Teacher Evaluation

In this post I will attempt to:

• Make notes on the kind of feedback you would like from your mentors during your full-time clinicals.
• Analyze at least two approaches to teacher evaluation in schools or school districts
• Proposes elements on which you think you should be judged as a teacher

Feedback from Mentors

Before I receive feedback from my Mentors, I would like to have a pre-observational meeting. This way I can help my mentor better understand the environment he or she will be walking into. I will also like to discuss any observational criteria the Mentor will be using, this will not only help calm my nerves but help me understand what is to be expected and give me the chance to ask any questions concerning the criteria.After observing me, I would appreciate my Mentor to open dialogue about areas I did well in as well as areas that I most need improvement based on the Criteria that we had discussed earlier. I feel that any feedback that has the intention to help mold me into a better teacher will be good feedback if explained well.

Analyzes different teacher evaluation approaches

After looking at multiple teaching evaluation approaches, I have chosen to compare the NEA approach, the Danielson Group Approach, and the Cel-5 D Approach which is used the school I teach at. These three approaches do have one major thing in common. That they all have the continual development of teacher at heart. The NEA states “The core purpose of teacher assessment and evaluation should be to improve the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and classroom practices of professional educators.”, the Danielson Group states “Charlotte Danielson’s concepts in the educational community, connect them to other areas of knowledge, and enhance the professional practices of educators to positively impact student learning.” and the Cel-5 D “The tool can be used as the “lens” for classroom observations, as a guide for teachers, and as a reference during lesson planning and staff meetings about instructional practices.” All of these three approaches have the assessment of the teacher be a way for the teacher to grow and develop.

Each of these frameworks breaks down into focus areas of assessment.

The NEA breaks the assessment down into 10 Teacher Standards

Standard #1: Learner Development. Standard #2: Learning Differences. Standard #3: Learning Environments. Standard #4: Content Knowledge. Standard #5: Application of Content. Standard #6: Assessment. Standard #7: Planning for Instruction. Standard #8: Instructional Strategies. Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice. Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration.

The Danielson Group is divided into 4 main domains with multiple sub-domains.

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation Demonstrating knowledge of Content                and Pedagogy Demonstrating Knowledge of Students Setting Instructional Outcomes Demonstrating knowledge of Resources Designing Coherent Instruction	Domain 2: Classroom Environment             Creating an Environment of Respect              and Rapport Establishing a Culture for Learning Managing Classroom Procedures Managing Student Behaviour Organising Physical Space
Domain 3: Instruction Communicating with students Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques Engaging Students in Learning Using Assessment in Instruction Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness	Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities Reflecting on Teaching Maintaining Accurate Records Communicating with Families Participating in Professional Community Growing and Developing Professionally Showing Professionalism

Cel 5-D is divided up into 5  Main Sections with each division is then broken down into Sub-dimensions, followed by Vision statements and then Guiding Questions.

Purpose	Student Engagement	Curriculum & Pedagogy	Assessment for Student Learning	Classroom Environment & Culture
Standards Learning Targets & Teaching Points	Intellectual Work Engagement Strategies Talk	Curriculum Teaching Approaches and/or Strategies Scaffolds for Learning	Assessment Adjustments	Use of  Physical Environment Classroom routines and rituals Classroom Culture

Even though these approaches may differ in how they are presented there are many similarities. They all assess the teacher reason for teaching, the planning and the presenting of the content, different ways teachers engage with the students, and the mastery of the content. In the Danielson group they divide between 4 main areas where Cel-5 D has 5 sections. Cel-5 D decides to take out Assessment where Danielson keeps it in with Instruction. The NEA approach doesn’t divide the standards into categories. I feel that the division of dimensions is very helpful. I also find that the Cel-5 D approach breaking down even further into vision statements and essential questions are really helpful for a teacher to grasp what is needed to be a competent teacher and how to improve.

