The Pre-Service Teacher

It's definitely been a bittersweet couple of weeks at school. While the stresses of exams, reporting and marking have been significant, being in a really great faculty has made all the difference. I'm lucky to work with a great bunch of really smart, friendly, energetic people. I've also been lucky to have a great prac student on board. I've been really lucky all round really.

I remember being in Uni and ringing around schools asking if they would take me for a prac. God I remember. It was a hard thing to do, and I am so grateful to the wonderful teachers who took me on. It's why I always try to say yes to having a prac student. My first prac student has become my best friend and my closest colleague. I love telling the kids how I went to her wedding. Another prac student regularly emails me to let me know how she is going. She always tells me how much she enjoyed being at our school. My current prac student has kept me sane in the last two weeks. She's as new as can be and only 19 but very enthusiastic and very good. She will be a great teacher. She has helped me no end - not by doing my work for me but by doing what I do with me. That includes co-marking, playground duty, team teaching. She even joined us for end of term faculty dinner tonight. It never crossed my mind that this time of year might be too busy to have a prac student and thank goodness it didn't. I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Having a prac student helps me as much as I think it helps them. I gain a realisation of how far I have come in my own teaching - I guide them with confidence (mostly) and I become a mentor and a friend. I gain an awareness that I have actually come a long way as a teacher.

I also learn from the prac student. I gain new ideas -I take more risks, I implement new content and teaching approaches.

And I always have more to learn.

Images: my own photos from the Lego forest in Martin Place, Sydney as part of the 2012 Lego Festival of Play http://www.legofestival.com.au/m/#/news/article.php?id=135

The Archibald Prize 2012 in the classroom

I am excited about the announcement of this year's Archibald Prize winner. Completely.

The 2012 Archibald Prize Winner
Tim Storrier's 'The Histrionic Wayfarer (After Bosch)'

There is just so much to say in the classroom about this work. On hearing that Tim Storrier had won the $75,000 prize I immediately Googled the announcement. Ah yes, I knew this work from showing my year 7s a sideshow from the Art Gallery of NSW a week or so before. Oh yes, I think this is a great choice for the winner! I remember Storrier's entry from last year. It was a key work for discussion with Year 10 - discussing how an absence of the physical figure can say so much. Most of the Year 10s really liked Storrier's magical treatment of landscape, of his whimsical explorations of memory and the self.

Like other years before, this year's winner had not been announced at the time that John McDonald had written his article on the prize (SMH March 32-Apr 1, Spectrum). I always enjoy reading his work however I almost feel sorry for someone who has to critique the entries (and possible winners) before they are announced. It must be awful to be in the position of writing so much that could be so wrong. And yet, what a fun game - to predict (from the informed point of view of the expert critic of course) the winners and losers, the 'good' and the 'bad' and then to see the outcome.

Next year I might play this game with my kids. What a great classroom exercise - look thought the slides of entries from the AGNSW website, discuss, critique, judge, then wait...

So, back to the announcement of the winner. John McDonald stated that 'Tim Storrier's The Histrionic Wayfarer (After Bosch) continues a series of self portraits as the invisible man, identifiable only by his clothes and possessions...One suspects even the trustees of the AGNSW would hesitate to give the prize to an invisible subject...'

I would have loved to know reasons why McDonald thought the absent figure would not win. Is it because, as one immediately assumes from his writing, that there is no face and is therefore a controversial choice and too unpredictable, even for the trustees who are open to the 'controversial choice'. Or is it because well, there is no face and of course, many of us know this approach to portraiture has been done numerous times before, and is a little 'old hat' and predictable?

And, back to the announcement (there are just so many diversions from the subject at hand when blogging). The day of the announcement, Tim Storrier's work made me feel an immediate excitement.

Rarely do I teach art theory on a Friday last period. The kids are just not in the headspace to retain in-depth information on the artworld. And who could blame them? Their heads are in the play they will have in only 50 minutes time! And yet, Friday afternoon's class was one of the best I have had with this group.

