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The Minnesota Department of Education has begun the formal rulemaking process for the K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts. Relevant rulemaking documents are posted below. The Request for Comments was published in the on May 29, 2018. The department has completed the Statement of Need and Reasonableness (SONAR) and the final proposed rule draft. The Dual Notice was published in the State Register on January 13, 2020. The dual notice comment period ended on February 12, 2020. The department received more than 25 requests for a public hearing, and a hearing was held before an administrative law judge on March 2, 2020.

The post-hearing comment period ended on Monday, March 9, 2020.

The five working day rebuttal period ended on March 16, 2020.

The administrative law judge issued his administrative law judge report on March 31, 2020. This report was reviewed by the Chief Administrative Law Judge, and she issued a memorandum on April 9, 2020. The proposed arts standards rules were disapproved due to lack of statutory authority. The department is reviewing the decision and will decide whether to request a review of the decision by the Chief Administrative Law Judge under Minn. R. 1400.2240, subp. 2.

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The Minnesota Department of Education has begun the formal rulemaking process for the K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts. Relevant rulemaking documents are posted below. The Request for Comments was published in the on May 29, 2018. The department has completed the Statement of Need and Reasonableness (SONAR) and the final proposed rule draft.

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How to use THIS PADLET to collaborate with other Art Teachers

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Video tutorial on how to create and set up a Padlet for one of your classes-- including recommendations on settings.

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You can add text, images, audio recordings, screen recordings, videos, drawings, and links to your posts. . . and more!

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Compare Visual Arts 2008 to 2018 Standards Draft (3).pdf

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Standards by Grade Level-VISUAL ARTS-draft 3 (1).pdf

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reformatted Recommended Minnesota Arts Education Standards Transition Timeline.pdf

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Current Arts Education Requirements resource May 2019.pdf

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Back to School Icebreaker Activity

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For some art teachers, the new year can bring a new wave of students into the art room forcing you to hit the reset button on creating a positive learning environment. Being intentional about ways to develop a community in your room is critical at the beginning of a new class and can pay dividends throughout the semester. In addition to helping students connect, icebreakers and openers can also inform you about who is in the room. You can start to learn individual interests, understand previous art experiences, and identify different personalities and learning styles. So, start your new class with this fun game to help you learn about your new students and to help them learn about each other.

How to Play "Who's in the Art Room?"

Step One: Develop your list of statements.

Come up with your own or use this .

Think about what you want to learn from students and what will be valuable for them to know about each other. Statements can connect to past art experiences, how students feel about art and themselves as artists, interests outside of the art room, hopes and fears for the upcoming course, etc. This is an anonymous activity, so statements should not allow for specific or small groups of students to be identified.

Step Two: Have students complete the list of statements.

Remind students not to put their name on the paper as this is anonymous. Encourage students to answer honestly and share how this will help you and the class.

Step Three: Collect the papers creatively.

After students have completed the paper, encourage them to crumple it up into a ball and throw it toward a designated space or put it into a large container. You should make an age-appropriate decision that's best for your class. The goal is for students to feel their paper ball can't be identified. Then, have all students collect a random paper ball.

Step Four: Get in a circle.

As you read each statement, have students raise their hands if the sheet they are holding has the item checked. Remember, this is not the sheet they completed. Take your time between each statement and encourage students to look around the room after each question to notice how many hands are raised.

Step Five: Prompt reflection through questioning.

Try, " What did you notice about that activity?" Or, " How can this help us have a good class together? " Remember, the students are still new with you and each other and might still be reluctant to share any thoughts or ideas. Don't be afraid to take the lead on sharing observations and, hopefully, students will join in.

Why you will love this activity

This game is a great opportunity for a student to see that whatever they're thinking and feeling about being in the art room, someone else is probably having the same thought. And their previous insecurity can be more supported knowing they're not the only one. Students will know which statements they personally selected and will be more attentive when those are read. The anonymity allows for transparency and students to be more vulnerable about their feelings. When people can share experiences, they can start to build a community that will be helpful in your studio.

Secondly, collecting this data early in the class can be an incredible resource for the teacher. Even if you don't know the specific students, getting a general understanding of where some of your students are with art can help you plan for the future. Wouldn't it be nice to know after the first few days that more than half of your students believe being good at art is something you're born with? Think about how that knowledge can help you plan your next lesson and approach with instruction.

Keep Playing

"Who's in the Art Room?" can be reformated and played routinely throughout the year. As students become more comfortable in the room, they can identify their own answers. If student reading levels are a barrier, like with EL or younger students, you can alter the game by reading questions allowed and have students raise their hands or move to a corner in the room. Building a community in the art room is necessary for students to feel safe, have great critiques, and to have students reach their artistic potential. Being intentional about forming a community and, the tougher part, maintaining that community throughout the school year can be challenging. This game is just one way to make it happen. So, go play!

