• Expectatations

    There is always a lot to do in a very short amount of time in the art room. To ensure each student is safe, has enough time to create, and can help support their classroom community, I have three rules for students to follow. I go over these rules with the students at the beginning of the year so they know what I expect when they come to art. I will teach each procedure every time a new project and/or material is introduced.

    Art Expectations

    1. Respect each other, all art materials, and the art room.

    2. Follow instructions

    3. Do your best!

    These expectations fall in line with our school's motto: Trojans are safe, respectful and responsible! When expectations are followed and met, students are able to learn, collaborate, and gain privileges. Our school has a ticket system, in which students who meet expectations have a chance to earn tickets that can be used to purchase items in our school store. In the art classroom, students also work as a team to earn points. The better they do, the more points they receive at the end of class. If they have earned the max number of points for a class, the next time they come to art, they have earned the right to sit wherever they want.

    However, if expectations are not followed, the following will be the consequences: conference and/or change seats, parent contact with incident noted in our discipline system, and then an office referral if multiple instances or the behavior the behavior is severe. Often, I will speak to the individual or group of students once or twice or pull them over for a conference. If the issue persists, I will ask students to work in the cool down zone to get them away from distractions so they can focus on their work. The next step is parental contact, so parents are aware of any extreme behaviors in the art room. If the behavior continues still, an office referral may be submitted based on severity and pattern of behavior.

    I communicate with parents by phone, e-mail, and notes sent home. I usually try e-mails and notes first as I know many parents can't talk to the school during work hours. If you have any concerns about your student in the art classroom, please e-mail me at aciravolo@acpsd.net or call the school at (839) 846-7010 and ask for the art teacher. 

  • Grading

    1st - 5th grade tudents are graded in physical education, art, and music based on the letter grading system MS, MPS, or NMP. MS stands for meeting standards and ranges from 80-100. MPS stands for making progress toward standards and ranges from 70-79, and NMP stands for not making progress toward standards and ranges from 0-69. 

    In the art room, students can be graded based on classwork after a certain practice period and will be graded on projects. For example, if students are working on a landscape, students will practice the parts of the landscape with the teacher and on their own, once. Then students will create a practice landscape that will act as their plan for their final painting. That plan will be graded based on the learning objective(i.e. I can create a landscape that properly uses the parts of a landscape). Students will be graded on if they have a foreground, midground, and background and a horizon line.) Then, the overall project will be graded based on the district art rubric.