Proposes elements on which you think you should be judged as a teacher

I believe that though culture should be based on the culture of the school and what the school’s goals are, it should also be judged in the manner as one would judge a fine arts skill. It may be because I teach art, but I view teaching as a fine art, it has many components that require time and effort to display mastery. Some teachers might develop mastery earlier than others, but one thing stays the same, the teacher is open to self-critique, open to new ideas and new approaches, open to being “judged” but only in a way where it is constructive to the teacher's improvement. And just like refining a fine craft one cannot be too harsh to judge but to modify in an appropriate amount that the teacher does not feel overwhelming. Every teacher is different, and so, the elements judged should be different. One day I might need extra help refining my skills in Assessments, and another day I might need help refining my skills in Classroom Culture. Just like I teach my kids to give constructive critique to each other, “It’s not always what you say, but how you say it.”

References:

A. (2014, October 01). Teacher Development and Evaluation. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.aft.org/position/teacher-development-and-evaluation

5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning™. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from 

https://www.k-12leadership.org/content/service/5-dimensions-of-teaching-and-learning

Danielson Group » The Framework. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.danielsongroup.org/framework/

New Teacher Survival Guide: The Formal Observation. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/preparing-for-formal-observations

M6U4A3 Teacher Evaluation-A Resource Guide.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzYfzjQoASL_eGdtNFdsbXRIRDQ/view 

For the Pre-ASsessment for Differentiation Unit, we were given the activity to create an assessment that helps us identify which students might already know the content and which students might not. My class is about to start a watercolor unit, the students have learned about watercolor in the past, but it has been some time.  To identify the different levels the students are at I have created a Pre-Assessment linked here: Socrative Watercolor Pre-Assessment. The goal of the assessment is for assessing how much prior knowledge the student has on the different watercolor techniques that will be used in the unit. The student will be asked to identify different techniques through short answer questions. I thought that short answers might be best for this assessment so that students would not guess through the process of elimination.  There are a couple of multiple choice questions in there, but the majority is on short answer question. Because the students have not yet taken the assessment in my class yet, Teach Now has given me some ideas on how the results might be. We will assume that 5 of the students answered most, including the pre-assessment correctly. That 12 of the students with some knowledge in their score but need to develop higher order thinking. And that 5 students have limited knowledge of the topic.

LucidChart- Pre-Assessment, Watercolor
(here is a link to the Flowchart for better viewing) 

Now that I know who needs a little more help I will divide the group into 3 categories Zone A, B, C. Each of these zones will have differentiated instruction that hopefully will meet the student where they need it most. Zone A will be the group of students who have a limited understanding of the different techniques of watercolor. This group will be meeting at a specified table where I can give a step by step tutorial that uses the gradual release method. I am hoping that this will give the students the foundations they need to learn the material while giving them a sense of owning their own learning. Zone B  have some understanding of the different techniques used in watercolor, but they would benefit with a refresher course. They don't need as much supervision at their table. They will meet at a specific table set up with the "CHALLENGE" to show what they remember while giving the students a chance to get their feet wet. The challenge will be giving students a chance to use all the basic skills to create a little booklet with quotes or inspirational thoughts. Zone C will be where the students have demonstrated their knowledge of the basic techniques and might like the chance to go a little deeper. Because I can't be in two places at once, I will have a computer set up with a menu of new and wacky techniques for students to choose from. Each one of the menu options will be a video of me giving a step by step guide on how to create new techniques.These are techniques that are not technically covered in the curriculum but are a chance for students to do some self-directed learning. Students will be given freedom to select how they would like to showcase what new techniques they have learned by the end of the unit. My hope is with this group, to have them sit with students from other levels later when they work on their final project. I would then ask the students to do peer-instruction to help foster an atmosphere of learning. 

I am interested in trying it out this week in class to see how much my students remember from previous years before teaching the unit. 

High Stakes Assessment

Current School High Stakes Assessment 

At the school I currently teach at in Asia, we follow the American Education System for the most part. We currently have a variety of High Stakes Assessments at our school, which include, MAP testing, ACT, SAT, and AP exams and projects. 