What other games can we use to build community in the art room?
What statements would you include to learn about your students?

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How to Play "Who's In the Art Room?" - The Art of Education University

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For some art teachers, the new year can bring a new wave of students into the art room forcing you to hit the reset button on creating a positive learning environment. Being intentional about ways to develop a community in your room is critical at the beginning of a new class and can pay dividends [...]

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You can add GIFs to Padlet boards by selecting the blue Google button in more options (...).

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Article and Parent Resource

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As teachers, we wear many hats. We are educators, but we also act as parents, nurses, counselors, entertainers, and more when it comes to teaching and connecting with our artists. We went to school, got high-level degrees in art education, had in-depth conversations about child psychology, and are passionate about how we treat our kids as artists.

As we all work through the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and guardians find themselves needing to take on the role of teachers. Though they may not have gone to college to be art teachers, it is still important to teach parents and guardians how to talk to kids about their art.

The most important thing to remember when sharing information with parents and guardians at this time is to keep it simple. People are trying to balance this new normal of living and it can be overwhelming. Avoid adding unnecessary stressors. However, giving parents and guardians enrichment information about how to encourage creativity and conversation with their kids can be a helpful and powerful tool.

When talking to kids about their art, focus on these 6 things:

1. Let them use their own words.
Instead of saying, "What is it?" try, "Tell me about your artwork!"
When a kid brings their creation up to you with a smile, it's important to let them talk about their work in their own words. A scribble or a paper sculpture doesn't need to "be" anything. Reframing the question from "What is it?" to "Tell me about your artwork" allows the child to use their own words to describe what they made. Maybe the child created a piece of art inspired by a feeling, an imaginary world, or simply had fun playing with art materials. No matter what they made, the best way to encourage their creativity and imagination is to allow them the chance to describe their work in their own words.

2. Be specific with your comments.
Instead of saying, "It's so neat!" try, "Your repeating lines really catch my eye!"
Using specific comments shows kids you are genuinely looking at their work. Using a traditional adjective such as "cool," " awesome," or "great," to describe artwork is all well and good but can leave a young artist wanting more. Try picking one or two specific focus areas about the artwork and make a direct comment relating to those areas. Kids seek positive affirmation just as much as the rest of us. Being specific with your comments allows kids to feel affirmed in their creativity.

3. Ask interesting questions.

Asking interesting questions is one of the basics of great conversation. Encouraging kids to expand on their creative process and explain how they did something is a great way to practice discussion skills. The ability to talk about how the artwork was created and the processes that went into making it is a skill artists all over the world use. Teaching your kids to respond and reflect on their artmaking process will inevitably make them better artists and critical thinkers.
Instead of saying, "That's a cool area!" try, "How did you do that?"
4. Let them choose the display.

Creativity is not over once the artwork is complete. What kids decide to do with their completed artwork is also a way to stretch their imagination. Maybe the child wants to create a gallery display wall. Maybe the child wants to send the artwork in the mail to a loved one. Maybe the child wants to fold it up and turn it into a paper airplane. Giving kids the power to control the display of their artwork can provide a tremendous sense of ownership and pride.
Instead of saying, "Put it on the fridge!" try, "What would you like to do with your art?"
5. Give them time to identify their feelings first.

Let's face it, validation feels great, and we all want it. But sometimes, we need to practice valuing our own feelings, too. Of course, you should give positive feedback to kids. However, you can also try letting kids identify their own feelings first by asking questions like "How do you feel about it?" or "Are you proud of your artwork?" Encouraging kids to think about how they feel will give you a deeper insight into their thought process. It will also build self-confidence in their own artwork instead of relying solely on the affirmation of others.
Instead of saying, "I love it!" try, "Are you a proud artist?"
6. Use the Elements and Principles as a catalyst.
Need more information? Learn more here!
The Elements of Art (Line, Shape, Color, Value, Texture, Space, Form) and the Principles of Art (Balance, Contrast, Emphasis, Pattern, Unity, Movement, Rhythm) are always used in creating art. Even if kids are not specifically intentional when choosing colors or creating a sense of emphasis, it is still a part of artmaking. Engaging in conversations about what elements and principles kids can spot in their artwork is a fun way to have a meaningful art conversation.

To help, download this helpful guide.
Ask, "Can you identify which Elements of Art and the Principles of Design you used in your creation?"
For more art conversations at home, read How to Get Your Students to Talk About Art at Home.

No matter how you go about it, talking to your kids about their art is important. Building connections through artmaking is natural. Connecting with your kids and talking to them about their creativity is the perfect way to show you care. You'll love hearing what your artists share with you about their creations.

What kinds of questions do you think are best to ask kids?
Why is it important to extend the conversation about art?
How else can you encourage creative discussions with your kids?

