Get Your Room in Order

Get those paper towels in the right place!  Motivation at its best from Katie Moris at Adventures of an Art Teacher.

Short on counter space?  Then maximize your wall space with these home-made magnetic containers.  This would be great for art teachers on a cart too! Image source: Laissezfaire blog.

De-clutter your desk and get your paperwork in order.  I love how this is labeled. Check out the makeover from the Venspired blog.

Every good art room needs a broom and dust pan – especially one that  is named “Dusty”!  This great idea comes from Theresa Gillespie at Splats, Scraps and Glue Blobs.

If you teach elementary, kids are always making pictures for you.  But what do you do with them all?  By adding them to a clipboard, you can display the most recent and still be able to look through pictures from the past. Idea from Clean & Scentsible blog.

Create a Classroom that Works

Just a subtle hint for your students (and their teachers) from Mrs. Hansen’s Art Room.

Bring peaceful thoughts to your classroom as students enter or leave.  Image source Jankwilson on Flickr.

“I need help” flip charts.  Easy to make yourself or you can buy them here.

This video explains how to get a handle on the noise level in your classroom using plastic cups.

Sometimes you just need to say it plain and simple – keep order in your class by hanging a Peacemakers and Peacebreaker chart.  This great idea came from Mrs. Lee’s Kindergarten class (though this would certainly apply at all age levels)

Teach with Visuals

I love this word wall Art With Mr. E created for his classroom using index cards with magnets on the back.

Help your students understand what careful artwork looks like with this craftsmanship rubric from art teacher Kathleen O’Malley at her blog, Art Moments.

Make the Most of Your Minutes

From a blog that brings organization to a whole new level, Jessica Balsey at The Art of Education shares how she has art questions ready when there are a few extra minutes left in class.

Looking for more ideas and visuals? Check out our classroom management section.

The interactive adventure begins in a 16th century French parlor with a cryptic note explaining details to escape the mansion. Clicking on different areas of the image reveal verbal clues at the bottom of the screen and open doorways to gain entry into the next room.  Your students will enjoy the challenge escaping the labyrinth of rooms using the clues found along the way.

Escape from Thorne Mansion could be easily integrated with a study of linear perspective, composition, or design.  Alternatively, create a literature connection at school or at home incorporating the book, The Sixty-eight Rooms reviewed in an earlier post.

Connecting with Music
Other than the light strum of a harp in the French Anteroom, the Escape from Thorne Mansion interactive missed an opportunity to couple era music with the room design. So, I’ve decided to pick up where the Art Institute of Chicago has left off and pair a few Thorne Room images with sounds from the time (click the widget to the right of the image to listen).

California Hallway, c. 1940

French Boudoir of the Louis XV Period, 1740-60

Japanese Traditional Interior, 1937

The Thorne Miniature Rooms create an amazing opportunity to connect history, literature, and music with art and design.  How else do the Thorne Miniature Rooms connect to your curriculum?

1. QR Codes.  These black and white pixelated squares can be found on TV, in magazines, and now in classrooms.  Using a mobile device with a camera such as a smart phone, iTouch, iPad or free software downloaded on a computer, a QR code can be quickly created to link directly to text, images, or web addresses.  Try it yourself by scanning QR code below:

Don’t have a QR reader? Type getscanlife.com into your Internet browser on your mobile device to download a free QR reader.  Now imagine using this in your classroom by linking to online resources, creating a scavenger hunt, providing the answers to quiz questions, or extending art room learning by sending students home with QR code resources. Read my article on QR codes for additional resources and ideas on how to use them in your classroom.

2. Create a Photo Peach Quiz.  Photo Peach is a super easy way to create an interactive quiz game using images.  Learn how to create your own quiz here.

3. Animoto.  Want to look like a master movie-maker? Simply upload images or video clips, select music, and click to create an amazing movie.  Just by registering for an educator account you get access to full-length movies without paying a dime.  (If you’re looking for a good alternative, Flixtime has some very similar features with a good selection of music).

4. Blabberize. What isn’t funny about an artificial talking mouth?  Start with any portrait, define the mouth area, and talk.  The mouth will follow your voice. Use Blabberize to present information about an artist, convey classroom rules, or give studio instruction.  While this may not change your teaching world, incorporating Blabberize into your lessons can certainly enhance instruction and get the students to take notice.  Check out this brief example: (Can’t see this video? Click here).

Tip: Use a screen-cast tool such as Jing or Screencast-o-matic to record your Blabberize and save on your computer.

5. Twitter. If you want to take charge of your own learning, Twitter is the way to do it.  Every resource I reference in this post I have learned because of Twitter.  It is all about following the right people.  See my list of art educators on twitter to get you started and develop your own PLN (Personal Learning Network).