MAP tests are a used as a growth measuring tool. Every semester all the students at our school take time out of the regular academic curriculum to take the test. The MAP test consists of Math, Reading, Language usage, and Science. Teachers at our school do not teach to the test, but they do collect the data from the MAP tests to identify if the student will be needing special Tier support. If there is a large number of students who do not show growth, then the curriculum will go under review. The goal of the MAP test at my school is to collect ongoing data from the first time they attend school to when they leave the school to have data to help them have data to help make Data-based Decisions. 

The students who attend our school are most likely to go on to American universities or universities that accept the ACT as a college entrance exam. The SAT is also key exam students at our school take to help gain entry into universities. These are exams that are taken outside of school, they have high costs, high stress, and high stakes. Most students at the school I teach with not only want to pass the SAT and the ACT, they want to pass with the highest scores possible. This creates lots of stress, students find tutors, join study groups, and spend countless hours studying for these exams. 

Another High Stakes Assessment our school uses is the AP stream. Students are encouraged to take AP courses in the subjects that they are hoping to take at University. The students at our school spend countless hours revising, getting tutored, or working on the AP portfolio's that they need to submit by the designated date. In order for students receive college-level credit, to later save time and money, and to give the students an edge over other university applicants. Students feel a high level of stress when taking these courses and completing these assessments because they feel their whole future is hanging on the results of their AP courses. 

The final form of High-Stakes assessment our school currently uses is the Summative Assessments during the school year. Because of the term weight is given to summative assessments, they have created a high-stakes environment. If students fail the summative assessment, they can potentially fail the whole class, despite having done well on the formative assessments in class.  The goal is to have the teachers and educational facilitators to use formative assessment to give students a chance to fail and experiment without the fear of failure. That the teachers can use the formative assessments to assess how to better instruct the student to help them understand the content needed to pass the course. They also hope that creating a high-stakes environment that students will take the assessments more seriously to help them focus their attention on what they need in order to pass the course. Though the intent is to help the student succeed, it does create stress among the students. Though because of our re-take policy, it doesn't create "bad" stress, instead of a healthy dose of stress to help the students buckle down and learn. 

High-Stakes Assessment in Finland 
As I am about to embark on the next chapter of my life, I am very interested in the Finland Educational system. I do hope to be able to teach in the school system eventually and I would like to compare the current school I teach at with the school system I hope to teach at in the future. 

According to my research, I found that the only real "High-Stakes" assessment is the Matriculation Examination that upper secondary students take that is completely based on the syllabus of the Finnish school system. The purpose of the exam is to assess if the student has assimilated the knowledge and skills required by the school system and if the student has reached an adequate level of maturity in line with goals of general upper secondary education. If passed the student may proceed on to university. According to the statistics, about 35,000 passes the exam annually. 

To ensure that students have a fair chance of passing the exam, the Matriculation Examination Board issues guidelines on the contents, arrangements, and assessments of the test. This test can also be taken in a range of languages depending on the mother tongue of the student, Swedish, Finnish or Sami. 

According to the Finnish educational site, if a student is not satisfied with the results of the exam feeling that the grade is unjust, they can request the exam to be reassessed. 

Compare-Contrast and Data
There are a few differences between my current school and schools in Finland. My school has a more regular high-stakes assessment, MAP, ACT, AP, SAT, and regular high-stakes in curriculum assessment. Whereas the only external high-stakes assessment in Finland is the Matriculation Examination. Currently, the US (which our school system is based on) is 481 in Mathematics and 498 in reading. In Finland, the mean score is 519 in Maths, and 524 in reading. If I compare these two sets of scores, it makes me wonder if so many High-stakes assessments actually benefit the student in the long run. Even though, high-stakes assessment can help teachers create a learning plan for students, help improve the test-taking abilities, and that they are standardized and are not discriminatory. There are enough cons to make me question if the students should be exposed to so many high-stakes assessments, these include, causing children to have to repeat grade levels or denying graduation if they don't succeed, that these form of assessments don't help students who struggle with learning in this form. I know from my own personal life, I suffer from test anxiety, which caused me to have to retake the SAT multiple times because my mind would go blank the moment I opened the test, which leads me to the next con, it causes high stress in students. I have read countless articles about students suffering from so much stress that they commit suicide because they were not able to pass the exam. I remember once a boy in my building tried committing suicide by threatening to jump off of our apartment complex, he had struggled with passing his final exam. He would not have been able to move on to the next grade level because of his test score he was wanting to put an end to all the stress since he felt his life was over. 
I understand that there are statistics out there that show how good High-stakes testing can be, but unless it is done in a way where the student has adequate support, where their "life" doesn't hang on a test, where there are ways where students are set up to succeed. Only then should High-Stakes assessments be used. They should never cause a student to feel as if the world is over and there is no hope. 

