Getting Started

Classroom Strategies

The following are some fundamental principles you might want to consider before you start teaching. I have explained a little of my philosophy in the introduction, but these are some specific issues that I feel directly impact an art teacher's effectiveness in the classroom. The examples and stories I use here (and throughout the book) are those I also share with the children, unless otherwise noted. I rarely expect students to learn by osmosis. If I want to make a point, I'm clear about it, although I try to avoid talking down to my pupils.

Practical Considerations

Teaching art can be extremely stressful, especially if you have several messy classes in a single day. Unlike some curricula, my program is sequential, and students do not repeat projects. Thus, I cannot do one setup for a lesson that several grades are doing simultaneously, and I do not normally have different sections of the same grade back-to-back. The keys to avoiding a meltdown under these circumstances are organization, planning, and advance preparation. One of the advantages to my curriculum is that I know what to expect: I know what materials and setup I will need weeks in advance, I know the kinds of problems that might arise, and I know approximately how long the different processes take. Although I may repeat the same project for many years, my students never do — the task is always new to them. So while I am constantly on the lookout for better ways to convey an idea, once I find a project that teaches the concept enjoyably, fits my time frame, and is appropriate to the students' age level, I usually stick with it. And while there are always setup and procedural concerns specific to each project, there are many general measures you can take to make your life easier. The following suggestions may not be workable for everyone, but the underlying theories might be helpful.

Room Arrangement

If it is at all possible, it will cut down on preparation time a great deal if you can group your desks or use actual large tables. My 24 desks are two feet deep and three feet wide, and I have them arranged in groups of six, creating four-by-nine-foot tables. Years ago, my art students sat at eight-foot folding banquet tables. This clustering of students allows for sharing of supplies and requires far fewer water buckets, tempera paint cups, and so forth. If you are teaching in your regular classroom and have no space for extra tables, you might have the students rearrange their desks for art, if possible.

In the center of each cluster, I have a basket of basic supplies. Since my tables can accommodate six students, each basket contains six boxes of crayons (24-count), six boxes of regular markers, six art gum erasers, six scissors, six glue sticks, a plastic box filled with colored pencils, and 8 to 10 regular pencils. I also throw in a couple of small plastic crayon/pencil sharpeners, although we have two electric sharpeners in the room as well. My baskets are roughly 10" by 16" plastic ones with handles, the kind you might find in the storage section of any discount store. They can easily be removed for certain projects, but for most of our lessons they make preparation a breeze. I find this approach preferable to students bringing individual supplies from their own classroom in personal boxes. If your school's budget does not stretch to duplicate supplies for the art room (assuming you have an art room), consider carrying such baskets back and forth.

You will need to spend some time keeping the baskets tidy. If you use crayons in tuck boxes, I recommend taping the bottom of the boxes to avoid accidents. If your budget allows, buy enough crayons to replace the sets completely two or three times a year. Regardless, encourage students to put the colors back properly. Also, it is a good idea to purchase several one-color refill boxes of black, white, red, yellow, and blue. Find a place to keep old crayons. You can use them to replace lost or broken ones from the newer boxes.

Water and Cleanup

When water is required for a project like painting, I prefer large containers rather than the small individual pans that were in vogue when I was young. The terrific lady who runs the lunch program at our school is very kind about saving me the white plastic buckets that many of her supplies come in. These hold one to two quarts of water, stack nicely for storage, cost nothing, and are easily replaced. I put two on each of my tables, so that all six students may reach one. If I know that I will be using water for a project that day, I simply fill the containers first thing in the morning and leave them in or near the sink. The students empty and rinse them after the lesson. If you have no water in your room, you might put a very large plastic container of water some where and allow students to scoop water into their own containers and dump the dirty water there when done.

Several years ago, our school put paper towel dispensers in each room, the kind that use white, perforated rolls, but I asked them to skip my classes. Instead, the custodian supplies me with cartons of brown, tri-fold, individual towels that I can place in stacks on the tables and on the counters near the sinks, where my smaller students can reach them more easily. I bought plastic shoe boxes for the ones near the sinks, so that watery messes don't cause us to waste any.

Near my sinks, I also have four large plastic buckets with handles. Each bucket contains six large sponges. If a project is particularly messy, I simply run a little water in each bucket to dampen the sponges, place a bucket on each of the tables, and let the children clean up. Using good sponges is a little pricy — perhaps your custodial department will supply you with materials.

Visual Aids

If possible, it is a good idea to have some visual aids on permanent display. I not only have sets of posters that generally explain the elements and principles of art, I have also put up some examples that I find helpful when discussing specific concepts. Having them constantly on view not only saves time, but it allows the children to use them as reminders from year to year. For instance, I have a copy of a painting that depicts a prince in metal armor wearing a velvet cape lined with fur and lace at his throat. It includes satin, carved wood, hair, and a variety of other textures, and I use it to illustrate how artists can create the illusion of texture. When I return to it from time to time, the students remember the concept.

Obviously, you will need a large, easily visible color wheel. You can make your own, download one off the Web and enlarge it, or order a nice one from an art...