Conferences later this week, time to see student work on display

Hi-

As you head into the school in the next week, please take time to admire your child's work and the art made by the other artists!

In the 3rd year of the Arts Access and Education Fund -Arts Tax, the visual art teachers in PPS have already begun the necessary work for starting or reviving an arts program. In year 3, our goals are beginning to shift, from basic start-up to more refined expectations for student learning. *

PPS hired about 40 K-5 visual arts teachers and we meet once/month to share information and professional training.
Last year we rewrote the Visual Arts PPS Standards, the criteria to be assessed for the standard report card.
You will see:

Overall Effort

Refines and completes works of art.

Creates through appropriate use of tools, techniques, and studio space.

Responds and finds meaning when viewing works of art.

The grading values are:

Key for effort and expectations +Consistently demonstrates            V    Often demonstrates    /     Sometimes demonstrates --     Does not yet demonstrate NE   No evidence

Key for Academic Performance E     Exceeds: Demonstrates STRONG skills/concepts M     Meets:  Demonstrates grade level skills CM  Close to meeting:  Applies MOST grade level skills N     Does not yet meet:  Applies SOME grade level skills NM  Not enough work to determine grade level skills

 Soon a team of us will be writing a K-5 Art curriculum, as the most recent one was written in the early 1990's. This activity is a great opportunity to update information and to coordinate with the new national standards, which were developed in coordination with the Common Core initiative.
National Core Art Standards
http://www.nationalartsstandards.org/

*Please know that regardless of Standards, my overarching goal for all my students is that they understand that Art is HUGE, a variety of media, is ordinary and extraordinary simultaneously and open to specific and infinite interpretation.
Art is fun, as working with materials is fun and learning new processes and ways to think and be expressive is fun. Being confident in your skills is fun, so that those looking at your work really see and understand your ideas.
No matter what, these beliefs guide everything I do in the art classroom in my commitment to give students a solid studio experience and training. Hopefully they can leave my program feeling confident and capable as artists, regardless of what Standards  need to be delivered or assessed. NH