Miss Art of Teaching

A while back, I posted about my high school's partnership with Western Sydney University. T he project involves professional development using an action research model. Action research is a process involving enquiry into an important question relating to classroom and school practice.  In my group of four teachers, we wanted to focus on creating a safe classroom. To know more about the project, please click on the following link: Safe Classroom We found that students are more likely to take risks if they feel safe in the classroom. To encourage these risk taking behaviour we reconsidered our teaching pedagogy. Some looked at providing longer waiting time, others looked at scaffolding information.  I was interested in providing words of encouragement. I also looked at recapping jargons used in class. If students feel they are valued for contributing and are familiar with the content, they are more likely to contribute to class discussions. Today, I asked my Year...

Two weeks ago, I set a new challenge for myself. Every Sunday night, I pull out 5 outfits. This prepares me for the morning and keeps my wardrobe looking tidy. Double win! Outfit 1: Outfit 2: Outfit 3: Outfit 4: Outfit 5:

Today my Year 11 students submitted their Body of Work for marking. I wanted them to focus on 'presenting' their artworks. I purposely booked the meeting room as my classroom is too busy with a lack of wall space. Students were encouraged to move their artworks into the meeting room at the start of recess. A lot of students spent an entire period setting up their artworks and getting their Visual Arts Process Diary ready for marking. I spent another two periods marking with a co-worker. Discussions were formed and we talked about how I can support my students through to the HSC. Marks still need to be finalised and I plan to spend my weekend writing constructive feedback. Here are a few photos from today:

The rock painting stall was a success! I ran the stall during Multicultural day. The purpose of the stall was to get as many rocks painted for the school decorative rock pathway. There was a huge turnout from the school community. We had students, teachers, staff and parents/carers joining in.  To prepare for the day, I... 1. Asked for donations from Flower Power and Bunnings. They donated rocks and a can of natural sealer (to protect the paint from rain, hail and shine!) 2. Sought funding to purchase permanent markers, posca markers and paint. 3. Asked Year 7-10 students in my classes to wash, dry and paint a based layer using exterior house paint. 4. Sorted out the rocks by colour. 5. Made teacher samples and asked every student in my class to make a few designs. 6. Advertised about the rock painting stall on the school Facebook, school newsletter, on assembly, Year 7 meeting and through word of mouth. 7. Asked Year 7 students to help make promotional posters and instru...

During period 6 today, my co-worker sat in my class to observe my lesson. It is a requirement that the head teacher sits in on one of our classes and that everyone in the faculty takes turn observing one another. Feedback is then documented on BlueSky and given to the teacher verbally. This helps us to reflect and improve on our pedagogy. The lesson observation was based on my period 6 Year 11 Visual Arts class.  The focus of the lesson is based on the short documentary: Jim Carrey: I Needed Colour.  Read up this blog post to understand the lesson's content:  Lesson idea: Jim Carrey I changed a few things in the lesson. I started off the lesson by showing students a few examples of Jim Carrey's artwork without revealing the artist. Students worked in groups to write down whether they liked the artwork. We then had a class discussion and they were required to explain their choices. I then showed them the YouTube video. Afterward, we talked about how the docum...