Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Teaching the Language

Even though I teach at the grammar school level, I fought for many years to get "block schedule" for my middle-schoolers. I would get one homeroom, for example 2 x's a week instead of one, every other marking period. Next week I will see many students for the first time, so it will be a great opportunity to introduce the studio habits to my upper graders.

I am one that learns by example. As art teachers we are often isolated and unable to share "best practices" with other art teachers. I appreciate everyone who has shared their ideas of how we can translate this knowledge to our students. At first when I was introduced to SHOM, the content of the habits were familiar to me, yet I wasn't sure where to start with this new vocabulary. It wasn't until Lois showed us examples of how teachers of various levels have used SHOM in their rooms, did I realize that there is a lot of flexibility to make this our own.
I like the simplicity of the bell ringer/ exit ticket approach as a form of reflection mentioned in a previous post. I have done this in my classes before and we do it often at teacher in service days. I too plan on creating a "Studio Habits" wall. In the past I would label each shade in my room with art terms, changing periodically, similar to a word wall. Students periodically would be given post-its to identify which term, was visited or identified and placed on the appropriate shade. I feel that having a bulletin board could change its purpose over time as more ideas come to mind. I am looking forward to this ongoing dialogue!

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