Maryland was one of the first States in the nation to adopt the CCSS in reading/English language arts and mathematics. These education standards establish a set of shared goals and expectations for what students should understand and be able to do in grades K-12 in order to be prepared for success in college and the workplace.
The CCSS document is organized into four strands. The reading strand is broken into Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text. In addition, Reading Foundational Skills are written for Pre-K through Grade 5. Pre-K standards for each of the strands have been developed by Maryland educators. CCSS form the foundation for Maryland's new State curriculum and they are still in the development phase. The new State curriculum is expected to be implemented in all Maryland schools in the 2013-2014 school year.
The curriculum frameworks are detailed, and are available online at http://www.mdk12.org/instruction/commoncore/index.html. It doesn't make sense to try to summarize them here, but it will make sense to look at them for various grades when we actually begin touring. We will have a much better idea of what information has already been taught to the students we are serving, and a much better idea of what the teacher will appreciate in terms of support. Stay tuned.
Here is what we learned from Amanda Kodeck about what the Walters is doing to support the CCSS efforts: All very fluid, still very much in development. Amanda did say that art education ("art integration") fits very well within the CCSS theory and methodology, and that the Walters will be in the forefront as the new standards are implemented. Every month the staff is adding a new activity that will link a Walters' work to the common core standards. thewalters.org/teachers/resources/commoncore
We then had a presentation on other resources that the Walters' staff has been developing for teachers, for general arts integration, not just common core. In Mummies, Manuscripts, and Madonnas http://thewalters.org/integrating-the-arts/mmm, for example, there are activities for Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies, with one work of art from Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance for each. There is a section on Integrating the Arts using works of art from China: http://steve.thewalters.org:8081/pachyderm_2_1/presentations/IntegratingtheArtsChina65/ and a tool for exploring Islam and the Islamic world using 10 works of art from the collection: http://thewalters.org/integrating-the-arts/islam/
There are more than 20 lesson plans that can be downloaded for various age groups: http://thewalters.org/teachers/resources/lesson-plans/
This is very impressive stuff, in my opinion, but the staff has told us that most teachers don't use it. There are limits of time and energy that I understand. Still, I think I will make a point of pointing out the links to the teacher if I use a work of art from the teacher resources. At the very least, the teacher resources can be very useful in planning a tour.
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Today we were also granted a visit to the docent work room. We are not yet allowed access to the docent website, so this was a rare look at the inner sanctum. So silly. There is a small workroom in the Hackerman House, with a variety of resources for docents. There is a fairly large collection of hands-on objects to choose from in planning a tour. We are invited to add hands-on objects or ask the education staff to purchase objects.
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Today we were also granted a visit to the docent work room. We are not yet allowed access to the docent website, so this was a rare look at the inner sanctum. So silly. There is a small workroom in the Hackerman House, with a variety of resources for docents. There is a fairly large collection of hands-on objects to choose from in planning a tour. We are invited to add hands-on objects or ask the education staff to purchase objects.
There is also a wall of books for use by docents. Apparently docents do not have access to the Walters' main library, which is for the use of curators and staff. That's understandable. I'm sure we will never need to go that deep for our tours with children! There are children's books we can use on tour as well.
In this room we can find lists, schedules, a coffeepot, and a worktable. With space at a premium, it's the most we can expect. Seems fair given that wonderful works of art are in storage due to space considerations.
Our discussion here focused on the use of iPads in tours. The Walters has several iPads pre-loaded with materials designed to supplement, and hopefully not distract from, our tours. The iPads must be reserved a week in advance, and for the time being, priority is given to their use in Sounds of the Centuries tours, next priority to Ancient World tours. Apparently, the use of iPads has been controversial among staff and docents. On the one hand, it seems like a wonderful way to integrate photos, maps, video and audio into discussions, but on the other hand children might be tempted to make the iPad the focus of their attention, not the art. My conclusion: this is the world these children are growing up in, we should be figuring out the best ways to use the technology. We discussed Best Practices: don't make the iPad the focal point of a discussion, don't use it on every stop, be sure that everyone can see the image, keep videos short, and practice a lot before attempting to use the iPad on a tour. The list of content is impressive. We looked at a hard copy of the Table of Contents - the online version is on the docent website, but of course that's still secret. *wink*
In this room we can find lists, schedules, a coffeepot, and a worktable. With space at a premium, it's the most we can expect. Seems fair given that wonderful works of art are in storage due to space considerations.
Our discussion here focused on the use of iPads in tours. The Walters has several iPads pre-loaded with materials designed to supplement, and hopefully not distract from, our tours. The iPads must be reserved a week in advance, and for the time being, priority is given to their use in Sounds of the Centuries tours, next priority to Ancient World tours. Apparently, the use of iPads has been controversial among staff and docents. On the one hand, it seems like a wonderful way to integrate photos, maps, video and audio into discussions, but on the other hand children might be tempted to make the iPad the focus of their attention, not the art. My conclusion: this is the world these children are growing up in, we should be figuring out the best ways to use the technology. We discussed Best Practices: don't make the iPad the focal point of a discussion, don't use it on every stop, be sure that everyone can see the image, keep videos short, and practice a lot before attempting to use the iPad on a tour. The list of content is impressive. We looked at a hard copy of the Table of Contents - the online version is on the docent website, but of course that's still secret. *wink*
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