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Home > AP Vertical Teams for Studio Art: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
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AP Vertical Teams for Studio Art: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
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by Jane Harlow
Broken Arrow Public Schools
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
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"AP Vertical Teams are the perfect vehicle for teacher collaboration across the boundaries of classrooms and buildings. Vertical Teams enable those directly working with and affected by the curriculum to ensure that connections are made between grade levels."
Richard Dale
Principal, South Intermediate High School, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Introduction
Broken Arrow Public school district is 20 miles southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma. There are 1,720 employees, which includes 933 certified teachers. Staff sizes range from 23 teachers at the smallest elementary school to 120 certified instructors at the senior high. Enrollment for the district is 14,730 with 4,300 enrolled in high school, grades 9 through 12. We have two intermediate high schools that house ninth and tenth grades and one senior high that houses eleventh and twelfth grades. Broken Arrow has the largest high school enrollment in the state.
Our AP Studio Art Vertical Team meets monthly for secondary level curriculum development and once a year to discuss the K-12 curriculum development. At the annual meeting, the grade 6-12 teachers meet for one hour to discuss curriculum issues. The K-5 teachers arrive for a 45-minute "get to know one another" session with everyone present. The 9-12 teachers leave so that the elementary teachers can meet with the middle school teachers to discuss curriculum issues. These particular meetings allow us time to acquaint all art teachers in the district and to develop a network of communication.
Organization
Broken Arrow public school district has established AP Vertical Teams in all subject areas. The school district, a great supporter of the Advanced Placement Program, has used the AP Vertical Team concept to establish its own Vertical Team organizations. Part of the money earned from the AP scores is used to send teachers for Pre-AP, AP, and Vertical Team training. The district appoints a Vertical Team chairperson for each subject area, but that chairperson is not necessarily an AP teacher. Broken Arrow realizes each team member should have an equal voice when policy is being made.
At each monthly meeting, we make a point to meet at a different school with the "host art teacher" in charge of the meeting. Topics for the meetings are outlined at the beginning of the school year and dates are set for meetings. Lesson plans are shared, and "show and tell" is a popular way to exhibit actual artwork being produced. As often as possible, the teams attend AP Vertical Team workshops as a group. Doing so helps establish more camaraderie among the group. We do disagree at times and have some discussions that expose the passion we have for our work, but we feel this is good for the group and that those differences of opinion help our district's studio art program continue to grow and improve.
Accomplishments
Our AP Studio Art Vertical Team has been responsible for the revision of the district art curriculum guide several times over the last 30 years. In the 1970s, we organized the guide by including actual lesson plans of activities being used at each level of art. Our guide became the model for the district when other guides were being rewritten in different subject areas. In 2000, we revised the guide once again. The new guide is vertically aligned with sequential planning for each level.
Since 1988, the Board of Education has funded AP and Pre-AP professional development training on a rotating cycle. Broken Arrow AP teachers participate and consult in the Southwest Regional subject conferences during the academic school year and at the summer institutes as well.
I have been very fortunate to be included at the ground level for the development of both AP Studio Art Vertical Team Guides. The experience of working with AP art teachers from across the United States, with AP Art Consultants, and with College Board representatives has given me insight into how Vertical Teams can develop sequentially aligned curriculum and use that curriculum laterally as well as vertically.
Creating a Portfolio
Portfolios are introduced in elementary school and are required at the end of the middle school program for enrollment in high school art courses. Portfolio reviews are also required for all students enrolling in AP Studio Art Programs.
We have comprehensive art programs for eighth graders in several schools. These students are identified as Pre-AP Art I students in the ninth grade. It is important to note that any student who has passed eighth grade art may enroll in Pre-AP Art I as well. Any regular Art I or Pre-AP Art I student may enroll in Pre-AP Art II or enroll directly in the AP Studio Art Program in the eleventh and twelfth grades. We believe that all art students desiring to take the class may do so as long as space allows. However, for those students who are struggling with attendance and the production of quality work, we recommend enrolling in regular art classes or Pre-AP art classes before entering AP level courses. We want students to be set for success in the Pre-AP and AP courses rather than set up for failure or a stressful school year.
It is our Vertical Team's belief that basic techniques and skills should be dealt with in both Art I and Art II. As in sports, many art skills demand daily practice at the basic level. Teaching techniques in drawing, color mechanics, painting, ceramics, and sculpture are dealt with through the teaching of the elements and principles of design in both Art I and Art II. The assignments are more complex in the Art II level. It is our belief that the students must learn basic rules in art and develop skills before moving to the level of abstract thinking and upper level skills. We feel they should "know the rules" before making an educated decision to "break the rules." Then, "thinking out of the box" is easy and fun. As the students enter Art III, AP Drawing, AP 2-D Design, or AP 3-D Design, they have had at least two years of intense work in the basic techniques of drawing, painting, and 3-D. They are confident and experienced, and have developed strong work ethics. They are prepared for the rigorous demands of AP portfolio work.
Vertical Team Planning -- Example Art Activity: Ceramics/Pottery
Art I -- Emerging
- Terminology, precautions, safety rules, history of art
- Properties of clay, wedging, coil making, slab rolling
- Hand-built vessels
- Pinch -- cut for construction evenness
- Coil -- coil construction
- Slab -- box with attached/cut-off lid
- Glazing techniques
- Low-fire glazing
- Engobe techniques
Art II -- Proficient
- Review of precautions and safety rules
- Review of terminology with new terms introduced
- Introduction of artists and their work, gallery visits
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Historic timeline of ceramic development
- Hand-built vessels
- Banding wheel coil directly on wheel
- Asymmetrical coil construction
- Free-form slab construction
- Combination construction slab, coil
- Wheel throwing (if time permits)
- Additive appendages such as handles, feet
- Glazing techniques
- Engobe
- Sgraffito
- Combination of dipping, spraying, sponging
- Carving and pressing designs
- Raku firing
- Use of color (element of design) and variety, pattern, and movement (principles of design) in a 3-D vessel
- Standards used to evaluate and critique the craftsmanship and aesthetic value of the vessel
Art III or AP 3-D Design Portfolio -- Advanced
- Review of safety rules for handling tools, clay, firing procedures,
and glazing
- Review of terminology with new terms added
- Study of historical clay vessels
- Introduction of Modern and contemporary ceramicists
- Gallery visits
- Current interpretive debates and issues associated with ceramics
- Specialized glazing techniques
- Free time to create personal style and design in vessels being made
- A concentration in one area of ceramics, such as:
- Hand-built construction
- Throwing on potter's wheel
- Casting
- Combination of techniques mentioned above
- Added appendages such as handles, feet
- Attachments of alternative materials such as wood, metal, found objects
- Investigation of design and glazing techniques
Jane Harlow has been an art instructor in public schools for 34 years. She has been a National Portfolio Reader for 7 years, and established and taught AP Studio Art at Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. She assisted in establishing and writing the National AP Studio Art Vertical Team Guides in 1998 and 2000.
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