Practical Teaching Tip: Formative Assessment A-B-C Exit Slip

If you are like me and teach at a public school, I am sure you have felt the push to include more reading, writing, math and science into our art classrooms. A couple weeks ago we had a meeting with teachers from different content areas and the focus was on different types of formative assessments. I found this one interesting and decided to share it with all of you!

A-B-C Activity (not a real official name, but oh well)

How it works.... 

I am going to do a lesson on George Segal and my students are going to create "tape people". I am sure you have heard of this project before, if not I will be sharing photos and such in the following weeks. Generally, when I introduce a project I start off by showing the students a PowerPoint Presentation about the projects where I share artists, student work, professional artist work, etc. After I show the PPT, as and exit slip I am going to have the students complete this activity.

With their table they are going to write down words that can be associated with George Segal. The goal is for them to come up with at least 1 word for each letter of the alphabet. After the students have completed the paper (about 5 minutes or so). I will put my paper up on the projector and I will call on groups at random to tell me what they put for the first letter of the alphabet and then keep doing this until we have gotten through the entire alphabet. Then the tables can add these words to their sheet.

Here is the blank sheet before they begin.

After I introduce this lesson I will post photos and updates :)

I would love to hear your input!

• How do you include Formative Assessments into your classroom? 
• How do you tie the 'core' classes into your curriculum?

Practical Teaching Tip: Grading Rubrics

I know there are many schools of thought when it comes to assessment. However, for me I have found that utilizing detailed rubrics have been most productive in a high school setting.

Reasons detailed grading rubrics works:

• Students have a clear understanding of what I am looking for when I grade their projects
• Students are able to complete mid-project checks or formative assessments based on what they need to change or work on before they turn the project in
• Students can use the rubric to grade one another
• Parents have a clear understanding of how I am accessing their student's artwork
• My opinion about whether I think the art is "good" does not come into play
• It is very easy and fast to grade a project when all you have to do is check off boxes
• When I grade projects I do it during class through a critique so the students know what their grade is right away

Here are some examples of the way I set up different rubrics. The first section to the left is the criteria to which I am grading the project. The columns to the right is the amount of points awarded.

Sample Glaze Rubric

 (my ceramic projects get graded once for the project before it goes into the kiln and then again after it has been glaze fired)

3D: Glaze Rubric                                  
 Project Title:                                                                      

Name:                                                                                                                Class Period:                                            Grade:        /35

1.        Sketch a diagram of your piece on the back, color it with colored pencil and label the names of the glazes.

2.        What color scheme or variation of one did you choose? Circle: Primary, Secondary, Warm, Cool, Neutral, Complimentary, Analogous other:                                                                                

3.        What glazing technique did you use? Circle: Stencils, sgraffito, staining, under glaze, wax resist, layering, glass or mixing

Criteria	Weak (1)	Poor (2)	Average (3)	Good (4)	Excellent (5)
Color Scheme: Choose one of the following above or a variation. Overall the colors go well together.
2+ Coats: Student used 2 coats (or more depending on what the label stated) of glaze on entire piece.
Wax on Bottom: Student sealed bottom signature with wax. Glaze that accidentally got on the wax should be wiped away with a wet sponge.
Technique: Student included one of the techniques listed above
Bisque Ware was Properly Cleaned: Student washed piece before it was glazed, there is no crawl.
All areas are painted neatly: There is no bare clay body showing, all areas are cleanly painted.
Completed Questions Above	1	-	2	-	3

How do you grade art? I would love to hear NEW ideas :)

Happy Friday Art Lovers! Take time this weekend to make some art for yourself even if its just a drawing in a sketchbook.

Practical Teaching Tip: Keeping Expensive or Dangerous Materials Organized

Happy Friday! I found this idea on Pinterest, so I am by no means taking credit for this idea. I've just used it and it has worked, so I thought I would share. When I first began teaching, the thought of letting teenagers use X-acto knives kinda freaked me out, so I wanted to allow them to use X-acto knives, but also be safe and organized with them.

This is what I did:

1. I found some foam that was in my classroom and taped 2 blocks together. 
2. Then I used the handle of the knife to push holes into the blocks. 
3. Next I covered the entire block with masking tape and packing tape.
4. Finally I cut slits in the tape where my holes in the foam were and labeled each hole with a number.
5. I correlated this number to the number on the blade and a sign out sheet for the students.

Now, with a quick glace it is easy for me to distribute the knives and check if there are any missing. I also do this with my thin Sharpie markers as well because for some reason they started to grow legs and walk. :)

Practical Teaching Tip: Classroom Organization

WELCOME back! I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing break!

Confession time: I am a organizer/clean freak/over achiever/planner! However, with about 36 students in each of my classes being a clean freak doesn't really mesh well!

Solution time: I work very hard to create an organized system for the students to clean the room and do all other tasks. By training the students in these processes early in the year the students are aware of my expectations and everything begins to run smoothly. This helps me keep my sanity and keeps everything organized.

Labeling: I label almost everything in the room! I get tired of the nagging questions like "Where are the scissors?" by having everything labeled I don't have to answer those questions and I can  move onto making art with them.

Cabinets and Tables: Each table is labeled with the name of a 3D artist. This table name correlates with the name on the outside of their cabinet to store their artwork.

Seat Numbers: Each seat a the table is numbered. This number correlates to a number on the board which details their cleaning job for the week. I rotate these jobs every week. If a student is absent, then the table leader picks up the slack. I also use the seat numbers when collecting papers or randomly calling on students to answer questions.

 

Glaze Organization: I teach 3D art so we do a lot of ceramics. To keep that area organized I have the carts organized by the effect of the glaze. I create a sample medallion that is glued to the tops of the lids of the glazes. The only issue with this is that sometimes the medallion comes off, so I just re-glue it. I tried hot glue and that didn't work well enough. I am currently using Tacky Glue (I am open to suggestions of stronger glues to hold these sample medallions on).

Table Binders: Each table has a binder with copies of useful handouts. I also put then in plastic sleeves so that they do not get damaged. I put handouts in there from Elements and Principles, to SAT/ACT Vocabulary, and art techniques.

Practical Teaching Tip: Keep it simple and find a system that works for YOU! I have found it usefully to train and re-train the students throughout the year especially after breaks :)

Do you have any organizational systems to share? I would love to hear new organizational tips!