Action Research- Implementation

This week was very difficult for implementing new things to projects, since it is the end of our quarter and everyone is trying to wrap up projects. I did try a new class project of packaging tape sculptures. In the past I have had one or two kids do this project, but not a whole class. I had both my classes do the project, which equals 65 kids, which equals 1-2 sculptures per 2-3 kids. So, needless to say we had about 15 sculptures popping up around school. The kids had a blast taping each other, bears, a baby and a car (group of 5. It gave them an idea about installation art and who needs to approve their work. What we learned from the project was to put the projects up high or else students were messing with some of the sculptures. Since this was the case I had the kids take their picture next to their project somewhere in the school. They then had to email the picture to me from their Ipad. They could use the Ipad for the picture and to email. This helped a lot making it easier for me to grade in a timely manner and to know who's was who's. In the future I can have them make a video with their packaging tape person discussing their process, problem solving, intentions, method, placement and creativity. I will be able to do this project again next year and will be able to collect more data on this specific assignment. For your viewing pleasure.....

Action Research

As I continue to do my action research I am finding that there needs to be more and more quality Ipad assignments, when using the Ipad. This week I was paired with another teacher to talk to the 11th and 12th grade students to survey them about what might be their stressors. Amongst other things one of things that came up in the discussion was the use of the Ipads. They found that they used it chat and Facebook than for academic use. They had some valid points on PC vs Ipad software. Somethings are easier on a PC. We also discussed if it is the best choice towards college, considering most will offer a laptop. Lastly, I asked them if they found the Ipad to be more helpful or harmful. This was a real eye opener to hear them mention they felt like the teachers were not teaching as much as before. If students needed help they would get a response of "look at the power point" or "check my notes." This brought of a lot of different directions I could go with my action research. Excited: I am excited to find more thorough assignments using the Ipad and evaluating the teaching value of the Ipad lesson vs past lessons. Worried: I am just not sure how successful the Ipad will be in trying to stay true to my students and not get reliant on the internet, which sounds like it is starting to happen a little at our school. I am also worried about having good research when I teach different classes different quarters of the year and teach 9-12 graders. Moving forward: I need to really listen to what the kids have said already to help tailor my classroom research. I will take into account what other classes are doing and what apps are being used. I will also try flipped classroom on certain assignments.

Mission Statement

Mission statement Personal Values- I believe in honesty, being human and working hard with a positive attitude. I think it is important to be honest and to be expressive. I have always been taught to treat others the way you would want to be treated. I also believe a part of being human is to understand each person acts differently. There is not one way to respond to certain situations and on top of that you don’t know what is going on behind the scenes. Sometimes you need give yourself and others a break. No one is perfect. I also believe that if you go through life with a positive attitude you and the people around you will be happier. It is so much easier to be positive than to be negative. You need to have a reason to look ahead when troubles arise. If you are negative it will be harder to get to the light at the end of the tunnel. I also think that being positive helps those that are struggling with negativity in their life. Personal Vision I am currently working at Byron High School as the head Visual Art teacher. I have the most seniority so I don’t need to worry as much about job cuts. Visual Arts remains as one of the two choices for fine arts that is required to be taken at our school for one full credit. The state still requires arts to be a requirement in high school education. I feel safe at my current job and cared for by administration. I am in progress to have my Masters in Teaching and Learning. I compete in MSHLS art contests and shows with my students. I keep current with my personal artistic skills. I am considering continuing my education in a Masters in Fine Arts. If this is the path I choose I would then consider teaching at the college level. My dream as an art teacher has been to be in a safe environment where I feel job security. In 2012 I came back from maternity leave and my mentors had both retired for family reasons. I then became the head of the art department for Byron Public Schools. I then interviewed for the High School position and got the job. I am now in my second year of Byron High School Art Teacher, whereas before I was the travelling middle and high school teacher. Since my coworkers had retired it gives me the most seniority of about 5 years to my new peers in the art field. I am happy at Byron and building a home so that my son can be part of the district. I am currently taking classes through Saint Mary’s State University Master in Education of Teaching and Learning and will graduate with the class of 2015. After finishing this Masters I will look at what point my life is in before I would pursue another Masters. As much as I value my career I do believe in family first. My future plans will be determined by what stage I am at with my family.

Goal Update

1. Start a BHS Art Club A. Needs to be approved by the Principal- Yes this goal has been approved by the Principal B. Student representatives- 2 Students have come forward to represent and create BHS Art Club The students and I have set up a timeline to go over our proposal for the school board. We plan on meeting in about 2 weeks during their seminar time. Currently they have finals, so we will need to wait until after that. C. Adviser- Me :) D. Presented to school board to be approved- Next meeting Tuesday April 22nd E. Plan- what will we do with our art club- This can be determined with the students while we are writing the proposal. F. Talk to other art educators of National art society vs art club

Goal Setting

My goal of change is: 1. Start a BHS Art Club A. Needs to be approved by the Principal B. Student representatives C. Adviser- Me :) D. Presented to school board to be approved E. Plan- what will we do with our art club F. Talk to other art educators of National art society vs art club This is both a short and long term goal. In the short sense I would like to have A- D finished by the end of school year 2014. Why, because some students and I have already started this process. While we have some of which already approved I would like to have this go through before a new Principal arrives and we then need to start the process all over again. This started because kids wanted to be able to do art all year round and not just as a class. I should go now and get a hold of those kids that wanted to be the leaders of this group. ASAP! Ready, set , I'll start tomorrow:)

Holistic Assessment

Today in class I tried the holistic rubric rather than my usual analytical rubric. I thought the holistic approach would go faster for my grading. I had the students do a self assessment and then they brought their clay house and rubric to me and I hi-lited what my grading was. I had 3 sections of excellent, good and poor. I preferred that they don't circle one main group. I explained they they may get excellent in one section and good in another. This probably defeats the purpose of the holistic grading, but I felt their glazing job was not black nor white, but lots of gray in between. They were graded on 2 coats of glaze, Fully covered or no missed spots of glaze, glaze with the lines- not messy and no glaze on the bottom. They found the all, most and not many to be easy to understand. I asked them when we were finished how they liked doing the self assessment and a few liked it. Not a very exciting bunch. I liked that I felt like my grading went much quicker working with the kids. I also like that there was not points on it so the kids couldn't figure out what their grade would be. They could guess, but it wasn't right there for them to figure out. I would make a key for how many marks in each section correlated to a certain grade point or point system. I would also give them a copy from the beginning of glazing as a check off. I usually do that. The points that were on the rubric were already discussed previously with the class, so it was not a surprise of what they were being graded on.