Miss Art of Teaching

I have a friend who I love to bits. She is my mentor and the kindest soul on this planet. When she used to work with me, I would often wonder to myself...'What did I do to deserve such a genuine friend/coworker in my life?' She has truly lifted my wellbeing up from being at the rock bottom to becoming a passionate and hardworking teacher (mirroring her work ethics). Although she has now retired from her job after 24 years of service to the Department of Education, she still thinks of the students every day. She has made me a 'To do' journal and another handful of handmade letter sets and journals for students as 'reward prizes'. Above: My lovely journal. Above: Handmade letter sets. Each bundle contains 3 original designs. Above: More handmade journals. Every page is carefully put together. It is a scrapbook heaven. She prints each image herself. At times the artworks are designed and painted by this talented woman, other times she sea...

I informed some of my students about this blog. One of the students wanted to include something small here: My Experience In Miss Kwan's Class For the past 3 years, I have been lucky enough to have Miss Kwan as an art teacher. We have laughed together and we have argued, but all in all, we have had a great time and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher. Miss always has new and creative ways to teach her classes. From the first day of year 7, to now I have seen every reward system you could imagine. Day in and day out, Miss Kwan takes time and money of her own, and puts it toward students and our learning environment. Although we may not always show it, we are all very grateful for the extra effort Miss Kwan puts in for us.  In class we share, laughs, smiles and jokes and I hope that I am lucky enough to share my art experience with Miss Kwan again next year.  On behalf of the class and myself, I would like to say thank you for bein...

Year 7 will start their first day tomorrow. I still remember my first day of high school. I was standing alone in my roll call line waiting for instructions on where to go. The only other person I knew, was standing very far away. My six years of high school life was like a roller coaster ride. There were many ups and downs. However, my 'memories' remind me of how high school was not just about the academic side but about making life long friends. Every day I speak to my high school friends via sms and I meet them regularly for food feasts and hiking trips. Since I am the Year 7 Adviser, I want students to see the value of making memories. It has become the focus of my speech. I want students to make memories together. I want them to also understand that we all take part in someone's memories, so we need to remember to be kind to one another. Kindness is also the theme for my classroom this year.  I will be taking a lot of photos as I love recording down memories and I...