PME 1 NS

Teaching Learning Unit (TLU) In today's society technology is growing at a rapid speed and understandably it is moving into the curriculum. I teach the new visual art both at senior and junior level. Our subject does not have a text book, thus I relay on technology quite heavily both to present work to my pupils and the new curriculum allows the use of computer programmes to assist pupils in creating artworks. Since I began my teaching, one aspect of pupils work always stands out, and that is the lack of research of other artists work. Pupils always express how difficult they find researching relevant artists to their discipline. The last project my first years are completing is a 3D self portrait in clay. In order for them to research an artist I implored the use of the schools iPads and pupils with phones were allowed to use their own device, to download the app Google Arts and Culture. This app is not only a great resource for the pupils but the feature I wished to utilise i...

Art, Craft, and Design (exiting curriculum) Vs Visual Art (new curriculum) I have had the rare opportunity in the first year of my PME Art and Design degree to teach the current third year’s the exiting curriculum, Art, Craft, and Design, and the new Visual Art curriculum with the current second years. Whilst the basic principles of art, craft, and design remain at the core of the subject, many changes have been made. The first, most obvious difference is the observational exam, which is comprised of two parts: life drawing and object drawing. The pupils are given instructions on how the model will pose for their exam, along with a list of man-made and natural objects, of which they select one. The exam is timed: allowing 30 minutes for the posed life drawing and one hour for object drawing. For the latter, the pupils must draw they whole object and complete a close up as well. From   next year the current second years (going to third years 2020) will only have to complet...

04/04/19 Workshop 7 Batik & Prep Work  I actually began teaching batik as I was learning it. This was a great way for me to share my step by step process with my pupils and theirs with me. Batik is a process of using wax and dye on fabric to create your artwork. Like the 3D your batik design wont look exactly how you drew. There is several factors contributing to this, these include the dye concentration, and the wax and where it is applied. After some research and due to the summer approaching, I was inspired by bright colour, wild flower, trees, and fruit blooming, and nature getting back into its stride.  As I was drawing bees and wild flowers my thoughts went to my Grandmother garden on the Greek island of Limnos where she grows all her own vegetables. I began to look at pictures I had taken from the previous summer of her peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, and lemon tree.   As I drew I did a series of test dips and topical application of the ...

28/02/19 Workshop 6 3D Mixed Media Sculpture  & Preparatory Work At the start of the 3D mixed media sculpture I struggled with the entail concept when a bag of miscellaneous objects where placed in front of me to sketch. I began exploring a few of the object such as a computer hard drive, a wooden shoe, a trumpet and various piece of metal.   As I was struggling to conceptualise my design I turned to card and start to experiment with shape. In my under graduate model making was required with every design, thus card and cardboard are very familiar materials to me. I began by exploring various shapes and how they might interact with each other.  As I was trying to make my objects support themselves, I came up with the idea of a gravity defying piece. If the observer sees the structure I wanted them to question how is it being supported. I wanted the piece to be comprised of many different materials and geometric shapes to emphasis the structure and allow...

27/01/19 Workshop 5 Graphic Design & Prep Work I was very excited to start a design project as this is the area I come from. I began by mind mapping potential ideas that came to mind. I then gathered examples of brands to analyse the text, use of colours, and function.   I believe that we need to take greater measures in protecting our environment and be mindful about what we are emitting into the world. With this in mind I decided to create a logo for a cruelty free, eco friendly cosmetic brand. I began by looking at nature in all its forms, as this is where I believe we should be sourcing our materials instead of chemicals which may be harmful to us and our environment.     As I drew my focus went to the shape of a leaf. I wanted the imagery to be peaceful and fresh. For the colour I wanted to choose colours that occur naturally in nature, and of course green was the first one that came to mind. To compliment this I chose the colour red....

Welcome to my blog. Here I will reflect on my experiences of my one month shadowing period, in which I had the privilege to watch and learn from a professional art teach in a classroom setting. I watched the day to day running and inter-pupil and pupil-teacher dynamics of the art classroom environment. I will also contemplate on the workshop classes I have to date in attend during my post graduate degree studies. I will share how by exploring a vast array of educational theories and disciplines found in the world of visual art I have taken these learnings into my lesson planning and therefore improving my teaching.

12/12/18 Test Culture In the time I have been in this school I have supervised a few of the Christmas test which ranged from one to two hours for the younger groups. However, one group of first years I was supervising really resonated with me, as I had just finished writing up a paper looking at assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning. They had an hour-long history exam, with an hour’s study beforehand. This was the first 1st year group I have supervised. I was shocked at how panicked and frightened they were. I decided to talk to them before handing out the exam. I stressed that if they tried their very best it would be fine, and they would be the same great humans after the hour was over. However, I’m not sure it eased any anxiety. Whilst writing they kept asking me the time and I could see the panic on their little faces. Several students would take tiny breaks and shake their hands to relieve them from writing so fast and with so much pressure. This was...