We discussed the winner - why this work could be seen as controversial due to the fact the man has no face. We looked at all the clothes and objects and the gestures that make up the figure, and how these say so much about the type of man Storrier is. Of course, we couldn't ignore the artist's dog who looks directly towards a floating piece of paper with a drawing of the artist's portrait.

We then looked at Bosch's work and compared the two. We looked at Storrier's entry from last year and compared the work to this year's winner.

              Tim Storrier's 2011 entry

Then we looked at Brett Whiteley's 1977 'Self Portrait in the Studio' - how could we not? The comparisons are lovely for Year 7s, particularly with Storrier's actual portrait on a piece of paper, and Whiteley's actual portrait in the small mirror, and all the objects and belongings that tell us so much about the artists themselves. Combined with previous investigations, students were able to gain a good understanding of the history of the prize and how approaches to portraiture have changed.

Brett Whiteley's 'Self-Portrait in the Studio (1977)

Finally, we looked at Brett Whiteley' self portrait 'Art, Life and The Other Thing' (1978) which includes a drawing of the artist drawing Dobell's painting of Joshua Smith - Dobell's work being a controversy students have investigated in-depth during a previous lesson.

Brett Whiteley's 'Art, Life and the Other Thing' (1978)

Therefore, during this lesson students gained an understanding of how artists have an informed knowledge of the artworld and how their artworks are often informed by this knowledge (we may also talk about appropriation here).

Links such as these lead me to the conclusion that this year's winner is an obvious choice, and a very strategic choice at that! John McDonald, surely you would agree! What a great catalogue discussion this would make.

Back again to the lesson: This may sound like a lot of content however it fit perfectly within the 50 minute allocation. I usually encourage note taking however during this lesson we just sat and talked. The responses I got from the kids were outstanding, and yes, our classes are graded, and yes, this was a 'less advanced' class. I often find the 'lower' classes have an outstanding ability to talk about the artworld during class discussion, even if their reading and writing skills are considered to be less advanced than the other kids.

What I also enjoyed about this lesson is that I 'Googled' all the content as I taught it. It means I have to be fairly fast and make sure (the Googling being projected on the Smart Board for all the see) that nothing inappropriate is included in the search, however this approach can be good modelling for how to look at relevant websites and content. It is also of use when there is no time to create a PowerPoint, worksheets, etc.

If anyone has any ideas or tales of teaching the Archibald Prize to students I would love to know here.

Links:
http://m.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/tim-storrier-wins-2012-archibald-prize/story-e6frf7jx-1226314415481

http://m.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/face-the-facts-20120329-1vz9v.html
Images:
Storrier images: artgalleryofnsw.gov.au

Whiteley: (Self Portrait in the Studio, 1977): artquotes.net
Detail: abc.net.au

Whiteley (Art, Life and the Other Thing, 1978):

http://blogs.cofa.unsw.edu.au/artwrite/?tag=brett-whiteley

Robert Hammond: Building a park in the sky | Video on TED.com

With the increased interest in making the city a more habital place aesthetically, socially and environmentally, the New York High Line project is one example of an astounding trasformation witin the urban landscape. This 6 minute TED talk provides that lovely feelgood that you often get when experiencing an artform that resonates. Who doesn't love a garden in the sky?

"New York was planning to tear down the High Line, an abandoned elevated railroad in Manhattan, when Robert Hammond and a few friends suggested: Why not make it a park? He shares how it happened in this tale of local cultural activism" (From TED.com).

Robert Hammond: Building a park in the sky Video on TED.com

I have to do what???

Accreditation.

Is its completion really a wicked festering monster in the true sense of the word or just one of those make-believe childhood fantasies hiding under the bed brought to life via vivid imagination and a whole lotta fear?

For me, it has been a little bit of both. We all know that sometimes the thinking is often worse than the actual doing, and whilst I've tried to stave off the thoughts of 'am I doing this right?' it has been a little bit of a hill (not a mountain) to climb.

I'm almost done. I already have some of those retrospective powers goin' on about what processes have worked and what haven't. I've both loved and hated the process yet the hate only comes from the fear and the frustration of and with the process. The love for me has been about the wow factor when annotating my evidence - 'yea, i've done some awesome things in my teaching', 'hey, that lesson was great', and 'gee that kid kicked goals in that unit'.

