Classroom Policies/Procedures/Routines

Student Communication: Communication is extremely important in life, students should feel confident to come talk to me, after school, or via email. Anti-discrimination Policy:
The Des Moines Public Schools prohibits discrimination based on age, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability in educational and employment programs and activities. In addition, the District prohibits acts of intolerance or any form of harassment toward employees or students.

Our school and classroom is a community where everyone should feel free and safe to be who they are, any discrimination or harassment will not be tolerated in my classroom. Tardiness: It is important to be in class on time and be seated and ready to go when the bell rings. Students who are more than 5 minutes late without a signed note from faculty stating why will receive a warning, second offense and on will result in students making up that time with me during their lunch hour. Attendance: Attendance is critical in the art room; working in class gives you as the student the opportunity to use all the resources of the class, including peers and teacher help. This also allows you time to work on assignments and not have to take them home. Attendance will be 10% of your grade. Half of life is just showing up. Late Work: If you know you are going to be absent, make sure to come talk to me and turn in work before the due date. Late work will be accepted for half-credit after a week of being late, and after the third week no credit will be given for that project. If there are special circumstances please feel free to come talk to me and we will come up with a reasonable solution.

Daily Procedures
I will greet students at the door when they arrive to class. When students enter the class, they should grab their sketchbooks right away then sit at their desks. A cabinet in the room will house student sketchbooks and work. Some work may need to sit on the drying rack over night and can be found on that classes assigned rack, which will be open for them to easily find work. While waiting for class to begin students should work on sketchbook assignments, this should also be done if the student is finished with a current project and is waiting for the rest of the class. (A list of sketchbook assignments will be provided the first day of class). Assignment sheets will be handed out to start each new project, and will also be listed on the board. Where weve been (previous assignment), Where were going (concept we will learn next) will be written on the side for students to see, and Where were at will have a detailed description of what we are currently working on. Food is not allowed in the classroom. Beverages with a closed lid are fine, as long as the lid is on securely unless taking a drink. (This is to prevent spilling on art work). Students should raise their hands if they have a question. If I need to get the classes attention I will raise my hand, or turn lights on and off. Students will receive a rubric to self-asses themselves on projects, and turn in with work. Students will receive the rubric back with my comments and final grade on project.

Communication Policy
Communication with Parents: My first contact with parents will be a survey sent home. I would like to know what parents interests and hobbies are as well as the students. This helps me to create or change some projects around to accommodate interests, and also gives me insight to any help the parents could provide in projects. I would also like to know if they would be interested in going on field trips, or helping with a student art show. Sending out a survey is also a good way to let parents know some of the projects their students will be working on, and hopefully will get them excited about seeing their childs artwork. It is important that students are doing their own work, so it is also important to emphasize that if students need to bring work home that they are doing the work themselves. (I will provide plenty of time for students to get projects done in class, projects should only need to be brought home if students were absent.) Some parents may want to help students with projects, but become too involved and take over the whole thing. It is important that I explain to parents the importance of their child to take responsibility for their work and exercise their own creativity. I would love to send out a monthly newsletter to parents will pictures of the students artwork via email and print-outs for those without access to the internet. This is also a good place to let parents know about any upcoming events at the school, or in the art room, call for volunteers for field trips, or volunteers for other school events. Parents should feel free to contact me if they have any questions or comments to make. I will keep in touch with parents as needed for behavioral issues, and grade problems. I think it is important to let parents know before students are failing if I am seeing a problem or not receiving work. Student Communication: I want my classroom to be a community, and a place where students feel safe to share their ideas with me and with their peers. I think it is important to know students names and talk to them to get to know them. The first day I will give students a survey to fill out that will include questions about hobbies, interests, music likes, favorite subject, and past experiences with art. I will also have students make a name tent so they can also get to know the names of their peers. Students will know what is expected of them on each project, and on assessments I will provide feedback, so that students know why they were given a grade they were given, where they can improve, and also what they did well. Students are often very harsh on judging their own artwork, and sometimes they cant see when they did well. I think it is so important that we take the time to point out the good things our students are doing, not just focus on what needs work. I want students to be able to talk about art in an intellectual way, one of the ways I can start to do this is by getting students comfortable with talking about their own art, as well as their peers. They can do this better if they feel like they can trust each other. Having the ability to talk about their artwork also applies to conferences. Students should be able to tell their parents about their work, and explain the process to them on their own. I am really there for extra support if they need me, and to let their parents know how class is going and what we have coming up.

Peer/Administration Communication: Teaching is going to become my life, and having a good relationship with my coworkers and administration is important to me, and will help me to teach at my highest ability. I plan on making myself available and open for interactions, including giving/receiving advice and helping out, with science fairs, book fairs, projects, dances, etc. I think that we are resources of information for each other and the more we work together the better we can all teach our students.

Classroom Layout
I would like to have my classroom set up in a circular pattern. I prefer this because then I can see all of the students and it creates more of a community within the classroom. Community is important in a classroom because as teachers we want our students to be comfortable with their peers so they will be more open during class discussions and critiques, and treat each other as valuable resources for their education. Classroom desk arrangements may change with the project we are working on. It would be beneficial to students to be grouped with other students who are working on the same subject matter, for example, if I have three students who want to do a study on cars (painting, drawing, or clay building). This gives the students resources found in each other, and supports social learning. Although most assignments will be done on an individual level, group projects will be used at least once with each group of students. Group work/collaboration is often overlooked in art education, but is very prominent in the art world. I believe that having the classroom desks set up in a circle has an advantage for the learning environment but can also lead to distractions. I would like to have a desk set away from the circle for students that are struggling to work at their own desk without distracting their peers, or if they want to work privately. Resources are important in an art room so I will provide a small library of magazines and books for students to use. Hopefully, we will also have a computer in our room so students can use the internet to find sources. I would also love to have a light table, and throwing wheels for ceramics. Having one or two large work benches would also be ideal for big or messy projects. Student work will also be displayed in the classroom which will also provide students with other references and will also help students to take pride in their work.

Supply Tables/ Still-life tables.

Teachers Desk

Light Table

Computers

Classroom Library

Cabinet