Nothing says the start of the year, like creating- or updating- your class syllabus. At baseline, a class syllabus can be a pretty dry document. It typically includes your contact information, course information and summary, prerequisites and core requisites, required materials, course objectives, assignment list, academic policies, and classroom policies. Before launching into your syllabi, determine what your specific school and department might require on a syllabus.
What are some essential things to consider with your art class syllabus? Think about what materials you want the students to provide. I generally asked students to purchase sketchbooks, erasers, and pencils. I would show examples in class, tell them the best places to find these items and include an approximate price. I love the example below, which consists of a QR code linked to an Amazon shopping list!
I strongly recommend a statement on artwork originality in your syllabus. In today’s copy-and-paste world, what constitutes original work needs discussion and a written policy. Do yourself a favor and make sure you see the development of a piece of artwork as part of the classroom expectation. I also recommend including your student cell phone policy in your syllabus and ensuring it aligns with the school’s policies.
You want to include information on grading policies. Take care to think through it if you plan to weigh categories. If, for example, sketchbook work is to be 1/3 of the final grade, make sure that you have plenty of occasions to use and grade sketchbooks. If studio care/behavior is a category, consider how you plan to document student behavior. Carefully consider your policy on turning in work late, as you will have to live and die by your words for the rest of the year.
Course syllabi are, by their nature, relatively dry documents. However, there are ways to liven them up. Art teacher Mallorey Garrett changed hers to be doodle syllabuses for all her art classes.
In a similar vein, art teacher Ashley Mills was inspired to make a visual syllabus for her visual classes.
Interject a bit of you into the design with a bitmoji like Danielle Helvie-Juárez.
Break out from the expected. Art Teacher Shona Pate creates a scavenger hunt for her middle school art students using Flipgrid. She films several tutorials on each area of the room and puts them on Flipgrid. She then downloads the QR codes and places them in different areas of her room. The kids get into pairs or by tables, grab an iPad, or use their phone if they have the app. They fill out a worksheet, and the first group that is done receives a prize.
Art Teacher Marie Fitzpatrick went digital a few years back, making it into a slide deck. In addition to the slide decks, she writes, “What I wound up doing was I had the students make sketchbooks, and I created a syllabus that they placed inside their sketchbooks.” See her sketchbook versions below. Another teacher has her students paste them onto their portfolios for easy reference.
This brings me to a pet peeve I developed since becoming a parent of middle/high school-age children. Parents are inundated with paperwork from schools during those first few school days. I found I was pressed to sign forms I didn’t have the time to read. Eventually, I started taking photos of the documents to read afterward. Parents can’t possibly absorb all the information coming at them in such a short period. So, think about making the information available to them so parents can access it all year. For example, consider sending a copy by email or placing it on a class website.
Did you know the quality of the syllabus is a reliable indicator of the quality of teaching and learning that will take place in a course (Woolcock, 2003)? Just the act of creating your syllabus will force you to think through a lot of essential aspects of your teaching. If you have an inventive class syllabus or an opinion on what should be in (or not in) a class syllabus, share it in the comments!
