Common Assessments Help Lesson Planning

On the inservice day this month the elementary art teachers met and developed a test to give our students at the end of the semester to assess their learning. This was very helpful for me because it forced us all to talk about what exactly the students needed to be able to do and also what we each emphasize and how we defined certain words or concepts when we teach them. Although the basic information is in the quarterly check-in, if we are to use common assessments I feel we need to be emphasizing the same things to our students and using the same explanations and definitions.

The test we made has already been helpful to me when I'm deciding what my lesson objectives are because I can look at it and ask myself "What do I need to do to make sure my students learn what is on the test?" I remember learning this strategy in college (plan the assessment first, then the lesson) but it was hard to apply to art because there was no emphasis on giving formal assessments in elementary art. Now I am starting to see how it can work.

Behavior Management in the Art Room....

I have a few classes, but one class in particular that continually waste time. Therefore they are incredibly behind on projects. They are the same group of kids that had a hard time last year.

Yesterday the class that I had wasted so much time during instruction time (they are generally okay during work time, for the most part) that at the end of class I called them all to the carpet to come up with a plan for how we are going to fix the problem. They told me that they are the only class that has assigned seats in music. Also in gym on their "first offense" they sit out for rest of the class. So apparently it is not just in the art room. When their teacher picked them up- I let her know that we had talked about behavior and hopefully come up with a plan to fix it. She said that she is really working with them on it too. They loose out on a lot of fun activities- i.e. Friday Fun.

I talked to the gym teacher to see how he is working that out, does he give a warning- then out or what. He doesn't give a warning, he said by now they know the expectations and he is tired of punishing the whole class for something that they didn't all do.

I am wondering how this would work for art? I am hoping that I would only have to do it a few times for them to realize that I am serious and to begin doing what they are supposed to.... my problem is that if I don't then they are even further behind. Also, what do they do so they aren't distracting the rest of the class. Do they go to the office?

Anyone have any thoughts/ suggestions???

October is Here

I am really looking forward to having a break so that I can catch up on all of my grading and planning for class. Work again is starting to pile up now that my graduate class at Saint Mary's is back in full swing. With the Twins in the playoffs now it has been a real struggle to stay motivated with school work and grad work. I am finding that the implementation of SIOP objectives is allowing me to organize my classes much better than I use to. Students have also expressed gratitude for the expectations and notes to be listed at the beginning of class. Homecoming week is upon us and keeping the students has been challenging, but the objectives piece has allowed us to keep focus. Managing my time in and out of the classroom continues to be my biggest challenge and I am glad that I have found strategies and resources to help me achieve my goals in a timely manner.