Where do we go from here

We have lift off!

Getting students to embrace a student driven program with Themes and Artistic Targets is no small task.  We need to build relationships and trust.  Support and guidance also needs to be applied differently for each student.  This weekend I spent time looking over my students Artist Proposals and Sway links.  I was looking for the following: understanding of how to complete and submit an Artist Proposal on the Google form, did the student complete research based on the proposed Theme and Artistic Target, is the student experimenting and practicing, and did the student upload progress images of the documentation of the progress made in the studio?  I am pleased to see that many of my young artists have exceeded my expectations and are off to a wonderful start.

 

 

During the next week I will be pushing my students to add commentary to the progress documentation explaining what they are experiencing.  Some of my students are already writing comments and making adjustments to the original proposal.

 

I will also be tapping some students in each course to present to the class their Sway link, this will help to model the expectation.  A few students who are Intermediate students have moved onto a second Artist Proposal so I will be asking them to present the concept for the next project to the class.  I will be creating an environment where students can view the Sway link the artist prepared. Their peers in class will make suggestions to help push and guide the artist in ways to challenge the proposal.

I want the artist to be pushed to move beyond their comfort level and level up.  This can be done by simply changing the scale of the substrate, change the point of view, limit the color palette or lines, and adding a new technique.  Our goal is to create the most original, unique, and quality pieces we can make.

We have our Arts Reveal Night in October so getting some practice in presenting in class is going to only make our evening even better.

I am very pleased with the confidence my students exhibit in the studio and the open mindset to strive to expand their abilities.

Kicking into High Gear

Quick overview of my Choice Based Studio organization and student management.

So it starts with front loading a student learning management platform and creating Google forms.  I use Haiku, Google Forms, and Sway to manage, document, guide, scaffold, and inspire my student artists so they can expand beyond their own imagination.  Here are some screen shots of the curated folders I have created on my Haiku page.

Here is a screen shot of my Google drive of the forms I have for my students. My forms include Artist Proposal, Summative Assessment, Formative Assessment, Artist Statement Form. Plus a few special forms specific to the AP Studio Art course.

Here is some screen shots of the data I can gather from the Google forms collected from  the Art Proposal.

This data can be used to track student selections of media, themes, artistic targets,etc.  I can use the information to help guide my learners and scaffold workshops to push the engagement and skill sets of each artist.  I can also track the media use and order supplies based on an average of media selected and used.  I plan on using the data to see how the semester evolves from practice– experimenting, improvement-skill building, mastery– highest development, and then finally portfolio.  Currently it is showing a higher percentage of practice and skill building.  This is totally expected for the beginning of the school year with so many beginner level students.

I hope many of you find this helpful.  I will be presenting to a group of art teachers in NWA in October and I will record the workshop.  I will then post it on a YouTube channel with common questions with answers.

Have a great Labor Day weekend.  I’m off to relax.