THE OPEN ART ROOM Learning Targets I Ian Sands n an Open Art Room, there are many different projects happen-ing at once. One student may be painting a landscape while another is drawing a cartoon. With different projects going on, some might con-clude that it is difficult for the teacher to track what students are learning. How do we know they are meeting the standards? The answer to this can be found in the student-directed pro-cess of preselecting a learning target. learning targets: First, they are written statements that are derived from the National Standards. Second, they are a means of diving deeper into the objec-tives. Third, students elect to achieve specific learning targets as they move through the art-making process. Reflection: The student critiques the outcome of the idea. Inspiration The student is presented with a con-cept by the teacher. This may be in the form of a unit, theme, challenge, or other mode. In this phase, the stu-dent gathers information. Development The student considers the material gathered during the inspiration phase and formulates a plan for a project. The student should also determine the learning target for the project. The learning target goes beyond What Are Learning Targets? Learning targets communicate what students are attempting to accomplish. There are three key components to Implementing Learning Targets To best implement learning targets, let’s review the artistic process, com-posed of four phases an art student works through when creating art: Inspiration: The student seeks ideas. Development: The student designs the idea. Creation: The student builds the idea. Illustration by Hope M., student at South Brunswick High School. 16 SEPTEMBER 2019 SchoolArts