Assessing students

Mrs. K has an interesting way of assessing students work. At the end of a quarter or trimester, she would go through all of her students work that they had done through ought the quarter or trimester. While she does so, she asks her students to help clean up the room, cleaning table tops and the sink areas. Her older students turned in their sketchbooks, so she could check that they did the assignments, and they could take their other work home. Her Middle school students brought up all of their work that they had done during the trimester, and she graded it on the spot. Her older students also helped sort the elementary school work into the correct students portfolio. I think sketchbook assignments are a great concept to use for older students.

There were other times I saw her assess. One time was when she started a new middle school trimester. They had gotten into groups and make a cave art drawing together. She then had the students do a self assessment of how they thought they did on the project.

This was the rubric she gave the 6th graders.

Then she had some of her older students present an art based career to the class, such as interior designer or graphic design. They had to do specific research, such as what this job offered for a salary, what they do, etc. They also had to present for 5 minutes. When I observed, only two students were left. One only had two slides to his project, with almost no information, and only presented for 30 seconds. Mrs. K only gave him a 1/9, and I had to agree with her. She gave them time to work in class. Even with one class period of research time, they should have had more to show for their work.

Overall, I think assessment is important, and it's important to have students participate. They need to seriously think about the work they put into their projects. It helps to resolve any issues they may have during the class period and work time.