Teaching and Assessment Philosophy
Art offers many opportunities for the teacher to assess how the student is doing on an individual basis. It may be short, informal assessments asking them to make adjustments, or it may be a student reflective assessment at the end of a project, but it is important for me as an art teacher to constantly assess student growth. For an art teacher, assessing student growth is a flawless teachable moment.
· Who is assessment for? Why Assess? Assessment verifies and validates student learning in a concrete example. It helps the student know if they are on the right path and gives them the opportunity to move forward. It lets the teacher know if what was being taught actually stuck in the minds of the student. In an art class, assessment allows students and teachers to look from different perspectives, because assessment in an art room is collaborative and engaging to the entire class.
When do you assess? In an art class, assessment happens continuously. When I walk around a classroom and interact with my students, I am assessing and helping them develop their own sense of assessing their artwork. Before they even begin their piece, I am assessing their prior knowledge in order to measure student growth from before and after the assignment.
What types of assessment are appropriate for what needs?
How do you assess in relationship to standards? Standards exist to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities to learn, so I believe that standards should be the backbone of my assessment. I do not think of standards as a hindrance, but as a guide to help me create a more solid, well rounded learning experience for my students. For every lesson plan I create, I align standards and grade level expectations to my learning targets. Since what I assess in the end on my rubric is the learning targets, I think of standards as flawlessly being incorporated into my lesson and assessment.
Art offers many opportunities for the teacher to assess how the student is doing on an individual basis. It may be short, informal assessments asking them to make adjustments, or it may be a student reflective assessment at the end of a project, but it is important for me as an art teacher to constantly assess student growth. For an art teacher, assessing student growth is a flawless teachable moment.
· Who is assessment for? Why Assess? Assessment verifies and validates student learning in a concrete example. It helps the student know if they are on the right path and gives them the opportunity to move forward. It lets the teacher know if what was being taught actually stuck in the minds of the student. In an art class, assessment allows students and teachers to look from different perspectives, because assessment in an art room is collaborative and engaging to the entire class.
When do you assess? In an art class, assessment happens continuously. When I walk around a classroom and interact with my students, I am assessing and helping them develop their own sense of assessing their artwork. Before they even begin their piece, I am assessing their prior knowledge in order to measure student growth from before and after the assignment.
What types of assessment are appropriate for what needs?
- Formative Informal Formative assessment occurs naturally in the art classroom with the interaction between student and teacher. As a teacher, I am attempting to guide them to their personal intended outcome, so I must understand my student’s needs and have a trusting relationship with them. I may also have a formative assessment in the form of a mid-progress review, which I feel is most helpful when done collaboratively as a class so that multiple viewpoints can be stated and the artist may choose the direction they take it.
- Summative: Summative assessments occur at the end of a project or at the end of the semester in a review of student portfolios. Summative Assessments can be done in various ways in the art class, but I feel the most important aspect is that the student gets a chance to reflect on what they learned through their experience.
- Performance assessments Since judging art can be highly opinionated, it is important for the artist to get multiple perspectives. It is essential for a student to be able to vocalize ( or write) their intent not only because it incorporates a literary component but because without reason and understanding of the artistic intent, a student cannot fully connect to the purpose of art. So, whole class critique helps a student understand if their artistic intent was too vague or on target. It also helps those who are critiquing to use art vocabulary and verbalize their point, developing higher level thinking.
- Scoring and Judging Strategies While opinions do exist, a teacher must be impartial to the grading process. In order to do this, a teacher must develop a rubric that takes quantitative measurable growth and scores a student based on only those things. This is why it is important to pre-assess, because we are trying to show how much they learned through the process of the project. Different components may include ideation( did they think and plan their idea out through discussion and/or sketches?), craftsmanship ( did they use the techniques taught appropriately?), and reflection ( did they make connections, consider different viewpoints, and participate in reflective activities? Did they apply concepts they learned?).
How do you assess in relationship to standards? Standards exist to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities to learn, so I believe that standards should be the backbone of my assessment. I do not think of standards as a hindrance, but as a guide to help me create a more solid, well rounded learning experience for my students. For every lesson plan I create, I align standards and grade level expectations to my learning targets. Since what I assess in the end on my rubric is the learning targets, I think of standards as flawlessly being incorporated into my lesson and assessment.