Jean,
I was a teacher in a program much like you are describing. It was years ago
at a middle school in San Diego. The other Art teacher that did this is
still there. We had the students for nine weeks and then they rotated into
music, Home Ec and then Drama or Computer Science. Each quarter, they
earned a grade. The program, as I recall, was really meant to introduce the
students to each area so that they could then choose a semester course for
the following year. I would be happy to answer any questions or put you in
touch with the teacher that is still at the school. I do not think that
they still run the program this way any more.
Judi
----- Original Message -----
From: <jvuono@ldsd.k12.pa.us>
To: "ArtsEdNet Talk" <artsednet@lists.pub.getty.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 9:03 AM
Subject: Re: artsednet digest: April 05, 2001
>
> I am 1/2 of the art staff at a middle school. We are part of the "Encore
> Team", consisting of art, music, tech and family and consumer science.
Each
> of the 4 classes meet every day for 9 weeks. Students receive a grade
> (A,B,C,etc.) for each class. We are looking into the possibility of
> combining the 4 quarter grades into 1 major grade which will count towards
> a student passing the school year. We are looking for other middle schools
> that have tried this approach and/or have some advice.
> Two things are sparking this. One is the fact that PA is implementing
> standards, which will include the arts, tech and family and consumer
> science. The other is that students, parents and some of our colleagues
see
> our classes as less important because the grades do not count, except for
> honor roll (which was a well fought battle!)
> Another future problem is that increasing enrollment over the next
> few years will force us to go to 6 week classes. We will be building on
> regular classrooms but there is no room (or staff) for encore or health
and
> phys ed. The alternative is to have VERY large classes.
> Thanks for any help!
> Jean
>
>
> ---
>
