The Teaching Palette

Teaching Art in “The Cloud”

Posted on 26. Feb, 2012 by Theresa McGee in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Organization and Preparation, Tech Stuff, Technology and Gadgets

I’ve been using “The Cloud” for a few years to host my web bookmarks on Delicious and gather digital resources in Livebinder making them accessible from any location and any computer or mobile device.  More recently, I have adopted two other cloud computing tools to manage class schedules, supply orders, and lesson plans: Evernote and iCal.

Evernote

My “must have” cloud application is Evernote.  I keep a running list of supplies needed, track students who need to complete artwork, and use images to organize and plan for future lessons.  The video below shows how I have used the Evernote desktop application to sort out and sync all the details of my teaching life.

iCal and Google Calendar

Since I have hundreds of students and lots of classes to track, keeping a planning calendar is essential to my sanity.   Instead of using one calendar, I create a separate calendar for each grade level as well as one for school events that can be viewed individually or all together.  Like Evernote, a “cloud” calendar travels wherever you are, viewable from any computer or mobile device.

Here is an example of my iCal calendar.

Another great option is Google Calendar.  Here is an example:

While I don’t exactly teach painting or ceramics in “The Cloud”, my schedules, lesson plans, and “to do” lists certainly do live online.  As a result, I am a more organized and thorough teacher ready to get my hands dirty with art supplies.

How do you use the cloud? What works best for you?

Art Room Showcase 2010: Space Organizing

Posted on 27. Sep, 2010 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Organization and Preparation

Last year we asked our readers to send us pictures of their art rooms. The response was tremendous and our Flickr gallery really shined with your submissions! This year, we added a new twist! You gave us a closer look into what makes your art room work with bins, posters, drawers, and binders.

There were so many great ideas and unbelievably clever storage solutions that we had a hard time picking only three photos. Congratulations to our three winners Tara Conover, Jessica Houston and Amy Kratochvil for their creative organizational solutions! You can view their photos on The Teaching Palette’s homepage.

Thank you to the following art educators who shared images of their 2010 art space organizational tips:

• Tricia Fuglestad
• Carleen Michener
• Katie Jarvis
• Jodi Youngman
• Dawn Lagerstedt
• Elizabeth Burns
• Hannah Salia
• Dusti Moran
• Melissa Giglio
• Cynthia Borne
• Tisha Burke
• Tara Conover
• Denise Pannell
• Sarah Brooks
• Amy Kratochvil
• Jeannette Anthos
• Jennifer Leban
• Kristen Peck
• Kim Colasante
• Clare Butler
• Theresa McGee
• Hillary Andrlik
• Jessica Houston
• LeAnne Poindexter
• Samantha Melvin

If you would like to add your organization images to our Flickr set, we would be happy to add them! Send your photo, name, school, and brief photo description to info@teachingpalette.com.

Art Room Showcase 2009

Posted on 18. Sep, 2009 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Cool+Creative, Educators in Art, Organization and Preparation

When we launched The Teaching Palette back on September 29, 2008 (almost one year ago), one of our goals was to create a place where other art educators could share their ideas and successes.  With the start of the new school year, we came up with the “Show Us Your Art Room” feature.

Well, here it is… the creative spaces submitted by art educators around the globe and assembled into one Art Room Showcase (2009 edition). We hope art teachers will be inspired for their own spaces!

In addition to any comments you leave here, we’d like to encourage you to also leave comments in the flickr art room gallery.  Below is a nifty Flickr widget highlighting some of the art room entries.  Click any image for a close-up.

Thank you to the following art educators who shared images of their 2009 art spaces:

1. Laura Carey (winner, as seen on our home page – the shopping cart)
2. Myrna Ellison (winner, as seen on our home page – the castle)
3. Matt Cauthron (winner, as seen on our home page – the digital studio)
4. Lori Wilson
5. Elizabeth Burns
6. Frank Curkovic
7. Brooke Nicholson
8. Tara Conover
9. Tricia Fuglestad
10. Denise Pannell
11. Jessica Houston
12. Emily Valenza
13. Tana Puppe
14. Susan Bivona
15. Katie Balla
16. Keith Chapman
17. Matt Cauthron
18. Amy Kratochvil
19. Kristen Grzemski
20. Carol Frueh
21. Katie Jarvis
22. Myrna Ellison
23. Christy Branham
24. Katherine Malone-Smith
25. Maria Smith
26. Laura Carey
27. Julie Vladika
28. Theresa McGee
29. Hillary Andrlik
30. Brooke Nicholson

Do you have an art space to share? We can add it to our Flickr pool! Email photos to info@theteachingpalette.com

Odd Art Jobs

Posted on 19. Feb, 2009 by Hillary Andrlik in All Posts, Clean-up and Transition, Clssrm Mgmt, Off-task Behavior, Organization and Preparation, Positive Reinforcement

There are 10 minutes remaining in art class and everyone is working hard on their latest art project except for your two chronic early finishers. It never fails that some students work faster then others. When students have extra unfocused time this leaves an opportunity for behavior problems to develop. What can you do with students who finish early?

Since you never know how many students will finish early or how much time will be left in the class you might consider utilizing an “Odd Art Jobs” chart.

What are odd art jobs?

They are all those little things that eat up a lot of time and energy, which could be focused on creating great lessons, grading or helping other students. The art room wouldn’t function if these tasks weren’t completed but really anyone could get them done. An odd job could be anything from sorting scrap boxes to labeling artwork. Another added benefit is that your students take ownership and pride over the art room, its equipment and school displays.

