Week 6- The Role of Assessment in Art Education

What is the role/ importance of assessment in art education? What methods of assessment have you used?

Art assessment obviously does not work the same way as most classroom subjects. In an institution that is mostly based on standardized test and fill in the blank answers, art has very different assessment and measurement. Obviously, it differs from grade to grade, with lower grades focused mostly on participation and following directions, classroom behavior and the use material expectations. Here is an example of an assessment I used for a comic book assignment:

 This is a very good example of student evaluation that I found on another art teacher's blog: Elementary art assessment

I like it because it shows her examples of project, while simultaneously demonstrating expectations. I also feel that this site author gives very good reasons why art assessment  is not only a good idea, it's necessary!

The Importance of Art Assesment

Week 5- Lesson Planning and the Impact of Subject Knowledge

What are some resources you can turn to for support in lesson planning ideas? People, places, websites...

One of the hardest things is to create a lesson plan that is "enthralling" for most students. I know I have a great lesson plan when everyone has their eyes on me, and there are "ooos", and "ahhhs"! Knowing the subject well plays a large roll in making the lesson interesting to students. For example, the lesson I am currently teaching revolves around a Japanese painting and printing style called Ukiyo-e. The lesson was created with the intent to expose students to Japan, and styles of artwork that they might not see often. I took a class called Asian Art and Culture where I learned about many artistic periods in Japan. I think this knowledge helped me create an interesting lesson plan because I was interested in the subject. I acknowledge that knowing the content helps you teach it well, but the source of the selection for content, often comes from the teachers interests. Being excited and interested in the content is a positive step towards getting students excited and motivated about the assignment. Excitement is contagious! This is why I feel it is important to pick projects that I am personally excited about. I can invest my time into something new that I am passionate about, and the students will benefit from something that they might not have seen or experienced in the art classroom before.

Some really good sources that I have used besides my classes are:
http://www.incredibleart.org This site has complete lesson plans that include national standards. It is also divided by medium and grade level, making it very easy to navigate.

Believe it or not the image sharing website Pinterest has also been extremely useful. It is mostly examples of student work, however, there are also some tutorials and collections of projects from art teachers that are viewable for browsing.

We are learning about Ukiyo-e style art from Japan, and also about origami. Today I presented some facts about Japan, and also showed some examples of art work by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. An example of his work can be seen here:

Students are using pencil to draw their own Ukiyo-e style scene. Ukiyo-e translates into "pictures of the floating world". These scenes usually depicted beautiful moments of impermanence. The students are using black india ink to go over thier pencil lines, and then watercolors to paint the scenes. Eventually we will create origami out of the paper. We will be folding the paper into samurai hats. They will look like this:

Week 4- Classroom Management and Da Rulz

There are many rules that I think need to be posted in the classroom and enforced by the teacher to insure that the classroom is a positive learning environment. I think the art room rules that I plan to use are also essential rules to ensure a positive classroom, and learning environment. Mine are as followed:

1.) Stay in your seat (or carpet spot) unless you have permission to move
*WHY? One reason is that if you are out of your seat and accidentally bump someone's art work, or project you might disrupt it or damage it!

2.) Raise your hand if you have a relative comment, or question
*WHY? If everyone is talking, the teacher can not explain the project, or answer questions. It takes art time away from others!

3.) Be respectful, and kind
*WHY? We have to be respectful of teachers, other students, the art materials, and our school! If a teacher asks you to do something, we expect you to do it. Clean up after yourself, and other students too! Even if it is not your mess, help the community by cleaning messes, if you can. Kindness is a basic human experience, which we should do our best to all help others experience. Especially in my classroom.

4.) Be a problem solver- "Ask 3 before you ask me!"
*WHY? There are around 30 of you (the students) and only one of me! So, if you have a question, try asking a few friends at your table. If it is an emergency get my attention immidiately!

I will definitely post these and go over them in my future classroom. I think that one of the best things when a class has a hard day in art, is to go over the rules again the next time they come to my class. This way, the rules are reinforced multiple times, and expectations are very clear.

Obviously, the extent to which I push or enforce rules is different for each student. This is why it is important to get to know your students. If they have something happening at home, they are sick, or you know they are having a bad day for whatever reason, I think leniency is OK. Obviously, being to laxidasical is never good, but there are times when treating every student the same is detrimental. I think most students would agree, and think this is fair.

Week 3- "Castle on a Cloud"

Last Friday I got to introduce a new lesson that revolves around castles! It reminded me of this wonderful musical number: 

First I made a power point to introduce some of the third graders to the historical elements of castles. I even showed some photos of castles I have traveled to. 

Above is a picture of the Tower of London, and the next is a funny picture of my sister and I at Alnwick Castle. Parts of Harry Potter was filmed at Alnwick Castle! That really got my student's attention.
This is the demo I showed to the class:

Basically, after learning about all the different exterior parts of the castle through a 8-14 minuet power point, I asked students to draw their own castle (with a few fictional components, like dragons) utilizing what we learned about through the power point. 

How do you approach planning and teaching to diverse learners? What accommodations have you made for diverse learners?

Diversity in the art classroom, from my experience, centers around the involvement of a student in their project and their ability to complete the project. The involvement of a student in the project basically boils down to whether or not they enjoy the project. If a student likes art class, usually, they will do their best to complete the assignment. In this case, most students also enjoy the time they spend in the art room. On the opposite end of the spectrum there are students that do not like, or enjoy the process of art making. For whatever reason  (sometimes it is lack of support at home, but not always), some students just do not want to participate in art making. Maybe the student is not a very visual or tactile learner, and they do not enjoy aspects of certain projects. To accommodate for these students usually I try to find out what interests them outside of school. If they can incorporate something they love into the assignment, they will usually get very excited about whatever the project is. For example, one student last week was having difficulty completing the writing requirement of a project. My co-operating teacher required that students write a half page about a clay piece they were going to create. The assignment was called "Story Pots". The student was struggling with spelling and thinking of a creative story. The student was very hesitant to begin, and clearly having a negative experience. After discussing this with the student, I had them dictate to me what they wanted their story to be for the assignment. We discuss their interests and they decided to write about soccer. Because the assignment was less based on writing skills, and more an exercise in story development and creativity, I felt comfortable helping the student with this aspect of the assignment.

There are also diverse learners who have a hard time focusing in all classes, especially art because there are times when we ask students to be out of their seats to get supplies and different materials during work time. These learners, especially very verbal tactile learners, have a hard time following directions and completing tasks. There are many management methods that I have seen other teachers use, and adopted to help these students. For example, I find that giving a student a goal for the day has helped in many cases. I have said "Today I would like you to work on staying in your seat." When I observe them out of their seat, one reminder usually corrects the student's behavior. Another method I have observed is the sticky note method. I will give the student a sticky note, and ask them to tally every time I have to remind them of the classroom expectations. I feel that accommodating for diverse learners means devising a simple plan that will work for them in my classroom.