Warm Ups- Using Art Vocabulary

I've written earlier about my oral Warm Ups for my art class. Well, today I will tell you about my written Warm Ups.

Most of my Warm Ups are based on the Principles and Elements of Design, which are all posted on my word wall in the back of my room.

I write which Element or Principle I want the students to describe or analyse on the board next to the projected art work. The art work can be any painting or sculpture visual that you have.

The students then fill in the grid corresponding to what I am looking for.  This year I will have the students do one Element/Principle a day, collect the grid, store them in their folders and hand them back the next day. We'll go over the answers on Friday, I'll collect them and give them a weekly grade.  

I am trying to save paper. Last year, I did the Warm Ups daily with the students got a new grid every day.

It took a lot of paper!

How do you do Warm Ups in your art room? Do you have a Warm Up that works for you?

Word Wall- Designed to Learn

My word wall is the center of  learning in my class. You can’t miss it. It fills a whole wall with our vocabulary- the Principles and Elements of Design. 

Not only does is have our design vocabulary, it has visuals to go along with the vocabulary. The students can see how artists have used those concepts in a piece of art.

Everything we do in class revolves around it- the warm ups, the critiques, and the project objectives all somehow involve using these vocabulary words.

Do you have a word wall in your art room? How do your students use it? Let me know!

 

Communicating with Students

I just came back from a convention in Orlando, Florida. The Keynote Speaker was Joel Manby, President and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment. He recently wrote a book called Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders.  The book explains his unique approach to leadership, in which he uses 7 principles for 'leading with love'. Because he leads his business by these principles his organization is effective and produces an atmosphere that is conducive of long term success- for him, his business and the people he leads.

I thought his ideas had a lot I could take away and apply in my art room. As teachers, we are the leader in our class room and our goal is to equip our students to achieve long term success. So anything that will help me to be more effective and produces long term success has a thumbs up from me.

I'm not going to go into the 7 principles in this post- too much information for this little blog. And I've given you some links above to find out more about him and his book. But, one thing he mentioned that really struck me was how he 'leads with love' when communicating (the good and the bad) with his staff.

He has a three pronged approach-

-Praise in Public

-Admonish in Private

-Always Maintain the Dignity of All When Communicating

I think this is a simple, but great take away (one of many) from listening to him speak. I'll keep his 3 pronged approach in mind whenever I'm communicating and dealing with my students.

What about you- what do you think of this 3 pronged approach to communicating? Would this work in your art room?

Sub Binders- While You Were Out

Don't you think getting feedback is a way to make you a better teacher?  I do. Whenever I have a substitute I always appreciate it when they leave a short note to let me know how the day went.

Don't you like to hear what went well and what (or who) didn't work well while you're out? And let the students know, you know. Commenting on the feedback you get from the sub is a great way to let the students know that even though you're out of the room, what goes on in the class is important to you.

This is the form I leave in my sub binder. It's a way to get a quick rundown of what went on in art class if I'm out.

(Here are some other sub forms I've posted about. You may want to look at them too.)

I'd love to hear what you think about these. Would they work in your art class?

Art Supplies- Easy, Extra Money

Are you looking for an easy way to get some extra money for your art supplies?  If your school has copy machine, I might be able to help you.  Ask your office or library to save the used toner cartridges from the copy machines.

My school saved 30 cartridges for me this year. I brought them to Staples, so they could be recycled and received $2 for every cartridge. That means I have $60 extra for art supplies this upcoming year.

Here are some of the different types of cartridges I returned for cash back.

Let me know what you think about returning cartridges for cash. Would this work with your art class?

IDs- Best Way to Keep Track of Supplies

Do you want an easy way to keep track of supplies in you art class? Here it is.

I keep IDs for all students in my class. They're made out of 3 x 5 index cards. 

The ID’s serve a couple of purposes- one, of which, is borrowing supplies. (I’ll have more posts in the future that explain other purposes.)  If a student needs borrows a special supply that is not in their row’s supply basket, I pull their ID. 

At the end of class, I check the IDs. If an ID is pulled out of the pile, I know that student has a supply that needs to be returned to me.

The ID’s contain the following information:

-NAME
-GRADE
-HOMEROOM,
-HOMEROOM TEACHER
-PARENT/GUARDIANS NAME
-HOME PHONE NUMBER
-TELL ME SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT YOU (in case I need an expert in a certain field, I can call on a student to help out)

What do you think? Would using IDs help you keep track of supplies? Would they work in your art class? Let me know what you think?

The 3 R's of Looking at Student Work

My role as a teacher should be "To Maximize the Help and Minimize the Hurt." Here are the 3 R's to help you accomplish that role when looking at student work.

Review- First, you should determine the goals the student is to achieve regarding the project's objectives. Then you need to determine-  Did the student accomplish what they set out to do?

Examples- "Do you have 2 patterns in the painting? Did you use earth tone colors?"

Reward- Praise the aspects of the project that are particularly well done.  Then explain why- what specifically in the project is worthy of praise? In other words, be specific about what was done well.  No generalities or vague comments here ('good job', 'well done'), they don't appear authentic.

Examples- "You did a great job blending the analogous colors. You have a really a smooth transition of color."  " I like how you have a variety of sizes in your circle pattern."



Respond- Analyze what you see, what you feel. What needs to be worked on? Offer suggestions; provide examples of how changes can be made. Make suggestions to improve, don't just keep pointing out problems. Trust that the student can figure out ways to improve their  own work. You're their to lead them to their answer, not tell them the answer.


Example- "Do you think the diagonal lines are lined up to the vanishing point?" "Do you think the trees in the background should be bigger or smaller than what's in the foreground?

What do you think about the 3 R's? Would they work in your class? Can you think of another R?

Art Class Check Up

Don't you think it's a good idea to have a check up on how you’re doing?  I do this once a semester, by giving my students a Mid Term Art Class Evaluation. It’s actually an evaluation of me and my class-  the good, the bad and the ugly.  

The students can comment on anything (anonymously) involved in the class- the supplies, the lessons, the desks, my teaching, the projects, anything! Well, as long as it’s worded in a respectful way.

And I do get a lot of comments. Some surprising, some encouraging, some good, some bad. It’s a great way to get some input and maybe make some adjustments on what you’re doing in art class.

It's also great for the students to know that their opinions are being heard. That's how you create trust between teacher and students.

Here is an example of my Mid Term Art Class Evaluation.

Tell me what you think! Would this work in your art class?