Rewording the Story - with our main activity for this session all about planning and coming up with stories (the story behind their political figures), I thought I’d give the students a storytelling warmup. They’ve also been very eager to read these days, so they started the warmup by reading for 5ish minutes. After they finished, they had to pick a word from the extract they read, then write it onto the digital screen. Next step, they paired up, and they had 2-3 minutes to write a short story that used as many of the words on the board as possible (preferably not their own).

Planning the Mock Election - We gave them the brief: redesign our classroom to be ready to conduct an election. Their tasks included setting up the poster walls (featuring the three parties and ensuring each wall was appropriately labelled), getting all the videos onto three separate ipads (all of party 1 promo videos on ipad 1, all party 2 on ipad 2, and same for 3), updating any videos if they needed it (finishing animations or fixing audio), adding embellishments to the party poster walls (names of the parties). The students ended up naming the parties: Party 1: Outdoor, Party 2: Fun, Party 3: Nature. These were chosen based on the prominent theme amongst the policies, and all decided upon by the kids themselves.

Creative Cubby Building - we're still working with the cubby idea, but this time Kirsti tried them with some popsticks! The students chose a creative habit that they used most during the session, then a popstick with that colour on it. They wrote their name on it and placed them next to our growing creative cubby. We’re thinking these might make good fence posts, or tiles on a roof of a creative village or suburb that we’ll be building during future reflection activities.

Despite some messiness with students running in lots of directions, this session ended up being a great success, with the students leading their own planning and design of the election hall, thinking about eye-catching colours for their parties, and making some targeted edits to their own videos (or helping other students edit theirs). It was a wonderful display of creative collaboration on all fronts, with students teaming up to transform the classroom and prepare for next week!

It was great to see the students take the initiative during this lesson, with the extra autonomy they had been given, and the wide array of tasks to do. 

We need to shuffle some tables around to manage the queue of voters during the election day.

We need to design new voting slips that suit the three parties the students have developed.

This mock election day will have various students and staff from around the school visiting and voting on the parties. We can gather photos of the event, and count up and announce the votes and winning party.

Quick drawing warm-up based on Mr Squiggle - one student knew him and a couple of others had heard of him (both - young! - teachers in the room had not!). Showed a 30-sec video of Mr Squiggle to demonstrate the concept then each pair got a page of squiggles (two variants) and instructions to turn them into some kind of mining equipment or something you would find on a minesite - fantastical if they wanted! Got some great results and students really engaged. 

Two parts to this today. Firstly, we had answers from two more FIFO workers to the students’ questions, one on video and one via email. We showed the videos of the students asking questions and showed/read the answers. Most students very keen to hear the answers and our FIFO workers did a great job of responding, too. Later in the class we also replayed the video we had last week as many students had been away then and asked to see it. These all helped with the second part of the main activity: creating a poster illustrating what they thought the pros and cons of the FIFO life are. Some students did better than others with this task and Kylie was the only one to really create an attractive poster but it was great to see that they’d all acquired a lot more knowledge about FIFO throughout the past few weeks.

Three of the students volunteered to come outside with me and record a quick thank you video for our FIFO workers and Tom finished off with the rest of the class. We did lose their attention very rapidly then being the final period of the term so no photos of reflection.

Last period of last day of Term 2 - surprisingly we had well over class there. Tom also had to partly cover some wind-up activities for an absent staff member but was in and out, but we also had a relief teacher, Daniel, who’s actually visual arts teacher so was really intrigued to learn about Creative Schools. 

Wrapped up FIFO life now and will move on to natural disasters next term but will discuss more exact plans during school hols.

Pleased we managed to make the FIFO topic really relatable with the real life answers - so will try to keep this going. In general they love any hands on activity and though a couple can get rowdy they are generally happy to do whatever we ask of them.

Will discuss more plans for Term 3 over the break - natural disasters unit. Perhaps get some of my contacts who’ve been involved in these to give some quick answers too.

Work in progress!

Will focus on this next term. Perhaps a quick summary of our FIFO project to be distributed in some way, will discuss further with Tom.

Due to this session being the Mock Election day, we ended up skipping the warmup activity.

