"Developing Critera Rubrics in the Art Classroom"

I often hear art teachers say, you will be graded on how much effort you put into something. What exactly does that mean? How do you know how much effort a student puts into a piece of art work?

I found this article by Sandra McCollister to be extremely informative for teachers. Rubrics are seen as a guide or a scoring device for many classrooms. It is a set of criteria which is linked to the learning objectives in order to assess a student's performance. Rubrics inform students about the expectations that are to be met. It is a way for students to improve their learning and for teachers to improve their teaching.

The part of the article that stood out the most to me, was the importance of putting student's input into the rubric. After a lesson introduction, simply ask "What qualities and characteristics should be present in the finished work? or "What qualities would the work have if it were the best work you have ever done?" (McCollister 3). Teachers can brainstorm ideas with the students using visuals. Teachers can show previous student's work, drawings, or teacher prepared examples in order to give students a better idea of what is to be expected.

The article titled "Words and Phrases for Rubric Design" is very helpful in designing a rubric. It is necessary to distinguish the different between a weaker performance level and a stronger performance level through the use of phrases.

The nutritional label rubric was a very clever way to create a rubric for a class. This is proof that there are so many different ways to write a rubric for your students. I like how the rubric is in the form of a nutrition label. Students are more familiar with this rubric and will be more engaged with it.

"It Was Always the Pictures..."

If there have been many studies done about the importance of incorporating visuals into teachers curriculum, why aren't more visuals used in lectures? even college?

I found this article to be extremely intriguing.  Author, Paula Kluth has opened my eyes to more effective strategies to use in order to meet the needs of a wider range of learners.  It is important to expand the strategies used in the classroom so that every student has the opportunity to succeed.  She talked about how many learners with disabilities learn best when they have an image of what they are learning.  By looking at pictures, the learner is able to think of more ideas in their heard.  Also, the pictures help the learner understand the content. 

There are many different visuals that I could use in my classroom.  These include handouts, movies, illustrated books, powerpoint presentations, charts and more.  Each of these methods can be used for any content whether its science or math.  I agree with Kluth that the best way to understand and remember content is when the students can see it visually.  It is important for teachers to know that all of these strategies talked about in the article enhance the learning of all students in the classroom, not just those with identified needs.  

I really enjoyed reading this article because I felt that I could connect to the visual learners in many ways.  Throughout my education experience, I have always learned best visually.  I always needed to see something on paper.  Pictures, charts, and presentations were extremely helpful. I struggle during lectures because I have a hard time seeing what content is important.  I believe that it is necessary to incorporate visuals into your lessons.  All students deserve the opportunity to succeed in their education.  In order to do this, we must set up students for success.   

Romare Bearden-Let's Walk the Block

Has Romare Bearden made any other significant paintings? Where is his artwork found?

I found the Romare Bearden website to be extremely eye opening.  I enjoyed reading about the meaning behind his artwork.  His art work called, "The Block" tells a story about where he comes from.  His work taught me that every piece of art work you do has a story that goes along with it.  I find it a lot more passionate to create art when you have something to talk about.  

His art work combined part drawing and part collage.  It is made of different types of fabric, colored paper, newspapers, and magazines.  I believe that creating a piece of artwork with different types of material makes the piece a lot more interesting.  It also grabs the audiences attention and makes them question the piece of art.  I also liked how Romare Bearden exaggerated some of the details such as the children's faces in many of the windows.  Even though no two buildings are a like, the piece of artwork still flows.  I also liked how Bearden added pictures from newspapers and magazines.  He added more reality to the piece.  

This is a great piece of artwork to use in a classroom.  You can ask the students what shapes they see in the picture.  You can also have the students make their own pictures by using different shapes, newspapers, magazines, drawings, and fabrics.  This would be a great field trip for the students.  You could take them to where Bearden's art work is located.