The Definition of SmartArt

 Art is respected, in most schools, but not considered an academic tool.

Smart Art shows that Art can be a vital academic tool because it requires students  to think at the highest level.  Numerous books show the benefits of using Art in education to increase student participation, motivation and enjoyment.   Smart Art has all those qualities but takes the use of Art in the classroom a step further.  Smart Art not only connects students to the highest academic thinking but supports their personal growth by uncovering  each students’ individual intellectual strength and shows them how to use it.  Daily assignments become an adventure to creative Art instead of a boring encounter with facts.  Curriculum does not change, the way each student responds to curriculum changes.

Smart Art is a marriage between the highest level of academic thinking  and any Art Form.

This concept clearly dispel the myth that Art is just lovely or motivational.   In fact, Smart Art is a multi-faceted academic tool that requires more creativity and imagination than most current curriculum assignments.  This process begins by determining students’ individual intelligences and  learning styles through two free online researched based surveys.   Then, using that information guided them to choose a Art form that reinforces their strongest abilities.  Smart Art gives students the freedom to choose how they will respond to knowledge learned in class.   When students are given the power to choose, they give the power back to the teacher.

I use Smart Art in all grade levels: K-12 and with University students. 

The enthusiasm  for Smart Art at the university surprised me.   When university students discovered their individual strengths and  used  that knowledge to create Art they  inspired me to begin speaking and writing about Smart Art. It seemed they were reconnecting with their original joy of learning.  Normal weekly assignments in my courses take about 1-2 hour.  Some students would spend five hours creating Smart Art in response to weekly assignments!  I was thrilled.  Often students would tell me it was one of the first times in their academic life they had connected to individual artistic gifts.  This had domino effect because when they used Smart Art successfully …they turned around and taught it to their own K-12  students.  Smart Art is contagious.  I observed this over and over again.   I believe it is  because when it connects students to their strengths and this stimulates to the highest level thinking according to Blooms taxonomy. Creative success is inspiring which rekindles their joy for learning.  Examples of how to use this concept in the classroom and a quick reference guide for Smart Art is on this Smart Art Web Site. 

For example, one unexpected quality Smart Art has is building stronger  classroom communities!  Students using Smart Art build more ties to their peers because they learn from each others Art.  This happens during the Short-Share Time at the beginning of class. Students learn from each other and begin to look forward to those presentations.  I ,too, as the Professor found myself  eager to observe what they created from each different assignment.  The good news for teachers is the content of curriculum does not change but rather the students’ response to that curriculum.  All these are pieces to the Smart Art as an academic tool for any classroom, with any age, anywhere. 

How do teachers begin?  It is simple. 

It takes about 30 minutes for a student to complete an inventory and a survey to pinpoint their individual strengths.  Then, like any academic tool it takes time to gain confidence especially because they have not had this freedom previously.  What is clear from the beginning is students joy for learning is rekindled.  I expected this response in younger students but observed  it again and again  in my university courses. This enthusiasm makes it easier to put into practice.   

There are hurdles but I hope the free Web Site will encourage educators, parents and teachers…to ask questions or share problems.  Please be authentic and respectfully honest about your questions and student needs.  

Administrators , teachers and parents want to students to reach their highest potential and agree that students learn differently… then why are they expecting them to respond to material in exactly the same way?  Smart Art utilizes music, drawing, drama, improvisation, videography, dance, photography, simple sculpture an other art forms into the academic world.

One genius touched on this idea  years ago!  Albert Einstein reinforced creativity and moved it a step forward with his statement: “Imagination is more important than knowledge." Smart Art builds imagination.