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How to Talk to Kids About Their Art - The Art of Education University

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Art Education and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) As teachers, we wear many hats. We are educators, but we also act as parents, nurses, counselors, entertainers, and more when it comes to teaching and connecting with our artists. We went to school, got high-level degrees in art education, had in-depth conversations about child psychology, and are passionate [...]

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What Art Teachers Need To Know about the CARES Act

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What Art Teachers Need To Know about the CARES Act

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Article

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Whenever art teachers hear about federal spending, our eyes often glaze over. We, quite honestly, have much too full of plates to dig through the details of the various initiatives that circulate. We've got students to help, artwork to create, and skills to improve. For better or worse, we think that big federal dollars simply don't apply to us and what we can provide for our students.

However, we are at a unique point in history. The coronavirus has changed everything. Due to changes across the board, you might have heard of the CARES Act. The CARES Act has become known for its aid to small businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program, large job industries, and not so much for education.

However, the CARES Act is for education-you just haven't heard about it yet.

What is the CARES Act?

In late March 2020, an over $2 trillion economic relief package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, was passed by Congress with overwhelming, bipartisan support and signed into law. This federal spending will help ease the burden and change due to the impacts of COVID-19 the past few and future months will bring millions of Americans, including K-12 schools.

How does the CARES Act apply to K-12 Education?

As you know, the coronavirus has upended the way schools are operating, but the pain of this year will most likely continue into next. This is due to tax revenue losses projected for the future. Essentially, the total aid in the CARES Act earmarked for education is about $30.7 billion. Within that, $13.2 billion is set aside for K-12 education. Of course, there are stipulations to how the funds can be spent. However, due to the quick nature and necessity of the bill, the requirements of receiving the funds come without the typical and tedious earmarks and at a much faster pace.

How are the CARES Act funds decided?

State governors must apply for the funding. Once approved, they can start spending. States are given the same percentage in which they already receive Title funds. As a result, States and districts can have a pretty accurate idea as to how much of the CARES Act funding they will receive.

What will the CARES Act funds be used for?

While there are specifics, in a nutshell, the funds used must increase the equity in education. The biggest dollars will most likely be spent on purchasing educational technologies to support online learning. Many districts will try to take advantage of these funds and purchase things they have long wanted (Learning Management Systems/One-to-One Devices/Accessible Curriculum Software), but would not be able to afford or justify with other funding.

How can the CARES Act especially benefit art education?

It has never been more clear that art teachers are essential workers of the school. During this time of online learning, students are connecting with art not because they need to, but because they want to. You are the hook encouraging students to check-in, stay engaged, and get excited about learning. Art education and teachers have adapted quickly and evolved with the needs of students. The fact is, you are used to pivoting. Art educators are guiding students through social and emotional learning, submitting AP portfolios, and hosting weekly Zoom meetings. You are actively strengthening the connection between home and school.

In essence, during this time or in the future of online learning, anything an art teacher does, needs, or uses to connect with students can be supported by the CARES Act. The bill states, "Purchasing educational technology (including hardware, software, and connectivity) for students who are served by the local educational agency that aids in regular and substantive educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors, including low-income students and students with disabilities, which may include assistive technology or adaptive equipment" (pg. 759, lines 13-20) falls under the qualifications of funding.

How can you use the CARES Act to YOUR benefit?

CARES Act funding is ripe for the picking. You and your program are living proof that you "aid in regular and substantive interaction between students and their classroom instructors." This means you can and should ask for funding. Start with your principal or director, and they can help you speak to higher administration or the board. This information should empower you to ask and advocate for what you need now. Use the language and knowledge of the bill as tools for your toolbox. Now is also when you should be thinking about your own professional development and accessible curriculum and how the CARES Act funding can apply.

AOEU's FLEX Curriculum and PRO Learning are exactly what you need to continue teaching and learning to the highest degree, and they can be covered by the CARES Act. Perhaps you thought since your curriculum cycle is passed, you cannot request FLEX Curriculum. Or that you already spent professional development funds to attend a conference earlier this year, and PRO Learning is not an option. With the CARES Act, you can. It opens the window you thought might be closed.
Introducing FLEX Curriculum by The Art of Education University
With its almost forty Lesson Collections, FLEX Curriculum allows students and teachers to communicate, collaborate, and create artwork based on the National Core Art Standards. It is also completely accessible online. Teachers can post lessons, resources, and videos from FLEX directly on a Learning Management System (LMS). The platform is easy to navigate for students, teachers, and parents.
How to Ask Your Administrator to Pay for Art Ed PRO
PRO Learning can show you how to move your classroom and curriculum online and allows you to grow as a teacher for your students regardless of the circumstance. By covering a variety of important topics such as Social-Emotional Learning, Flipping Your Classroom, Infusing Technology Into Your Practice, and Enhancing Artworks with Digital Integration, you will sharpen your abilities as a teacher, and thus better address the creative needs of your students.

Use this helpful download when speaking to your administrator:

What else is important to know about the CARES Act?

