duration. ...

While people look for wedding or home inspiration, I am busily working towards my 'Classroom goals'. Decorating my room provides a way for me to de-stress and helps build a safe and fun environment. The students are respectful in this environment. There is hardly any rubbish left behind, the desk and the floor is always clean and there are no missing resources. Some of my inspirations (from 'Relief Teaching Ideas Community' Facebook group and from TYPO):

I decided it was time for a new lanyard. I wanted something that was quite fun and tactile. The Smiggle lanyard is extremely colourful and the keyring is a great stress reliever. It feels nice running my fingers through the surface. I picked up a 'C' keyring as my first name starts with a C. Above: Lanyard and keyring from Smiggle. I also went pass a watch store and bought myself a cool portable clock/timer/stopwatch. I don't want to use my phone that often unless I am taking photos of students' work. This timer is awesome. It is probably designed for the kitchen as each turn, makes a click sound and adds a minute to the stopwatch. It will be used to time activities, to time how long it takes students to settle into the classroom, to add minutes to complete 'silence' when students decide to talk during inappropriate times. I also purchased a wall clock as I am missing one in the classroom. The clock has the time, the date and even the temperature :) ...