INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT
Assessment in my eyes is about looking at a students growth, where were they at the start of my class, and how have they grown and changed since then. Students often are focused heavily on the grade they are getting, but I wish and hope for students that they can step outside of that mindset, and always think about how they can grow. Growth is at the core of everything we do, it is how we will progress as a nation, it is how we can work to solve the problems that are facing our world today.
In order to assess students in a way that fundamentally works towards this goal, we must first have a basis for the areas that we want our students to grow within. For me, this starts with the standards. I begin to ask myself, how can I help my students comprehend the content? How can I help them create conceptually engaging and technically advancing works of art? How can I encourage reflection and growth as they move forward? How can encourage students to take what they are learning in my class, and transfer it outside of that? The intimidating yet beautiful part about this, is that the answers to these questions are different for each and every student I work with.
Having assessments along the way, allows for me to develop an understanding of where each student is at without the pressure of a grade right away. I can use formative assessments to quickly and quietly understand where students might be at. This can be through looking at a students sketchbook to see where they are at with their experimentation. It can be asking a student some questions about what they are working on to see how they might be relating their work to research, experimentation, or art language.
When it comes to summative assessment, I believe in the importance of seeing each and every facet of their making and process. This means that sketchbooks, research, ideation, etc., all get turned in as a way for me to develop a more well rounded understanding of where a student is at. Alongside this, a rubric that gives students a basis for where they are starting and where they have moved with each project is important. This allows for students to track their progress, and see the growth in a more concrete way. These summative checkpoints are meant to allow for students to see where they started and where they have come, while also beginning to see the areas they can continue to grow and develop. Each assessment, I believe in giving students one specific area of improvement, and one specific highlight.
Summative checkpoints also give students the freedom to push and explore their creative endeavors without the worry of a specific assignment plummeting their grade. If a student tries something that is outside their comfort zone, and it doesn’t turn out as anticipated, that final product doesn’t matter. That allowed for the student to learn and grow, and truly goes beyond that of a perfect work of art in the students comfort zone. Pushing and expanding our creative boundaries is what allows for growth and development.