6. Wallwisher.  Want to have a class critique and involve all your students?  Wallwisher lets you quickly set up a virtual “wall” so that anyone with the URL address can add a comment and interact.  One of my favorite features is the ability to moderate comments, ensuring all posts are appropriate.  Learn more about Wallwisher in this article and see how to embed a image in a wallwisher wall here.

7. Delicious is an online bookmarking tool I have been using for several years and blogged about it here.  Since your bookmarks are accessible online, you can access them from any computer.  Using multiple “tags” makes finding your bookmarks easy.  Thankfully you can import your existing bookmarks into Delicious, so you won’t lose your previously bookmarked sites.  (A similar, just as awesome, bookmarking alternative to try is Diigo)

8. Pinterest might just be the ultimate bookmarking tool for art teachers.  Instead of bookmarking using text, images are used instead.  The best way to describe Pinterest is with this video walkthrough:

Read more about Pinterest in my Tech4Arted column and join the collaboration starting with the iPhone/iPad Apps for Art teachers board.

9. Livebinder  I first wrote about Livebinder as a way to organize digitally here. Livebinder is an electronic binder used to collect web resources or your own files in one organized spot.  Here are a few examples of binders I have created for students and for my own professional reference.

10. Google Maps. I am a huge fan of Google Maps to help students connect art to our world. My favorite trick is to embed images into the placemarks on the map.  Watch video on how to embed an image into Google Maps.  Here is my example on using Google Maps to teach about Georgia O’Keeffe:

View Georgia O’Keeffe Life Tour in a larger map

Do you have a web 2.0 tool you can’t live without? Share it be leaving a comment below.  Also, check out additional resources in my Web 2.0 Tools Livebinder:

Still in its early stages of development, the non-profit Wikipaintings already contains over 60,000 painting images.  Browse paintings by art movement, technique, genre, artist nationality, or keyword.  My favorite feature is the timeline scrollbar that places each painting created by the artist in chronological order.

I still love Google Art Project for the amazing depth and detail, but Wikipaintings is much better for understanding and visualizing the growth of an artist through his or her lifetime.  I look forward to seeing how Wikipaintings grows once it is open to contributors; maybe it will even expand beyond 2-D work into sculpture and installation art.

Image: Letters Book, Altered Book, Jean Fitzgerald, 2009

As art educators, we know that images are powerful tools to communicate ideas.  However, our world also relies heavily on written communication to share information. This makes it necessary to have good writing skills.  Good writing is key to effectively advocating for your art program, communicating art concepts, and sharing ideas with colleagues. New media, from blogging to tweeting to collaborating on ArtEd2.0, has made it easier for us to do just that.

Despite having a blog and the Tech4Arted column in SchoolArts Magazine, I simply don’t like to write. Words just don’t flow smoothly from my head to my fingertips.

What I do love to do is communicate and share ideas. I just finished my first year writing the Tech4Arted column (check out my articles below) and I have been getting great ideas from SchoolArts for years so it has been exciting to contribute to a large audience.

I know many of you who are reading this may think: “If I could just show you what I want to say with a picture instead of words, it would be so much easier!” You have a great idea on art education, but you may hesitate to share if you dread the thought of writing.  Here’s the writing process I have developed over the last couple years that works well for blogging, writing for SchoolArts, and writing e-newsletter communication to parents. Maybe it will inspire you.

1. Choose your topic. What art lessons have been successful? How have you improved on someone else’s idea? Don’t reinvent the wheel.  All great ideas are inspired by something else, right?
2. Start typing. Don’t worry about how incoherent you sound. Just get the ideas out of your head and written down.
3. Read it afterwards and fix the things that do not make sense.
4. Go do something else for a few minutes, a few days, or a week.  This is the magic time when you will think of a new idea or perfect phrase.  Then run —  don’t walk — back to your writing to make your edits.
5. Read what you wrote and ask yourself: Did I communicate my ideas? Revise your writing. Repeat steps 3-5 until you communicate your ideas effectively.
6. Choose a friend or colleague to read your rough draft.  I always do. Make revisions and let them read it again.

In case you missed my first year of the Tech4Arted column for SchoolArts, I have linked to the articles below.  I share my writing with you with hope that you will take the leap and share your ideas with us as well!

Creating a Compassionate Curriculum
Take an Art Tour in Google Maps
Wallwisher: Collaborate and Interact
Twenty-First Century Storytelling
Out of Place
Re-Making Time
Create Your Own Customized Art Quiz
Technology Transformation [Infographic]
Wired to the Natural World

Ready to share? SchoolArts is always looking for lesson ideas and art expression in your school and community. Or write a guest post on The Teaching Palette. Check out some of our fantastic guest post submissions here.