Tips:

Give yourself some time. Doing this process last minute would possibly remove some of the drawn out indecisiveness as to which element each piece of evidence covers however I wouldn't be able to deal with the panic of having to get it in within a very short timeframe. I've set myself a goal to get it done by the end of these holidays and heck, I'm almost done with a whole week and a half up my sleeve.

Get yourself a mentor. Make sure there is one in the school. Make sure this person knows the process. Our school has had a couple of mentors yet there is no one at the moment which is not a great situation. My head teacher has been great for observations and guidance but I really think a person assigned as a new scheme teacher mentor is essential. Luckily my school brought in a couple of teacher mentors from another school for a one-day workshop which clarified every detail. I am also able to send my evidence and annotations to them for checking. I did however tell my principal and DP that whilst it was an excelled session, what is needed is a similar session with head teachers, etc to ensure the new schemers have the support needed.

Read-up. There is a whole lot to read - other teachers who have walked the road to accreditation will be more than happy to hand over their examples. There is the standards themselves to get to know, there is information from the Institute and the Federation. I read all I could, wrote my annotations, re-read, then edited. Don't forget to read info on the quality teaching model...

Incorporate the Quality Teaching Model into your annotations. How do the Quality Teaching dimensions and element inform and help you develop your teaching? The DET's document 'Quality Teaching to support the NSW Professional Teaching Standards - Part A: Linking the NSW Professional Teaching Standards and the NSW Quality Teaching Model' has been an excellent document to assist me in writing my annotations.

Ask questions. Any questions. I was a little embarrassed at our workshop because I had so many of those niggly little questions, yet I was so glad I asked them.

Be a nerd and share your knowledge with other new-schemers. Where are you at? What element are you on? What evidence have you got? What fabulous documents have you found to help the process? Talk about it and share it with others - it will help them and you.

Sell yourself. Use buzzwords such as 'engaged', 'effective', 'successful', 'implemented' and 'I have shown/I have demonstrated'. Remember, the evidence has been chosen because it is evidence of how you ensure quality student learning in the classroom. There is really not a lot of room for understatement here.

Follow the rules. Don't submit originals, submit only that which can fit in an A4 sleeve, sign in the right spot, etc. I sure as hell don't want mine sent back for a silly error!

So why am I posting these suggestions when I haven't even submitted the document? I am no expert and there is every chance my work could be sent back. As I write this post, I continue to edit. I've almost finished that last element. The blog is acting as a means for me to make sure I address what I need to address and why.

I also seek feedback from others who have completed the process, and will add or amend my content of this post accordingly. Can you contribute to this discussion to assist others in their accreditation?

What's mine is yours - Welcome to my room

Click here to view my beautiful art classroom
The year was 2009. January. I was about to start my first position as a new Visual Arts teacher. The students would be arriving any day. My head teacher showed me my classroom. It was tired, dusty, lifeless. Possibly because the 3-5 teachers who had used it for short periods before me had never made it their home. I didn't care. I was excited to have my own room. And so, with cleaning products in hand I cleaned away as much of the dust as I could and filled up bag after bag of paper, cracked paint trays and old clay heads made by students I'd never met.


At the time I didn't know how much work it would take to make this room my own. My head teacher's room was light, dust free, organised, colourful and huge. I was a little jealous The old unused mac lab was also part of this room. Ooooh, it was nice.

My room was small. There was zero technology. Lucky for me my head teacher hired me because of my interests in technology. I claimed the mac lab as mine. I cleaned it till it was shiny. I introduced small units of work where these labs would be used.
After a year or so my three days a fortnight turned into full time, then eventually permanent.
I began to use my head teacher's room as I was keen to use the smartboard technology. This didn't work so well as some things in her room went missing or got broken by my kids. It became very clear that I needed to take ownership of my room and make my room work for me.
In my room I asked for a smart board. I got a projector. I asked for a laptop even though I was not one of the teachers on the list for that rollout. I showed others how interested I was in incorporating technology in the classroom. I projected images on the whiteboard with great success and was able to use the white board marker to underline key content. Now that's interactivity for you ;-) Only three times have I run my finger down the board to 'scroll down' accidently forgetting I am not using a smart board (much to my kid's amusement). Lucky for me I have never used a marker on a real smart board.

