Summit on Arts Education, July 29-August 1, 2014
If you follow the Maine Arts Ed blog you are aware of all the posts during the last several days that have to do with a component of the Summit. You might be wondering: What are the participants saying about the Summit?”
Soooooo…. here is some of the feedback that was collected electronically from teachers at the conclusion of each day:
Overall comments:
- I have not had a professional development in assessment before and it was great!
- Plenty of opportunities to meet people and collaborate
- There was an incredible diversity of knowledge, and information that was shared continuously
- Everyone was full of energy and ideas. It made me really excited to start integrating what I’ve learned!
- This week, I was able to take all the various pieces I’ve worked with (from over the past couple years) and consolidate them into a plan that fits my teaching style and my curriculum!
- Every conversation I had was meaningful
What did I learn (on specific topics) on the first day:
- Student-centered classroom, assessment and classroom strategies
- I learned about backward design
- Student-centered learning is the foundation of a standards-based classroom.
- “I Can” statements for standards, how others are assessing successfully
- How do I organize information
- I learned that I can only absorb so much. There is a lot to absorb here!
- That my brain is still very much in summer mode.
- Self and educational discovery takes time and is hard work
- Advocacy
- Arts assessment is in part, advocation for our art programs.
- The webinar with Washington was very interesting and enlightening, I had no idea about what happens at that end of the spectrum. Wonderful to see how people are advocates.
- MAAI and teacher leaders
- That Maine has a dedicated group of professionals united in working on assessment to improve teaching and learning.
- I learned about the responsibilities of a teacher leader.
- How a visual arts teacher went through the process of becoming a teacher leader
- MAAI is there to support my art ed learning that meets my needs. I felt like I should have been involved in MAAI sooner!
- Collaboration
- Everyone can be a resource in areas they are passionately curious about
- The need to collaborate is essential!
- Standards and proficiency
- The idea of “Power Standards” seems like a good place to start
- Using Standards-based assessments involves working towards clear goals or ‘big ideas’& communicating those goals to students, empowering students to take ownership of their progress towards these goals, and giving feedback along the way.
- Technology
- New resources are available in a variety of media, which will help inform my teaching and assessment practices
- I learn that digital portfolios are something several of us are working on.
- Teaching Artists
- I learned what a teaching artist is.
- Good inquiry about the role of the teaching artist
I will share more participant feedback in the future. Thanks to Jeff Beaudry for collecting the information and sharing it with participants each morning during the Summit!