copy-cat delight

I do so enjoy when someone else finds inspiration from the things I blog about. (actually - I'm absolutely thrilled. little old me - inspiring peoples on the other side of the world - who'd a thought?!?!?!!!)

remember a couple of posts ago I wrote about my op art lesson while on prac in a primary school??

well - the lovely April over at Money Pit Love (all the way over in Canada) has created her very own piece of nefotlak. op art - and I couldn't be happier....

Money Pit Love

thank you April - you made this wee Aussie girl a little chuffed today!!

so.....on another topic.....does anyone need some rain?? I've had enough of what we have here!! thank you.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

op art lesson

I'm back!!!
did you miss me?!?!?!
I hope that there haven't been any disasters while I've been gone?!?!

I had my last tutorial of the year at Uni today - and my last assignment went in on the weekend.
yayay - I'm finally done for the year. (and I'm just a little relieved about that I must say!!)

lots to catch up on - lots to tell - but let's get back to the art lesson I talked about in my last post - on Op Art!

here's my attempt at some Op Art -(I made this this evening to go through the steps!).....

the actual lesson went really really well. the kids were very focused, and loved all the examples I showed them of Bridget Riley's work. (in my researching - I found out that our own National Gallery here in Canberra holds 14 of Bridget's works. I'll have to pop in over the holidays to have a wee look me thinks!)

I took along a tape measure in class and explained that my little A4 copies were tiny in comparison to most of the works in real life. They ooo-ed and aaaah-ed about that - especially when the little versions played with their eyes and heads on the small scale!!

anyhoo - here's how I led them through the practical side of the intro to Op Art lesson. (the 2 lessons - for 2 separate classes - were for 1 hour each including a talk about Bridget's work and the movement of Op Art / the classes were both combined Year 5/6)

I roughly modelled the following on the white board -

step 1.
take your A5 card - write your name on one side - on the other rule a rough 1cm border in lead pencil all the way around the edge of the card. (this helped so that they wouldn't draw on the tables when the textas/markers were used later).....

step 2.
with the lead pencil - draw concentric circles out from the middle to the border lines. (I explained that they did not have to start exactly in the middle - they could start to one side - and they didn't have to be perfect).....

step 3.
with a ruler and a lead pencil - draw a vertical line through the centre circle.....

step 4.
add more vertical lines across the whole image - varying the thickness. ie make some closer together and some wider apart.....

step 5.
grab a black felt tip pen and start colouring in - carefully. start in the middle....then work your way up and down - then outwards. (white out/liquid paper works well to fix up any mistakes). biggest tip - take your time!!
(from here on in the actual lesson - I let the students run with it - and I circulated to help out here and there - lots and lots of circulating!!!).....

and here's my final pic before I used an eraser to gently rub out the pencil marks.....

if you squint your eyes and look at the pic - you should be able to see movement - ie - waves!! (Bridget Riley is far more clever than I - you don't need to squint at her pics!!! - she's very clever - her lines are meticulous - go back to this post to see again).

some more pics tonight of mine.....

and finally - here's some of the student's work from when I was on prac.....

this was a super fun lesson - I had fun - and the kids loved it. sad I couldn't expand on the lesson and get them to reflect more on what they had achieved and then look at making more Op Art - exploring it all a little more. sadly there was no time to fit such a lesson in while I was on prac. (just wait till I get my own classroom!!!!)

the entire prac was absolutely brilliant. my mentor teacher already talked to the principal about me!!! they want me back when I have my degree! (even if it's just relief work to start with) nice.

one more year........one more year......one more year.......

so - after having such a long break from house business and crafting - I'm raring to get back into it!!!
the in-laws arrive on Thursday for a wee 5 day visit - but other than that I'll be busy as a mad woman around this place! (are mad women busy????? maybe should have stuck with 'bumble bee' !!)

hope I still have some followers?!?! for those that are still visiting - thank you. I promise to be a little betterer with posting - at least until Christmas!! (insert huge cheeky smiley face right here!)

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

just an update

all is well in house-o-nefotlak - just thought I'd pop in for an overdue update.

teaching prac is going brilliantly - loving the school, my mentor teacher and the kids.  actually the whole school is pretty wonderful - very very lucky with this placement.

this coming week will be my last - and I'll be teaching almost full days all week. lots of planning to do - but as it's loads of flow on from last week - I'm sure all will go well.

I get to finally do some art lessons tomorrow (yay!) - and I'll be teaching 2 classes back to back with the same lesson plan.
year 5/6 are looking at energy this term - so I've planned to do a lesson on the 'Op Art' movement - specifically on the work of Bridget Riley - exploring the use of line to show movement.

here's a couple of Bridget's amazing works from the 60's..... beware - they can make your eyes hurt!!!.....

'Movement in Squares' - 1961 - Bridget Riley

'Intake' - 1964 - Bridget Riley

'Blaze 1' - 1962 - Bridget Riley

in class - we'll look at these and other examples of Bridget's work - discuss using lines to show movement and 3 dimensional shapes on 2D paper - and I'll attempt to work them through making their own Op Art pieces to display in the classroom.

when it's done - I'll be sure to take some photos of the completed display to share the fun.

in other news - my heart goes out to those Aussie families today that lost their soldier husbands/fathers/sons/brothers yesterday in Afghanistan. absolutely heart breaking. let's get all our troops home safely and soon please AUS government. our boys are doing an amazing job - but this war (which is not ours) has gone on far too long.

