Amazing Grace

O level 2009 results are out. I am pleased with some of the results of the Sec 4 members from Art Club. Of course, I have my fair share of disappointment. I wonder where they can be heading with their unsatisfactory aggregate scores.

I was worried that some of them might not be going home. What are they going to tell their parents about this experience? A student who is too upset with her results is going to Japan tomorrow for 2 months for a break.

End of the day, I must treasure the time we had during Art Club. The times spent during the trip to Malacca in 2007, my Birthday celebration in Art Room 1, the Thanksgiving meal etc which all these meant a lot to me.

I sincerely hope that they can start a fresh and get on with life. I have already lost a lot of time when I can build strong memories with them when they are still in AI. Thus, I tried not to do the same for my current Sec 4 Express Art Class.

I hope my Sec 4 Express Art Class can feel the same sentiments with me and we should be able to do a lot of great work this year. I am looking forward to it.

Starry, Starry Night!

This is a new module for Sec 2 Art this year and we got the SOW just one week before the launch of the programme. My NIE trainee and I had a hard time understanding the SOW as we felt it was too tough for the students. The SOW should be for the Upper Secondary. We decided to make some changes to it and the end result is encouraging.

Instead of doing Claude Monet’s Haystacks or Water Lilies, I decided to work on Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry, Starry Night as I like the song very much. I even wanted to go New York to look at the painting at The Museum of Modern Art. Thus, my poor students have to do this painting.

I think the learning point of this module besides getting the good artworks from the students; I would like to focus on the impact teachers have on students. I am usually appointed to be a Cooperating teacher (CT) for NIE trainees for Mathematics and I have worked only with 2 Art trainees.

My first Art trainee is Secondary school trained but attached to a primary school because she is majoring in Ceramics. She is doing well now in a new Secondary school with 3 Art teachers under her wings.

I was very happy to know that she is doing well during the Art & Music Conference 2009. I was taking to a group of secondary teachers whom I did not know during the break and somehow our conversation went to their boss whom was staying back in school to cover their duties so that they have the opportunity to attend the Conference.

They were sharing with me how they appreciated her effort and I was indeed curious to know who this lady was. With my further investigation, I discovered that she was my first Art trainee. Then, they suggested to me that I must know her and I informed them that I did as I was her CT. There was a silent. Then, someone commented - so you are the one she is sharing with us in school.

My second Art trainee is a very hardworking lady. She is also doing well as she is offered to pursue her degree in NIE. I miss her quite a bit because whenever I look at the students’ artworks on Starry, Starry Night; I will appreciate the journey we went together that builds up our friendship while doing the module. Occasionally, I will run into her at Yishun and it is delighted to know that the adult students under my care are doing well.

Recently, we have another Art trainee and sad to say, I totally cannot have the same pleasant feeling that I have for my previous 2 trainees. I was her second CT and she was attached to me for 1 period of CE and 2 periods of Art lesson.

During the first week, she was unable to turn up for CE as she was having a meeting with the management. The second week, she did not turn up because she could not locate the classroom and the next 2 weeks, she did not turn up for any CE lesson.

As for Art lesson, she was there because she is not trained in Ceramics and we had to do it in Term 3 thus she needs to observe how I conduct the demonstration in class. After the demonstration, she would seek approval to leave early as she was having some pains here or there. Thus, every week I was waiting to discover what was the ‘highlight’ of that particular week.

The last ‘highlight’ given to me on her last day in school was something that made me speechless. She turned up during recess time to bid farewell in Art room 1 and I was wondering why she was so early for the class. She informed me that she would be late for the lesson because she needed to bid farewell to the people in the school. Just as I expected, she did not turn up for lesson at all.

The encounter with this trainee triggered me to wonder if I will to leave the school end of this year. How many days do I need to bid farewell to my colleagues? A week? Will my reporting officer cover my duties so that I can spend some time to say some words to my colleagues in the school?

My point is to highlight the impact what teachers can have on the students (they can be the trainees or students in school). You have to make a conscious effort to guide them closely and properly so that they will pass down the good practices that you hold dearly and I strongly believe they will appreciate the effort you are putting in now.

A Whole New World

I just came back from an overseas training trip with the shooters from China and I wanted to share my joy on overseas trip.

It brought me back to 2005 when I was given an opportunity to organise an Art Educational tour to Shanghai in January. Everyone was telling me I was not going to make it because the trip was going to take place in March. But I believe I can do it. Thus, it started off with many weeks of planning and I had to forgo my Chinese New Year working.

What left a very deep impression until today was – One morning, I had two children waiting for me outside the staff room. I asked them why they were here so early in the morning waiting for me. I did not remember any one of them forgetting to hand in their artworks.

They were standing outside the staff room because they wanted very much to join the tour but they were unable to afford that few hundreds dollars that they had to pay for the trip. I took down their names and it started another round of hard work to source for fund for the poor children.

Eventually, I managed to get the funding and their first experience on the aircraft was with me not their parents. I felt very honoured and we were our way to a whole new world. (Many years later, I was glad to know that this particular trip marked the beginning of many overseas trips they made in the future).

This exercise refreshes what I went through in NIE. I was standing outside my lecturer’s room for many days hoping that he would accept me to study Art as one of the core subjects.

If my pleading with him was not successful then I will not be where I am today. He has given me an opportunity to learn a new subject and he is my mentor who encouraged me to further my studies to experience a whole new world out there myself.

The thoughts that went through our minds from the point we decided to stand outside some places to plead for help; I suspect should be the same. Gradually, I was so used to be standing outside some places to seek help.

