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Whittaker Elementary School

Art Classroom Context

Whittaker Elementary School is located on Whittaker Parkway near at a quiet

intersection near a couple quiet neighborhoods in rural Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The student population of 672 students is comprised mainly of African American
children, but there are also Mexican and Hispanic students, caucasian students, and a
small percentage of Asian students/Pacific Islanders. There are 70 faculty and staff
members and 36 teachers at this school. According to the schools Absolute Rating on
its report card, its overall performance is Good (2013). The ratio of students to teachers
is generally 24:1 though there are cases where classes are bigger than the norm (art
class). The art teacher may have up to 30 students during one class period. During one
session of field observation, I observed a class of fifth graders. The class was
comprised of 13 girls and 8 boys-21 students altogether. All of them were seemingly
African-American. Students usually perform very well within the art classroom, though a
small percentage dont exhibit as much effort as they could.

How to Color Artwork

This is an indicator of how the art teacher, Mrs.
Johnson wants her students to color within the
lines. She wants the color to be neat and
saturated within the lines.

Student Best in Class Work

(Color Wheels)
This bulletin board shows a project
completed by a third grade classflower color wheels. It is located at
the back end of the classroom with
the work table (usually reserved for
students that come in to work on art
as a reward).

Hand Washing Tree

Station and Sink Rules
The hand washing station is used
when students are working with a messy medium or simply need to wash their hands with
antibacterial soap during class.

Supply Center
The supply center has drawing boards for students to clip their papers to and work on,
construction paper, and coloring book print-outs for younger students to color when they have
finished all of their required work.

Computer Area
The computer area is located next to the classroom door. Because students have Ipads and can
look up artistic reference from their seats, it is no longer a necessary tool for art class
procedures, it seems.

Student Classwork Shelves (self explanatory)

Classroom Reading Center

Here, there are books on art, artistic techniques, artistic elements and principles, multicultural
art books and novels for students to read. Usually they are allowed to grab one of these books if
they want to read after they have finished their assignment for the class period.

Classroom Diagram

Classroom Photo