One day I ran a lesson where I showed the kids a movie clip on Expressionism. Within a minute it became very clear I needed some decent speakers as the kids couldn't hear a word. Good thing I had an alternitive activity up my sleeve. After a year or so, a music teacher asked me if I wanted her speakers. I set them up in the room. "Cooooool Miss! Where'd you get your speakers? They're awesome". I started to let the kids play some tunes when doing prac. I've never been so happy to have such fabulous speakers!
I've painted the cupboards and around the sink a few times. I've painted the display cabinet outside my room to show colourful student works. I try to rearrange things. I put up posters where there is space. Books go missing, things get broken, dust resettles, and paint gets spilled. I've learnt to live with that. At times my internet freezes as my laptop runs off the router which is located in the music room next door. I make sure that I can continue with the lesson whilst I wait for a Prezi or website to load so that the lesson is not too disruptive. At times I fear all of my Year 10's are simply too big to be in this room, although we often have prac lessons spill outside. The unit of work using soapstone carvings based on the sculpture of Henry Moore has been a huge success - the Year 10's loving the tactile nature of the stone, although the dust makes my classroom floor as slippery as an ice rink. Even if we work outside, the shoes of 20 kids brings the dust back inside.

I've come to see how the setup of the classroom directly influence classroom management. I've tried moving tables, removing tables, adding tables. Although I've always come back to the original set up, I still keep trying new things.

I'd like to welcome you all to my classroom. I've made a link above using the very cool app '360' - a nice panorama shot of where I work. I would love you to visit if you have the time.
I can honestly say this room is now my own. It is mine to share with my kids. I am responsible for it. I've completely come to love it. My door is always open whenever I am teaching and I always encourage people to visit.

All the best,
Ms Leaney

My World (and) the Artworld. Opportunities for reflection.

A Henry Moore Bronze outside the Art Gallery of NSW: I love it when I see an artwork I have been teaching the kids at school!

At the university I attended,  there is a first year assignment that requires the university student to interview a practicing Visual Arts teacher for one hour, the goal being to gain an understanding of the complexities of teaching the Visual Arts.
Whenever a first year student approaches me requesting an interview, I always say yes. I have also made it clear to the university that I am always very happy to participate in this task. I complete the interview, mostly at the end of a working day when I am at my worst - tired, not really 'into it', and very zombie like. I fear the students may think I am drunk or a little ditzy, as I fight to speak of my practice in a state of sheer exhaustion from teaching all day. However, I know these students appreciate my participation, and I know that as new teachers, they hang on to every word I say...
It was not that long ago that I too was a terrifed first year who struggled to find a teacher to interview and who, during the interview, was terrified the recording device would fail and I would end up with no interview at all (there were stories of this happening!). It was quite traumatic to say the least, and whilst many of these students appear more confident than I was, I know there is a level of nervousness that can only be quelled with a cup of tea and a good educational chat.
During my last interview, the interviewer asked a very fine question indeed: "How do you stay up to date with what is happening in the artworld". Oh dear. I was tired, I couldn't think. How do I? As an art teacher, I know it is important to know my subject, and this includes staying up to date with what is happening in museums and galleries and the contemporary artworld. As a relatively new teacher, I realised I had been spending so much time putting all my energy into improving my teaching practice and classroom management skills, as well as building my PLN (professional learning network), that I had neglected this part of my practice. I realised I now needed to extend my efforts in another area.
So, I took to this task like I did in developing my teaching practice and my PLN. What did/do I do to extend my knowledge of the artworld?