References:
 OECD.org. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from http://www.oecd.org
Are Advanced Placement (AP) Courses Important? (2014, August 26). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000006/
Are Advanced Placement (AP) Courses Important? (2014, August 26). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000006/
About the SAT Test. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www.princetonreview.com/college/sat-information
About the SAT Test. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www.princetonreview.com/college/sat-information
(n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www.ylioppilastutkinto.fi/en/matriculation-examination

Formative Assessment

Today's entry, I am going to three formative assessments that I can use for my Unit in Color Theory. The focus in this unit today will be on the objective created from the standard "Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design." NCCAS: Grade 6 Anchor Standard 2. The Objective is that by the end of the unit, students will be able to create the necessary colors to produce the color schemes Monochromatic, Analogous, Triadic, and Split Complementary. 

First Assessment 

The first Formative Assessment, inspired by The Art of Education, is to have the students T.A.G. one another. T.A.G.-ing is a form of peer critique that looks at if the other students can analyze and evaluate if their peer is remembering, understanding, and applying while they create their project.  Sometimes students get wrapped up in their project they might not remember the objective; this activity gives the student a chance to work with a peer to not just get a compliment but constructive criticism to help them reach the goal and fulfill the standard. Students exchange sketchbooks for writing down their T.A.G. Writing it down is good for the student, because then if they need to, they can go back and re-read the T.A.G. T is for Telling the artist something you like about their artwork. A is for Asking a question concerning a choice they made in their artwork. And G is for Giving a suggestion on how to improve the artwork. To make sure students are accurately T.A.G.ing each other, I will put a vocabulary key on the board to help the students carefully critique eachother. This assessment will not only show me if there is something missing in their work, but it will also show the student the areas they should improve on.

Second Assessment

Another form of Formative Assessment I will be using taken from the book, 60 Formative Assessment Strategies by Natalie Regier,  I will have students list 10 Things that they have learned so far. About halfway through the class, I will have students take out their sketchbook and list ten things they have learned during the unit. I will then have the students raise their hands, and we will create a community list on the board. As the list grows, if a student doesn't have a particular thing they have learned on their list, but it is on the board, I will ask them to write the word or term in their sketchbook continuing down. If they list something that shouldn't be there I will have them mark it out, but not erase it, this will give me and them and understanding of where they are, as well as help me identify any gaps in learning they might have. The goal is to make sure that they have a complete understanding, so to help not have any holes in their knowledge while they try to apply what they know. 

Third Assessment 

The final form of Formative Assessment I plan to do is a self-reflection written in their sketchbooks. This assessment, found in the Ultimate Guide to Assessment in the Art Room, is heavily inspired by Blooms Taxonomy. According to The Art of Ed, "Self-assessment is an important growth concept that should take place on a regular basis in the art room." They suggest that "Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) can provide a hierarchy outline of self-reflection prompts for students to use at any time in the art making process."
The student will use the following prompts to write a reflexion in their sketchbook:
Remembering- Here are the steps I took to complete this work. 
Understanding- Did I achieve my goals for this project? 
Applying- Where could I use these art techniques and process again? 
Analyzing- Do I see any patterns in my work habits? 
Evaluating- What are my thoughts on how my artwork turned out? What needs improvement? 
Creating-  What’s my plan for going forward for this piece of artwork as well as new works?

