Year 9 Hundertwasser: Watercolour experimentations

To begin the learning of how to use watercolour paints the students completed a sample image in their sketchbooks. The instructions were to replicate an area of the Hundertwasser paintings and colour match them with watercolour. The instruction to match the colours from the original work was not stressed enough and was lost to some pupils. I introduced testing colours in swatches on the page, this was demonstrated by the more able students in the classroom. This skill of watercolour was then applied to the 3D experimentation piece. A challenge of this task was using an appropriate amount of water while producing a strong colour similar to Hundertwasser’s work.

Use of colour swatches neatly presented under the work. Clear testing of colour and adjustments before adding into sample square.

 

 

 

 

Matching colours from the Hundertwasser paintings. For future lessons students could include the actual image they are working from to show what the work is in their sketchbooks.

 

 

 

 

Lovely use of watercolour, clear understanding of how to manage the material. Clear lines in drawing helped to achieve a concise sample image.

 

 

 

 

Well drawn design from inspiration. Demonstration of concentration in neat watercolour painting. Achieved a bright colour with the watercolours which is appropriate for the subject matter.

Personal Journey of my PGCE

Journey of a teacher: The brief was to produce a piece of work that represents my personal journey in becoming a secondary teacher. This gave a lot of freedom as there was no restrictions or guidance in the media, size or format.

I displayed my journey as a teacher through a concertina book following the key stage of my PGCE in frames. This idea stems from a gallery visit sectioning what I anticipate as the main parts of my progression over the coming year. I used a fine liner to accentuate the detail and small parts of pencil crayon to colour highlights in each frame.

Why are so many of our teachers and schools so successful? by John Hattie

Presented through spoken word at TEDxNorrköping

We remember our teachers. Those teachers that have stuck in our minds are remembered for their passion in teaching or maybe for seeing something in you that you did not see yourself. Teaching as a profession that holds expectations not seen in many careers, that teachers should be outstanding from year one.

What are the influences on achievement in schools?

This data has been collected from 25,000,000 students. It shows the ‘structure of schools or classes’ does not have an impact on achievement. This is a common misconception as most would assume things such as summer schools, ability grouping, and school calendars have an positive influence on student achievement. ‘Attributes of students’ for example; personality, sleep, diet, gender, diversity of students, parental employment also has no effect on achievement. An additional element is ‘Technology’. The use of computers in science, maths, in small groups or web-based learning is not proven to increase the achievement of students. Therefore it is shown, that these ‘Politics of distraction’ in the forms of; home life, class size, learning styles, programs, repeating classes are attributes we associate with achievement, they in-fact display no impact.

Some of the elements that have positive influence on achievement are as follows. Teachers working together as a collective expertise, they must understand what impact teachers have on the students. Staff must understand what the students already know in order to build to an explicit success criteria. This means showing the students what success looks like when they begin, giving them a clear aim. Mistakes and errors must be seen as opportunities to learn. Difficulty is important, following ‘the Goldilocks principals of challenge’ will positively influence achievement.

As a teacher you must constantly ask what impact you are giving.