Exit Tickets Mr. E's Way!

Do you do "Exit Tickets" in your room?  There was a big push in our district a few years ago.  I loved the idea..but wasn't sure how to "MAKE IT WORK" in my room(imagine Tim Gunn's voice).  Post-It Notes are expensive when you think of how many kids we see as art teachers!!  How could I make "Exit Tickets" work for me?

WELL LET ME TELL YA!!! 

I purchased a piece of foam core board from the Dollar Tree(yep..$1).  I purchased two packs of clothespins($2).  I hot glued the clothespins around the edge of the board..but completely on the board.  I felt if they were hanging off...they would break off/fall off easier.  The board gives them some support.  I used tacky glue to attach images I cut out of old/discontinued textbooks to make the whole thing a bit more fun & arty!!  I poked a hole through the foam core toward the top and reinforced the back with duct tape. I then used yarn the same color as my walls to hang it from my tile ceiling(using a paper clip to slide into the tile support bars).  I did this up against the wall.  I then got glued the paper clip to the support bar to make sure it didn't slip.  I also hot glued the board in two places on the back to make sure the laid flat to the wall...and some of the weight/stress was taken from the string.  You can use scarp paper...messed up/abandoned printed paper from the copy room/notebook paper....WHATEVER!!  They are clipping it to the board..so it doesn't have to be sticky!!

Ok..probably longer than you needed...but wanted to make sure I explained my process...in case anyone wanted to try it for themselves!

OH OH OH!!!

If you don't do exit tickets....all ya gotta do is ask a question to see what they got out of the lesson that day!! "Tell me one thing you learned today in art!"  It allows you to see what they learned...and maybe what you need to bring across better!! 

   

Maury County Visual Art PD: AKA Ted & Janet's Excellent Adventure

On Nov. 21st....Janet & I set out on a most excellent adventure!!  We drove to Maury County TN to lead a professional development for their visual art teachers!  This all came about because one of their art teachers and I hung out over fall break so I could help her with the new state portfolio growth assessment that their county just adopted(and we adopted last year). 

Here is the post about that meeting!! ---  (THE STORY STARTS HERE)

Janet & I usually present together in our district.  Scary to say..we share at least part of a brain!! ha ha

So I was glad to have her along for this adventure!  I had never been to Maury County before!  They only have about 16 art teachers total K-12.  That is very different from Nashville(90+ elementary!!..150 total K-12)....but a good different in many ways!  We were greeted with smiling faces...and many THANK YOU FOR COMING!!!  They don't have a lot of professional development...and it is usually one of them leading it.  So they were excited to be able to just enjoy the day and be a part of the adventure!!!  

The main reason for us being there was to train the teachers on the new teacher assessment portfolio.  This is a good thing...it allows us to be "judged" & evaluated on what we actually do in the art room.  It removes the math/reading type standardized test score from our overall evaluation(which is 50%). Anyways...they were excited to learn more about it...and asked AMAZING questions!!  They were really a wonderful group of teachers to work with!!  

?!?!me talking with my hands!??!

HOWEVER...Janet and I didn't want to just do the training for the portfolio...we wanted to have FUN too!!!  So we had to art making sessions added into the day!!!  Janet taught them the joy & application of Shrinky Dinks!! They really are awesome!!! Great for jewelry making lessons!!

I taught them how I do ugly dolls in my classroom...and introduced them to SMART FAB.  Some of them were able to finish, but many took them home so they could spend more time on them.  

I truly loved being able to meet these amazing art educators...and hopefully share some new information with them that they can apply!!!  They said they want us to come back!  I hope we can...love spending time with my peeps!!

Just a side note...if you ever get to Maury County TN...in a town called Mt. Pleasant....YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE MT.PLEASANT GRILL!!!!!!!!!  I had a fried green tomato & bacon sandwich...and homemade blackberry milkshake!! WOW.  Gonna take my wife down that way sometime...she'd love it!!

PD Day Projects: "The Pout Pout Fish" Inspired Craft Wars

Have you seen Craft Wars?!?  I really want to be on it!!  We have decided to do a one hour Craft Wars at the start of each PD Day(we have 5 this year).  We have random supplies laid out...and give the teachers a few objectives that must be accomplished in their creation!  My wife actually gave me this idea!! The teachers that attended our PD Day on Assessment/Grading yesterday created these beautiful works while listening to The Pout Pout Fish.  My friend Janet and I were leading the workshop..and we had to find a way to work that into the day!!! ha ha  Every elementary art teacher should have this book in their classroom library! I did a dramatic reading(really..just how I normally read..ha) while teachers were getting underway with their project.  We only told them that their must be a fish...there must be an environment...and craftsmanship must be excellent!  I know that the images you are looking at do not look like The Pout-Pout Fish.  HOWEVER...I am not really a fan of copying images from other artists.  So this is inspired...not a copy.   This work was later a part of the grading/assessment portion of our day.