Once states are approved for funding, they have to use the funds within twelve months. The sense of urgency to advocate for you, your program, and your students is paramount. In addition, the funds are "use or lose." This means states and districts will spend the funds regardless of the needs. Often, districts and administrators are not sure what you as the art teacher need. It is up to you to tell them. Just as you have shown up for your students this past year, you can do it again by requesting support from these funds.
What else do you need to know about the CARES Act? How can AOEU support you with access to FLEX Curriculum and PRO Learning? What is preventing you from asking your administrator for support from these funds?

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What Art Teachers Need to Know About the CARES Act - The Art of Education University

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Whenever art teachers hear about federal spending, our eyes often glaze over. We, quite honestly, have much too full of plates to dig through the details of the various initiatives that circulate. We've got students to help, artwork to create, and skills to improve. For better or worse, we think that big federal dollars simply ...

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Photo Scavenger Hunt Idea for Art Classes

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Photo Scavenger Hunt Idea for Art Classes

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The Art of Education University Resource

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When setting up your classroom for online learning, it's important to rethink the "how" and the "what" of your curriculum. While some might be teaching an art survey type of course, which lends itself to a variety of options, others are left wondering, what now? Teaching ceramics or metalsmithing is just not going to happen as it would in the classroom. Finding a balance in preparing our students for next year and beyond with skills that can carry throughout their life and keep them creating is a challenge. Teaching a traditional drawing course might allow you to continue to build skills, but when soldering at home isn't an option, it's time to rethink the purpose of your art curriculum and teaching online.

When changing your teaching location or moving to online learning, it is essential to be grounded in your foundational teaching philosophy. Personally, teaching for creativity is always at the root of what I teach. Regardless of what my students will become or where they will go in their careers, creative thinking will help them approach life with curiosity and engage with the world in deep and meaningful ways.

Teaching for creativity means I want students to:

Be creative thinkers.

Learn creative thinking skills that apply outside of the art room.

Use their heads and their hands to solve a problem.

Consider and identify problems that need solving.

Practice thinking outside-the-box when given constraints.

Generate ideas, consider many options, and collaborate for feedback.

So, how do you ensure you are engaging your students with creativity while away from the classroom?

Take a look at these three categories of creative thinking that can help set you and your students up for success:

Creative Boosts

Creative Boosts are quick and fun exercises that engage in thoughtful play. These are usually one-day, one-off experiences to incorporate in the classroom or out. Boosts provide a creative stretch when working through a longer artwork. They are also rooted in exploration and experimentation, such as creative uses for unconventional art media.

Examples of Creative Boosts:

Download a great scavenger photo hunt here.

A few tips to remember when transferring Creative Boosts into your online teaching practices:

Constraint Challenges

Constraint Challenges exercise the imagination through unrealistic prompts and design thinking challenges. Consider how your students could combine and transform to push limits and boundaries. Especially in a time when materials may not be available, the imagination is boundless. Constraint Challenges usually take one day to a week. Students could spend thirty minutes brainstorming ideas, or five days folding paper and assembling cardboard.

Examples of Constraint Challenges:

Unimaginable Item: Create a prototype (sketch or create) for an unimaginable need such as "Design a treadmill for a worm." List the choices and constraints. Pitch your product with a short video.

Paper RePurpose: Create a "new and improved" functional item out of paper. Document your item being used for its new purpose.

Build a Fort: Create a fort optimal for hours of video-gaming. Consider what materials are most conducive for longevity as well as maximum laziness. Use only materials that are readily available in your home.

Here are a few tips for Constraint Challenges:

Creative Sparks

Creative Sparks are the little push of creativity students can use to inspire a more developed artwork. These are short exercises from fifteen minutes to one day. Students use these to get moving and thinking, to collect information, and to engage their next creation.

Examples of Creative Sparks:

Some tips for your Creative Sparks:

With so many changes happening at once, continue to stay grounded in your teaching philosophy. Continue to find ways to engage with your students, help take their minds off of the more serious news, and help them create away from the computer screen. Remember to always consider your teaching options through the lens of equity and access for your students. Now is a perfect time to demonstrate the importance of creative thinking when changing to online learning. Just think, you are not only supporting your students in creating artwork but also providing them essential skills to think outside-the-box as they solve our world's next big problems.
Can you identify your philosophical foundation for teaching in your art room? How does that help you remain grounded when your world turns upside down? In what ways are you teaching creativity through remote learning?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
How can you schedule Creativity Boosts, Constraint Challenges, and Creative Sparks in your curriculum?

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How to Maximize Creativity When Teaching Online - The Art of Education University

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Art Education and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) When setting up your classroom for online learning, it's important to rethink the "how" and the "what" of your curriculum. While some might be teaching an art survey type of course, which lends itself to a variety of options, others are left wondering, what now?

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Helping students talk/write about art:

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How do your students respond to and talk about art?

