me arts ed

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?”

Summit on Arts Education participants

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

Sarah Gould and Michaela Digianvittorio, Gray-New Gloucester High School visual art teachers

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!