Reflection #12

In the article “Developing Criteria Rubrics in the Art Classroom,” Sandra Mccollister provides detailed descriptions of methods to create rubrics and also of their benefits for art teachers and students. In general, she explains that rubrics include detailed criteria for a finished work, which may include aspects involved in the process of making the artwork, as well as the finished product. According to Mccollister, these criteria will be evaluated as being “In Progress,” “Novice,” “Intermediate,” or “Advanced” in quality; however, these qualitative assessments can be used to show students their strengths and weaknesses, and do not necessarily translate into letter grades. Mccollister also suggests using student input for creating rubrics, but makes it clear that grading is ultimately the responsibility of the teacher. She suggests that rubrics help students to know what is expected from them, and clarify assignments that students might find complex.

Rubric for Main Lesson Books in Waldorf Education

Fairly Comprehensive Art Rubric

Throughout my elementary years, I was not evaluated with letter or number grades, but with constructive comments on my strengths and areas that were in need of improvement. I found these comments particularly helpful and motivating, and have come to appreciate them more and more as I am making my way through college, where not all of my professors have been as constructive. I’ve always found comments like “needs more detail” to be more helpful and motivating than comments like “too vague” because they frame the areas of weakness in a more constructive way. I have noticed that the assignments that I experience the most anxiety about are the ones that do not have clear requirements. If I know what is expected from me, and what my professor is looking for, I find myself feeling much more confident about my work. Rubrics are a great way to clearly lay out the requirements of an assignment so that students are able to know what is expected of them, however, they can limit the creativity of students approaches to certain projects. How can we provide clarity and still leave room for creativity? 

Reflection #11

In her article “It Was Always the Pictures…” Paula Kluth describes several different ways to use art as a part of curriculum make literacy and learning more relevant for students with disabilities in the classroom. Kluth mentions graphic organizers, picture books, fascination focused materials, graphic notes, and story kits as a few different ways to engage all students including visual learners and students with disabilities.  Graphic organizers are useful to help students find the main ideas and concepts within a text, and can be modified with movable pictures for students who struggle with fine motor skills. Picture books also help students follow and understand material, and can be used even in the higher grades as a jumping off point to more in-depth projects by students. Fascination focused material can be particularly helpful with students with autism, who often fixate on one particular topic of interest. If this topic is incorporated into the lesson, these students have the opportunity to be fully engaged in curriculum, rather than distracted by other interests. Graphic note taking can allow visual learners to have an alternative way of writing down important material, and the can create their own system of symbols to make the content relevant and recognizable. Story kits, containing various objects relating to material can be another great way to engage students who are blind or who struggle with fine motor skills. Although many of these strategies are beneficial to visual learners or students with disabilities, they are often helpful in making content relevant to all students in the classroom.

Greek Pentathlon

Farming Unit

Farming

Making Maple Syrup

Learning About Music

In elementary school, pictures and picture books were often used in the classroom, however, graphic organizers, story kits, fascination focused materials, and graphic notes were not used. One reason for some of this, I think, is that we did not take notes in my elementary school. We created artistic main lesson books which related to content being taught and composed stories to put in these mail lesson books. Sometimes we also performed skits, poems, dances, plays, or songs which related to the curriculum. I suppose some of the materials used in these performances could be considered a part of a story kit, but it was next called that explicitly. I always found these activities to be helpful in making material more relevant and interesting, and enjoyed being more actively involved in learning. How can we incorporate both artistic and active ways for students to participate in learning? Although I do think these visual strategies could be helpful, I don’t think that taking notes should be the only way for students to learn curriculum. I think they should be able to participate through a variety of different ways, including visual and artistic strategies. These strategies, to me, also seem like they might need to be taught explicitly to students. In order to make them useful in the classroom, I think the teacher would have to model to and instruct students so that they would be use visual strategies in a meaningful way. 

Reflection #10

Romare Bearden’s website at www.metmuseam.org provides information about his work The Block.  This Block is a collage of six panels that depict a block in Harlem. It is made with pieces of newspaper, photographs, colored paper, and pencil drawing to enhance details. This inspiration of this artwork was formulated from the forms and patterns in jazz music and from the realities of Harlem life. Bearden let the realities shape his own perception, and added images from his own imagination, such as religious figures and angels. How can we use things in the real world to help students imagine things that are fantasy? Looking at this artwork might help to inspire students to bring their own perspective to real-life images. The website also provides details from Bearden’s life, and how he was influenced by famous writer’s of his time. The viewer can take a closer look at The Block via an interactive tool on the website, or can be inspired to create their own collage through several activities suggested.

Historical Art: an Example from a Waldorf Main Lesson Book

Historical Art: another Example from a Waldorf Main Lesson Book

Can we use art, music, or real life situations to inspire students artwork? Bearden used writing, the Harlem lifestyle, and jazz music to inspire his work. I think it would be a great idea to let students explore different time periods or historical situations by listening to music, reading about them, and creating their own imaginative artwork. Although I haven’t had much experience with collage in my education, or the use of music as an inspiration, I was often asked to create artworks that corresponded to historical events or situations; however, my artworks were usually based upon existing photographs, and held few imaginative elements. If we let our students expand upon the existing material, they can connect and relate to it in a more meaningful way.