As a supply teacher I have built many strong relationships with teachers and other staff members. I was presented with the opportunity to teach a character design lesson for an animation class due to my visual arts background. Within this lesson, I included; a tailored colour theory section, to promote engagement I had a Buzzfeed quiz for an intro to palette, and various slides for “character analysis” discussions. I used several nostalgic characters for the analyses which led us through the stages of character design, including; silhouette, palette, and exaggeration. These were used to exercise and test our new knowledge on character shape, colour schemes, and expression. My powerpoint presentation was colourful, comical, informative, and engaging which in the end, seemed to be a hit. The students from this class still to this day stop me in the halls to ask me for advice on their artworks and animation projects.
As a supply teacher, I treat the classes as if they were my own and often return to the same classes upon request. I always come to my classes with back-up ideas for how students can apply their new knowledge if they finish the assigned workload. I had Grade 11 students learning about street art via Google Arts and Culture resources online. For those who finished, I assigned them the sketchbook task to write their name or draw an image in street art style. By giving them options, this promoted student choice which enhances student success and gave them the opportunity to engage knowledge with a hands-on task. Additionally, it optimized the class time as it was used productively.
I spent three days consecutively substituting for a Visual Arts teacher and was tasked to introduce a new assignment. The students were to create 5 Artist Trading Cards with a ongoing theme but I quickly realized that these Grade 9’s didn’t know what a theme was. In addition, the students brought to my attention that they didn’t or couldn’t access their Brightspace classroom to see the assignment criteria that was posted. Despite thoroughly and clearly explaining the assignment the day before, the next day I wrote on the board the specific criteria for their artworks so they could easily reference if they were on the right track. Additionally, I prepared a class mind-mapping activity for us to popcorn out some ideas for themes. This way we could have a better understanding of what a theme is and some themes they may use for their ATC’s. This seemed to help the students branch out from the examples I provided the first day introducing the assignment.
Overall, my supply teaching experience has been filled with special moments. I have been in Math and Science classes where I have had to work backwards to help a student solve a problem that even I didn’t know the answer too at first; showing them new ways to find the answers/resources and not to give up at the first sign of a challenge. I have taught art students linoleum printing, painting techniques, and encouraged them to push their ideas further. I have gotten the opportunity to witness and be a part of students’ creative process as they ask me for critiques, feedback, and advice. Supply teaching has not only allowed me to share my knowledge and expertise but it has helped me become a more well-rounded educator. It has challenged me to come up with spur of the moment and creative solutions, even in areas outside of my expertise. All in all, my goal as an educator is to inspire and encourage students and these moments show me I have achieved just so, despite being in their journeys for such a short time.