5/15/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Patricia Holloway
|
One of my ASD kindergarten students came to art the first day crying, sobbing really, but silent, being non verbal. I sat the students on dots on the floor so everyone had their own space, he would not sit...just stood at the back of the group clinging to the table legs, crying silently. At a loss, I let him stay where he was since he wasn't hurting himself or anyone, and I introduced the art room, the expectations, and the first project the way I would under any other circumstance. After this first experience with him I spoke to his teacher about his IEP, and we worked together to provide the best learning environment for him in a room with a lot of stimuli that could be overwhelming. Proximity to an adult worked well, so I would set a chair next to mine when I read a book to the class and he sat next to me, read along with me. I would hold his hand and walk with him when he needed to get supplies in a different part of the room. I put his seat at a table next to my desk and his table mates were very quiet, calm, helpful girls who encouraged him and praised his work constantly. I adapted the art projects for him to include simple shapes, colors and lines. He was usually not able to put shapes together to make complex ones, but he was able to identity shapes and colors by pointing. I used visual cards with object of shapes and colors to assess what he was learning, and always spoke to him with correct art terms...like space, texture, line, etc. That way when he pointed I would know he understood the concepts I was teaching. By the end of the year he began to speak to me in one word answers. |
5/15/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Patricia Holloway
|
Last year I had a 5th grade student with AD/HD. He could not stay in his seat, was unable to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. He made noise non-stop...whether talking, singing, rapping, humming, and he didn't realize he was doing it. I broke his instructions down into 2 steps at a time. As soon as I assessed that he completed the first steps for a project I gave him the next step or 2...depending on the complexity of the assignment. I moved around the room, praising students' work and focus and use Elements of Art, including him so he didn't feel singled out, and he responded best with positive feedback at regular intervals. This helped him to refocus on the task at hand. I also gave him responsibilities in the art room so he could move freely when he needed to, and at the end of each class he could choose a friend to help collect art work, paint brushes,etc. This helped him forge friendships because he had a difficult time socially. In this way he was doing activities that were necessary, thereby giving him a positive purpose, using his active hands and feet for something productive. And almost every time he left the art room he'd say to me, "I did pretty good today, didn't I?" |
5/15/2020
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Patricia Holloway
|
Just this past year I rearranged my art room so that all students could sit in close rows and view instructions on a document camera. This has been an amazing tool, allowing me to demonstrate one step at a time to the entire class, then walk around the room to assess each child's progress. I have several D/HH students that this is invaluable to. I have these students seated close to me, and I also wear a clip-on microphone connected to their implant so they can hear me clearly. But with the document camera, they can also see what to do in a large format. |
5/18/2020
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Patricia Holloway
|
I like the idea of using mnemonic instruction for learning basic art concepts and elements. I teach "ROY G BIV" to my Kindergarteners as part of a color unit. They are able to remember the colors of the rainbow more easily with this technique. There is a fun ROY G BIV song on a Youtube video that the students love. Music is fabulous in helping students remember things. My older students will bring the song and video up when they are working with color, illustrating to me tha it helps with information recall.
Which brings me to the other strategy that I will use in my classroom...Peer Partners. Many students respond well when instruction and help comes from a friend/peer/table mate. The classroom teachers use this very well with special time of reading partners...one class will pair up with another class and read a book or story together. The students love this because it forges new friendships as well as encourages them to try hard without pressure. I have several inclusion classes where there is an mix of students with IEPs....D/HH, ASD, and AD/HD, and students that don't have one. If I seat the students together at table they will help each other, which gives me more opportunity circulate the room to assist as needed. |
5/18/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Patricia Holloway
|
One of my first grade students is E/BD and it doesn't take much for him to escalate. When his class is dropped off his teacher lets me know what kind of morning he's had and let's me know what will be most effective with him for a particular art class. He works best at a table by himself, so he isn't in close physical proximity to another student. Yet he craves to be near others, he just can't control his reactions to normal conversations without getting upset, thinking his peers are making fun of him or being mean....when they are really just trying to be nice and kind. One strategy I'm using with him is to seat him at a table by himself, but have another table connected to his so that there's another student near him...just technically not at the same table. In this way he'll have a peer nearby but not close enough to hit or ruin their artwork. I also use quick positive responses to anything, however small, that he accomplishes without getting upset. He likes to feel useful, too, so I give him responsibilities he can carry out to keep his hands occupied productively. He passes out paper towels, helps collect artwork, pushes in chairs. These strategies work often, but every now and then, he is unable to reel it in. Thankfully, this was happening less and less as the school year progressed. |
5/18/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Patricia Holloway
|
Often in art the process is more important than the product, especially for students with disabilities. I introduce clay in kindergarten with the Element of Art, Texture. We read the book, Owl Babies, and make clay owls showing texture on their feathers, feet, wings, etc. With an ASD student that had sensory issues, he didn't want to touch the clay. To help him, I gave him Play-Do to experiment with to get the feel of the material. I had him roll the Play-Do into various shapes, flatten it, poke holes in it, mush it together... a variety of ways to become familiar with a 3-D medium that feels cool, soft, malleable... By the end of the project he was able to manipulate low fire white clay into a 3-D piece that had texture, shape, and form (it just wasn't an owl!). After it had been fired in the kiln, he painted it just as happily everyone else in the class painted their owls. |
5/20/2020
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Patricia Holloway
|
A successful adaptive assessment I use in my art class for students is allowing extended time to work on a project, and then placing them in small groups to complete the work. After most work is turned in, several students are still working, and because they take longer time to grasp what others have acheived, they can get frustrated and want to quit. Once a month I have a day where I group the class at different tables depending on what project they are in the process of completing. In this way, no student is singled out as needing extra time because everyone is finishing up something. This also helps the students interact with others they don't normally sit with and can be an inspiration to their work to see another's art work. |
5/20/2020
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Patricia Holloway
|
I like to use exit tickets to assess what the students have comprehended during a lesson. It is often a one or two word answer to a question I ask as they are cleaning up. I give each student a small square of paper to write their answer on and they turn it in as they line up. I also use a call and response strategy while the students are in line waiting for their teacher. This 2-fold technique reinforces what we're learning and helps with knowledge recall and retention. |
5/20/2020
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Patricia Holloway
|
Technology has enabled me to bring very interesting a fun online tutorials to my students' attention. One of my 4th graders is ADD and ASD so it's hard for him to focus for long on any one assignment. But he also doesn't handle making mistakes very well, constantly wants to to start over, and also is very detailed oriented. Using my document camera connected to my school laptop I introduced Zentangles to his class through a "how-to-draw" video. He was mesmerized! He could watch the video, which was on a continuous loop, follow along, and, since Zentangles are very detailed but also made up of random and planned patterns, this appealed so perfectly to his learning style. Tutorials on the large screen are great, not only for students with disabilities, but for any student who benefits from breaking down a project into step by step instruction. Plus I'm able to walk around and assess everyone's progress more freely. |