My name is Clare and I'm a Creative Arts Teacher and Technology Coordinator from Sydney, Australia. My two passions are Creative Arts and Technology, and I am very blessed to be able to combine these two passions in my role at my school.
I have always loved the Arts ever since I was a child myself. I loved that when on Stage, I could share my talents and build my confidence. I truly felt alive and special when I was performing a Drama play or Dancing. Drama is my true love. I love to let my light shine for others. I also love to express myself creatively through painting and thoroughly enjoy making displays or props for school productions! I have always loved music and always joined the school choir, but never formally had music training. I enjoy writing poems and lyrics to songs. I learnt to play the drums from a friend in High School and I taught myself to play the Bass guitar while at university and loved that I found a new way I found I could express my creativity through music. Since becoming a Creative Arts teacher, I have gone to some amazing music courses to build my skills and taught myself how to play basic piano, ukulele and guitar. From this inspiration I have created a School Rock Band where I got to dust off my Bass guitar and teach some amazing kids how to play rock music in a band. Band and Choir practices are the highlight of my week. 😁
I started my Google for Education journey in 2019 when I completed my Level 1 and Level 2 Google Certified Educator Courses. In my role as IT Coordinator at my school I found I was always problem solving for teachers and helping them develop lesson ideas to use Google Workspace effectively in their lessons to help build students' skills. I enjoy the challenge of solving issues with creative and innovative solutions using technology. All these skills were very much tested and flourished during Home learning in 2020 and 2021. I created various Google Sites for our parents, teachers and community to share resources, share troubleshooting tips and videos and keep us connected as a community.
This experience led me to apply for the Google Certified Innovator Course in September 2021. I was so thrilled to be one of only 4 Australians to get in. My biggest struggle during Home-learning was that I couldn't teach Creative Arts to my students. One of my Year 6 students told me, Creative Arts is her "Happy Place" and she missed the chance to still take part in my lessons, share her skills and talents and express her creativity during lockdown. That was my inspiration for this site- my Google Innovator #VIA21 Project.
"How might we allow students who value Creative Arts, to practice, express and share their talents, skills and creativity?"
My initial idea was to create an interactive platform for students to take part in, create and share their talents. The issue was finding a suitable platform to create this on. During my Innovator course I sought advice, researched and continued changing my ideas. After the course I was assigned an amazing Google Mentor who helped me see the value in what I was creating and how much fellow Creative Arts teachers would also want to use this. So I decided to set up activities for Drama, Music and Dance, just as I teach them and have an interactive section for students that they can complete if they are Home Learning, as well as a resource place for Teachers. I love to create resources and have used this opportunity to create and share what I love with the wider teaching community. I hope you enjoy my site and find it useful whenever you need to go to your, "Happy Place". 😄
Clare x
If you have any questions, contact at:
clarewillemse@gmail.com
Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store here:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Creative-Happy-Place