A while back, I was responsible for grading my students on a question quite similar to the one above. When quarterly grades would roll around, I would inevitably dread grading that question and doubt my decisions afterwards. Sure, I could use a tally system to count my students' insightful thoughts and meaningful conversations, but that seemed like an overwhelming process. Plus, I worried I was unfairly grading students who felt uncomfortable talking in front of their peers.

I decided I needed a more concrete way to establish whether or not my students could indeed talk about their creations and other artwork. This year, I set up and started piloting a new way to track these very things. My students are now responsible for and actively writing their own artist statements after each project.

The real key to getting your students to a place where they are able to talk about art is to have them practice. A lot.

Here are three ways to practice writing and talking about art.

1. Gallery Walk
Place a sticky note by each student's artwork as they work. Midway through class, have your students stand up and walk around to view their peers' artwork. As they walk, have them write notes to their peers about what they like, or what they think might be happening in the artwork, etc.

2. Show and Tell
Let students come to the front of the class and discuss their artwork with their peers, or break students into smaller groups and have them share.

3. Art Story
Give students a picture of a famous artwork and have them either make up and write a story about what they see in the picture, or have them write down how they think the artwork was created.

Introducing Artist Statements

Once my students were more confident in their ability to talk and write about art, I introduced them to the idea of artist statements. After following the steps below, my students' ability to talk about their artwork was significantly impacted. I won't lie, the first batch of artist statements I received were okay but certainly not outstanding. However, we used those to help us improve the next time we wrote. Halfway through my pilot year, my students know how to produce well-written artist statements. If you want to know what your students are actually learning from their projects, then try employing some of the steps below.

Implementing Artist Statements

1. Carve out a special space.
Designate a place in the art room that is specifically for things related to creating an artist statement. Part of my whiteboard is dedicated for such a purpose.

2. Provide prompts.
Sometimes we just don't know where to start when it comes to talking about our art. To help students get started, I placed a list of sentence prompts and vocabulary words on the whiteboard from which the students can pick and choose.

3. Make them permanent.
As much as we live by pencils in our art rooms, let your students write their artist statements in pen. Something about writing words that can't be erased has made my students take a little more care with their writing.

4. Provide examples.
If you haven't caught on yet, this art teacher is a visual learner. I always need to see an example before I dive into a project. So, I put both good and bad examples of artist statements up on the board for students to read through. I read them aloud whenever students need a refresher.

5. Practice, practice, practice!
Have your students practice writing artist statements for a project. Let them share with a friend and refine what they have shared.

6. Use a template.
For now, I have a template that my elementary students use to create their artist statements. It is filled with leading questions that help the students figure out what they might begin to share with people who see their art. If you have older students, they might be able to write with less structure.

7. Put them on display.
The artist statements are not written just so I can see what my students have learned. Instead, I have them carefully attach the statements to the bottom of the artwork they make. It is a great opportunity to practice craftsmanship so you don't end up with statements slapped onto artwork all cockeyed. I've seen more people this year stop, read, and observe the works of art that have artist statements attached to them.

You might be surprised to find out what your students really enjoyed and what they learned about once they complete a project. Your students will feel more confident talking about all artwork, not just their own. Your staff and principal will enjoy seeing some cross-curricular work playing out in your art room. Plus, reading your students' artist statements will help you see what they were really trying to communicate and express through their artwork. If you would like to start artist statements in your classroom, you can find some great examples of resources here and here!

How do you get your students writing in the art room? How do you teach your students to talk and write about art?

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The Key to Helping Your Students Talk About Art - The Art of Education University

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How do your students respond to and talk about art? A while back, I was responsible for grading my students on a question quite similar to the one above. When quarterly grades would roll around, I would inevitably dread grading that question and doubt my decisions afterwards. Sure, I could use a [...]

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Gretchen shared this in our first meeting 3/26.

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Hey, art friends! Welcome to Art For Kids Hub! 🎨✏️ Here, you’ll discover all sorts of awesome art lessons, from drawing to painting, and even some super cool origami. Whether you’re a beginner or a budding artist, there’s something fun for everyone! I’m Rob, and along with my amazing wife, Teryn, and our four creative kids, Jack, Hadley, Austin, and Olivia, we make art together as a family and love sharing it with you. ❤️ Ready to jump in and start creating? Most of our art lessons are self-contained, so grab your favorite black marker, some paper, and your coloring supplies, and let’s get drawing! 🖍️📒 Join us on this colorful adventure, and let’s make art that brings smiles and joy. Happy creating! 🌟

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The Drawing Advice that Changed my Life (Find your "Ibis"-"Holy Frikkin Clickbait")

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The Drawing Advice that Changed my Life (Find your "Ibis"-"Holy Frikkin Clickbait")

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Great video- Action comes before Motivation

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Links to MN school examples

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Tie-dye is the stuff of legends. It's not only a way to dye fabric, but it is also a lifestyle. Many people harken tie-dye back to the 1960s when music from artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin was the rage. However, the roots of the art go way back to ancient Asia. A version of tie-dye can be found in many cultures, but in today's culture, it is associated with bright and vibrant colors and relaxed vibes. You cannot go to an art fair without seeing a booth filled with fabulously colored garments ready to be worn as art. Because the tie-dye shirt never really goes out of style, it is something you should plan to do with your students.

