7/5/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Jo Anne Petry
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Johnny is a 4th grade student in my art class who is autistic. He pays attention during the lesson and is well behaved. He participates in class and will be a helper when asked. His comprehension is good and he scores well enough on assessments. The issue that affects his learning occurs during the studio work time when the students are working on their projects. During this part of class, students are encouraged to work together to share ideas and materials. The class has almost 30 kids in it so, as you can imagine, there is a bit of noise from the accountable student talk. Johnny gets very little art work done and often complains about his classmates behavior on small things ('tattling'). He was also asking to take his project and materials home to work instead completing his task in class. Through my interactions and interviews with Johnny, I discovered that it was the noise in the classroom that rattled him and made him almost completely unable to focus on the task at hand. After the lesson presentation I began allowing Johnny to take his materials to a table on a small patio just outside my double glass classroom doors where I could see him and to work out there. I would meet with him several times during the studio session to check comprehension and allow him quiet time with me. His project completion rate improved and he was definitely more relaxed and less stressed at the end of art class. He stopped asking to work at home. His test scores did not improve but he was happier to come to class. |
7/11/2016
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Jo Anne Petry
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I have found that the tools and strategies for working with students with disabilities are tools I use regularly in my classroom when teaching art skills and techniques to my elementary students. Breaking tasks down by chaining is the best way to teach complex art processes especially for students with ADD and other specific learning disabilities. Providing differentiated assignments is helpful to address students with different amounts of prior exposure to prerequisite skills and practice in addition to being vital to the success of students with disabilities. Once the general project directions are taught the teacher can easily move from student to student providing more support or more challenging extensions as required by each students' individual learning needs. |
7/12/2016
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Jo Anne Petry
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Formative assessments in my 2nd grade art classes include quick quizzes on color theory where students are asked to write the names of colors in different categories such as primary, secondary, warm, cool, neutral, etc. One enthusiastic artist has severe dyslexia and writing for her is a slow and painful process but she no trouble mastering the concepts in art class. When giving these types of assessments I write the category for her (and say it for her again when she hesitates in answering) and I allow her to answer by coloring with a crayon rather than writing her answer. |