Teaching Art & Drama

Today started off really well! I taught my first art class with music exploring the topic 'art & rhythm'.

I played fijian music via my laptop whilst everyone tapped with one hand on the table to the beat of the music. I then asked everyone to stand up to dance to the beat but they became stiff & rigid! Students were very self-conscious as they are mostly accustomed to sitting during their lessons. So I had them sitting again tapping away on their desks with one hand whilst they used the other hand to pretend they were drawing in the air - to the beat of the music. Then I had them drawing on their paper exploring all sorts of lines whilst tapping away on the desk with the other hand.

Later I showed them the visualiser on my laptop which shows music through art - they were truly fascinated! I don't think many of these students have had access to computers at all. This was such a fun lesson! I am really looking forward to doing more art work with these students through music - a great topic for the students & me as their student-teacher. The main teacher for this class (who was observing me) told me she was also learning lots from this lesson. I noticed she really got into the dancing & tapping to the music. Hee! But then the bell rang so we had to stop. Oh the lessons are so short - just 35minutes!!! With 40x students in each class I really have to move fast in my lessons.

By the way, I have a photo here of a boy with a collage (artwork) he made in his previous art classes. I thought the collage was so great - I had to take a photo & share it with you all.

As for drama - my shakespeare (Julius Ceasar) classes are going really well! I am now getting students from other grades are coming up to me to ask for drama too. They dont do any drama in this school so it is something new & exciting for them. I'm really glad to be able to offer it.

But I must say, I am so exhausted & tired at the end of each day ... it really is a challenge working in a new school in a different country with 40x students in each class, with different accents, limited resources & just a blackboard etc. And when I get home there's still so much planning to do for the next day! Oh I dont know how school teachers manage! My mother was a teacher - now I understand why she found teaching a challenge & tiring at times. Teacher's definately need their school holidays to recover!!!!

Lastly, I finally got access to a printer today to print off my lessons & student worksheets etc. Oh I felt like a girl in a lolly shop though I sometimes felt like a girl stealing lollies from a lolly jar! Hee! It was a real treat to be able to use a printer & photocopier. Not many of the teachers use the printer or copiers due to limited knowledge about computers or tight school budget for printing & copying. Fortunately, I've been given permission to use the printer & copier - in moderation. Phew! This is better than nothing as I couldnt stand to just use the blackboard each day! Bye!