Curriculum Design

Introducing FLEX Curriculum by The Art of Education University

 

Hello, I’m Jessica Balsley, Founder and President at The Art of Education University (AOEU).

I remember my first years of teaching well. While I was filled with passion and excitement, I felt like I was always scrambling. I was constantly on the hunt for the best lesson ideas, resources, and assessment materials. In my first position, I had virtually no curriculum support. Sure, there was a set of outdated art education textbooks from the 90s, but I mainly used those for flattening artwork.

All of this meant that during my prep time, or, let’s be honest, at home in the wee hours of the morning, I was frantically searching the internet, scrolling for inspiration. Turns out, I wasn’t alone! Based on The 2019 State of Art Education results, almost 73% of teachers sought out curriculum resources from blogs, and nearly 61% from social media. While there is nothing wrong with using the internet for inspiration, the problem lies in translating content into the development of a high-quality, comprehensive, standards-aligned (K-12) art curriculum for today’s students and teachers. Until now.

The Art of Education University’s mission is to grow amazing art teachers by providing rigorous, relevant, and engaging learning at every stage of their careers. Without a doubt, this includes rigorous, relevant, and engaging art education curriculum resources and support.

That is why The Art of Education University developed FLEX Curriculum: A modern curriculum, for modern art teachers.

Introducing FLEX Curriculum

 

FLEX Curriculum helps art teachers discover, design, and deliver high-quality standards-aligned curriculum materials to their students.

Surpassing the Status Quo

What is wrong with the status quo? Simply said, it’s not enough. Fortunately, many art teachers have the autonomy to select the lessons they teach to their unique students. What they don’t have, however, is a legitimate place to get curriculum resources that actually works for them and that their districts can get behind. They also don’t have the support they need to make revisions when necessary. Sure, there are art curriculum textbooks, but those are quickly outdated, expensive, permanent, cumbersome, and more than likely collecting dust.

What can you do with FLEX Curriculum?

Learn More!

  • Discover: Search 1,000s of premium lessons, videos, resources, and assessments.
  • Design: Curate the standards-aligned materials into 100% custom classes and units.
  • Deliver: From any device, anytime. Download, print, screen-share, or upload to your school’s LMS.
  • Trust: Developed by practicing art teachers, aligned to standards by visual art standards experts and vetted by internal and external academic experts in the field of art education.

No art teacher is the same. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning or teaching. That is why FLEX will work for you and your students. You can build your own classes, units, lessons, and apply your own teaching style without compromising your personal or artistic integrity. Furthermore, content and lessons are not static. FLEX adds new materials every single month.

How does the FLEX Curriculum platform work?

Inside of FLEX, lessons are organized into Collections based on themes that apply directly to contemporary K-12 learning environments. Collections come complete with supplementary resources, assessments, and videos. In short, each collection contains everything you have been looking for in a curriculum but have never been able to find.

Take a tour of FLEX:

As an art teacher, your main focus is your students and their creative education. FLEX allows you to work like you already do, only better. Watch, Cassidy Reinken, Director of K-12 Curriculum explain how FLEX is different and join her as she takes you through all the features of FLEX.

 

The platform gives you the control and the resources to maximize your time by providing:

  • Lesson Plans - Lessons include specific objectives, steps, and teaching strategies, all while allowing for student voice and choice.
  • Resources - Resources help students understand and practice concepts in a meaningful way.
  • Videos - Videos engage students and help introduce, review, and scaffold learning.
  • Assessments - Assessments authentically assess and support learning using a variety of strategies throughout the learning process.
  • Artist Bios - Artist Bios bring a diverse set of historical and contemporary artists to inspire your students.

How is FLEX is relevant for you and your colleagues:

Being an art educator is hard work. The time, passion, and creativity required are often underappreciated. To keep art at the center and a part of the educational landscape, it is essential that art connects and is relevant to the whole student and other content areas. FLEX Curriculum helps you showcase the connections that are already there. FLEX provides a growing library of teacher-facing implementation documents to support you in creating a foundation to advocate and develop your own art programs.

How do you get FLEX Curriculum in your classroom?

FLEX is best implemented through a district-wide curriculum adoption process, and we want you to have access as soon as possible. Don’t think you have the funds? There are actually a variety of sources and avenues to explore to provide funding. Our team of curriculum sales advisors can help you get FLEX in your district. FLEX is also available for individual members at $49/mo or $499/year.

Let’s Get Started

FLEX Curriculum is made for you. What could be better? In case you couldn’t tell, we are thrilled to finally have FLEX Curriculum available for you. With the help of more than thirty master art educators, we have thoughtfully curated and assembled all the parts of a successful art curriculum to ensure that it is accessible, impactful, and aligned to the highest of standards for you and your students. When I first started teaching, I could not have imagined such a customizable curriculum. Now that it is here, it has exceeded all my expectations.

Along with PRO Learning, FLEX Curriculum will provide art teachers and their students with the support they need and deserve to grow and learn. It also helps keep visual art at the forefront of educational progress nationwide. It is our hope as a modern art teacher; you benefit from this modern curriculum. The best part is we are just getting started. The library and the platform will continue to grow as new collections are released each month, covering new artists, current events, and more.

We hope you join us.

Cheers,
Jessica R. Balsley
Founder and President
The Art of Education University

How often do you seek out new curriculum resources?

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Could FLEX be the answer to your curriculum questions?

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Balsley

Jessica Balsley is AOEU’s Founder and a former AOEU Writer and elementary art educator. She is passionate about helping art teachers enhance their lives and careers through relevant professional development.

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