Art Class: Just some thoughts

In Singapore, we board the public bus from the front and alight through another door situated in the middle of the bus. Most of the buses are wheelchair accessible, in this photo, while the bus driver was assisting a wheelchair-bound passenger to board the bus at the other door, the rest of the passengers had to wait at the front. Only when the wheelchair-bound passenger is safely secured in the bus, will the driver open the front door to allow the rest of the passengers to board.

Sometimes I wonder if the passengers would still wait patiently at the door should the front door be opened? I'm sure the bus drivers were trained to do this because they could anticipate that it would be more efficient by allowing the wheelchair-bound passenger to board first as there will be more space to manoeuvre. Thus, any bus driver would know better than to open the front door first.

So, human psychology is applicable in the classroom or workplace. In eduation, we term it as classroom management. Understanding how people think and behave very much has an impact to the flow of lessons in school. For instance, most teachers would not distribute materials/ resources to the students first before our explanation. Logically speaking, it is nice to have all the materials placed on the desk in front of the students before they walk in. But, in reality anyone working with young children in public education can tell you it would take a lot of discipline from the child to keep their hands or eyes off the materials right in front of them and just focus on your verbal instructions.

Housekeeping: Caring for Art Supplies

Coloured ends of markers and pens

Mirror corners with air-dry clay

I usually do an introduction of myself to a new cohort of students by sharing about myself in different contexts through photographs. What I am particularly fond of is to sneak in some artroom management rules as I talk. I showed the children how other children from another country lived differently. We discussed about school facilities and lifestyle inconvienence which are evident from the photos. Then we do a comparsion between their lives and the children in the photos. The point of the discussion is really for the children not to take things for granted. An explicit teaching of a hidden curriculum meant that the children are expected to cherish art supplies and prevent the stationeries' premature death. This year, I have the table corners painted to match the colours of the labelled art supplies. This labelling would prevent accidental theft and will require children to be more responsible when it comes to returning supplies to its rightful storage place.

No Rewards Art Class

It's the new year and I'm seeing 5 classes of 7, 8 and 9 years old each. Last year, I was trialing a No Rewards art class and I felt that it was very difficult for me with some classes. I did stick with what I had intended and I would do the same this year. There are a few reasons for this:

When I just started out teaching, I was a form teacher teaching the first grade. Naturally, I wanted to carry out the point system in my classroom as an incentive for having their work done, team work, good behaviour, doing the CORRECT correction etc. I gave out cow cash coupons, group points, auctions and fairy dust cards (You can view it here) Logistically, it was managable because I only had 30 pupils. Despite my efforts, I found my pupils self-centered and fiercely competitive. They were angels in my class but a terror in others. 

Fast forward to present day, I no longer have the luxury of time to develop rapports with pupils as though I teach only 30 of them. Given that we meet more than 400 pupils each week and the infrequency of our interactions, knowing every pupil in a conventional way is not realistic. As an art, music or PE teacher, I think our subject matter is inherently interesting. Therefore, I insist in a no rewards classroom because coming to class is a reward by itself. That said, most of the leverage will come from the teacher and the most important area is our lessons that must somehow be noteworthy. Bribing pupils to behave in return for rewards sends the wrong message and interferes with the intrinisc value of joyful learning.

As an art teacher, I have the privilage of interacting with other teachers and by entering their classrooms, I have observed that teachers who hardly focus on external rewards have pupils who have better self-regulation skills. I do not assume that this one strategy is enough to create ready learners but for this post, I would just like to focus on this.  

Art Class: Cleanup Contest

I started this cleanup contest in the beginning of the year as I dread seeing children taking their own sweet time to clean up the art room. This "contest" is a good way for the children to master telling time in a context. I encourage them to write in terms of minutes and seconds while translating what they see in this digital version of time. 

During cleanup time, it does look quite chaotic but the job gets done very quickly. Making everyone doing the cleanup means that they are learning to work together as a class. They also become empathetic because they would take initiative to help others to clean up their mess after they are done with theirs.   

A few weeks ago, I had someone from a P1 class said that cleaning is not for boys. I was fuming mad when I heard this. I confronted the 7-year-old boy and he claimed that his father taught him. At home, his sister and mother does all the household chores and he do not need to lift a finger to help. I couldn't believe my ears. An existence of a patriarchal household in the 21st century! Needless to say, he has to play his part in school.

This article comes timely. An open statement for everyone. It could be apt for a society like ours when some children are being served by an adult e.g. domestic helpers (see this article for a film regarding the issue) and assumed that the world only revolves around him/her.

Art Class: My Little Trainee Teachers

I had this idea brewing for a while as I want to cut down my instructional time in class. Most of the time, I do give my instructions through Powerpoint slides, using the visualiser or do a live demo. My latest attempt is through recording my instructions and demo and showing them the video so I do not have to repeat myself so many times. The children can watch the video while I prepare materials at the back of the classroom. I do get the occasional questions such as these even when instructions were written on the whiteboard:

• Ms H. where do I hand this in?

• Ms H. Where are the markers/ coloured pencils/ scissors?

With composure and poise, I answered all these questions without twitching my brows. So, now let me present you THE TRAINEE TEACHER BADGE OF HONOR:

From Term 2, I have started these with some of my classes where I will choose a few children to be my little trainee teachers. My selection criteria starts from the time I picked them up from their class. You need to be explicit about what you are looking out for. For example, I will observe how quietly and quickly they move and how they stay in line while we walk to the art room. After my instructional time ends, anyone with questions related to the task should first seek help from any one of the trainee teachers. If that trainee teacher doesn't know the answer then he or she should go to another trainee teacher and so on. If all trainee teachers doesn't know the answer then they can come to me. When that happens, the problem must be me...