• I extended, and continue to extend, my Twitter contacts to include as many art galleries, publications, artspaces, festivals, etc. as possible.
• I participate in arts conversations on Twitter and other forums, and I mention exhibitions or festivals I have seen to my followers.
• I belong to my professional association, and am an active member in this association.
• I continue to read the arts segments in major and local newspapers
• I put aside time to watch Visual Arts programs on tele
• I take time to watch clips on TED, or on gallery websites
• I pick up free publications which provide information on Visual Arts activities happening in Sydney
• I try to read as much as I can when I can
• I try to get a friend to accompany me to an exhibition so that I know I will go! Sometimes I will just find the time to take off by myself to soak up the art.
• I try to fit in gallery trips during my school holidays

But after a busy week teaching, I've got to admit...sometimes the sheer exhaustion means I just do NOTHING. And that's ok - there will always another event, article, TV show. I don't have to be an art superstar - I just need to put in the energy to get out there sometimes, and to really get to know my subject. Getting to know my subject means I improve my confidence in teaching, and it has helped my to answer some of those curly questions students can at times throw at me:

"Miss, I saw a painting that is just a white square...I don't get it".

I will keep hoping students from the university will  continue to visit me at school and ask me about my teaching practice. During a one hour interview, I gain an opportunity for reflection that I don't get anywhere else. In a profession where being said to be 'time poor' is an understatement, I will always have the time for these students because they help me as much as I help them. Bring on the questions! I hope I have difficulty answering them...

Some sweet links for you:

VADEA: Visual Arts and Design Educators Association (NSW)
The Sydney Fringe Festival (September)
Oxford Arts Factory
RealTime Arts - a cool free mag
Art Nation ABC - Awesome segments for the art classroom.
ABC i-view

More links to come...must run. The world awaits!

How do you manage?

This year I became a permanent full-time art teacher after having taught at my current school for 2 years as a part time Visual Arts teacher and learning support assistant. I came to the school straight from university and I thank my lucky stars every day for the role I have now, as I know how difficult it is to find full time positions in schools as a Visual Arts teacher.

In the last 6 months I felt somewhat confused as to whether I can still call myself a 'new teacher'. The label of 'new teacher' has, I feel, helped me reflect on my mistakes in a more positive manner as I know I have much to learn, and I am on a steep learning curve. I found myself thinking that if I am no longer a new teacher than surely I should know better, be better, manage better, teach better...SURELY I SHOULD BE CONTROLLING THOSE YEAR 10s BETTER BY NOW!!! (insert hair tearing here).

All this reflection, and discussion with peers and my PLN (Personal Learning Network) brought me to the conclusion that it does not matter how long one has been teaching - those kids will sometimes raise their troublesome heads. And regardless of whether or not I am green around the ears, I hope I will always be in a state of reflection, always eager to learn more and always eager to improve my practice.

After teaching those kids for 2 years now, I am slowly 'getting there' (wherever 'there' is). I am learning what works for me by asking others, reading, searching the net, etc. I love how Phil Beadle says that however off the air these kids are, and no matter what happens in my classroom, it's a good thing to keep smiling. And if it gets worse, keep smiling. This has worked for me.

On Friday afternoon when I reverted back to a little yelling and lecturing, it was further reinforced that kids respond so much better when I smile. I'm 5 foot 3" - it's pretty clear yelling and lecturing does not work for me. Just to let you know, dear reader, I tell you I reverted to a tactic that I know doesn't work because I acknowledge I still continue to make mistakes - I just hope that from these mistakes comes growth and change. I'm a slow learner but I know I am a good teacher who is on a steep learning curve and is willing to keep growing.

My students know how much I love to learn. They know I am always trying new things. They know I make mistakes. I think that is ok. They seem to have been really into art lately.

This weekend I pulled out my tattered copy of "Cracking the Hard Class" by Bill Rogers, purchased recently from Amazon. I find some really interesting tips I can apply to my own classes. (I wish I knew what other 'desperately seeking better teaching methods newbies' or 'always looking to improve' old timers have used this copy previously - I bet there are some stories to tell!). I'm ready to try some new things tomorrow and to keep using what is working well.

So, my message here? Keep trying, keep reading, keep asking, stay willing to try new things, try not to think that you 'should know better', accept that some things will not work and it is ok to make mistakes. I know I am going to keep trying. Oh, and smile.

I would love to hear from anyone out there about what your experiences with classroom management are.