Game Face

I went into school with my game face on today. I put yesterday in the past and was ready to give Year 7 another go. I took Tarryn's advice and started class outside with them lined up to enter the room. While they were lined up I asked them what they thought about yesterday. They told me they were too talkative and weren't listening when I was talking. I told them I was not expecting to be treated that way and that it hurt my feelings. I asked if they knew what active listening was. They said they didn't so I explained and modeled it for them. I let them know that there was a seating chart in place now and that they shouldn't think of it as a punishment but an opportunity to start fresh and help get focused. We then quietly walked into class and I assigned their seats...

They did AMAZING. I got through a review and they were engaged and finished the objective for the day! I was not expecting that fast of a turn around. I'm still keeping a firm grip on them, but I let them know how well they did and how thankful and proud I was of them. I think starting class by having them lined up helped tremendously. This was an example where I had to adapt my instruction to cultural differences. Since schools here do not have a bell to initiate the start of class, if students come in one at a time and start chatting and goofing around, it's hard to get them settled or for them to know when class has started. I also think the seating chart did wonders. I am not sure why they don't implement them in the first, but again, a cultural difference. Here are their sketches for their Anthropomorphic Portraits!

I also taught the second section of Year 8's Reg Mombassa lesson. It went very well too! As I observed Tarryn do the lesson yesterday, I noticed some concepts she forgot to address like foreground, middle ground, background, and she really enjoyed the way I taught it. I pulled up an artwork of Mombassa's and asked students to come up and circle the parts that were in the foreground, middle ground and background, and then asked who they were able to tell the difference between the three. The lesson went very well.

I'm noticing that the teachers here are very current and up to date with the art world. I think they do a good job keeping themselves informed, going to current art shows and galleries, and studying current events in the art world. They place a big emphasis on teacher expertise here that I haven't experienced elsewhere.

I also tried my first meat pie today and it's not half bad!