A week of completing projects...

What a whirlwind this week has been!

It has seen the end of semester one report cards, and will soon see the end of...

well, something...I think... :-)

Several student projects were finished this week, and there was some wonderful work created and put up on display. So without further ado, I am going to start with the most recent work, and then travel back in time...over the course of the last few weeks, for

ADVENTURES IN THE ART ROOM!

Here we are today, January 31, 2014. It is Chinese New Year, the year of the horse. So what do you think we do to celebrate the year of the horse?

We make Cherry Blossom Art! (What did you think I was going to say?!?)

The grade 1-2 classroom came in today and created some lovely work with pastel, sumi ink and tempera paint.

They created the background with a blend of three colours of chalk pastels, for which they chose their own colour pallets, though we tried to keep them closely related. After that was done, we dropped some sumo ink onto a spot at the bottom of the paper, and they used straws to blow it along. They had a great deal of fun with this, and commented that it "really does look like trees!" The finishing touch was when they got to dip their fingers into the pink paint and create fingertip "blossoms" on their cherry tree. It was a bit of a whirlwind to be able to get things finished, dry and up on the wall by the end of the day, but we did it!



Going back...to last week...

The grade 5-6 group were working on developing their understanding of analagous colour schemes and concentric circles. The results, I am sure you will agree, are vibrant and have a strong sense of movement within.

The students were developing skills with a compass to create concentric circles. We had created a centre point on a square piece of paper. some students drew their central circle close to that centre point, others chose to have it in a different area or a bit off to the side. See if you can tell which ones were closest to the centre! :-)

After the creation of the circles, students then chose and analogous colour scheme, and worked with 3-5 colours of pencil crayons and an intense colouring style to colour in their circles. Once they had been coloured in, they went over their original circles with a fine permanent marker. They looked great!

But we took it further and then cut the paper into four even squares, which we then played with by turning them in a few different directions and trying a few layouts. After some consultation with students and checking for opinions of other teachers, the two up-two down layout was established! They are now ready for viewing in our haollowed hallways!

      

And going back a bit further...


Further....

...Further....


Ok, Maybe not that far! :-)

The grade 9 class created some fairly intense work, starting with creating a tonal range of a single colour, starting with a centre of white and then working outwards from there, adding a bit more colour each time until they had filled the page with colour...

and then...

We printed over it!

The students carved a printing plate from styrfoam...yes, these were made with styrofoam printing plates, with each plate printed multiple times...oh, the time and patience...and here are a couple of the results...

The students all worked very hard and were quite intense on creating a quality finished piece...Having created this on an approximately 24x36 inch format, I am thinking...next time...maybe a bit smaller...What do you think?

Cheers!

Ms. Teh

Just a few pictures of some student work...

Well, I will probably be trying to do a few posts this week, seeing as I have a lot of catching up to do. :-)

My students have been working hard this past semester, and it has been quite the challenge to keep up with everything. We have been focusing quite a bit on developing printmaking skills, and I have some pictures to share.

These are some samples of work from my grade 5/6 class for the printmaking unit. We discussed a number of aspects of printmaking, one of which was the aspect of tiling in Islamic Art. In this discussion, we talked a bit about radial symmetry and how you can use one design repeated multiple times to create a single image. I gave them a choice of creating one single image, or an image that they could "tile". These two students decided to create their tiles. As it is winter and we were using blue ink, we decided to create a winter themed motif. For those of you who are interested in printmaking, all we used were foam trays for the carving, though we did use actual printers ink for this part of the project, rather than acrylic paints. I prefer the printers' inks because they have more body, and we had better results than with acrylics. 

I have finished with printmaking with the younger grades this year, but will be doing more with my older students in the coming months. I am quite excited to see what they will be able to come up with.

I will be posting more from my other students, just as soon as I am able to get all of the images properly oriented for publishing... :-)

Keep the creativity alive! 

It has been a while...

...and I am working on some goal setting for myself, which includes trying to blog at least once a month, if not more! There is just so much to do, and I am trying to keep up with all of the great things that are happening at my school.

First, an update...

Currently, I am on semester break, and working furiously to finish report card comments for my Sr. High students. It has been a whirlwind semester of Art, Fashion, Technology and C.A.L.M.

With as much fun as I had last semester, I am looking forward to a bit more focus on Art Education this semester. I have taken some time to plan activities for as many students as possible, from K-12, even though my formal teaching is scheduled for the grade 5-12 students. It is always wonderful to see what the students are able to do, and explore the differences between skills and abilities.

In a more concerted effort to develop this blog into a learning platform for myself and (hopefully) others, I will be focusing a bit more on projects that I am developing with my students. That being said, there will be more images of student work and some discussion of take aways from my practice. As I am still quite new to this, I ask for understanding and patience.

Looking forward to more learning..!

My first year...

The students had their last day of school this week, and it has been a busy year...let me fill you in a bit...

I started the year off as a substitute teacher for a number of different private/charter schools. It was a great challenge working with a variety of students, as I was working with special needs, gifted, arts immersion, traditional learning and main stream students.

In February, I was hired on contract to do High School Art and work with a couple of special needs students. It has been a wonderful semester, and I have quite enjoyed the students that I have been able to work with.

