Art teacher hacks

Welcome to the How-To Guide for First Year Art Teachers where I give you my 10 Steps for Success! Congratulations! You got your own classroom. OH MY GOSH, you have your own classroom. Your mind and stomach start racing, both with extreme excitement and panic because now, it all just got real. You will have a lot of students, a lot of planning, and a lot of classroom to keep organized. Figuring out where to even start is a huge stress and will require a tea (or a beer) and a nap (probably…

I am here today to spread the gospel of the glue sponge! If you haven’t fallen in love with glue sponges yet, then I’m guessing you haven’t tried them! I first learned about glue sponges from Smedley’s Kindergarten Smorgasbord. I thought it was a cool idea, but I also thought, “nah, I’m doing OK.” Glue sticks and bottled glue hadn’t yet become my enemies. Enter interactive notebooks. We started going through about 500 glue sticks a day. When we tried glue bottles, the phrase “dot, dot, not a…

a resource for teachers & families

ORGANIZING, KEEPING TRACK, SAFETY, AND ADDRESSING THEFT............. The more time you spend trying to get organized, the easier it becomes. Take it in steps! Be kind to yourself and give yourself a pat on the back every time you get one section organized the way you like! It is definitely worth it to invest time in organization; keep trying and your efforts will pay off! An organized classroom is good for your mental health as well as the kids.' Studies show that neat, clean environments…

Ten Positive Art teacher hacks for the classroom that will naturally cause your students to feel safe and give them a sense of ownership and responsibility

Art Teachers, in your Art Classroom you’re always going to have students finish before the rest, fast finishers, so let’s take a look at some ideas or routines that you can build into your classroom so that students know what to do when they’re done so they don’t have to ask you and so that you don’t have to instruct them on what to do EVERY time.