Instruction and Assessment Statement
I believe in providing rubrics so that students can look at specific parameters of success to work toward. I also believe in mostly using formative assessments to encourage a growth mindset, with only a few summative assessments to close out activities and allow students to look at how far they came. I rather use qualitative judgements as opposed to point systems, such as “satisfactory” “needs improvement” and “unsatisfactory” to encourage students to work for success as opposed to for grades. I don’t believe in docking points for late work because the students are still learning. For instance, I had one student who never turned in their work, but when they finally did, it was to their standard, and the student had discovered much more about the process than other students who turned in their work on time. Learning happens when mistakes are made. I also believe in having students critique each others’ work with constructive criticism when finishing a unit, as the summative assessment. The students then learn about how to give and receive constructive criticism in an artistic environment of a critique, including performative assessment in both the critique and the artmaking process. When I assess the students' work at the summative assessment stage, I am able to adapt the lesson for future classes based on the outcomes from the students. Perhaps they need more time, or less discussion, or more contextual works to observe. The formative assessment, listed above as constructive criticism, is crucial to allow the students to adapt as well as myself; if the students were halfway prepared at a critique, I would be able to judge if they need more time on the project.