Over the years, the words from an art educator, Michael D. Day, who states that art education, can be “the opening of a world for students to which most of their parents have little access and which can enrich their life experience in meaningful ways” engraved deeply in my heart.

This is my memory verse that shaped my brief teaching statements - I can open a world of learning for my students. A world that cultivate an enthusiasm for trying out new things and can enrich their life experience in meaningful ways.

Well, I was given another opportunity to bring shooters to China in Nov 2008. Again, I had students who need financial assistant to go for this trip. I had many students who were making their first overseas trip with me. This knowledge again brings me great joy when I coached them what to pack, how to react in the aircraft etc.

I supposed they will remember that their first overseas trip was conducted with me and I hope it can mark a new beginning in their lives. This joy help me to know that no work is better suited for me than the dealing with the welfare of little children at heart.

My world is enriched too as I got to know many Olympics’ coaches. Having a chance to spend my days with them; listening to their advices and sleeping in the same room.

Somewhere Out There

I came to AISS in 2007 and I was given a class of 9 Sec 3NT Art students. I was looking forward to meet them as I was not exposed to teaching Upper Secondary Art Students.

Life was good initially and the real test came when they were asked to start drawing. I discovered that they did not have any foundation in sketching and what’s more to ask them about drawing. I started building up their basic sketching and drawing techniques and it was a nightmare.

They could not sit still for more than 40 minutes. Some students would throw tables and chairs in class when they encountered difficulties in sketching. They were quick to blame each other for their shortcomings and mistakes and never realised that this is usually the way they avoid facing the truth about themselves.

I will never expect a mistake-free performance from them each lesson and I have to change my own mindset that they were not slow learners but just quick forgetters. Life was even tougher when they had to do the module on Digital Art.

The support was weak in providing the basic infrastructure for the module and I was frustrated every lesson. Nevertheless, we completed the module with a lot of digital artworks.

Soon, it was end of the year and I had 3 girls promoted to NA stream in 2008. I was devastated because they were the students who were able to create artworks from 3 categories instead of 2 and I had purchased the necessary materials for them to start doing their Art Portfolio during the December holidays.

I was very upset each day. Family and friends were worried about me and they offered their deepest concern for me. My 3 students even came to Art room 1 to cheer me up because they saw how sad I was. That moment, I felt very touched . I encouraged them to take up the challenges and moved on to a better stream so that they could stand a chance to sit for O level examinations.

2008 came silently and maybe I did not conceal my sadness well that triggered one of the Sec 4NT students to ask me a cutting question during lesson. He asked, “Ms. Chia, you are feeling very unfair to have to teach us, right? Because we are not as hardworking as the 3 girls and we always hand in our artworks late.” I was very sorry to make them feel this way and I think this was the significant moment where I got out of my grieving period.

Each student is paying the same amount of school fee so what right do I have to take a mental ruler to measure them. I should not neglect them further instead I made a personal commitment to God. Even if one student turns up for Art lesson, I will teach the person so that I can give her/him the value-added that I always want to provide. This incident has given me an opportunity to adapt to changes and experienced a new level of growth.

We spent most of our time in Semester 1 doing Paper 1 Art Portfolio. The practice of giving SRP on a regular basis was nothing new. My part-time job was to catch them for SRP lessons after school and true enough even I have only 1 student that afternoon for SRP, I stayed back to support her/him. However, students ran away from it by not even come to school at all.

A Mega-best-selling author, Stephen King, once asserted that, 'Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.' I realised that many of my students did not seem to understand this.

Unconsciously, the Art room 1 has been transformed into a therapeutic art room after school. My students would always bring their schoolmates or classmates to the Art room and many friendships were rekindled and strengthen in the room. I feel very privilege to witness all those moments and develop friendships with many of them. Sometimes, I wonder if I ever got involved in any ‘gang fight’, I will be a champion with their help. Thus, my actual work starts only after 2.10p.m. and I always have so much to do each afternoon.

Soon, this was the last weekend we have to complete our Paper 2 Art Task. Surprisingly, everyone turned up on this Saturday to do their artworks. Finally, I got a complete class working together on Saturday when I could not even have them during a normal school day. What a joke!!!! We were unable to complete by 12 noon in school and a student has kindly loaned out her house for us to complete our artworks.

They worked very hard and food was provided by the student’s family. That was a most beautiful afternoon. By the time, we completed every Art Task and cleaned up the place was nearly 10p.m. We made our way home happily and I slept in the train. When I was awake, there was a message from that student.

She wrote in her message – “My parents are very happy. I thought it was a dream. I’m so happy today. It is so fun and today is my last day spending time together with them. I am going to miss them. What a happy memories I had with the guys. Thank you for this time.” It was a dream to me too. I think this will be an experience we will never forget even after many years. It was our shared memories.

30 September 2008 – the examination day came and my students did their best. After the examination, I wanted to pack up the Art room and make my way home. But they were not leaving the room……..they told me this will be their last time to stay longer to talk to me. They told me I was going to miss them. Indeed, I spent my Children Day at home in tears. I really very tired and I just want to cry my heart out.

Someone once mentioned this statement to me, “The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. And even more beautiful it will be, to know that you are the reason behind it”. I am grateful to my first batch of NT students for allowing me to feel this way.

Thus, my happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family all over the world.

No matter where you are, how weary you are experiencing, let us work hard in whatever we are doing now and be stronger so that we can overcome any adversity.

The radio was airing this song at that moment. It was ‘Somewhere Out There’ addicted to every child to have a Happy Children’s Day. I hope to leave this song for you and when you are tired, always remember somewhere out there; someone will always have her best wishes for you.