Cool sites to explore

Hi Teachers

These are some cool links that I've came across. A pity there were a lot more but most of the links doesn't work anymore. Will continue to add on to the list:

https://thisissand.com/ 

https://bomomo.com/

https://drawastickman.com/

Artventures: Art Teachers as Bloggers Part 2 Q&A

Hi Teachers!

The school holidays have officially started and I hope you'll have a well-deserved break.

I retrieved the Zoom chat history under documents in my laptop and I'm answering some questions here which I didn't have a chance to during the live Q&A during e-AEC.

How do you know what to post?

Your intentions matter because that is what sustain your blog. Otherwise, it's very easy to start with a bang and ends with a whimper. My early blogs are here and here. I had two blogs for multiple reasons. First, I was teaching English, Math and Art to different classes so I wanted a platform to consolidate my observations and learning. Another reason is to communicate with the parents/ caregivers. If the parents knew what the children were learning in the classroom, they would be in a better position to help their own kids without texting me every other evening. Here's an email from a caregiver after our meeting:

To answer the question, I know what to post because I know my intentions and my audience. 

How often do you post? How much content is in each post? 

Once a week. No fixed rule. It's your blog! I mainly talk about one idea per blog post but it could be a post that needed some time to write. For example, if I were sharing about a lesson unit then it would be after a period of time when I've ended my lesson and then consolidate my thoughts and photos to prepare a post. For units that are too lengthy, I would separate them into different parts such as Part 1/ Part 2 in the blog title.

What are the platforms to get started?

Wordpress

Wix

Blogspot

Tumblr

Medium

I'm sure that there're other platforms that I have yet to try. It really depends on your user experience. There's no need to master coding to be able to blog. Choose the one that suits your style. For blogspot, there are some changes to the interface recently so you just need to adapt to the changes once in a while when using the hosting domain.

How do you make time for the blog?

I really want to say that I have more 'me' time compared to teachers who are parents. But we are all in different stages of our lives so it's actually pointless to compare. I have teacher friends who are parents so I know the amount of work in parenting. That said, I also put a lot of value on how I spent my time. 

Since we all have the same amount of time to spend, it's important to have awareness of what keeps you going. Writing for me helps me to clear my headspace and is a therapeutic exercise. In fact, after writing, I feel more productive. I don't proclaim that I'm a writer or possess extraordinary writing skills, I'm still happy to able to express my opinions and do reflection. If you beg to differ, then look for another avenue that would sustain your interest. 

Other habits that I have are to limit binge-watching movies, TV programmes or scrolling through social media feeds. Even if I do post on social media, I would just post and exit. Rest assured that I do have friends, since I do keep in touch with my friends, why would I still need to keep up with the social media posting? So, I don't. Another habit is I don't hang out with my friends every evening. Personally, I think this is a very time-consuming activity and it's very draining for me. However, this activity can also energise you depending on your personality. Time is really limited during the weekdays so I need to prioritise by going for Pilates classes and having adequate sleep and nutrition to function well and keep myself healthy.

Will your colleagues think that you are trying to "sell" and market yourself? Will it create a competitive spirit within your unit if someone doesn't like it?

I don't think this has happened to me because my intentions are to help others understand my work. In fact, I think this is a good sharing platform for people who prefer to be self-directed or too afraid to ask for help. Having a platform like this means you're vulnerable to a certain extent and you've to be prepared to accept more criticisms. As long as there is clarity, you'll have peace within. 

That's all! 

Artventures: Art Teachers as Bloggers

Hi! It's the first time that I'm participating in the Arts Education Conference this year. My title for the conference is Art Teachers as Bloggers as it's something I've tried and tested for some years now. Each participant was appointed a mentor to give us feedback. I also have my critical friends to practise our online Zoom sessions.

The session that we were in was known as Pop-Up 10. They were interactive live-streamed sessions conducted via Zoom. Individual arts educators will “pop-up” in each virtual room to share and discuss key ideas, research studies or strategies on how to creatively engage learners in learning.

In my next post, I'll attempt to address some questions which I didn't have time to during the live session. Please check back! 

Art Class: Comics Drawing

 

Hi Teachers! Here's a lesson for the last 2 weeks of school. It's simple to carry out and some children who might be absent during class due to the year end prize giving rehearsals can catch up easily through the video. The children can also choose between a 3-panel or 4-panel comic templates. 

Art Class: Colouring with Lines

 

The children are learning to colour with lines. We reviewed the different types of lines and watched a video on how to apply them in colouring. I like using A3-sized papers with the younger children as it allows them to draw sizable objects. My art tutor used to say coloured pencils are the hardest medium to master for young kids. It's quite unimaginable since it is such a common practice for children to own coloured pencils. I hardly use them in art class because first, the children would take too much effort to cover the entire drawing paper and many would complain that their wrists are tired. 

Another reason is the different brands of coloured pencils yield different amount of colour pigments. There are some types where no matter the amount of strength you exert to colour, the colours would always appear very faint. The visual impact is futile. Furthermore, they would appear almost invisible on digital images. Coloured markers were provided for the children to prevent the mentioned disparities. I want the children to feel proud of their achievements and more confident with each project.

