Art by the Numbers

Woke up at 3AM with a brillant idea and was trying so hard to work things out in my mind that I couldn't get back to sleep. The addition to my classroom schedule is the 5 Minute Critic. In the last 10 minutes of class, I pass out 3x5 index cards. Each student fills out a card with his/her name, title of his/her work, the date and the name of his/her chosen critic. The student gives the card to the critic and the critic has 3 minutes to examine the work and question the artist. At the end of the time, the critic makes 2 comments on the back of the card: one thing that the artist has done well and one thing the artist can improve and then signs the card and returns it to the artist. The artist has the opportunity to read the comments before turning the card in on their way out of class. Students get the chance to talk about work in progress and get feedback and I get an exit slip.