The Mock Election (or creative election… it went through a lot of names)! After many weeks of preparations; devising policies, designing posters, playing around with videos and voiceover, we had finally made it to the big day! Kirsti had gotten the students to redesign the layout of the classroom to suit an election hall, with a clear pathway for voters to move through. Students were given roles, from the greeters at the entrance, to the officials ticking off names of voters, and assistants asking voters if they knew how to vote, and lastly the people at the back of the hall with the box for storing votes. Representatives from each party were chosen to advertise their policies and their party just outside the hall as well, with 2-3 students per party. Some of these students also took their videos into the classroom of the other class (the main body of voters in the mock election) to show them the quick promotional videos for each party.

This session was a challenge for them, as they had to stick with their assigned roles, no matter how simple or difficult, and commit to the roleplay of this mock election. They pulled it off wonderfully, with the advertisers out front coming up with little jingles on the day to sing at voters coming through, students with less diverse jobs taking it on fully and having fun with it, and all the students really getting into the votes counting and reviews at the end of the session.

The reflection was a combination of a class discussion about how the Mock Election went (their personal opinion, and group opinion), and a brief creative drawing activity linked with the Creative Cubby Building we’re undergoing. We went with “design the lawn/garden” this time, giving the students small strips of paper for them to write little word clouds on, using words from the day, and giving them space to draw lots of garden-related things on it.

We recruited some students to count the votes, while others took on the ‘scrutineering’ role for one particular party. The winning party was Party 3: Nature Party!

After the votes were counted up we conducted our class discussion, exploring various facets of the mock election, and the last 8 weeks. We discussed why the Nature Party won the election, and how the advertising through posters and videos might have been stronger for it, or weaker for the other parties. We discussed additional avenues we could have marketed our political parties, like social media campaigns, events, and running the advertising for longer periods of time, to get our messages out there.

While most aspects of the session went great, the videos the students had put together were a little lacklustre. This was largely due to minimal time being allocated to video creation and establishing better video-making techniques - we never really had a session to teach them how to make videos, we opted with letting them try to make the videos, then see the result of them through the election results. This is useful information though, as next term we’ll be taking them through more video work, so they’ll need some catchup sessions of filmmaking conventions and basics.

Giving the students a platform to explore politics by actually doing it (through the mock election) proved successful. The questions they asked and the points they raised at the end of the session showed a greater level of understanding of the political process, from a voter and party lens. At the start of this term they barely knew what I policy was, but during the end of class discussion they were happily chatting away about their policies they had developed and how they were marketed using the posters and other media.

End of term 2, we’ll be taking a little break to plan for the next term, and the students’ miniseries ideas.

We’ll be developing a long form plan for term 3, to ensure the students can work on their miniseries’ with better filmmaking knowledge. Likely a little more structured than this recent term, and with more discernible outcomes.

While only one class was taken through the Mock Election, many teachers from other areas (and one small group of student leaders) also cast their votes, and were able to engage with our project. I’m hoping to circulate the news of the winning party throughout the school community, and maybe influence some decision-making on improvements/upgrades to the school.

Intro the new project Dragon Myths of the Indian Ocean.

In this 7-week creative schools project: You will dive into the cultures and ecosystems of the Indian Ocean Rim. You will invent mythical ocean creatures inspired by Asian legends and real marine animals. Then collaborate to write original legends and build shadow box stage sets to bring them to life.

The Indian Ocean Rim Association, or IORA, is a group of countries that are connected by the Indian Ocean. These countries work together like a team to help look after the ocean and support each other.

1.Protects the Ocean

They work to keep the Indian Ocean clean and healthy by stopping pollution and protecting sea animals like turtles, fish, and coral reefs.

2.Helps Countries Work Together

Countries around the Indian Ocean share ideas, trade goods, and help each other in times of need, like after a big storm or tsunami.

3.Supports Fishing and Tourism

IORA helps people who fish for a living and supports safe tourism so more people can enjoy the beautiful ocean without damaging it.

4.Teaches and Shares Knowledge

Scientists, students, and teachers from different countries learn from each other and share ways to protect the ocean and take care of the planet.

Why its important:

•The Indian Ocean is part of our home, especially if we live in places like Australia, Indonesia, or India.

•Taking care of the ocean means we’re protecting animals, weather patterns, food sources, and our future.

•Groups like IORA help us work together to solve big problems — because we can’t do it alone!

Mythical Sea Dragons from Indian Ocean Rim Countries.

Many countries around the Indian Ocean have myths about dragons or powerful serpent creatures. These stories are part of the local culture and often connect with water, weather, or protection. Here are some fascinating dragons and dragon-like creatures from different places!

Wagyl, River Nagas, Grootslang

Choose one of the mythical creatures from the table. Draw what you think it looks like! Write a short story or description about where it lives and what powers it has.