Art Class: Tape Art

 

Whenever I'm doing process art with the children and I anticipated that they might mess up, I would remind them about the story Beautiful Oops that we'd read together in class during our first Art lesson. It works wonder most of the time and the children who had accidentally torn their papers would remain rational and calm when I reminded them of the story in times of 'crisis'. 

My students have completed their drawing module in tape art. Watch the video to find out more!

Art Class: Drawing with Objects

Hi! My students are making drawings with found objects at home. Remember to emphasize that they should use safe items found. I got them to list some items that are suitable before the actual task. We also looked at some examples of artists' work samples. Watch the video to see my examples. 

HBL: Art Card Game

Hi Teachers, this week, my students will be doing HBL using word cards. I've compiled multiple options for the children so that they will have a wide range of materials to choose from at home. Some of them even uploaded videos on SLS when they are 'performing' the adverbs. Please watch the video to find out more! 

 

Art Class: Online Gallery on SLS

Most of our events are taking place online this year. Our students have started preparing their work to be exhibited online on SLS. I've prepared folders for them to collate their work and encouraged them to provide positive feedback for each other. Just some tips on taking better photos of their work and they are good to go. 

 

Art Class: Surrealism in Watercolour

 

Watercolour is an unforgiving medium. Its transparency is beautiful but a mistake is clearly visible unlike the acrylic paint where you can go over it by applying a new layer. 

I prefer to let the students use acrylic paint but since I'm conducting art class in the classrooms, I'm changing the medium. A good thing is each class is equipped with a sink so at least they still can wash their supplies without making visits to the washrooms. 

I prepared paint on the plastic lid and allow them to dry before distributing them to the students. They would just need to fill the continer with water and start paint. To clean up, they will empty the container and allow the paint to dry the same way when they have just received them. I made a watercolour video and the students will be learning to apply the techniques to their drawings. We'll see how it goes.

Art Class: Land Art (2015)

Hi Teachers, today I'm visiting my old lesson and share why it was the first and my last time doing this. These photos were taken five years ago. 

When I first taught at my current school, the students had very strong preconceived notions of what Art is. I couldn't conduct any Art appreciation lessons because they would be more boisterous and make any teaching ineffective but I know that they like hands-on work. 

I decided to bring them out of the classroom for Art lessons and surprisingly they were much calmer and the space was more conducive. I tried to balance the lesson with sketching, some art appreciation on Land Art and hands-on which you can see in the photos below. I sort permission from my school to cut some leaves near the fence as the school garden was too clean to find any fallen leaves. I also took some plants from home as there weren't enough variety. 

The leaves were left on the fence (their canvas) after the class so that the students could build on what the other classes had done. They could also view their work during recess as it's a common area. Two weeks later, I returned to dispose the twine as the leaves were gone. So, I guessed the dried leaves had been blown into a drain which I did not realised if I weren't inform. Subsequently, I did not try this again as I didn't want people cleaning after me. How would you teach about Land Art if you were me? 

Reads: What the Art Teacher Reads

 

Hi Teachers! I managed to finish this new book during the term break. It was given to all participants as the workshop which we had signed up for was cancelled. So, I guess their budget was used to purchase the books instead😁

Dale Dougherty was thought to be the founder of Maker Faire in 2006. It is an event where people could make things using digital and analog tools. It then became a worldwide movement. Singapore has her first Maker Faire in 2012 while hackerspaces and other interest groups were operating in silos. 

Two years ago, the Art Club students participated in the Maker Faire. The participants were students from different schools and age groups. It was great exposure for the children to see different ideas and what the older students came up with. 

I had to re-read a chapter in the book as it touches on Heutagogy. I don't remember ever coming across this term or is it I wasn't paying attention in school?? The book grouped Heutagogy principles as Education 3.0. In other words, it seems to imply gearing towards self-directed learning. In this case, it ties in well with Maker Education which can be structured open inquiry. Information acquired is definitely multiple ways because it sees learners as connectors, creators and constructivists. Anyway, if you are new to this term, it doesn't mean we, teachers are, not practising it in class. 

Inquiry-based learning in the art classroom has been on-going for some years. It's the discipline most closely related to Maker Education. Students would strongly object if we didn't make something during art class. I remember vivdly once I spent the whole lesson doing Art appreciation and at the end of the class, a girl asked me why didn't we do any artwork! That said, it speaks volume about the importance of the foundation years on building learning experiences. 

Housekeeping: Keeping Markers Intact

I'm so happy that this markers hack works! I saw this artroom hack some time ago and I thought I should try it too. It's too silly to worry over the lost of markers' covers or duplicate colours in a set. Sometimes, you have the whole set dropped on the ground and the markers seem to have a mind of their own. They can roll under the children's giant Smiggle lunchbox or fall into their school bags. 

Despite all my tellings, you just have that set of markers that are not in place and you can spot them miles away but no time to fix. I removed all the unnecessary packagings and secure them with Duck Tape (not kidding, that's the brand). It's also easier to sanitise this way. The neon tapes are so brilliant and blinding no children can miss returning. 

Just a word of caution, you can't cut the tape with scissors as the adhesive is too strong. NO MORE MISSING MARKERS! YAYY!