Special Note: A great resource for grammar is the Associate Press Guide to Punctuation.

Clean-up Numbers

I love my Clean-Up Map, but what I don’t love is keeping track of the tables who cleaned up adequately and efficiently (I have a lot of other things going on!). That’s why I created a system of Clean-Up Map Monitors.  Each class period I appoint a team of two students to monitor the classroom tables for quick and thorough clean-up.  The kids love this job (and take it very seriously) so I rotate the students each class period and keep track by marking on a class list. At the end of class the clean-up monitors are manned with giant numbers attached to dowel rods and distribute them based on the following:

• All students are sitting at their table silently.
• Table meets Clean-Up Monitor cleanliness expectations (Students know what needs to be cleaned by referring to the Clean-Up Map).

Important details to keep things running smoothly:

• Table leaders (also known as helping hands) get to hold the clean-up number when distributed.
• If you complain about anything, your table lines up last.
• Clean-Up Monitors always get to line up first.
• Students are dismissed to line based on the number their table was awarded.

I find that this system works well with 3rd grade and up.  In second grade I act as the clean-up monitor to train the kids on my expectations.

Download the clean up numbers for use in your classroom.

Image Source: Silverfuture on Flickr

Since I started teaching, I’ve always wanted one of those “take a number” systems you see at the deli.   I’d use it to form a line for asking questions, getting supplies, or more recently, taking turns at the interactive whiteboard. Each of these activities have threatened my sense of order and organization and would benefit from students taking a number.

This year, I decided to tackle this challenge with a similar take-a-number solution, and came up with “Magic Numbers” to help organize our interactive whiteboard time.  Magic Numbers is a low-tech visual system that lets the students keep track of whose turn is next.

Here’s how it works in my classroom: On days when we use the interactive whiteboard, I distribute cards with numbers written on them. Or I’ll simply ask students to take the numbered cards from their corresponding numbered pockets, which are secured to a “Magic Numbers” poster board, and sit back at their seats to work on their artwork.

Magic Number System

To begin the interactive whiteboard activity, the student holding No. 1 approaches the board, puts his/her card in the No. 1 pocket and proceeds to the interactive whiteboard activity. The student holding No. 2 sees the visual cue that s/he is next. To keep things moving smoothly, I have two students stand-up at the board — one student is working with the interactive whiteboard while the other student is “on deck”. This helps facilitate quick transitions onto the interactive whiteboard and minimize wasted time.

To make your own Magic Number system here are the supplies you need:

1. Cardboard or matte board (to which you attach the pockets)
2. Library book pockets (pockets can also be found at local teacher supply stores)
3. Clear packaging tape to secure pockets to board.
4. Two sets of laminated magic numbers (one to be attached to the library pocket and the other set attached to a card that can slide in and out of the pocket)

Can’t see video above? Click here.

Not sure how to start with your technology transformation? The infographic below can help you begin your technology journey.

View larger image on Flickr.

I originally created this graphic for SchoolArts Magazine in the Tech4Arted Column.

The resources listed in the image above are hyperlinked below:
Get the technology you need with grants. See Supplementing Your Art Budget and Expand Your Art Room Budget.

Don’t do it alone . . . develop your PLN: (Personal Learning Network)
Twitter (here is my list of art educators on Twitter to get you started)
Art Ed 2.0
Art Education Blogs
Art Ed Yahoo Group

Web Tools:
108 Web Tools
Wix (website creator)
Glogster (interactive poster)
Aviary (image editor)
Art Babble (art videos online)

Another great place to start for beginners:

How have you integrated technology into your art curriculum?

Image source: Flickr by Brit

Kindergarten is my toughest class. Some teachers are “naturals” at teaching Kindergarten, but not me. The first time I taught Kindergarten was in my first class of my first teaching job. As it turned out, it was one of “those” classes that come around once or twice in a career. Lucky me.

Here are a few highlights during my first month teaching Kindergarten. . .

• A couple boys thought that they were “puppies” and decided that crawling under the tables and barking would be a good idea just at the very moment the principal walked in the room.
• The “potty train” to the bathroom was getting out of hand until the one day I said – “No more- no one else can go until after class”. Then a child promptly peed right on the floor.
• Another day, I was handed a lovely lock of hair (draw your own conclusions on what happened).

And those are just a FEW of the highlights!

I did survive get through Kindergarten that year, but it has taken several more years to really feel like I can manage a class effectively.  Below I have listed a few suggestions that work for me.

Lesson Ideas. It is hard to teach art without the lesson ideas. Here are a few successful art lessons I have used with my Kindergarten students, along with a list of art ideas from other teachers.