Colour in the Great Wave with the creative colours we used in todays session.

 Had to reschedule next week to Tuesday. They are all researching different creatures, some are quite scary; they had to really think about why they were scary. What are they protecting?

The great wave collaborative colouring may have an interesting take on minecraft.

Looking at marine animals and design there own dragon.

Ink splats, for the warm ups in the creative colours… turn it into a sea dragon.

Research more sea dragons, and crafting and informing there own creatures on scratch boards.

Showcase at parents evening.

Creative Habits

1. You have a number of objects on your table

2. In your groups, you will given 60 seconds to collaborate and build the tallest tower

3. You can only use your left hand (the other must be kept behind your back)

1.   Using only the coloured markers you have been allocated, in your groups, write down as many words or ideas onto the A3 sheet in the numbered box (1 for the first group, 2 for the second etc) regarding the biome you were given - 

2.   You only have 90 seconds

3.   After the 90 second timer, take your markers and rotate clockwise to the next station

4.   You have another 90 seconds to add your group ideas and words to the next sheet of paper 

5.   You can not repeat something that is already written

6. Continue this process until you have completed all stations

7.   You have 10 seconds to rotate between rounds

8.   At the last station, add up how many answers each group came up with based on their marker colour and add this to the table on the board

9. Any repeated words will not be counted

10. Optional prize for the winning group

Reflecting on Creative Habits

1. How did you implement a creative habit today?

2. Provide an example for each habit 

3. Which habit do you most need to practice?

Successes

• The warm up provided a great opportunity for them to put into practice their creative habits without realising. They were then able to identify how they used each habit in their reflection.

• The random grouping was in some instances students who had previously dug their heels in about working with particular students however this time the all collaborated, contributed to discussions, challenged each other and worked really well together

• When adding up the scores, they began to question each other in other groups but also explain discrepancies in answers by expanding on why it wasn’t correct but also in a positive way.

• One student who barely provided input in her group last term was vocal and outspoken in her group today, taking the lead and happily engaging. 

• Their knowledge of biomes, we were able to establish that they had a good understanding even though nothing has been done in class. This gives Fiona somewhere to go now without having to repeat content. 

Challenges

• There are still a couple of much quieter students who may feel out of their comfort zone when in a very strong willed group. We did notice though that they were still listening even though they may not provide much input.

• Too many talking at once is sometimes difficult when we are trying to listen to each group presenting

1. Find your political party from last session

2. Which 3 items of campaign material will your party somehow use in your own campaign?

3. Set up your Party office - chairs/tables

1. Your challenge for each party is to come up with a policy for each of the following:- Education, Community, Healthcare, Childcare, Cost of Living, Housing, Climate, Other

2. You must decide on a way to physically incorporate/use something from each of the three selected flyers. 

3. Expand on your policies 

• How would you implement each one? 

• How would you pay for it?

1. Create your own campaign flyer for your party (can use existing flyers to collage)

Part 4 can roll over to our next session if required

Q and A (allow extra time for this)

1. Write a question on a piece of paper/post it note to something about today’s session that you don’t know the answer to or a question on the board under the Question column

2. Your leave pass today is to answer one of the questions 

3. As you leave, hold up your fingers to show a score for discovering something you didn’t already know

Successes

• They are working with people who force them to bring out opinions

• They don’t think they are learning because there isn’t a book in front of them but we are seeing that they are

• Learning to listen to other opinions

• Learning to delegate (collaboration)

• How quickly everybody formed their groups and got on with their task

• No talking as a class

Challenges

• Group dynamics in a couple of groups are still divided with girls doing most of the work and limited collaboration. 

• What the kids need to work out is how to give jobs to each other

• The boys repeat a lot of the media statements rather than coming up with their own

• Some groups still aren’t listening to guidelines

What is our budget? Where is is coming from? So many interesting conversations from reducing electric cars because they aren’t safe for pedestrians and are not climate friendly to build to taking funding away from private schools to distribute to public schools and free TAFE places. One group wanted more green spaces for communities and an education system with a higher focus on creative learning rather than text books and assessments. How long have we got to do this? Can we have another session? The students are genuinely excited to be in a Creative Schools classroom, even stopping me on the way to class to make sure that we have a session today.

