Setting and Context
Culture and Community Culture
Lopez Elementary is located in south-central Fort Collins, CO. The Lopez “Lasers” are Northern Colorado’s first lighthouse, “Leader in Me” school. Lopez supports and challenges students to be autonomous leaders. They share a common vision that all students are empowered and highly encouraged to discover the leader within themselves. Through extremely high expectations of every individual student, students at Lopez are given the tools to achieve their personal mission and goals in life.
Demographic Characteristics
Lopez Elementary is ranked #23 of the 52 schools in Poudre School District R-1, and ranked #423 of 1863 in Colorado proficiency. Lopez currently has a student to teacher ratio of 18:1. About 25% of students at Lopez elementary qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Lopez Elementary Ethnic Breakdown
Caucasian - 72.1%
African American 2.3%
Asian - 2.3%
Hispanic or Latino 16.7%
American Indian or Alaskan - 1%
Multiracial - 5.7%
Classroom Environment and Classes Taught
The art room is run with student autonomy and partial choice. Allowing students to have choice will in turn self differentiate. This management strategy draws on student interest and adds engagement, shifting ownership onto the students. The classroom is managed by modeling and allowing students to take ownership over their behaviors. Rules and routines are set into place from day one in the art room. These routines and rules are repeated every class for the first month or so. The Kindergarten classes are sometimes managed with station rotations. Students are encouraged to begin thinking and working like artists. Routines for students include:
Come in quietly
Listen to directions
Work like an artist
Clean up quickly
Line up quietly
If the classroom is able to reach all of these goals they receive a star for the day. After receiving 5 stars they are allowed a choice day. This gives incentive for students to meet behavioral expectations. The Lopez Elementary art room is on a three part discipline system. Students who are not meeting behavioral expectations and breaking rules will receive a warning. If the student continues to misbehave they are sent to the refocus desk. During their refocus they are not allowed to engage with other students and they are to completely fill out a refocus form before being reintegrated into their class. If the behavior continues, the student will receive an office referral.
All Students with special needs will receive support from the school and be given proper accommodations for success. The Individual Education Program or (IEP) is an extremely important document for students with disabilities receiving special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. A team of specialized individuals including staff and parents manages each student who is in need of an IEP. Differentiation is used in the classroom to assist different learning styles as well as assistance from paraprofessionals. In addition, In the fall of 2019, Lopez added an Integrated Learning Supports (ILS) program to educate students with more intense needs, and who face barriers learning. The aim of the ILS program is to encourage academic achievement, communication, community membership, and personal independence. Lopez helps students develop their strengths in the least restrictive environment while promoting inclusive practices in all settings.
Lopez Elementary is located in south-central Fort Collins, CO. The Lopez “Lasers” are Northern Colorado’s first lighthouse, “Leader in Me” school. Lopez supports and challenges students to be autonomous leaders. They share a common vision that all students are empowered and highly encouraged to discover the leader within themselves. Through extremely high expectations of every individual student, students at Lopez are given the tools to achieve their personal mission and goals in life.
Demographic Characteristics
Lopez Elementary is ranked #23 of the 52 schools in Poudre School District R-1, and ranked #423 of 1863 in Colorado proficiency. Lopez currently has a student to teacher ratio of 18:1. About 25% of students at Lopez elementary qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Lopez Elementary Ethnic Breakdown
Caucasian - 72.1%
African American 2.3%
Asian - 2.3%
Hispanic or Latino 16.7%
American Indian or Alaskan - 1%
Multiracial - 5.7%
Classroom Environment and Classes Taught
The art room is run with student autonomy and partial choice. Allowing students to have choice will in turn self differentiate. This management strategy draws on student interest and adds engagement, shifting ownership onto the students. The classroom is managed by modeling and allowing students to take ownership over their behaviors. Rules and routines are set into place from day one in the art room. These routines and rules are repeated every class for the first month or so. The Kindergarten classes are sometimes managed with station rotations. Students are encouraged to begin thinking and working like artists. Routines for students include:
Come in quietly
Listen to directions
Work like an artist
Clean up quickly
Line up quietly
If the classroom is able to reach all of these goals they receive a star for the day. After receiving 5 stars they are allowed a choice day. This gives incentive for students to meet behavioral expectations. The Lopez Elementary art room is on a three part discipline system. Students who are not meeting behavioral expectations and breaking rules will receive a warning. If the student continues to misbehave they are sent to the refocus desk. During their refocus they are not allowed to engage with other students and they are to completely fill out a refocus form before being reintegrated into their class. If the behavior continues, the student will receive an office referral.
All Students with special needs will receive support from the school and be given proper accommodations for success. The Individual Education Program or (IEP) is an extremely important document for students with disabilities receiving special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. A team of specialized individuals including staff and parents manages each student who is in need of an IEP. Differentiation is used in the classroom to assist different learning styles as well as assistance from paraprofessionals. In addition, In the fall of 2019, Lopez added an Integrated Learning Supports (ILS) program to educate students with more intense needs, and who face barriers learning. The aim of the ILS program is to encourage academic achievement, communication, community membership, and personal independence. Lopez helps students develop their strengths in the least restrictive environment while promoting inclusive practices in all settings.
Fourth Grade Pinch Pot Ocean Creatures
This project was created to be fun and engaging for students, as well as teach them how to master a ceramic building technique; pinch pots. Students were asked to create a pinch pot and turn it into a sea creature. The assignment was fairly open; students could choose which part of their creature was the actual pinch pot. Most students used the pinch pot as the mouth of their creature. However, some students used it as a shell for a turtle, or a rock for a mermaid to sit on.
In the process of this project, students learned how to plan effectively, how to build using clay, and how to reflect thoroughly on their art. The lesson was incredibly rewarding for students and the results were absolutely fantastic. |
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Third Grade Litema Project
This project was the perfect mixture of art history and a fun art project. Students learned many things about South African culture including what schools look like, what they eat, traditional art they create, and the tradition of Litema. This lesson included photos I had taken from South Africa when I went there on a study abroad trip. Students were thoroughly engaged in the presentation because of the personal photos used. Students also learned about the importance of creating art with a community, as every piece was put together into one big mural at the end of the lesson. This lesson was enriching, and incredibly enlightening for students, and created an extremely cool result that enhanced the sense of community among the students.
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