References

Theartofed.com. Retrieved December 14, 2016, from https://www.theartofed.com/content/uploads/2016/03/Ultimate-Assessment-Guide.pdf?mc_cid=0dee7cc64f&mc_eid=8ba8cffc4aMarzano, Robert J. Designing & Teaching Learning Goals & Objectives. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory, 2009. National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (2014) National Core Arts Standards. Rights Administered by the State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education. Dover, DE, www.nationalcoreartsstandards.orgRegier, N. 60 Formative Assessments. Retrieved December 14, 2016, from http://www.stma.k12.mn.us/documents/DW/Q_Comp/FormativeAssessStrategies.pdf

Understanding and Applying Standards

As an educator I  need to develop the best lesson for their students; I need to be aware of all the aspects of planning a unit, how the students perceive it. How will students be able to retain the content? Will the lesson be relevant compared to the overall big picture in the curriculum? Teach-Now has been great over the last Unit in preparing me for the future lessons I will teach by helping me understand how to unpack standards, backward planning, and writing objectives.

First thing I learned this week is to figure out what standards I  need to focus. Depending on where you teach standards can change. For the school, I teach at we use the NCCAS standards. Once you have your standard, you choose to focus on you can start your backward planning. Backward planning isn't as strange as it sounds. It makes a lot of sense when it comes planning a lesson or a unit. It's saying to yourself "Once the students have learned essential content, what will they be able to do with it?" To look at what you want the end product to look like and say, "this is where I want my students to be, what path are we going to take to get here?"

Which takes me to objectives, I must say I love using objectives, especially objectives based on smart goals, standards, and with a little blooms taxonomy thrown in there. It's not enough to say "Students will learn" We need to make sure that our students will be able to know what they need to know. And using smart goals to measure out the objectives is just the thing. Smart goals help the student and teacher set goals that are very specific, able to be measured, able to be reached during an allotted amount of time, and re relevant to their future development. It makes me think twice before giving an objective to my student. Will this objective help the student meet the goals outlined in the unit and the standards? No? Then I should probably rewrite the smart goal.

Over the course of this Unit of Standards, I have been challenged to take a second look at the standards in my curriculum. To see if I truly understand the standards and if I am unpacking them in a way where it will benefit the students. My goal is to open up the student's minds to new concepts, new ideas, to help prepare them for the 21st century. And I will use the standards the best that I can to prepare the students for where I want them to be by the end of their time with me.  


Creating. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

Think Alouds: Unpacking the Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/understanding-the-common-core-standards

McTighe, J. (2012). Common Core Big Idea 4: Map Backward From Intended Results. Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-map-backwards-jay-mctighe-grant-wiggins
SWBAT: Communicating Learning Goals. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/making-lesson-objectives-clear

Lesson Planning. (n.d.).

Standards and Backwards Mapping

I am currently teaching a 6th-grade art class at an International School in Hong Kong. The curriculum the school uses is based on the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. These standards are a Nation Wide set of Standards that are used in the United States. The NCCAS focus on four main points that all art subjects use to help guide educators provide unified quality art education for their students. The focus is on creating, performing/presenting/producing, responding, and connecting. The standards are designed to give educators a structure to help scaffold the lessons to build upon each year. They also contain Enduring Understandings as well as Essential Questions. These are helpful to teachers when it comes to backward planning. Backward planning isn't backward at all when you think about it. It focuses on the end goal, what does the educator want the student to accomplish at the end of a unit, what is the objective of the whole unit. Once the instructor has chosen the goals based on the Standard, they can then focus on ways to deliver the content in a way that best suits the student and their needs.