In the art classroom, however, undertaking tie-dye requires a bit of forethought and planning. The good news is all the time spent gathering supplies and demonstrating is absolutely worth it. It will be a process your students will never forget! In a previously published article, A Step-by-Step Guide to Tie-Dye in the Classroom, you can find all the directions and encouragement you need to get started. When complete, students will be proud of their success. As they wear their tie-dyed shirt to school, they become not only a walking piece of art, but also a mouthpiece of what an amazing educator you are!

Learn more
Tie-Dye Techniques PRO Learning Pack Have you done tie-dye with your students? How did it go? What is the most rewarding part of a tie-dye project?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

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Tie-Dye in the Classroom at a Glance - The Art of Education University

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Download in full-color. Download a print-friendly version. Tie-dye is the stuff of legends. It's not only a way to dye fabric, but it is also a lifestyle. Many people harken tie-dye back to the 1960s when music from artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin was the rage.

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Article and Student Resource

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Assessment can be an overwhelming word. That word can put a lot of pressure on our students, and it can be perceived as a less than desirable task for teachers, too. When we think of assessment grades, rubrics, and tests might come to mind. But, assessment in the art room goes beyond this. It's not just another written test; in fact, assessment in art can take the form of an experience.

The world interacts with art daily; it's not just contained within the art room walls. But, are we giving this same experience to our students' creations? One of the many purposes of art is to be shared with others. Yes, we share art in our schools by displaying it, you might even share it online with the art teacher community, but how else are you bringing art as experience to your students?

One of the easiest ways to encourage students to share their work outside of school is through take-home assessments. These aren't your typical assessments, and they will show students how their artwork interacts with the world.

Here are 2 successful and authentic take-home assessments for you and your students:

1. Take-Home Assessment for Functional Pieces

Discussing form vs. function in the creation of art always yields interesting results in the art room. Often, as you discuss the concept, students begin to recognize many objects they use or see daily as fitting into one of the categories. Once they start identifying this, it shapes their decisions and choices in the creation of a piece.

When creating functional pieces, it's best to see how the piece will actually be used. For example, if your students create ceramic mugs, they want to know if they will function, so you're going to have to test them out with a tea or hot chocolate party. But, let's take it a step further. Students will show bias as to how their piece functions as they've put a great deal of hard work into their creation, so let's have someone else test it out! Download an example for a take-home assessment for the creation of a clay mug.

The key to making this successful is that it shouldn't feel like extra work for the family member who is completing the assessment. It should be a fun sharing experience between the tester and the student to open up a conversation about the artwork they've created.

2. Take-Home Assessment for Display

The majority of art teachers spend their time curating and hanging up student artwork, rather than the students themselves. School days aren't always conducive for allowing students to help display artwork, so the task is often placed on the art teacher. But, we do want our students to have the authentic experience of making decisions about where their artwork will be displayed. To ensure our students are actually doing this, why not make it an assessment?

For this take-home assessment, your students will be practicing the National Core Art Standard of " presenting." Give your students the assignment to take home a piece of art they've created and display it somewhere in their home. While doing this, ask them to consider how their piece will fit into an area. They will need to consider the size of their piece, the aesthetic, and the overall presentation. The goal of this assessment is for students to practice thoughtfulness through decision-making. Once they've displayed their artwork, have them take a picture of it and either e-mail it to you or submit it on an LMS like Google Classroom. By trying an assessment like this, your students meet standards, and their artwork will find its way home, that's a win-win!

Learn more

Assessments don't need to be scary for students or time consuming for teachers; in fact, they can be fun! Students want their work to be seen but might not feel as if it is valued. When we shift the decision-making process to students, it gives them ownership of so much more than their art. It gives them real-world experiences. By participating in these take-home assessments, students will begin to see art as an experience and how it does relate to the world outside the art room.

Have you ever done a take-home assessment with your students?
How do you encourage students to share their work with others?

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2 Ways to Use Take-Home Assessments in the Art Room - The Art of Education University

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Assessment can be an overwhelming word. That word can put a lot of pressure on our students, and it can be perceived as a less than desirable task for teachers, too. When we think of assessment grades, rubrics, and tests might come to mind. But, assessment in the art room goes beyond this.

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Educators are expected to demonstrate student growth in their classrooms. For art teachers, this can be daunting because we are so focused on project-based learning and performance tasks. You could make quantifiable data from written exams, but that can feel forced and really is not practical to your teaching. So, how do you track growth in the art room? How can you make assessments meaningful?

