This was my first week back in school and I found it difficult getting my head back into a teaching head space. I hit the ground running on Monday morning and haven’t stopped since. To some respect I feel I’m being pulled a million different directions between paperwork for school; creating visual aids and working on my thesis, no pain no gain as they say. Trying to juggle time to get my thesis done alongside lesson plans and visual aids is difficult however it’s great to be back immersed in the school community.
On Monday Evening and again on Thursday I had my 1st year group who are currently doing lino printing. I really enjoy working with this group of learners they’re always so pleasant and such hard workers. There are some really strong learners in this group as such I want them to really challenge themselves-I am pushing them to add in a variety of line through the use of a variety of blades, considering how to build up tone and texture, I feel is working really well.
I re-did my demonstration on the correct way to safely cut a lino tile and got learners to answer questions on what I was doing and why? This worked really well as I could establish what learners had retained and what need to be revised. It also allowed learners who were absent for previous lesson (20th Dec. 2018) to learn from me and from their peers.
End evaluation involved getting learners to reflect on the work produced in that lesson, through getting them to select what art elements were used in the lesson and rationalise their reasoning. As this unit of learning is to be completed in a handmade book for each learner and then a class collective book with extracts about their hybrids, I plan on getting learners to keep considering this throughout cutting and printing process. On Thursday I gave learners a worksheet about reflecting on their hybrid this will not only aid in formative assessment but also in creating a collective print book.
I am really pleased with the progress of my TY group of learners, we are continuing on with our cardboard unit of learning that is heavily underpinned by Development Education and the SDG’s focusing specifically on the Homelessness crisis in Ireland. One group were further along than I had realised when writing the lesson plan however I was prepared for this eventuality. I got learners to complete their reflection sheet and then move onto making an inclusive map. Whereas originally I had planned that when the learners completed their cardboard banners they would complete the reflection worksheet. I felt the reflective sheets worked really well in getting a personal response from learners about their experience with the homelessness crisis. It also has given me more of an insight into the individual ideas of each learner. I allowed learners to discuss reflection as a group but each of the two groups that were finished had to complete individual reflect and respond worksheets. Learners were then advised to consider work from beginning of unit of learning (making a town) and on the stark difference of views they had then in terms of separating classes (i.e. 1st class and working class). Learners began to address this through discussions in their group with a focus on inclusivity and they were encouraged to consider what services they would include to protect the vulnerable people in their town (i.e. homeless people).
This week also marked my first class working with a group of LCA learners. This is a great experience as I can get an insight into how the programme works for art and what they are required to do in terms of themes and tasks. I am teaching LCA’s as part of team teaching which works really well as we can both assist learners and it allows for the bouncing around of ideas. Today’s lesson was all about introducing the theme and getting learners to create observational drawings through working from primary sources. I learned that this group of learners had little to no experience doing drawing as such we started from the basics and worked slowly, I was pleased with the outcomes, having physical primary sources along with handouts for each learner I feel definitely helped with this. There is a lot of SEN in the class group and learners can get distracted quite easily however this wire unit of learning is very much a step by step process as such I do feel confident that it will suit this particular group of learners and they will enjoy the process.
The first week back is always a little tough however by the end of the week I felt like I had never been away, hopefully week six is even more jam packed and I get back into the full swing of things.
-E. Moran
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