Standard 

The art standard I have chosen to focus on for the Unit is the anchor standard 2:
" Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
The substandard "VA:Cr2.1.6a: Demonstrate openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design."
This standard was chosen for my Introductory Unit in 6th grade, the first unit that they experience as a middle schooler. The goal for the unit is that sets the tone and the standard for the entire Middle School experience. At the school that I teach, the 6th-grade art class is an introductory art course where students are exposed to new ideas and concepts in art. It is also where we set expectations for our students when it comes to the organization and development of these new ideas and approaches. What better standard to focus on than having students focus on the demonstration of openness in trying new ideas, materials, methods, and approaches in making works of art and design. Up until now, students have not been given a chance to branch out to contemporary art or use complicated mediums such as Acrylic. To figure out how to structure the instruction and learning, I first look at the enduring understanding statements and essential questions for the standard. The enduring understanding is Artists and designers balance experimentation and safety, freedom and responsibility while developing and creating artworks. And the Essential Questions are How do artists work? How do artists and designers determine whether a particular direction in their work is effective? How do artists and designers learn from trial and error? This information helps me better plan my lesson. It gives me a "take away" for the unit.

So what are the new ideas, new materials, and methods as well as approaches will I be focusing on for this unit? The new ideas will be based on the color wheel that they had already learned in grade four, only taken to the next level where they will learn aboutAnalogus, Triadic, and Split complimentary color schemes, how to identify the color schemes and why artists decide to use those schemes in their work. The new materials and methods will be acrylic painting, a more difficult medium for students to use, especially when it comes to mixing color. The new approaches will be graffiti art; students have never been taught about modern or contemporary art before 6th grade, and this will be the unit that helps get their toes wet in deeper thinking when it comes to art.

Focus 

I will be focusing on three proficiencies that what students will be able to do once the unit is completed.
1. By the end of the unit, the students will be expected to identify and create Analogous, Triadic, and Split complimentary color schemes.
2. Students will explore and apply a range of acrylic paint techniques and brushwork.
3. Students will have an increased awareness of contemporary art forms such as graffiti and street art.

Instructional Strategies 

Three instructional plans I intend on using to help the students learn the concepts are:
1. To help the students understand the more complex color schemes, I plan on playing a Color Theory Card game. The game requires a deck of color theory cards that contain the colors of a color wheel. Students will be delt a card and then stand in the circle. I will call out different color terminologies starting from the basics such as primary and secondary color to the most challenging concepts such as split complementary. As the students try to pair or trio up, this gives them a chance to make mistakes to help them learn without the fear of failing and without over lecturing.
2. Paint by dice game - To help the students practice their painting techniques in a structured yet fun way the students will be playing a paint by dice game. Each table will have paints, brushes, paper as well as a game sheet. The game sheet is a guide sheet where you can try different techniques based on what number your role; the students also roll the dice to determine the color they will use. The aim of the game is to roll until your page is filled up and all the techniques have been tried. The game creates a broad range of different style paintings, but the end goal is to get the student to attempt to try all the different techniques while having fun.
3. Virtual Field Trip- The school I currently teach at has a one to one program for computers, and thanks to Google Earth and culture I can take the students on guided field trips around the world. To expose the students to a wide range of art, I will select a field trip of an appropriate context for the students to attend. The great part about Google Art and Culture is a lot of specific excursions already exist. The one I will take them on is one around London where a famous graffiti artist uses his name to tag buildings. A guided visual experience helps increase their awareness of different art styles and opens the class up to discussions such as "How do artists and designers determine whether a particular direction in their work is effective?" as well as some other Essential Questions for the standard.

Assessment 

I will be using three ways to assess the students to help me and them know if they are learning the concepts. The assessments are a tool to help me measure if the students are learning and if not, how I can adjust the lesson to help them learn.
1. First assessment the students will be given is a Color Theory Quiz. It is a simple formative quiz that goes over the vocabulary and the color theory to show if a student has absorbed the new information or not. If they did? Celebrations all around! If not? Let's dust us off, and I will find a more suitable way of instructing the content.
2.   Another assessment is the final project. This project is a summative assessment that uses a rubric to give students guidance on the project. The students choose a color scheme that they would like to use based on triadic, split complementary, or analogous. The student then designs their name using graffiti, inspired by their field-trip to England. And finally, the student demonstrates their brush skills that they have been learning in applying the paint that they have mixed from only primary colors into the color scheme they have chosen. This final project shows the teacher and the students what information in the end made it and what didn't. I use the rubric given to them at the beginning of the project to grade them. If they don't do well, I give them feedback and a chance to make adjustments on their project. The object isn't if the student gets it right the first time, it's if the student learns the required content.
3. The third assessment that I will use will be an artist statement. An artist statement is a piece of written work that helps students reflect on the objectives and goals. I give students a flow chart, taken from The Art of Education assessment tools.Students must follow for writing their artist statement at the end of the unit. They start with 1. Describe your artwork. 2. How did you create your art? 3. What is the big idea behind your artwork? 4. What were your goals for this artwork? 5. What are your overall thoughts of your artwork? Each of these questions has some questions to consider to guide the students. This helps the students to become aware of their choices as an artist and communicate their learning process and production of creative works effectively.