Classroom Management. This will make or break you. I love the post written by Jessica Balsley “Teachers, Forget Your Lesson Plans“. She discusses how important the classroom management details are to implementing a successful art curriculum. The following is a list of strategies I wish I had during my first year teaching Kindergarten.

Preparation

• Create a supply table or counter-top.  Pour the paint, set out the paper, organize materials. Make sure you have enough of everything so that you’re not running around during class trying to replenish supplies.
• Label front of smock with child’s name. Have them wear it to every class until you know their names.
• Don’t bother with seating charts. They forget where they sit.  If you are continuing a project from one class to the next, strategically place artwork from the previous class around the room with name side showing so that you can separate students appropriately. However, sometimes it is necessary provide “learning locations” (aka assigned seats) for few children – just write it down so you’ll remember from class to class.
• Only put on their table the supplies they will need at that very moment – everything else is just candy and causes more problems than it is worth.

Instructional Management

• Smile. You can be a kind, nurturing teacher and still have students meet your expectations.
• Check out the whole brain teaching strategy described in a great guest post by art teacher Katie Jarvis.
• Name on paper. Always make this the first direction before anything else. Check to see that it was actually done (because not all Kindergarteners are capable or even want to write their name) Then move on.
• Get students attention quickly. Try these attention grabbing strategies in art.
• Find things that make kids laugh, it can grab their attention, but don’t be TOO funny (there is a backfire point for everything).
• Before you give any instruction or demonstration, wait until all eyes are on you, bodies are sitting up, nothing is in hands, and all voices are off. Don’t say a word, just wait. It might be 1, 2, or even 4 minutes. It will kill you to wait the first time.  If necessary, give hints to kids quietly that you “wish you could start but you’ll just have to wait”. Wait until everyone is looking, with mouths closed for a full 8 seconds. Wait as long as it takes – it might take months to see real progress, but it WILL happen if you remain consistent!
• Eliminate distractions. If you have the space, pull all the kids together for demonstration or discussion.
• Pace your lessons. Show only a couple of steps and let them try it. Gather the class together again, and show a few more steps. This will not only help all your students feel successful but it also slows down the rushers and buys a bit more time for the slower workers.
• Don’t let a demo or discussion last longer than 10 minutes.  Even if they’re sitting quietly, chances are you’ve lost them.
• SLOW DOWN. Yes, I know sometimes it is impossible – a clay project that has to get finished or one last step in a painting process (occurrences that only art teachers can fully understand). But the beginning of Kindergarten, make sure you build in extra time or alternate your “messy” lessons on one day to “not-so messy” on another. Use those classes that don’t HAVE TO have artwork completed to teach classroom procedures.
• Don’t get mad if students are not following your procedures. Just practice the proper behavior until they get it right.  Complement the children when you see them doing the right thing and let their homeroom teacher know when they do a good job.
• If students are still not following your procedures, walk students back to the outside of their regular classroom and start class over. They hate it. Waste their time now, then you will get more time back later.
• Teach them the “need to know” rule otherwise known as the Tattletale Trauma.
• Potty trains. Rule: One person to the bathroom at a time. No one is allowed to go to bathroom while you are giving instruction. (yes, once in a while if a kid is giving you “the look” and holding himself, that would be a good time to make an exception)
• Transition activities. I have several different puzzles set aside for students to work on as students finish their artwork.  Train them on your expectations for sharing, quiet play, and clean up.  Students who have trouble with these expectations should lose the privilege during that class.
• Absent kids.  If you’re working on a project over two or more class periods, and a child is absent on the first day, grab a piece of paper that the children are creating art on and add the absent student’s name.  The next week, you will see if anyone was absent or not by the blank piece of paper left from the week before.  Group absent kids together to give instructions for catching up at the same time.

Clean up

• Don’t expect your students to remember a list of clean up procedures.  Give them a visual – create your own clean-up map.
• Brushes.  Train the students to drop brushes in the sink or in a soak cup.  As much as you may want to teach them how to clean their own brushes, with limited sink space, it needs to be used for hand cleaning, not brushes.
• If you use sponges, squeeze them out for the students and only give them to children who are sitting at their seat.  The table signals that they are finished by stacking all the sponges.  Peers pressure each other to follow the procedure and it gets the sponges out of the hands of “enthusiastic” cleaners.
• If the room is still a mess, ask the children to each pick up 10 (or 20) scraps off the floor.
• When it is time to line up, send only a few at a time.  You could choose to have students who sit the quietest, clean up most efficiently, or who are most helpful to one another.
• Have students SIT in line. It is harder to bump into someone when they are in one stationary spot.

How do you manage your Kindergarten classes?