Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions
of students and parents.
- 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)
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
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 step of a 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.
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 selects 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 30 to 40 art club members a year.
What is needed to be prepared for art class?
Your child will need one pocket folder, a pencil, and a good
eraser and a sketchbook. Homework is to be done in the sketchbook
weekly and brought to class everytime. It will be graded during
class and the books will go home with the student at the end of
the period.
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. To help me get the information quickly it would
be nice if you give me your child's full name and the classroom
teacher since I do service a lot of students this will help me
locate the information faster.
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. If your child is late or does not hand in their homework
it can hurt their 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. There is
also a page on the website called the artist challenge.
You need to find 10 facts about the artist of the month and write
a paragraph about the artists. Your child can do 2 extra papers
per grading period for extra credit.
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.
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.
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.
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.
