Art Class: Misc activity

During the exams, teachers have their timetable suspended and we have a new timetable to follow. Since I'm given the same classes that I'm teaching (just different time/ day), I will explain to the children the reason I'm seeing them twice this week! If I hear them go YAYYYY, then it is good news!

One of the lesson ideas for Primary One children is to get out of the four walls and be a suncatcher. I got them to observe two images. One of which is a child's long shadow and an adult's short shadow and asked them to explain how they think this phenomenon came about. Some of them have the misconception of a taller person would automatically have longer shadows. It's interesting to hear their justifications by comparing and contrasting the images. After looking at some shadow artists' artworks, the children made their own shadows on the projector screen. As the sun is not too deadly at this time of the year, the children took turns by working in pairs to capture their hand shadow at the corridor or the courtyard. 

Art Club: Puffy Paint & Tote Bags

In the beginning of year, the Primary 3 art club children participated in an activity organised by the National Heritage Board. There are different tasks assigned to each of the five professions and children are to complete any three tasks belonging to the profession to earn a badge. One of the tasks require the children to design a tote bag on paper but we managed to have the real thing so the children tried painting using puffy paint and fabric markers. The downside of using puffy paint is..though the packaging instructions state that hair dryer will increase the volume of the paint, it will take a loooong time. I was glad that I had a heat gun at home as it decreases labour time significantly and my colleague, Humaira had to use the heat gun on all the students' work. The results are stunning if the children are patient when applying the puffy paint!

Art class: Discussion on Contemporary Issues

Last week, all teachers gathered in small groups for an (invisible) roundtable discussion. We deliberated on Social Cohesion as the main theme.

The meaning of contemporary issue is public discourse. Discourse is a fancy word for discussion. For example, if you are debating with your family whether to have dinner at ION Orchard or Tampines Mall, that's a discourse. However, when discussions focus on national issues which in turn will affect a larger population, they are part of a discourse.

If everybody were always agreeable and cooperative, there might not be a need for public discourse. In reality, people come in all shapes and sizes. Add in racial, ethnic and spiritual backgrounds which would inevitably influence one's beliefs and opinions. What if everyone does as they wish with no regards to the consequences? It would be in absolute chaos and not how you would think a nation should be run. So, to ensure that we are still a functioning society, there need to be law, order and social expectations and these can derive through public discourse.

Discussions such as these are very common in the art realm. That's why we have contemporary art. In 2013, the play "Cook a Pot of Curry" was inspired by a story of a Singapore Indian family, who had to cook curry less frequently after their new neighbours from China complained about the smell was reported in the press. In 2017, the play "Normal" talks about the educational system where its playwright, Faith Ng, was once a Normal stream student. My favourite is "Grandmother Tongue", watch the trailer here. 

The point about Social Cohesion could stem from this article and this book. Many teachers gave their inputs based on personal experiences and what they have seen on social media. I think children are capable of understanding contemporary issues and the arts are suitable vehicles to facilitate these discussions. You can see some of my attempts to incorporate contemporary issues in my lessons here and here. That said, global goals are closely related to contemporary issues. These are 17 goals towards a better world that world leaders have agreed upon in 2015.

A challenge that could arise to discuss contemporary issues is the degree of conviction of teachers. There is also a possibility of rejection of such issues from the learners when it is non-examinable. Thus, I see the logic of developing lifelong learners. 

Housekeeping: Coloured Markers

Discovered another way of managing and distributing markers to the different groups. The toilet roll tubes were hot-glued onto the cardboard trays. It would be great if I could spray paint the tubes to match the colour of the markers.