For the fall, I will be facing a number of new challenges, continuing in my role teaching HS Art, and also adding middle school art as well. Additionally, I will be working with middle school students in technology studies and module learning as well as Career and Life Management, Communication Studies, and possibly Fashion Studies as well. Needless to say, it will be a busy summer preparing for all of the diverse courses I will be teaching. I am always looking for interesting ideas, and will be looking for inspiration in a variety of areas. :-)

Wish me luck!

A Frayer Model for Real Numbers

Here is a sample of something that I worked on to develop a better understanding of numbers. I had found a project to develop a numberline for real numbers, but was needing something a little more to help personalize my own understanding. So, I took a Frayer model for real numbers and developed the idea as a cover page in my visual journal for the actual numberline.

I found several resources for the numberline project...
http://mathequalslove.blogspot.ca/2012/09/real-number-line-project.html
http://motivate.maths.org/content/complex-numbers-and-argand-diagram
https://educationalaspirations.wordpress.com/tag/the-real-number-line/

I found that it was quite interesting to work on this project, developing thoughts about where numbers would fit and how to represent them. One of the most interesting moments was developing algebraic functions to represent numbers. In the past, I have not necessarily considered math as a creative process, but I am coming to realize that given the opportunity, students who are able to create and develop their ideas in many different ways are able to communicate those ideas more clearly.

I am developing more confidence in my mathematical abilities by creating visual representations of my learning. Another thing that I discovered was quite interesting when I started looking at the algebraic functions was that I did not have to limit myself to a single dimension on the numberline. Further investigation lead me to the Argand diagram, and the possible development of a dimensional number line. But that is a project for another day...:-)

Exploring Math Teaching

I have been seriously considering the aspects of teaching over the past few months, and have been looking into several methods and aspects of why math is perceived as being hard...

A bit of my history and opinion...

I loved school when I was younger, but when I was in grade school, learning the multiplication tables was stressful in that my teacher played cassettes that blurted out questions that, to me at that time, seemed to go lightening fast. I did learn the majority of them, and I am fairly good at mental calculation, though I am not as fast as some...when given time to work on things in later years, math was great fun.

In my Jr. High years, I had a wonderful teacher, Mr. Sealy, who was a fabulous teacher and encouraged me greatly. He would explain and explore concepts that seemed to be in a near alien language. He would do it with such care and precision that the meanings and understanding were accessible to (I like to think) everyone in the class. It is this aspect of learning that I have been curious about through University and that is coming to the forefront of my understanding of teaching.

One study that I worked on in University was that of places having their own internal jargon, and that unless and until you are in that place, be it a place of business or a classroom, you may not know the language, or jargon, that is commonly used. I have found this holds true for a great many people upon entering a new workplace or environment, and the amount of jargon can be quite considerable. In respect to math, there are teachers that sometimes use different jargon when teaching and/or there are students that have a hard time catching on and retaining the jargon. I have discovered that this is an area of growth for me. The language of mathematics is something that I continue to explore and develop an understanding of.

Like the teacher in Charlie Brown, when a teacher starts speaking about mathematics in mathematical jargon, students may find the language inaccessible, and all they hear is "blah blah blah". In the process of personalizing learning, it is vital that the language of mathematics be accessible to all students as something that they can relate to and something that they are exposed to regularly so that they can develop a more comprehensive understanding of the many ways of expressing something mathematically. When students and teachers are able to communicate effectively in a mathematical language, learning becomes more meaningful.

In the ongoing development of my own understanding of the language of mathematics, I am working on some readings, including Van De Walle's Elementary and Middle School Math- Teaching Developmentally, the "Murderous Maths" books (fun learning, my kids love them) and working on developing a visual journal for math vocabulary. I am also re-discovering my joy for algebra (yes, it is actually fun!)

It is a great endeavour, and one that I hope to be able to share with students over time.

Meaningful Substitution...

Ah, the joys of learning never end...especially if you are a teacher.

I have been fortunate to be signed on as a substitute teacher with a few different charter schools in my area, and am quite enjoying the experiences that these opportunities provide. Though I am still searching for a full time placement, it is wonderful to have experience in a variety of classrooms. :-)

Thus far, I have taught in both elementary and middle schools, from traditional classrooms to visual and dramatic arts programs to phys ed, and have enjoyed every single day. I find that the most challenging part of being a substitute is not that of behaviours, but that I want to ensure that I am supporting the students and teacher in a manner that is consistent with the classroom learning.

One concern that I have heard from regular classroom teachers is that they do not want to just have a class where the students and substitute are doing "made up" work. I agree wholeheartedly that as a substitute, I would like to know that the work that I am doing with the students is valuable. For my own personal growth, I do try to put a bit of my own ideas and style into the lessons. I love it when a teacher provides me with the lesson plan in advance, and there is that opportunity to become acquainted with the plan. One teacher provided me with the opportunity to plan an art project with her options class, while I brought in additional materials to enhance anther project students were working on in another class. It is taking those moments and opportunities, I think, that really helps the students to understand that the substitute is not just there to babysit them while the teacher is away.

As a substitute, it is important to challenge your boundaries and become comfortable in many different teaching environments. After all, you never know when opportunity may come knocking at your door...