Here are some great reminders for parents and students regarding best practices in the art room at BPES.
- Please don’t wear your best clothes on art days. We use lots of glue, paint, and once a year we use clay/glaze. Although smocks are made available to students, I do not openly promote smock use due to the possibility of spreading germs (we have over 650 students at BPE), as well as the occasional outbreak of lice. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does the art room is the last place to find out, often times after an entire grade level has used our smocks within the week.
- Art class is fun! However, it is still an important part of the curriculum and it is graded. The skills I teach your children are important to their development as a whole child and the lessons they learn in the art room go far beyond painting and drawing. Please trust that when I grade your student’s skills, I am objectively looking at their skill level and whether or not they have truly shown me their best work (I learn what each student is capable of pretty quickly, and I see them for five years, so I know what they can do). Each student is different and I assess them based on those differences. I grade on whether they followed directions for each project, and also whether they thought creatively and made appropriate choices with materials. For more information on grading policies, please check out this link.
- If you ever have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Email is the fastest way to reach me, and is often the fastest way I can respond. My email address is: natalie.hodges@kellerisd.net.