RANT: Hello ya'll. You're going to have to go with me on this one but I really need some advice so strap in. I teach elementary art. I mostly see my students once a week, and that's a whole other story. I used to be able to get all of my work done at work and leave on time. Now I have to show up early, and come on weekends. I am drowning. I used to have a longer prep but they cut it because it wasn't fair to the other teachers. Since getting new admin they have added another class, and asked me to do an art show (this is a span of over 2.5 years). So, my new admin has given me more work and then given me less time to do it. There is also gaps in my schedule and they could have allotted some of that time for me to work on art show related things but no, they found me something to do that is not related to my classroom or the job they hired me for. They are so hell bent of everything being fair. I can not have more free time than other teacher. I do realize that this is expected of most teachers. Grades are brutal I realize but I don't know why this is the bar we are setting. EVERYONE should have to spend their entire lives in the school and then it'll be fair. God forbid you get the weekend to do things that are not school related.

We found a really nice spot in the spring for the art show. It's in between a gap of two sports starting and ending. The problem is, the art show would be way earlier than it has in the past. I think this will be great day because I think they attendance will be so much better. In the past we haven't had a lot of people and I think it's because so many kids had practice of some sort. This being said I don't have a lot of time until then and Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentines Day crafts stand in my way. I don't want to do them. I don't think I have time to do them and get at LEAST one art piece from every student for the art show. I really want to ask admin if I have to do holiday crafts or if it is completely up to me.

I also would really love to say that I am only going to get done what I can get done on my contracted hours and that I will not be coming in to do any additional work so art show may not happen but the only people that really hurts are the students. I am just stressed out and I think not having to make Christmas ornaments or valentines day card holders would really take some stuff off my plate. ADVICE PLEASE

Sadly our beloved Stu-Art went out of business. They were our go to for buying sets of 50 for mats for artwork. Blick and School Specialty were selling their more expensive pack of 10 with the backboard (not needed). But now even those are out of stock.

Recommendations on where to buy bulk mats is appreciated! We are looking for lightweight with no backing.

Thank you!

Hi everyone, i'm here for an advice please.

I did talk in another post that I hate my school, and that this is my 1st year as an Art teacher, now i'm here for an advice.

So we were preparing for autumn/fall decorations (yeah too late but I even started working with them this month so they are late)

So as we were preparing today for the decoration, me and another...I dont know if she's a teacher actually, she does so many things. Anyways so she gave me supplies, I needed more, she gave me old things they made last year, they look bad actually but I didn't talk much.

Then she asked me to make autumn leaves from cardboard (they love using cardboard mostly cause it's free) now when we finished...I dont like what we made much,we need more! But whatever I ask for she says " we don't have this we don't have that".

Like even we didn't have electricity today they didn't want to turn on the Generator...cause today we didn't have students and when we asked the principal to turn it on because we need to finish stuff (not just me other employees) and that I need to use the glue gun, she said " use a lighter with the glue" 🙂🙂

Like even the clouds the other employe who is responsible of giving me supplies wasn't my idea and when another teacher said it would look better if you add another colored paper that employe said nothing. She tried fixing it her way. The thing is i wanted to say that I agree we need white colored paper but I didn't cause i knew she will say we can't for whatever reason.

Did any of you worked with a school like this?

I'm still in the school telling myself I need to have some experiences so I can find better school next year or so. But I'm really not proud of what I made...should I just go with the flow for now? Or do you think I should tell them how I feel when I want to make decorations?

TLDR: Elementary art: My 2nd Graders have been getting tired of a picture book as our Class Opener, and I’m looking for a short 5 minute activity I can start art class with to transition before we begin creating

Hello! For context I am a first year elementary-art teacher (Pre-K to 4th). I have 45 minute blocks so the first 5 minutes of each block for my Pre-K to 2 students is usually a story time (ideally relating to our project, occasionally just a nice story!) 3rd and 4th look at a famous artwork and write a short response instead.

This has been AWESOME for my Pre-K to 1st graders! It calms them down and helps them transition to a new class before we begin our demonstration. HOWEVER, I’ve already noticed my 2nd graders get antsy, or occasionally feel it’s too “childish” for them.

Does anyone have any ideas for a 5 minute starter activity/opener for 2nd grade to help them transition? They definitely need something to “warm up” before we jump straight into demonstration and art creation, but an option that’s not a picture book would be great to shake things up!

Thank you for any ideas!

Hi everyone,

A problem I've always seen in art classrooms, both when I was a sub and now as an actual art teacher, is that for self-contained, 8:1:1 classes, I feel like I'm not doing a good job advocating for students to their aides. I know they mean well! We all want our students to succeed.

However, oftentimes the paras will do literally the entire project for the student, taking "hand over hand" to the extreme by basically using the student's hand to make their own project while the student isn't even looking at the paper.

How do I communicate that this is not the best way for them to learn? That I don't care about getting a pretty result to show parents or hang in the halls. As long as I get even 1-2 decent pieces for the art show I'm set. Even scribbling is more developmentally enriching than having the aide do it for them.

