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Monthly Mentor Posts

• Chunk and Bundle: The Bundled Assessment Approach for Demonstrating Teacher Effectiveness. Navigating the world of assessment can be daunting, especially assessment in the arts. Arts assessments come in a variety of forms all dependent upon a variety of factors: resources available, specific arts discipline, grade level, etc. While information and research regarding assessment in the arts begins to mount, and the importance and pressure of reporting data from assessments becomes critical for demonstrating teacher effectiveness, I would like to offer up a “take a deep breath,” “let’s get organized and take it one step at a time,” practical approach to Visual Arts Assessment in the secondary classroom. Chunk it and Bundle it.
• 6 Reasons to have a Stress-free Summer Student Art Show!. Even though many of us don’t get paid for coordinating art exhibits, and the endeavor of putting together a student art show is completely stressful, I think many of us can agree it is also completely worthwhile. What if you could downsize, regroup and make this process a bit more stress-free by doing it in the summer? Whether you move your one “big show” to the summer season or are looking to add in a “supplementary art show” to reach a wider audience and promote your program, this blog post asks you to consider just that and offers 6 reasons why you might want to give it a try!
• Redesign: Make it Bad, Then Make it Better. I learned that when the objective of a problem becomes to make something really bad, the doors of humor and creativity become wide open. That’s where I got the idea for my middle school “Redesign” learning unit. I start by introducing my students to the concept of object/product design, design thinking and the design process.