5/27/2017
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Jan Miller
|
Administrator wrote:
(Choose one)
1. Provide/Describe one or more examples of adapted or alternative assessments you have successfully used in the art classroom for students with disabilities. Be sure to identify the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
I am fortunate to have a Promethean Board and document camera in my classroom which I have used to good advantage with both elementary and secondary students in the past. This combination allows for everyone to be virtually in the front row of any explanation, demonstration or follow-along activity without having to adjust for viewing a too-small image upside-down at an awkward angle and still be able to hear while avoiding neighbors who may be a distraction. This year alone it has helped with students who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, Emotional / Behavior Disorder, ADD / ADHD, Specific Learning Disabilities, Language and Other Health Impairments.
I am currently working in a blended learning high school which serves many special needs students. I compiled a colorful “cut to the chase” print version of the online art history curriculum (including highlighting and pictures!) focusing on must-know information most relevant to students. I gave a brief preview one-on-one and handed it to a student with ADD for them to study for as much time as they need and had them return for an oral quiz.
I have also used these same tools to project the content and then have students work in teams of mixed general ed and ESE students to complete cloze worksheets. I paired myself with one student who has multiple exceptionalities including emotional disorders so she can focus on the task instead of the distracting behaviors and imagined behaviors of others. |
5/27/2017
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Jan Miller
|
Administrator wrote:
(Choose one)
1. Provide/Describe one or more examples of adapted or alternative assessments you have successfully used in the art classroom for students with disabilities. Be sure to identify the student's disability. Share your response in the threaded discussion.
2. Think of an art student with a disability you have now (or have had in the past). Identify their disability. Review the Alternative Assessment Checklist and select two or more options that could potentially benefit this student in assessing his or her visual arts learning. Share your response in the threaded discussion. |
6/1/2017
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Jan Miller
|
The following proposal on tiered lessons is based on the presumption that talent in art, like IQ, is more a function of time than it is of “smartness” or “inborn talent”.
In the past I’ve sometimes had difficulty teaching experienced, advanced, gifted, or AP students in the same class with general ed students. Ironically I haven’t had difficulty teaching the same subject on K-12 levels in private schools. All I have to do is provide a framework for achievement on several levels and help each student select the appropriate level for themselves. I also have to bear in mind that these levels won’t necessarily be static. For example, I recently taught a unit on drawing cars in 3-D by the “packing box” method. Students who did very well on face or figure drawing but weren’t especially interested in cars or who were convinced they couldn’t do as well (perhaps by gender stereotyping) didn’t do as well. They would be better served by doing a 2-D car design project or creating a music video on the silhouettes of cars throughout the ages. High functioning students with Asperger’s who have a special interest in cars or experience with visual arts media could join the gifted artists and visually-impaired students who may in turn springboard onto creating and smoke-trailing a clay model of a car to check for aerodynamics or developing designs for electric cars. Students interested in ethnic arts could create models of or a Power Point presentation on the functional toy cars the Ndebele and Zulu tribes of South Africa create from recycled cans. I think it’s interesting that in the above example not all students in a given task are necessarily operating on the same tier (I, II, III or IV) but the more important consideration is that we are tailoring the curriculum to the needs of each student with authentic, appropriately challenging assignments.
A second strategy I would like to try would be cubing combined with task cards and scaffolding but, instead of combining this with Bloom’s Taxonomy, I’d like to use it with Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats theory. I would do this in an ongoing art appreciation unit. After introducing Six Thinking Hats (including mnemonics to remember which hat is which) I would use a large colored cube to model a critique of a famous work of art projected onto the Promethean Board. (White hat for information, green hat for creativity, yellow hat for positive aspects, red hat for emotional reaction, blue hat for summary, black hat for final judgement.)
As a class we would do a series of critiques, working from team to individual performance, scaffolding as appropriate by providing teacher prompts and peer assistance, awarding points for every successful use of art-specific vocabulary or principle of critiquing. As students “try on” a hat they receive a keeper card or notebook sheet reminding them how that hat works. As they prove mastery of a hat they get a colored square which they can glue onto their personal cube which is displayed on their desk, showing their “rank” in Hat Theory. As a bonus, I would extend this lesson by having students identify other curricular areas where they could apply Six Thinking Hats. For example, upper grades could identify that the speeches of Adolf Hitler were overwhelmingly red hat. I can see this idea working especially well with any student who needs confidence to perform (especially DD, IND, SLD, LI, SI) or who needs to engage multiple pathways to understand and remember (especially IND and SLD). |
6/1/2017
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Jan Miller
|
You may be able to use Friendly Plastic, polymer clay or Rigid Wrap to customize the grips of your drawing and painting tools. I have successfully used a wire jig available from NICHCY which holds a pencil and allows the writer’s hand to glide across the page in calligraphy class, especially with students who have a non-traditional grip. |
6/1/2017
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Jan Miller
|
janet tucker wrote:
I have a student in my class that has an Orthopedic disability. Strategies that I employ to assist him is seating in close proximity to materials, the sink and the front of the room where I can assist him. There are several students in the class that have demonstrated helpful behaviors and I have seated with them. The peers help the student with accessing materials, bringing visual samples to the student's table for him to view and assist with clean up and storage of his projects. He is able to use most materials in the art room, but providing him with larger scissors and wider diameter drawing utensils has helped him to achieve success in his work.
You may be able to use Friendly Plastic, polymer clay or Rigid Wrap to customize the grips of your drawing and painting tools. I have successfully used a wire jig available from NICHCY which holds a pencil and allows the writer’s hand to glide across the page in calligraphy class, especially with students who have a non-traditional grip. |
6/1/2017
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Jan Miller
|
I taught myself to write Grade One Braille in order to write summer letters and emergency messages to my blind roommate in college, I still have my slate and stylus and can write short messages or instructions to my visually impaired students. |
6/2/2017
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Jan Miller
|
I recently had a high school student with IND who usually appeared to be working on task on his online art appreciation course who was in fact “zoning” most of the time and not making any progress. We initially modified the content so he only had to take the online tests and not the quizzes and accommodated him by giving him all the time to take these assessments. While he was doing this I created a “cut-to-the-chase” print version of his online course cutting each unit down to one page per art era including color pictures, color coding, boldface and other text features to keep his interest and aid in retention. I previewed one page (one era) with him, one-on-one, using presentation methods such as pointing and providing mnemonics in the artworks which would be dead giveaways for a certain artist, period or style he needed to identify. One of these mnemonics was particularly relevant to his daily experience. He was then told to go off and study this sheet for as long as he needed and return for an oral quiz. He did quite well. By this time he was into the spring semester, participating with the drawing students. I developed a grading system compatible to that used by the online art appreciation course so he and others could have their studio art projects count for art appreciation grades. At first he didn’t show special aptitude but on two projects he had one of the top two grades in the class. I believe this to be due to clear, step-by-step instructions on the Promethean Board with a document camera zooming in on my demonstration plus his extra interest in the subject matter and increasing confidence in his ability to perform. I plan to use this cut-to-the-chase version in the future with other students as previews, Twizzler Reviews* and handouts for all general ed students in addition to serving as alternate assessments for other SWD’s. (*Twizzlers fly through the air, end-over-end, adding an air of humor and excitement to review time.) |