Think about the concepts and themes you teach throughout the year. Take a look at your project rubrics. What are the focus areas in multiple projects? This may be where you want to start tracking growth. Don't make assessments just for the sake of doing it, or to check some boxes for your evaluation. If you're going to do an assessment, let it help inform your teaching and improve student learning.

3 Practical Ways to Assess Student Growth

1. Color Schemes

Assessing students' understanding of color schemes is a great topic to track growth. You can apply color schemes to almost any project in your existing curriculum. Begin with a pretest at the beginning of the school year, quarter, or semester. The pretest will help you see what students already know. Hopefully, they recall some of those elementary color schemes like primary, secondary, warm and/or cool. Other color schemes may be unknown to them. Vocabulary words like tertiary, analogous, monochromatic, and/or neutral, may be new to them. The pretest helps you identify areas where students may need more instruction.

Once you collect the data from the pretest, you have a better idea of where to begin. If the vast majority of students know primary and secondary, you don't need to spend a lot of time reviewing those. If only a slight majority of students can apply the color scheme correctly, it's time to reteach.

Focus on one or two color schemes at a time with each project. Don't try to cram all of the color schemes into one project. Give students time to learn and apply each one. If you planned on a self-portrait project, turn it into a monochromatic self-portrait. If you have a landscape project planned, ask students to apply an analogous color scheme. Begin each project with a set color scheme in mind. Review and define the term. Have students take notes or practice in their sketchbook, and then ask them to apply the assigned color scheme to their project.

Assigning a different color scheme to each project may not work for all that you have planned. It also cuts out some of the creative choices for your students. One way you can still track growth while giving students artistic freedom, is every so often during the school year, allow for students to choose a previously learned color scheme. If by the second quarter, you've already reviewed primary, secondary, warm, and cool, then maybe that next project, students can pick one of those four to apply. This gives you a checkpoint for understanding and time to assess who needs redirection. As you progress further on in the school year, students will have more knowledge of different color schemes, and therefore, more color schemes to choose from when creating projects.

At the end of the school year or term, distribute a post-test of all the different color schemes you've introduced in your classroom. Because students have had the opportunity to apply each one, and you've had the opportunity to check for understanding and reteach when needed, your students should demonstrate a great deal of growth.

2. Composition

Composition is one of those skills that is frequently assessed on project rubrics. How well is the student filling their space? Is it balanced? Do they have a lot of empty negative space? Although composition is often assessed, are you taking the time to teach or demonstrate good composition? This may be a good area to track for student growth.

Take a look at some of your students' first projects of the year. Assess their use of composition. Give them some feedback as to why they might not be creating good compositions in their artwork.

Now that you've assessed where they are, and identified problems, consider how you can teach good composition practices. Demonstrate to your students how to fill the page. Discuss what balance is; symmetrical and asymmetrical. Point out artists' use of grouping elements in a triangle formation to achieve balance. Talk about the rule of thirds. Show good examples.

As students learn what good composition is, they may start producing stronger compositions in their projects. Track how their work changes as the year progresses. Give them feedback on how they're doing and ways they can improve. Create a rubric with your definition of beginning, approaching, meeting, and exceeding your expectations for composition. This will give you quantifiable data to show student growth in composition skills.

For more information on tracking student growth, read The Top 5 Reasons to Make Student Growth Data Visible and An Authentic Way to Show Student Growth in the Art Room.

3. Value

Value is another area on many art educator project rubrics. We want students to show a full range of value in their projects, but how well are we teaching this concept? Try tracking student growth in this area to inform your teaching and help your students better understand the concept.

Most art educators spend a considerable amount of time teaching drawing basics to each class. As students are creating observational drawings, self-portraits, perspective drawings, etc., take a look at their range of value. A simple rubric ranging from one value to five can be a great place to start. How many distinct values do you see in your students' work? Give them a rating and provide feedback.

Once you've assessed your students' use of value, take time to review the definition, and create value scales. Students can make their own value scale in almost any media. Have them create a scale of at least five distinct values. Explain that you will be looking for these same values in each of their projects. From then on, you have a rubric with quantifiable data that shows how well students are applying value in their work. From their initial drawings to work they create after the review, you will surely see meaningful student growth!

Value can be assessed throughout the year as you move from drawing projects to color theory to painting techniques. With each new media, you can have students revisit the value scale and create a new one using color or different materials. Just as before, they can reference their scale to ensure they create at least five distinct values. Monochromatic projects are a great way to introduce the concept of value with color.

Final Thoughts

Assessing student growth should be meaningful to your teaching. Create assessments that will address the skills you want to make sure students grasp by the time they leave your art room. There are simple ways to add this growth-based assessment to projects students are already slated to complete. Track how they're doing, identify where they're struggling, and reteach to ensure each student improves on the skills needed to succeed in your class. Your students and your teaching practice will benefit!
How do you assess student growth in your art room? What are your go-to projects to teach color schemes? Do you have a favorite value scale project?

