What do you need to do in class?
I admit up front that I have high expectations for my students! Really, everyone should high expectations… after all, who wants to just make the bar if we can reach beyond it. After reading my rationale and my philosophy of education I am sure that you are aware of my thoughts behind this. I believe that it is important for children to be challenged; my class is just that in many ways. The information taught in my room is important to all other areas of their education and can come to prove themselves worthy in other aspects of their life as well; Visual Arts are an area that require us to “think outside the box” and be aware of things around us and how our minds react to those things. I teach concepts relevant to our daily lives in today's world. While the information covered in my class isn't on a standardized test, rather it will be tested and graded in other ways throughout their school careers.
The expectations in my room are much the same as those in the general classroom. smArtists are expected to come to class prepared to learn and work with positive attitudes. They are asked to participate in class, through listening, speaking when the time is appropriate, and acting accordingly so as to not disturb or distract from our learning experience. They are expected to apply their best efforts toward the betterment of their education through these things listed above and through the "play" we take part in during class. The expectations of each classes conduct and effort do not change but the projects and assignments are based on the readiness of each class and so may vary accordingly. Lastly, if all these things are in place... we will simply have FUN!
The rules are simple... Respect yourself! If a child respects himself first... then respect for others and their belongings, follows closely behind! At the end of the day all issues having to do with effort or conduct can be linked back to the basics.. Respecting yourself, Respecting others, Respecting our school environment, and Respecting learning!
Classes are 45 minutes for all grades... during this time there are two parts to our class! The first part is Learning through Teaching... this part of our class is mainly myself teaching and reviewing concepts, sometimes students maybe asked to introduce a topic during this time period and they would be teaching concepts through their research or prior knowledge they are sharing during discussion. The second part of our class time is Learning through Making... This is the time in our class that we are looking for all students to use their gained and prior knowledge to plan and construct a project of their own.
I look forward to all of my student's success this coming school year!