The type of odd art jobs that you let your students do is totally dependent on how your classroom is structured. You should also take into account the characteristics of your student population. One year you may have a amazingly independent group of fifth graders that are responsible enough to look at a check list, pick a job, and complete it without explanation. The next year it might work better to keep the list as a reference tool for yourself then have kids ask you what jobs are available to help. The key is to create a system that works for your art room. In my experience, a one-size-fits all approach never works for education. In my classroom the odd art jobs chart works best for small pockets of early finishers. It’s not a good solution for when an entire class completes a project early. Check out the list of odd art jobs I’ve had students do in my classroom located below.

Odd Art Jobs

• Wash paint containers with special sponges (Usually I let them use a fun scrubbing tool I pick up at the dollar store.)
• Sort scrap boxes (I have my paper scraps sorted by color so that it’s easy to access what I need for certain projects or for classroom teachers to borrow.)
• Count out paper I need for certain grade level projects (For example, if I need 65 sheets of three different kinds of paper for my next kindergarten project I will have a student help count it out for me. This way all I need to do is cut it to size and I have exactly what I need!)
• Sort marker bins and throw out dry markers (I have the student helpers take a scrap piece of paper and make test marks on it. If a marker is dry it goes to the trash. I might even have them save the marker caps for when students lose theirs during projects. This is a great job for any age level!)
• Make signs to label different areas of the art room. (I make a list of things I would like labels for as I work around the classroom. You could spend hours labeling your supplies and cabinets. Sometimes I will pre-print the signs and the student helpers will color, cut and attach them. Some examples of signs students have made for me are how to draw book categories, warm colors, in-box, watercolor paint brush sizes and newspaper.)
• Take down bulletin boards (All of my hallway displays are at student height so I don’t have to worry about step stools. The bulletin boards are also visible from the art room or the office for teacher monitoring. I usually send students out in teams of two or three but no more. And I make sure that they know exactly what to do.)
• Glue project paragraphs to the back of artwork (I attach a short paragraph describing the art process and what students learned to the back of each project for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades. I try to give them as much hands on time as possible so we don’t always get time to glue the project paragraphs to the framed art. This is a great job for early finishers to help with.)
• Have older kids glue or staple frames to younger kids completed art projects (I usually write the student names on the projects ahead of time. Then all my student helpers need to do is glue or staple the artwork on to the pre-cut frames.)
• Sharpen pencils (To save time while my classes are drawing I like to have my pencil bucket ready for action. Instead of kids sharpening pencils while I’m talking they simply exchange their pencil for an already sharpened one in the pencil bucket. It cuts down on interruptions and lost work time. So periodically the bucket needs to be sorted and the pencils sharpened.)
• Make Tracers for other grade level projects (I will make two or three tracers and then have student helpers trace them onto heavy cardboard. Then, I put the cardboard in our parent volunteer bin for the adults to cut out. Takes a little forethought but saves me a lot of time and energy.)
• Sort classes artwork and stuff portfolios to send home (At our schools we use portfolios to transport art work home about three to four times a year. If I have a larger group of student helpers I will have them sort a particular classes art projects into plies for each kid. Then they simply slip each students art work into the pre-labeled portfolios to send home at a later date.)
• Set up supplies for the next art class. (I often have little time in between classes to set up new supplies. So I might switch from 3rd grade to 1st grade to 5th grade. Well that’s a large amount of supplies to have out at one time and I don’t have enough counter space. So I will have early helpers take out the materials for the next class and set it up on one counter. Then when the class is over they clean up their art supplies and put them totally away. Now I have a new counter free for that class to set up supplies for the next class following them.)
• Cleaning tasks (i.e., sweep the floor, erase the board, wipe tables, clean clay tools)
• Refill art product containers (I will have students that I know can do a good job refill glue bottles, switch watercolor refills or any other job of that type.)
• Hang bulletin-boards (I usually reserve this job for older students and it is a huge treat for them. Remember, all of my hallway displays are at student height and visible from the art room or the office for teacher monitoring. I usually send students out in teams of two or three but no more. And I make sure that they know exactly what to do. Sometimes I even hang the first three or four pictures so that the student helpers can see what I expect them to do.)
• Cut out items that have been laminated (I have parent helpers laminate papers for me then I have a cut laminate box located in my room where student helpers can grab some laminate and cut it out.)
• Empty the drying rack (This is fairly self explanatory but, student helpers will take art work off the drying rack and put it into the proper classes box.)

Transitions and Clean Up

Posted on 17. Oct, 2008 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Clean-up and Transition, Clssrm Mgmt

One of the most common times in the art room for students to become off task or lose their focus is during clean-up and transitions. Learn key strategies to keep your class on task such as creating a clean-up map to help students know what to do next (Example). Or how to handle students who have trouble moving from one location to another. Keep your students productive and gain more instructional time in the process with our “Transitions and Clean-Up” tip sheet.

Prevention and Attention

Posted on 16. Oct, 2008 by Hillary Andrlik + Theresa McGee in All Posts, Clssrm Mgmt, Organization and Preparation

The elementary art room can get overwhelming with materials, paperwork and demanding students. Learn how to obtain student attention and keep it focused. Get organized and get your students into a routine with our “Prevention and Attention” tip sheet.

Some of the helpful tips include:

• Use a binder to store important information containing monthly planning sheets, class lists, schedule, and notes.
• Keep a container for pencils to be sharpened. (Avoids having kids distracted by pencil sharpening.) Have any student that needs to serve recess with you sharpen pencils.
• Do not begin giving directions until ALL children are looking at you.
• Use kinesthetic (movement) learning – show/have students practice directions in addition to verbal. Have children move often, avoid long periods of sitting.
• For our complete Prevention and Attention tip sheet, click here.