connecting the dots: teaching, learning and classroom structure within a middle school art room
TRANSCRIPT
Connecting the Dots: teaching, learning and classroom structure within a middle school art room.Stacy Lord
7th & 8th Grade Art TeacherWorcester East Middle
Who am I? I’m 43 years old Teaching Art for 9 years at Worcester East Middle
School Taught at the Worcester Art Museum & Worcester
Center for Crafts Member of the Art Education Advisory Committee for
MA Published in SchoolArts Magazine Member of the Instructional Leadership Team at WEMS Founding Member of Central MA largest one day arts &
music festival, stART on the Street Internal Coach at WEMS for Positive Behavioral
Interventions & Supports (aka PBIS)
Where do I work?
Worcester East Middle School located In Central MA Progressed to Level 2 this year, up from Level 3
WEMS
WEMS
Why are we here? Community Learn from each other Best Practices Share information Gather ideas To keep the wheel rolling rather than recreating it
NAEA
Environment
Innovative
Projects
Classroom
ManagementClimate
for Learning
Organized
Stimulating
Comfortable
Safe
Environment
Is your classroom set-up to engage your students visually? Does it inspire them to
want to create?
Environment
Environment
Environment
Environment
SIGNS
Essentials of Classroom Design
1. To establish and maintain a safe, healthy and positive learning environment
2. To foster creativity and facilitate critical thinking
Environment
Physical Layout – How does it flow?
Constraints – Pacing
Environment
Legos
Woodworking Plaster
Computers&
Drawingbooks
Dark gray is storage area with cabinets, mostly off limits to students
1 11
2 22
3
43 3
4
4
4 555
67
8
67
8
67
8
321
sink
MediumCenter
Pencil, paper, rulers
rubric, finish box
Woodworking center
Structured
Consistent
Respectful
Fair
Classroom Management
Box of Irritations Learn to become Proactive instead of Reactive!
Instead of getting frustrated …reframe it!
Classroom Management
Proactive instead of Reactive anticipating what may happen
Assign seats by the end of the 1st week Tables have numbers on them and grouped
by colors Multiple work centers around the room
Classroom Management
Classroom Management
Inevitably problems will arise.
How do you manage them?
Engaging
Foster creativity
Encourages critical thinking
skills
Innovative Projects
Stages of Student Engagement
5 mins 10
mins
15 mins 20
mins
25 mins
From one Art teacher point of view
Innovative Projects
Chunking Breaking information down into small, bite size
pieces. Otherwise known as ‘taking it in steps’.
Innovative Projects
I don’t want to do this
I won't do this
You can’t make me
I can’t draw
I can’t do this
Breaking the cycle of self-doubt
Innovative Projects
The Project: Animal Cartoons One of the strategies to help break the cycle of
self-doubt, is to get the students to let go of preconceived ideas
Draw what you see not what you know
Innovative Projects
Cartoon Animals
* Images from Christopher Hart’s books
Innovative Projects
Innovative Projects
Assessment
Something I found exciting about this project was that we got to do sculpture. The beauty of making
sculptures was that I could free my mind and do whatever I felt. Art
frees me from everything. That is why it’s a pleasure doing it.
I found this project both exciting and hard. I found it exciting because we
had to create ourselves out of paper. We had to cut out hard things that were very tiny. The
creations we made were incredible.
What I found exciting about this project was how
we took our time to express ourselves. This helped us, the students, express out feelings. It
was really fun and creative. There’s nothing I would change about this project because it was a
great assignment.
The Results
I found exciting about this project is expressing what I feel. This really made it fun to watch and see what everyone came up with. Having an activity like this could bring people
together.
I found the project exciting because it inspires me to try the best I can and once I’m done I
am very proud of myself because I’m the one who drew it!
The Results
What I found exciting about this project
was challenging and hard but I did good on my art because
Ms. Lord inspired me to keep trying and
never give up.
Environment
Innovative
Projects
Classroom
Management
Climate for
Learning
Conclusion
Thank You