Studio Habit of Mind: Stretch and Explore is a great way to open centers in the TAB classroom. I have used this strategies for the past three years when I open centers. Stretch and Explore is when artists experiment and explore. It fits nicely in letting students explore materials and learn classroom expectations. I let my students just focus on trying and touch all the materials. It gives me a chance to really teach other regular classroom expectations. 

I just opened my TeacherspayTeachers store.


There is a Stretch and Explore Bundle found here. 

I had a request to go more in depth on surveys. I will cover types of questions to consider. 

​At the end of every year, I take the time to give my students a survey. When I transitioned to a choice classroom I realized the importance of student voice in every aspect of the classroom. I try to keep a mix of types of question for the survey. Here are some categories and questions to consider on a class survey.

TYPES OF QUESTION TO CONSIDER: 

Pedagogical Effectiveness: How effective has my instruction been in a student’s perspective?
                Question Examples:
                I know what we are learning every day.
                My teacher tells me why I am learning this.
Classroom Environment: How is the classroom atmosphere and environment?
                Question Examples:
                My teacher has good classroom expectations/rules.
                My teacher is fair and consist with classroom expectations.
Rigor: How challenging is my curriculum?
                Question Examples:
                The most difficult lesson this year was _____________.
                I think the everything is easy in this class.
                I found challenges in _____________________.
Choice Continuum Preference: How much choice do my students prefer?
                Questions Examples:
                I like to have all 8 centers open.
                I want 3-4 centers open.
                I want to have more ideas from teacher on what to make.
Favorite Centers: What did my students enjoy the most?              
                Questions Examples:
                The center I liked the most was.
                The center I liked the least was.
Future Ideas: What do my students want more of?
                Question Examples:
                A new center or material I want to try next year is ___________________.
                I want to see more…. Ideas, demonstrations, art history, art careers, etc. 

I really change up the questions every year depending on what type of information I want to collect from my students. I give them the option of three answers: disagree, somewhat agree or agree. I even tell them to be honest because it does help me. 
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An introduction to my new portfolio system using Padlet. 
I made a switch to Padlet for next year because I love their features. I like how it feels like a social media page. My students are instantly engaged and it is fun.  I can easily provide them with feedback and comments. The search options are easy to add videos, images and GIFs from the web. I think this will be great when I ask students to research and find images. I also like the QR code to share. This makes it so simple for elementary students to share their work. 
THANKS, Padlet!