Art Teacher 101 - Basic Tips and Organizational Skills

You young people! You are so lucky to have access to blogs, Pinterest, FB, Twitter, IG, and on and on! If you want to know the newest tips on how to organize your art room or how to keep the paint from drying out, all you have to do is search for the answer! I'm from the old days when dinosaurs roamed, and we had to figure it out with trial and error or hope to run into someone at the grocery store who would pass on some much-needed information to us new art teachers! There were only four-six art teachers in our whole county during my reign, so there wasn't a lot of communication.

There are lots of things you can learn from a veteran teacher (and yes I feel as if we should get combat pay). Here are some things to help you along!

These 12 words sum up my best advice to a new art teacher...

BE ORGANIZED! 
BE FOCUSED! 
BE READY TO CHANGE PLANS AT ANY MOMENT!

The end...

Well, not quite the end.

Teaching art is not for the faint of heart. I left college with a love of all things art. I worked so hard developing lesson plans in all my college classes and had plans for all the great things I was going to do in MY classroom! Fast forward 33 years and all I can say is that it was all a blur. I don't remember what my first lesson was, nor do I remember how many lessons I wrote throughout the years. I do know that, as the world of education changes, some things remain the same. And these are the things I wanted to touch on in this post.

Feeling Isolated
No matter what my situation has been, I've always felt, and have been told (that's a story of its own), that I was not a "real" teacher. Most of the time it was funny because I knew there was no way most "real" teachers could do what we do! Most art teachers could write quite a long blog on this but there is no need to spend a lot of time on it. Just know that you will not have the same schedule, planning time, or even in-service as other teachers. If you are lucky, YOU WILL have like-minded individuals, who are also isolated, like the music teacher, PE teachers, etc! These are some of the best people I know! They will be your lifeline during stormy seas. They will also get into trouble with you...

Be Kind
This is just common sense! Be kind to your co-teachers, your janitorial staff, office personnel, etc. These people can make you or break you! I have always been very blessed to have such amazing people to work with.

The janitorial staff has always been so helpful to me. I  hated leaving my old kiln on when I left for the evening and Roger, who cleaned my room would always come back to my room late at night to make sure it had turned off as it should! That's just one of many things!

No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another. Thank you! - Author Unknown

Be Organized
Art class is not a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of class! It is very important to know EXACTLY where and what you want the students to do ahead of time.

 Here is a list of questions you should think about before the first student enters your room.

• How will the students enter the room? One at a time, as a class with a teacher or parapro?

• Will they need a place to put their books/bookbags?

• Will you require them to bring a pencil? Don't think this is a small thing because it's not! Tell me what you think in 10 years, 20 years, or 30 years! It's amazing how the battle lines change through these years!

• Will you have a seating chart? Yes! Go ahead and make a blank one and start on day 1 with it. Not only is this a great way to learn their names, but it will help in so many ways other ways as well.

Here is a sample Seating Chart for my classroom with 8 square tables. I made the chart after I played around with the arrangements to get the best possible flow throughout the room. Once I had that set, I made the chart and made enough copies for each class.
Also, I named each table with an artists name and this became part of my classroom routine.

• Where will the students 2-D artwork be stored?  I used trays labeled with the artist name from each table and class period.

• 3-D artwork? Go ahead and label these areas as well. Whether it is on the counters or a special shelving unit.

• Which sink will the students use? I had three sinks so I divided the tables between the sinks and made a laminated label to place in full view over the sink.

• Turn in work? Have a designated space to turn in work for grading.

• Early finishers? This will be an issue until the day you die! Ummm... I mean retire! Of course, you may need to change this out fairly frequently because it tends to be the same students over and over again, but have a designated spot!

This is a set of Drawing Prompts I developed and sell at my TPT store. There are over 200 prompts that vary from normal to bizarre!

Here's a link if you are interested!







I looked around for other teachers with great ideas and found many more suggestions that you might be able to use throughout the school year. These awesome art teachers have tons of suggestions to make your life easier! Check them out now and file them away for future use!