TAB F.A.Q.

Over the years, I've been asked a thousand questions about TAB. Most can be answered by searching the TAB Midwest Facebook page. There you will find a treasure trove of information from established TAB teachers. You can also visit the Teaching for Artistic Behavior Web page at the link listed below. 

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO START?

It depends on you the teacher. But, I will say that it is a good idea to start small by opening one center at a time. Read all the resources you can. Check out the Mid-west TAB page. Experiment with it. Some teachers are very reluctant to give up the control of a classroom when moving to a choice-based room. I always tell teachers to have a little faith and trust the kids. When kids know that you are there to support them in their journey, the results will amaze.

IF KIDS ARE DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO, DOESN'T IT GET CHAOTIC?

Not at all. Once you begin teaching, you will observe that after a few minutes of the kids moving to centers and setting up their workspace, the noise level in the classroom quiets down. It's called engagement. When students are focused on doing what they are interested in, they quiet down and work. There is always a couple that needs encouragement and guidance to work but these are infrequent and few.  

HOW DO YOU GRADE OR ASSESS STUDENT WORK?

Grades? I don't give letter grades. My assessment is based on student engagement in art. It's a little bit effort plus a little bit attitude and a lot of observation and discussion. As teachers, we assess constantly. I'm always taking pictures of students working plus the students photograph their own work using an amazing app called SeeSaw. Students receive an (M) Meets Standard (P) Progressing toward Standard or an (N) No Progress. 

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT TAB?

The best place is to visit teachingforartisticbehavior.org. There you can find tons of information about the history and practice of TAB. You can also pick up a couple of books: Engaging Learners through Art-making and The Learner-Directed Classroom. Both these were written by teachers who founded TAB and have many years experience. The last place you should check out is the Mid-west TAB Facebook Page. Thousand of teachers participate in this page. 

HOW DO I GET ADMINISTRATOR SUPPORT?

Education, Education, Education. The more you know the easier it is. The power of choice-based teaching is ahead of its time. Just now are "experts" extolling the virtues of differentiated teaching. A TAB classroom is completely differentiated because kids are working at the own speed, level and area of interest. Once you understand that many of the frustrations of teaching were centered around kids doing things they had no interest in, your job become more of a conductor. Guiding and pushing kids interests and abilities.