*sad*

have a safe week everyone.
cheryl xox.

lesson planning - electricity

yes - sadly I'm spending my sunny weekend on lesson planning for the week ahead.
my university liason officer is coming out to observe me first thing Monday morning - so I want to make sure things are all organised. eeek!

the classroom I'm currently in has a smartboard (yay!) - so finding great electronic resources to share with the class has become a big priority. (I wish we had such things back when I went to school - I would have been much more engaged with the lessons!)
the class is also looking at electricity this term - so hands-on experiments are also on the plan.

whenever I'm on prac - my own kids want to be involved with what I'm currently teaching at school - especially when they spy a great interactive website that I find for the lessons. (who'd a thought - learning can be fun!!! ha!!)
so - I thought I'd share a couple of good finds here for anyone interested......

http://energyquest.ca.gov/index.html

http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/changing_circuits.shtml

http://www.hyperstaffs.info/work/physics/child/index.html

http://www.culverco.com/sse/

http://yarrileess.eq.edu.au/home/rneis3/itselectrifying.html

off to finish things up - I want to have a swim - the girls just yelled out that the pool has hit 30 degrees c!

YES - things are finally heating up.

cheryl xox.

the going is good!

it's been 2 days down of this 15 day prac - and all is well!
great mentor teacher - wonderful kids (year 5/6) - really lovely school (just 30 minutes out of Canberra in a local country town) - the going is exceptionally good.
I could use more sleep - my brain is racing with lesson ideas - luckily we've planned for very quiet weekends to have loads of downtime ahead.
and my gorgeous triple j and miss molly currently lie beside me on the mat on the floor in our office this evening as I think me up some lesson plans.........

LOVE!!

I hope this post finds you all well and happy this fine evening.

hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

i love to teach............

and i know deep deep down that that's why i am putting myself through all this angst.......but....but......
i.....just....want.....to.....get......this......flippin degree......
one assignment down - just two to go (for the semester).........
(and can i just say - a.p.a. referencing - just kill me now.)

i love to teach
rinse
lather
repeat
i love to teach
rinse
lather
repeat
i love to teach

send me some good focusing vibes please peeps - i just gotta get through this next two weeks......
hugz from me.
mrs c. xox 

i'm alive and all is well!!

prac was amazing - and - i survived!! year 3/4 is not really so bad after all!!
thanks for the lovely well wishing comments from those that stopped by.
apart from the 'íncident'- it all went really well.
i have a glowing report - and now i wait until later in the year for my next prac placement.
so now - i have some assignments to complete to finish off the semester - and in true mrs c. style - i'm procrastinating by moving around the furniture in the loungeroom!!!
(hey - i couldn't do anything creative around the house for 3 weeks - so i just needed this little break! hee)
here's some pics - i'm loving the new layout - heaps more room. (still hating the blue carpet - and still want some other changes - but don't we all???)

 

you can see here how it looked before.
i've also been making some changes to that lamp on the left (no-sew changes) - but i'm not completely happy yet - i'll post more on that once the assignments are done and i have some time.
i do love me my King Furniture Delta Lounge though - it's so easy to reconfigure - which is perfect for peeps like me who like to change things around - often!! some days i'd love it to be in white fabric (slip covers) - but the leather is so easy with kids. thinking of making some slip covers for a change though....hmmmmmmmm.
it's now back to the books/study-time for me.
hope all is well in your world.
hugz,
mrs c. xox

talk about a rough day at the office............

well......it wasn't even an office........it was a whole school.......and my class of kids were the target..........
talk about a doozy prac placement!!! (and i'm not even on the payroll......pfffft!)
so......i'm essentially a 3rd year primary education student - currently on a 3 week prac block within a local primary school.
i've been assigned to a 3/4 composite class of really great kids - however some - let's say - do have some interesting behavioural issues.
today was my 7th day on prac - and things really did not go well.
today was the day that the kid (9 years old) with the most challenging behaviour lost the plot.......completely.
kids got things thrown at them and pushed - i got hit (while trying to protect some of the other kids) - i was threatened with a shovel (!?! - i kid you not) - the library got trashed around us while we were there - our class got placed into lock-down for all our protection - and for 5 minutes (that seemed like an eternity) - i couldn't find one of our class members that has mild autism and who was terrified by the events that were happening all around us.
and - to make it all the worse - the usual class teacher (my mentor - and the one that knows all these kids so well) - was absent from the school for 4 hours due to other teaching committments.
we made it through in tact - other more experienced teachers got the child in question calmed down and picked up (ie - taken home from the school) - and everyone else managed to leave the school today in one piece.
but then - once packed up - and back in the staff room - someone looked at me with 'that look' - and asked if i was ok..........
and i burst into tears.
*sad*
i came home - and headed straight to my neighbour (a very experienced teacher of special needs kids) - and upon seeing my face and hearing my story - she made me a nice strong gin and tonic, and let me cry it out on her shoulder.
needless to say - i love my neighbour to bits. xox
my mentor teacher got back to the school late - and immediately phoned me.
her first words - "mrs c. - it's mandy - please do come back tomorrow!!!!!".

i'm good - and i still have my passion in tact to follow my teaching dream.
it's just been a very rough day - and i'm sure there will be many more like this one.
this troubled child has had a very very rough start to life - and is incredibly misunderstood. i and mandy both saw the behaviours escalating earlier in the day - but our calls for help from powers above were spoken to deaf ears - and the result was some pretty wild and somewhat scary behaviour.
*sigh* - some people just don't really understand what makes some kids tick.
i hope that mandy and i can calm this all down so that my remaining 8 days are as good as my first 6.
fingers crossed for me please peeps.
hugz from me.
mrs c. xox