Conclusion 

In conclusion my goal was to create a unit that was focused on a standard and used backward planning, to give students an achievable target that students will be able to attain in their pursuit of education.



References:
Creating. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

Recent Articles - The Art of Ed. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://www.theartofed.com/recent-articles/page/10/

Sign In - Rubicon International. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2016, from https://ics-hk.rubiconatlas.org/Atlas/Portal/View/Default
 

Applying Classroom Rules and Procedures

Applying Classroom Rules and Procedures

November 2016

"We don't get to decide whether we have challenging students in our classes, but we can certainly decide how we respond to them." - Carol Ann Tomlinson

Each day I prepare my classroom for students who might or might not be willing to learn, for students who might have a lot going on in their lives, who might be having the best day of their lives or who might not. I don't get to choose my students, but I do choose how I interact with them on a daily basis. And I choose to help facilitate an environment that will help students succeed. Like most teachers, I start the beginning of the year going over our rules and procedures, and I usually remind the students of our rules and procedures both verbally and nonverbally on a regular basis. I do so nonverbally by displaying signs in the class and verbally by just mentioning to the class in a loving way what our expectations for the class are. 

But just like most classes, these classroom procedures may or may not be followed. If they are followed then it's cause for celebration! With either verbal recognition or in our class a semi-tangible recognition. Our favorite in class semi-tangible recognitions "DJ" Fridays, where the students as a whole behaved well all week, they get a chance to choose the music we play in our art class. Another is "free-choice" seating where the students get to choose who they sit next to. These two "carrots" as I call them are great rewards for our class. I found it gives students something to strive for, something they know they might get if the whole class behaves well. 

If my students choose not to follow our rules and procedures, I check myself first to see if I am being lenient. Sometimes it's not the student who is struggling because they want to break the rules, but because they see a lax teacher who doesn't seem to want to enforce the consequences. But if it isn't something that I am doing wrong, and it is a student who is choosing to break the rules and procedures. The first step is to either directly and verbally remind the student or refocus the student. But if that doesn't work the student usually receives a check mark, which if they get three results in a lunch detention. I do this one a little differently than my colleagues because I like to pair it up with a little redemption. If a student shows that they were remorseful, showing that they really didn't mean to break the rule even after a verbal/nonverbal warning then I give them a chance to make it up by demonstrating their desire to change through keeping to the rules the rest of the class period and then doing a small chore to help class community. 

For example, one day little Jimmy was really excited about everything because it was about time to go on fall break. Little Jimmy knew that the rules were still expected to be followed, but in his excitement, he forgot that during work time hew wasn't supposed to talk. I reminded him gently once, but after the first warning, he made the same poor choice once again. By the second time, I asked him to put his name on the board, indicating that he had received a check mark. He was very upset but held it in. It seemed that tears were swelling up in his eyes. He sat quietly at his desk during work time. He raised his hand to ask me to come over. I went over and he asked in a very soft voice if "redemption" was an option, even though it was right before the holiday. And I told him that it was, and I said it was. It seemed that he worked even harder the rest of class and then at the end of class joyfully did his one little chore. I think the chore was much better than having received a check. 

I do agree with how Marzano frames how to manage behavior in the classroom, and I try to follow a similar framework in my class. 

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The Art and Science of Teaching. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Carol Ann Tomlinson, "Rising to the Challenge of Challenging Behavior", Educational Leadership, October 2012