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3 Practical Ways to Assess Student Growth - The Art of Education University

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Educators are expected to demonstrate student growth in their classrooms. For art teachers, this can be daunting because we are so focused on project-based learning and performance tasks. You could make quantifiable data from written exams, but that can feel forced and really is not practical to your teaching.

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How To Use Online Quizzes for Differentiation

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How To Use Online Quizzes for Differentiation

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The article talks about using interact.com; however, you could use any application (Schoology, Google Forms, Quizizz, Kahoot, etc.).

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Did you know online quizzes can be good for more than telling you what celebrity you most resemble? Using online quizzes in the classroom can be a fun and helpful way to differentiate instruction for your students. Based on students' results, you can direct them to various instructions, assignments, and prompts.

There are many tools available to create online quizzes. I'm going to walk you through Interact, the one I find the easiest to use.

1. Focus on the process and get familiar with the platform.

When making your first quiz, it's important to get to know the platform. This way, you can discover the capabilities and how you might use them in the classroom.

Start by going to interact.com and creating an account. While there is a paid version, for our purposes, the free option works well. After you've created an account and signed in, you should see a screen like the one below. You'll want to hit the "Create New Quiz" button.

Next, you're going to see some options. If you click the "Template" option, you'll find a wide range of quizzes already created. Take some time to explore them, as you might find one you love. It's also a great way to gain inspiration for your own quiz.

2. Once you are finished exploring, select the "From Scratch" option.

Determine what kind of quiz you want to create. Again, I recommend taking some time to explore.

As you browse, imagine how you might use the variety of options in your classroom. Here are 3 ideas:

Use the "Assessment" option when helping students determine if they're ready to move ahead on a topic or technique, or to determine if they need more time. For example, you might design a quiz for a digital photography course to determine how well students understand Depth of Field. You can then assign different tasks depending on what scores students receive. Scoring a 0-3 may mean students need to view additional videos and meet with you, while scoring an 8-10 may mean they are ready to move on.

Use the "Personality" quiz to send students different sketchbook prompts based on their individual interests.

Use "Scored" quizzes as an option when you're asking questions without a right or wrong answer.

For all of the quizzes, you'll want to take advantage of the "Results" page. Use the "Results" page to send students customized information.

3. Create your quiz.

Let's walk through an example together. In this case, I've selected the "Assessment" option. Once you do, you're going to see a screen like the one below.

You'll build your quiz and "Results" page from this screen. I'm going to build a quiz for students who are interested in taking an AP 2-D design course to test how much they already know about Design Principles.

After you've set up your cover page, you're ready to start creating questions. For each question, you have the option to include an image if you wish. Write your question, add in answers, and then select the blue "Set Correct Answer" button.

As you set the correct answer, you have some options. You may choose to write a description that gives further information about why an answer is correct. This can be helpful for your students. You can also choose to reveal the correct answer after each question or not. Since I'm using this as both a tool for learning and differentiation, I fill in information about why an answer is correct and reveal it to students.

Once you have all of your questions entered, it's time to build your "Results" page. The "Results" page is where differentiation takes place. I usually have ten quiz questions and then create three "Results" pages. One for those who score 0-3, another for those who score 4-7, and one more for those who score 8-10. You can create as many or as few "Results" pages as you wish, based on your needs.

Depending on a student's score, they will be directed to a different "Results" page. For this quiz, I know my students who scored 0-3 need some basic information about the elements and principles. They're instructed to watch two short videos and provided with a sketchbook assignment. Students who score higher, receive different videos and assignments.

You can have students take the quiz more than once. For example, after completing their assignment, students who scored 0-3 may retake the quiz. As they score higher on the quiz, they'll be sent a new assignment.

Take the quiz, or use it in your classroom.
Take the Quiz!
Now it's your turn.

As you work to build your first quiz, remember it can take some time to set up. Try to make your quiz something you can use more than once. Focus on a topic where you feel your students need differentiated instruction and resources.
How do you see yourself using online quizzes for differentiation in your classroom? Around what topic will you build your first quiz?

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How to Use Online Quizzes for Differentiation - The Art of Education University

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Did you know online quizzes can be good for more than telling you what celebrity you most resemble? Using online quizzes in the classroom can be a fun and helpful way to differentiate instruction for your students. Based on students' results, you can direct them to various instructions, assignments, and prompts.

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School Work at Home - Advice from Students to Students

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School Work at Home - Advice from Students to Students

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Student to Student Advice for Online Learning - The Art of Education University

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Art Education and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) When transitioning to online learning, it is an adjustment to be juggling our home lives with revamping the curriculum to fit our new environments. We are all so keenly aware of the challenges we are going through. But, what do students say about changing…