Amy Atkinson
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YEW CHUNG INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL QINGDAO

YEW CHUNG INTERNATIONAL Qingdao, ShanDong Province, China August 2015 – June 2017​YCIS Qingdao gave me a unique opportunity - as I was continuing in my second year of my Masters of Education in Leadership through USF/EARCOS, YCIS Qingdao presented me with opportunities for research and development that greatly enhanced my leadership and organizational skills. Professionally, I had a dual role as Art Teacher for Secondary school, Subject Coordinator responsible for the planning and implementation of Arts curriculum, providing support for a Primary Contract Art Teacher (1-12) as well as serving as Head of the Arts and Humanities Department.

CLICK FOR STUDENT ART PORTFOLIO

Other Involvements included:
  • Member of Leadership Team
  • Representative for Group 6 Visual Arts - IB DP Accreditation
  • Member of CIS Accreditation Team - Art Specialist
  • Grade 10 Year Advisor
  • Secondary Student Council Teacher Advisor
  • Coach - Secondary Girls Basketball
YCIS Qingdao follows the English curriculum which means IGCSE submissions for Year 10 were followed by IB submissions for Year 12. During my tenure, I assisted with the initial accreditation, planning and set up of facilities for the IB course and saw the very first IB cohort begin their journey. 
IMAGE COLLAGE OF HIGHLIGHTS

STUDENT ART PORTFOLIO

ELEMENTARY
At YCIS Qingdao, during my first year, I had the opportunity to teach Primary art.  Primary classes were much larger than my Secondary classes and I only saw students 1 or 2 times a week - however, we were able to explore so many wonderful new ideas.  The creativity and energy of my students inspired and uplifted me.

MIDDLE SCHOOL
For Middle School Art, we focused an understanding of the Principles of Design through various activities.  I also encouraged students to begin the practice of sketching and idea development.

At YCIS, Lower Secondary Art is a scheduled class - which means all student take Art.  It is scheduled alternatively with music and segmented into terms - with one term switching with Woodworking and Design Skills.  Since in class art making time was limited,  for LS Art, I tried to combine both technical skills with creative explorations - looking at our surroundings in different ways - from going outside to sketch and photograph what we see, using paper cuts to pay with composition, adding pattern, colour and distortion techniques to shake up our idea what is and what can be art.
HS Art, starting at Year 9 is when students make their own course selections with a view to moving up through the standardized assessment processes of IGCSE in Year 10 and IB for 11 and 12.   In order to support the students in both of those programs, the program was designed to develop the student's technical skills, compositional development and creative idea development.
IGCSE
For the IGCSE submission, the expectation is that the students complete two parts - Coursework and Final Exam during Year 11.
For Coursework, students are expected to submit 4 Preparation Boards and 1 Final Work.   In order to maximize our submissions, we used both sides of our Preparation Boards.  Students could choose their own topic and were expected to show the process of developing their idea and final composition.
Topics for the exam component are released in January, giving the students less than 2 months to prepare (while also doing their coursework).  Exam requires 2 Preparation Boards (to be done ahead of time) and 1 Final Work (completed during an 8 hour exam).
At YCIS, we submitted work in drawing and painting and the students were 100% successful.  All passed!
Coursework Submission: LIFE AND DEATH, Final Work: Pencil and Watercolor


Coursework Submission: NATURAL FORMS, Final Work: Oil Paint


Coursework Submission: THE CYCLE OF LIFE, Final Work: Oil Paint


Coursework Submission: ORGANIC PATTERNS, Final Work: Mixed Media:Acrylic Paint, Paper Cut, Craft


Exam Submission: STREET SELLER, Final Work: Oil Paint


Exam Submission: MOONLIGHT SHADOWS, Final Work: Acrylic Paint


Exam Submission: STRIPES, Final Work: Paper Cut, Watercolour


Exam Submission: FLOWERS IN A GARDEN OR PUBLIC PLACE, Final Work: Oil Paint


LEARNING JOURNEYS
One big highlight of teaching in International schools, is that our students are truly international. All students have passports and are comfortable and confident travelers. YCIS Qingdao is located in Huangdao, which is a small developing satellite suburb of Qingdao proper - which means, for an Art class, galleries to visit are few and far between.  Lucky for us, YCIS has schools in many attractive cities around China, and so during my stay, I was able to organize and accompany my senior students (Year 10/11) on artistic learning journeys to Shanghai and Hong Kong and a special trip to Taian with my Grade 10 Form.
​For all the trips, preparation fell largely on my shoulders.  I had translation help from our school support department when working with the travel agent, but sourcing hotels, activities, art galleries, art interviews and all the other fun things (including budgeting!) was up to me.  Luckily, I am good at organizing and a seasoned traveller myself - so all trips were smooth and enjoyable.
One big highlight of teaching in International schools, is that our students are truly international. All students have passports and are comfortable and confident travelers. YCIS Qingdao is located in Huangdao, which is a small developing satellite suburb of Qingdao proper - which means, for an Art class, galleries to visit are few and far between.  Lucky for us, YCIS has schools in many attractive cities around China, and so during my stay, I was able to organize and accompany my senior students (Year 10/11) on artistic learning journeys to Shanghai and Hong Kong and a special trip to Taian with my Grade 10 Form.
For all the trips, preparation fell largely on my shoulders.  I had translation help from our school support department when working with the travel agent, but sourcing hotels, activities, art galleries, art interviews and all the other fun things (including budgeting!) was up to me.  Luckily, I am good at organizing and a seasoned traveller myself - so all trips were smooth and enjoyable.

Shanghai, April 2016
  • YCIS IB Art Show, Gubei Campus
  • YuYuan Garden
  • TianZiFang Area (Local Art Galleries)
  • The Bund
  • The Power Station Art Gallery

Shenzhen/Hong Kong, April 2017
  • Shenzhen Lohu - Times Square
  • Dafen Art Village
  • Art Basel, Hong Kong
  • Shenzhen International School, IB Art Show
  • Hong Kong Peak
  • Hong Kong Gallery Tour (Hollywood Road)
Taian, May 2016
  • Fantawild Amusement Park
  • Taian Cultural Show
  • Following in the footsteps of the Emperor: Climbing Taishan
  • Taian Night Market
  • Dai Temple




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  • ME
    • CV
  • RESEARCH
  • TEACHER
  • ARTIST
  • IBDPVA WITH MISS A
  • CREATIV-TEA