This is the first time I have noticed how mentally developed the girls are … prac teacher

1. You will each be given a plant name - fern, oak, grass, cycad, gingko, pine, moss

2. Find you plant group and choose a table to sit at

3. How can you use the materials on the desk to represent human interaction with the environment?

4. Explain what you have presented

1. Remain in your groups

2. How do you think humans alter individual biomes in their production of food and/or fibre production?

3. Create eight quick drawings to represent one impact per biome - temperate deciduous forest, temperate grassland, coniferous forest, tundra, tropical forest, savannah grassland, mediterranean, desert ? You have 5 minutes

4. How would you order these human impacts? Which biome do you think is most impacted through to which is least - in groups

5. Put your images/drawings in order to represent this

OPTIONAL

1. Combine with another group and incorporate their drawings in order of impact

2. Explain your reasoning

Each group has a challenge

1. Use a post it note throughout the session to provide a specific example of how your group implements each of the creative habits

2. One habit per post it. Refrain from copying examples directly from the poster. 

Successes

• Students are looking through the window before each class trying to work out what we are going to be doing. 

• They get straight into their groups regardless who they are grouped with

• Discussion today was much quieter overall but with equal collaboration from each person

• When given extended time, they worked out that it was better to each draw two images

• Giving a time limit for each component of the activity is resulting in higher participation and more active collaboration within groups

• Great sharing of explanations and reasonings for decisions

• They were surprised that doing something unconventional such as cutting the paper wasn’t against the rules

‘I liked the shock of ‘am I allowed?’...Teacher

Challenges

• We forgot the ‘without words’ when getting into groups

• Students still attempted to only have one or two in their group do all of the drawings

• The amount of knowledge they have about each of the biomes is limited and without depth (superficial) however they are only in their second week of the subject so it also provides Fiona (Teacher) with a starting point for what she needs to cover and a comparison for their knowledge at the end of the term

• A couple students are still averse to working outside of their friendship groups

They are curious each week what we are going to be doing, particularly for the warm up where they are getting to arrange different objects

‘Guys, it’s not about who is doing it, it’s about getting it all done’... student

Even when they worked in larger groups of between 8 and 12, they still did so with really positive collaboration and conversation and checking with others for opinions

PASS THE CLAP - Working as a whole class

1. Get into a large circle

2. One person is going to start by clapping towards the person next to them

3. This person must receive the clap and pass it to the next person

4. The challenge is how well we can work together to pass the clap around the whole circle

5. Shall we time it? What is our goal?

What do we know?

1. You will be given a word. Remember the word (to be placed into smaller groups) - animal, water, plant, rock, place, monument

2. Fold your piece of paper into four

3. In your groups, your challenge is to draw/name as many things that you can that relates to your word - eg: place can be a town, city, destination

4. Put one in each rectangle - 10 minutes

5. We are going to move to a new group in a clockwise direction

6. Fold a new piece of paper. How many new things can you come up with to add to the list started by the previous group (animal group moves to water group and adds to their topic)

7. Continue to rotate until each group has had a turn at each station

Crunch and Sip

Read ‘Our Country, Where History Happened’ by Mark Greenwood and Frane Lessac

Ongoing Reflection

1. In each activity, which creative habit do we need to use?

2. Using your imagination and our activities today, how could/would you like to learn more about Geography and Australia?

Successes

• The new student who has moved into the class was comfortable enough to participate straight away in the warm up even though he came in late

• The students were able to explain to the three students who joined late, how to play ‘Pass the Clap’

• They were able to improve their technique each time and improved their timing

• Reading of the book during Crunch and Sip promoted conversation on Australia and made them realise that they knew more than they thought they did during the Main Activity

• We went way over time because they were all interested in the book even though it was non-fiction

Challenges

• Ability to fully understand the activity - meanings of rocks (mountains, mountain ranges), water (specific bodies of water), monuments/attractions and places (they didn’t initially relate these to locations they may have been on holidays 

• More unsettled during the Main Activity however this may have been because it was something new, there has been a long break in between sessions and it went for quite a long time even with them moving between stations

• Groups were working independently rather than collaboratively

Less focus on collaboration in the Main Activity even though they collaborated well in the warm up. There was some confusion as to where you could find rocks or mountains apart from Uluru (one student drew a picture of a front garden), places (someone put Bunnings and Aldi) and water (there were a couple of fish tank drawings). In general, they were only able to make limited connections between what they knew and what we were asking them. This may be because when we provided an example, it was an overseas example rather than an Australian one. It did however, provide us with a starting point and a further understanding of what they already know and where we can go from here. They (particularly the boys) were interested in the formation of the different landforms around Australia and how old they were.