Friday, 23 August 2013

Kerin - Interesting and useful resources

I have decided to list some interesting resources to help formulate on-the-run teaching ideas. In relief teaching you plan in the car on the way to school or on the weekend when you are tidying up the mess from rummaging through teaching resources at 7 am in the mornings. I have collected lots of bits and pieces for various grades, set up for grabbing at short notice. Mark, you will be extremely lucky to get a full time job after you graduate. The hardest thing I have had to accept this year is that most teachers do sometimes years of relief before they get their first permanent position. Its about getting known to schools, accepting what they ask of you and doing the hard yards, testing your skills and experimenting with what does and doesn't work and gathering resources that make your job a bit easier. You hardly have time to catch your breath  in Primary schools as it is a full day and any spare time is taken up by ground duty and photocopying work sheets for students. I've made some mistakes but learning from them and having lots of opportunities to retest ideas. I've had some challenging days ending in a headache and loss of confidence but I've also had lots of light bulb moments and some precious moments that bring happy tears to your eyes. Every class is different and your improvisational skills must come into play constantly. You also have to be prepared to purchase items for students to use if you want to try a special creative project.

A fun book for writing and literacy but full of ideas that involve drama and art. It can be photocopied as no copyright issues and has wonderful illustrations.
Syme, C. (1986). Fantastic Ideas for Frenzied Teachers. Brookvale: Holmes McDougall Australia

Education Department of Tasmania ( 1988). The Visual Arts in Primary Schools. Education Department Tasmania Australia.

I often find myself flicking through this book to reinforce ideas about teaching in the Arts. Its well laid out and easy to find information in a specific area and exclelent for keeping of hand for quick referencing in all area of the arts.
Roy, D., Baker,W. & Hamilton, B. (2012). Teaching the Arts: Early Childhood and Primary Education. Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

This book has lots of art projects and includes adaptions for the primary area or younger students. Alhough I haven't used many projects for visual art, looking through often helps me think of something different I would like to try.
Hume, H. (2008). The Art Teachers Survival Guide. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.

This book is a good guide for more structured drama teaching.
Neelands, J., Goode, T. (2000). Structuring Drama Work: A handbook of available forms in theatre and drama. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

This series of books of art lesson plans, found at Birchells in Bathurst Street, Hobart, are excellent for creative projects over all ages. They range from A to G in primary for all age groups and cover discuss, create, reflect and assess.
Sterrett, D.(2007). Primary Art, Books A to G. Coventry, UK: Prim-Ed Publishing.

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