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Answers for Parents
This page is intended to help parents understand the processes that take place in the Beginning Drawing and Painting classroom. I want to help parents become a greater part of their student's education by providing a little extra information that may help encourage a little more discussion and understanding behind what you may hear come home from school. As a parent I know it can be very difficult to understand what a teacher expects for projects, homework, assignments, etc. when talking to a high school student. In many ways it is often like trying to understand an entirely different language: "He said this," "my friend in class said that," or "I don't know, let me call another friend" are phrases all too often heard around my home.
This page is organized like an FAQ page where the questions are places along the left hand margin and the answers will appear below. Click on the questions to the left and the page will advance to the corresponding answer. If the questions to the left are not similar to those you had when you opened this page feel free to contact me at http://art1.leusd.tch.schoolfusion.us
email address: You may reach me through the Temescal Canyon High School website at https://tch.leusd.k12.ca.us/
projects: Information about the projects for this class can be found by clicking on their link on the home page. The projects are listed below "The Most Recent Project" section on the page and the link to each project is the title listed above a small picture of each. Clicking on the picture itself, however, just leads you to the glory wall for that project which contains little information about the completion of that project but does contain some very nice work.
sketchecks: In beginning drawing and painting students are asked to assemble "sketch books." I call them sketch books but they are really two-pocket folder with a set of paper clasps down the middle if the inside of the folder. They can be purchased at almost any office supply store or school supply store like Target or Walmart for around $.50. A "sketcheck" is the due date upon which the sketchbooks are collected. Sketchbooks are graded on a "complete/incomplete" basis with 100% and 60% of the points given accordingly. Sketchbooks are an important part of a students grade as they are worth 25% of a total assignment grade. Sketch books are expected to include a student-made checklist of the work it should contain and whatever notes, research, or practice drawings we are doing for that particular project.
grade drops: Projects are large portions of a student's grade; most are worth 50 points each which is considerable when the entire semester may be made up of only 355 points. Therefore if a student does not turn in a project when it is due the grade drops tremendously- more so at the beginning of the semester when we have accumulated fewer points than at the end. (The next two questions answer what can be done then)
grade rebounds: This, of course is the next logical question and the answer is: turn the project in. I also offer extra credit which is only available on those projects which are complete and turned in. A student can not pass my class on extra credit but can change a "C" to a "B" and a "B" to an "A" by doing a little extra work reflecting on their success in writing on past projects. More on extra credit>
late assignments: I accept some late work (this is a little difficult to explain but I'll try to make this as clear and concise as possible). I encourage students to do the best they can on a project. Doing their best sometimes requires extra time and I don't want to deprive them of that opportunity. Therefore I do not take late points off for projects that are turned in past their due date. These projects that are "missing", however, do show up in the grade book as a zero until the project is turned in. Note the stress on "projects." Other assignments such as seatwork or sketchecks are different. Any seatwork assigned is expected to be turned in at a specific time- if late, they lose 15% of the grade on that assignment. Sketchecks have one week after they are due to be turned in but after that "grace period" I no longer accept them for that checkpoint.
Glory Wall: Technically it is a display case near the end of the hallway by the classroom but it is also a web page on which I show outstanding work from each project completed in class. The artwork chosen for the Glory Wall stands apart from the rest of the work completed by the class in many ways. In some cases it is the technical achievement or visual quality of the work, in others it might be the innovation or originality of the idea that a student shows in completing the assignment. In general the Glory Wall winning projects are not grade related although those works chosen for the Glory Wall often receive a good grade. Some of the work on the Glory Wall is "A" work while other are "B" or even "C" work that reflects significant strides in ability or originality.