To take on the NEW, we have to be BRAVE...just like this group of superhero Kindergarteners!
Be brave and re-imagine, redesign, refresh, regenerate, renew, and revive!
With the new year on the brink, and many exciting ideas brewing, I've decided to share some of my hopes for the art enrichment program jumping into this semester, Spring 2013. I have learned a lot from (and with) learners at Barclay this past fall. With this new knowledge I'm charging forward to remodel some of my classroom management strategies and learning objectives so that they fit closely with who my students are, what they need, and arising initiatives in education, today.
Classroom management. I have been challenged by maintaining consistency within my classes of expectations and classroom procedures. I have noticed the importance of clarity for reducing mis-behavior. Clarity comes with consistency and transparency. One tip I've used and has been successful is being consistent with where I get attention from. Check out this video clip on the teaching channel. I think simple, clear visuals, reinforcing class expectations will also help both students and myself in maintaining consistancy of classroom management. I want the art enrichment classroom environment to be safe, respectful and fun for all of us. Classroom consistency will help students stay focused and (I hope) enable us as a class to take on more complex art problems. To clarify expectations both for myself and my classes. I've renewed my classroom management plan for the coming term. I've found it helpful to break the strategy down into sections: Philosophical Statement, Room Arrangement, Classroom Expectations, Classroom Procedures, and Positive Reinforcement. A BIG goal for this coming semester is to create a safe, productive and fun learning environment for all students.
Common Core and Art Integration. I have been reading and reflecting about what the Common Core Standards means for our schools and classrooms in this year of 2013, and what role art takes on in this new initiative. This article from ARTSblog by David Coleman, one of the architects of Common Core, helped me to understand three of the overall foundational objectives that can be addressed through art. Knowledge, Observation, and Evidence and Choices.
'New School Art Styles: The Project of Art Education' an article by Olivia Gude, an article I recently read, presented strategic goals created by Tom Anderson and Melody Milbrandt. These goals, although not specified as Common Core-related in the article, support my idea of the Common Core objectives. These goals are:
1) The use of discipline-centered inquiry
2) The construction of knowledge (rather than its passive acceptance)
3) Teaching and learning that make connections beyond school.
It seems that Colemen's foundational objectives of the Common Core fit nicely into these strategic goals listed above. Anderson and Milbrandt's strategic goals, are going to be considered in the construction of art enrichment lessons for the coming semester.
A new project that I have brewing and have just completed a grant for is going to break the boundaries of the classroom and be aligned with a campaign going on to rennovate and rebuild Baltimore City Public Schools. In the community arts project Speak Out! students will research and respond to the Transform Baltimore Campaign. It will include middle schoolers leading an advocacy photoshoot for their younger peers, and enable them to becoming aware of the power of student voice to advocate for their educational needs. In this project students will inquire about this campaign and what it will mean for them. Students will construct their own base of knowledge so that they can be informed before they develop their opinion, and learning will go beyond the classroom, by speaking to community members, researching the campaign, and showing their advocacy photographs around Baltimore. This project will be a NEW case study (for me and students) of how Common Core can initiate student lead learning that transcends the boundaries of the classroom.
An exciting start to the NEW year, all around!
With the new year on the brink, and many exciting ideas brewing, I've decided to share some of my hopes for the art enrichment program jumping into this semester, Spring 2013. I have learned a lot from (and with) learners at Barclay this past fall. With this new knowledge I'm charging forward to remodel some of my classroom management strategies and learning objectives so that they fit closely with who my students are, what they need, and arising initiatives in education, today.
Classroom management. I have been challenged by maintaining consistency within my classes of expectations and classroom procedures. I have noticed the importance of clarity for reducing mis-behavior. Clarity comes with consistency and transparency. One tip I've used and has been successful is being consistent with where I get attention from. Check out this video clip on the teaching channel. I think simple, clear visuals, reinforcing class expectations will also help both students and myself in maintaining consistancy of classroom management. I want the art enrichment classroom environment to be safe, respectful and fun for all of us. Classroom consistency will help students stay focused and (I hope) enable us as a class to take on more complex art problems. To clarify expectations both for myself and my classes. I've renewed my classroom management plan for the coming term. I've found it helpful to break the strategy down into sections: Philosophical Statement, Room Arrangement, Classroom Expectations, Classroom Procedures, and Positive Reinforcement. A BIG goal for this coming semester is to create a safe, productive and fun learning environment for all students.
Common Core and Art Integration. I have been reading and reflecting about what the Common Core Standards means for our schools and classrooms in this year of 2013, and what role art takes on in this new initiative. This article from ARTSblog by David Coleman, one of the architects of Common Core, helped me to understand three of the overall foundational objectives that can be addressed through art. Knowledge, Observation, and Evidence and Choices.
'New School Art Styles: The Project of Art Education' an article by Olivia Gude, an article I recently read, presented strategic goals created by Tom Anderson and Melody Milbrandt. These goals, although not specified as Common Core-related in the article, support my idea of the Common Core objectives. These goals are:
1) The use of discipline-centered inquiry
2) The construction of knowledge (rather than its passive acceptance)
3) Teaching and learning that make connections beyond school.
It seems that Colemen's foundational objectives of the Common Core fit nicely into these strategic goals listed above. Anderson and Milbrandt's strategic goals, are going to be considered in the construction of art enrichment lessons for the coming semester.
A new project that I have brewing and have just completed a grant for is going to break the boundaries of the classroom and be aligned with a campaign going on to rennovate and rebuild Baltimore City Public Schools. In the community arts project Speak Out! students will research and respond to the Transform Baltimore Campaign. It will include middle schoolers leading an advocacy photoshoot for their younger peers, and enable them to becoming aware of the power of student voice to advocate for their educational needs. In this project students will inquire about this campaign and what it will mean for them. Students will construct their own base of knowledge so that they can be informed before they develop their opinion, and learning will go beyond the classroom, by speaking to community members, researching the campaign, and showing their advocacy photographs around Baltimore. This project will be a NEW case study (for me and students) of how Common Core can initiate student lead learning that transcends the boundaries of the classroom.
An exciting start to the NEW year, all around!
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