- What is my child's homework?
- How do you judge the students work for grades?
- Is there art club being offered to the students?
- What is needed to be prepared for art class?
- How can I get a hold of the art teacher?
- Is there a way my student can improve their grades?
- What is taught in the art class room?
- When will the parents get their child's art work?
- My child did not get into art club is it still possible for them?
- What is that new page you added to your website?(Adopt a classroom)
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What is my child's homework?
Your child recieves their homework assignment each week during their art
class time and the end of the period. If your child does not remember what
their homework was have them draw a free-drawing. You can also check in the
homework page and see what has been assigned for homework that week. I will
be updating the homework page weekly for the parents to see what their child
is being assigned for the week
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How do you judge the students work for grades?
Art is a very subjective topic and I don't believe it is fair to grade a
student on "How pretty is the picture". I have set up requirements for each
lesson that is being taught to the student and look for these goals from the
student. As a teacher I grade the student by how well did the student follow
directions on the assignment, how much of the assignment did the student
finish, how well they use the materials given, and the ability to grow
beyond the basic directions.
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Is there art club being offered to the students?
Art club is being offered to students in the 4th and 5th grades only. At
the beginning of the school year we test the students who want to try out.
From there Miss Atkison and Mr. Diaz select the club members. Students can
get into art club by invitation after if a student from the original list
drops out of art club. There are only 20 to 25 art club members a year.
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What is needed to be prepared for art class?
Your child will need one pocket folder, a pencil, and a good eraser. We
create a homework sketchbook The second week of classes which your child
will need to do their homework in. If lost they will need to replace the
book by either making one or buying one. The teacher does supply the
students with the materials they need for that class day.
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How can I get a hold of the art teacher?
I do recieve messages from the office and return phone calls when I have
time. This is usually after 3:00 since I am teaching classes most of the
time. If you leave a message with the office please remember to include a
phone number which I can reach you at around this time. I also check my
email regularly. The address is KAtkison@dadeschools.net,(please check the
spelling of the address carefully) please give me time to respond to any
messages or notes from you. I will try to return the messages or notes as
soon as I am able.
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Is there a way my student can improve their grades?
The most important thing to help your child get better grades is first make
sure they have handed in their homework on time. Your child will be
assigned a page to draw in their sketchbook every week. Also if your child
is in third, fourth or fifth grade they are required to write one paper
every grading period (a total of 4 papers for the school year)on an artist
of the month. Artists are assigned every month in the artist challenge page
and they need to select one of them and write 5 facts about the artist. if
you child is Late or does not hand in their homework it can hurt your
child's grades. It is important that in class that students will need to
show that they are working to finishing their assigned work. Also care and
handling of materials is taught in class. If a student wishes they can earn
extra points by working on the word search puzzles found on the website. I
accept two puzzle for extra credits to help in the homework grades every
grading period. A total of 8 puzzles can be done in a school year. Also
students can earn an extra class grade by successfully completing the
webquest also found on the website. They will need to show that they have
completed the work by handing in the paper to the teacher to get the
credits. The webquest is an activity that can be enjoyed by the family and
helps people understand that art has a lot of interesting aspects and
styles. There is also a page on the website called the artist challenge.
You need to find 5 facts about the artist of the month and write a paragraph
about the artists. After your child has completed the assignment of the
written paper for the grading period they can do 2 extra papers per grading
period for extra credit.
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What is taught in the art class room?
Students in art learn not only how to create art on their own but also
a lot of history and how art has played a role in our life. Artists often
times paint pictures that are a reflection of that time period. Art was our
first form of comunication with the paintings by cave men on walls. It is
also our first form of writing in a language. Art has developed into
records of history and even stories that we can learn about today. In class
students learn about the history of time and how art is reflected by that
time, about the artist who painted the pictures, and how they can use a
variety of materials to create a painting or an original piece of art work.
I try to teach students a variety of different techniques and show they
different styles of art so they can learn to use their own imagination in
creating new and exciting forms of art.
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When will the parents get their child's art work?
In the first week of class students create a portfolio that will store their
art work for that school year. They are responsible for caring of their
folder and work. During the year Ms. Atkison has several shows and contests
that occur which she might select a piece of work that your child has done
to enter in the contest or show. Invitations and information about these
shows and contests are relayed to the parent when the teacher finds out if
they did well or if they might have won. Since Ms. Atkison might have need
of your child's work at different times of the year, the art work remains in
your child's portfolio in the art class. At the end of the school year the
portfolio with all of the work your child has done for that year will be
sent home.
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My child did not get into art club is it still possible for them?
Yes it is still possible for your child to get into art club. We have
completed the first list of students that earned the positions through a
test that is given equally to all the students who want to try out. If a
student either does not want to continue in or is dropped from art club then
we pull up students from the alternate list that will be mantained and
updated by both Mr. Diaz and Ms. Atkison. We often find students during our
classes that we would like to see in art club. They are then added to the
alternate list and can be invited later in the school year to art club.
Sometime we use a lot of the alternates and sometimes few but during the
school year we do find that we add new members along the way.
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What is that new page you added to your website?(Adopt a classroom)
This is a wonderful program that is offered to the teachers to register
for. We often times spend a lot of our own money so we can make our lessons
more interesting. This site allows individuals who are interested in
supporting a teacher a chance to donate money to the classroom. The
teachers who get adopted are allowed to shop for a variety of materials from
several vendors and place an order for the amount of money that is donated.
Teachers do not touch any of the actual cash involved but receive credit to
spend through adopt a classroom which then pays the vendors. All of the
money you donate to the teacher is given to the teacher and not used in any
other way. Also, the money you do donate is tax deductable for you. This
is a wonderful chance to assist the teacher is enhancing their lessons.
Please take some time and visit the site and read more about this program.
ANY teacher you decide to adopt would appreciate any gesture you can make
since it will be for the students they teach.
