Farewell!

And this conclude my last week at my current school. Saying goodbye to my colleagues and friends as I handover my work. I want to give a shoutout to all teachers, staff, students and parents for walking this journey with me. I'm filled with gratitude to be able to contribute and share my work.

Art Class: Clay

Students had a blast with the introduction of air-dry clay. They tried using the cookie cutter method to churn out a high production of clay pieces, taking into consideration the craftsmanship and design. Some students accepted the challenge of making handbuilding work by combining function and form. There were a number of details to lookout for such as knowing how to distribute the pressure evenly so that the clay will be rolled out evenly, positioning of the cookie cutters to maximise the space, judging the thickness of the clay, smoothening the edges, preventing the drying clay from warping, what to do with remaining clay, painting on dried clay. 

Most students love hands-on work and they learn best while working on something rather than excessive teacher talk. I always liken experiential learning with swimming. Would you learn better with more practices in the pool or from watching swimming videos? 

Spray bottles work as well as rolling pins

Art Class: Clay Relief Work

Hi! The children have completed their watercolour painting last week. To reiterate the learning outcomes from the previous lesson, they sort the air-dry clays according to warm and cool colours again. 

Like most art teachers, preparations are done prior to our classes. The clays were divided and packed into individual bags. Instructions are usually given before distributing them.

Next, to check students' understanding of molding the clay, they made three basic forms. Self-evaluation is done by checking the boxes in a worksheet once they have achieved the forms. Practices such as these will guide them to be more self directed. In this case, it is quite straightforward because the result of the clay work is right before their eyes. Should anyone faces difficulties in making a form, assistance is offered on the spot as I go around to collect the worksheet.

Art Class: Watercolour Painting for Beginners

Hi Teachers! The Primary One students have started using watercolour cakes to paint. We watched an instructional video in the previous lesson and talked through the things to bring for the following lesson. The children wrote down the one thing to bring - an empty container to hold water.

Now, there are a few points to make clear when you entrust the children to bring an important piece of material. Because no container = no painting. I've explained that I don't have enough for everyone. So, if they have, they should bring the containers the next day and labelled with their name and class with a permanent marker and kept in the art cupboard lest they forget if they wait until the next art class (weekly art class).

The painting day arrived and some students had forgotten to bring a container. Last week, a boy from one of the Primary One classes came up to me the moment I entered his classroom. He repeatedly thanked me for teaching him an important lesson that day and said that he will not forget to bring important things again. I was quite impressed by his response. 

Children without water containers were given a set of coloured pencils instead. I mean what I said. And this reputation goes a long way and essential for classroom management. They could still practise the use of Warm and Cool colours even though the medium has changed.

I mostly rejected the use of lunchboxes as water containers and the best try goes to a kid who wanted to use a pen cap as a container. Yes, anything that looks like a vessel😭

Most children had painting experience but they will still enjoy when asked to do it. Thus, asking them to bring something isn't that difficult because responsibility is taught by leveraging on this activity. I do bring a few containers to class in case a child's container has cracked. Sometimes, it irks me to delay the lesson unit due to small hiccups but I try to think of the long-term benefit over the short-term inconvenience.