I just want to give these students a chance to have an exploratory environment where they can practice abstract thinking skills and self-direction that they don't normally use in their primary special ed classes. I feel like art is a great place to hone those skills since it's a low-risk environment, but I don't know how to advocate for kids without coming off aggressive or passive-aggressive.

I'm kind of new in my district so I don't want to end up on anyone's shit list this early, but I also don't want to wait for tenure before I start advocating for my high-support students. Any tips?

Any tips/advice on making beads out of magazines or any other materials?

Also thinking of bag charms with air dry clay (sealed in polyurethane) in but I a bit overwhelmed how to go about attaching it to the clasp and exactly what tools/clasps should I use so its less headache as possible for grades 3 middle school classes

I’m in Jersey and we’re bringing it back to basics!
I’ve done one cursive project (simple cursive name monsters with my third grade) and one I’m going to try probably with my fourth (Cy Twombly inspired using their name or another word, haven’t decided). Have any of you started/been tackling this and what have you been successful with?

I (24F) have a bachelors in studio art and it's been a long time goal of mine to become a professor. I'm looking to get my masters, but I know you also need a lot of experience like getting your work in galleries and getting published etc. I guess what I'm asking is, what's a realistic road map? I'm really worried about financially struggling. I currently work a full time job in something that's not related to art at all to have an actual income lol. I do art on the side and sometimes do commissions, but let's say I go for my masters and quit my job. After graduating, what would be the best course of action? I'm also aware that the field is really competitive, but just any general advice would be appreciated.

Hi there!
I want to get my masters from AOEU, but I’ve never had a non federal loan, so I’m trying to figure out what private loan lender would be best. TIA!

Ive been asked to run an art project at a birthday party / halloween party coming up, for about 13 kids, mostly boys, ages 9-11. The birthday party is in a restaurant, so I don't want it to be too messy. However, I feel that honestly the messiest projects are usually the most fun and engaging for kids, and I'm struggling to find a middle ground. I would love some ideas that give room for a lot of creative freedom and different approaches, but still has some structure.

One idea I had was to draw a variety of backgrounds and let them create scenes with drawings and picture cutouts in the background of their choice. Not sure if there is something here. Let me know if anyone has any go-tos!

Actualmente estudio en una enfocada en la educación preescolar, pero siempre he preferido las artes; últimamente he pensado que podría ser maestra de artes en una institución como esta. Veo a mi propio maestro y admiro su trabajo

Que necesito para poder llegar a ser maestra de artes en una institución como esta? Le preguntaría a mi maestro de artes actual, pero el es algo malhumorado y no creo que sea buena idea preguntarle cómo básicamente podría quitarle su chamba 😹

Maybe I’m misreading it, but I’ve been getting a little irritated with my admin and with some of my fellow teachers. Admin will set meetings during our planning periods (once, they actually informed us of the time FIVE MINUTES before it was supposed to happen) and give us useless duties. Admin was also late to almost every single one of our meetings. One time they cancelled like, ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to start! While we were waiting for them to arrive! All of us had to actively teach students how to behave around campus for over an hour WHILE THE HOMEROOM TEACHER WAS THERE! and the other art teacher here needed to monitor the bathrooms for two hours after! What the hell???

We also had an event where one of the teachers manning a station was out. Another teacher added every single specials teacher to a group chat and asked us all if we could fill in for them. Specifically specials. Then attached the map of the event that CLEARLY showed that every specials teacher was assigned to a station already! I imagine they figured we do nothing so we could take on the extra responsibility. But jokes on them, admin thought the exact same thing and we were spread so thin we didn’t have a single person left to man the car for trunk or treat!

Maybe I’m just limited in my perspective and every teacher goes through stuff like this. But it really feels like people don’t think we actually do anything that requires skill or much time at all. Anyone have any tips or advice on how to deal with stuff like this? Maybe an alternative perspective? I’ve been trying to give everybody the benefit of the doubt but it’s becoming really hard to do so.

Hello! I'm currently working in the design field and with a Product Design undergrad degree, but I've been thinking for a long time now about pivoting to teaching. I've kind of always wanted to do it, but was influenced by most of my family and friends telling me that it wasn't worth it, it'd be too hard, etc. and especially given the current political and economic climate and everything happening with education funding, all I hear is how bad of an idea it is. I also know that public school teachers don't make a lot of money, but I just can't stop thinking about it.

I've been considering going for an education or art education Master's degree, and was hoping to gauge from current art teachers if they have any advice on entering that field, getting that degree, or if you guys also think I shouldn't?

Idk, any input is appreciated!

I went through a couple iterations of this design. First created the bowl, then created one with brush holders. Next I realized they would be tough to store, so I created a stackable one. Great for adaptive art and the little ones!

Wondering if art education will be worth it . Im 22 and Im not currently in college . But I want a stable career for my future and also love art. This is also a field dominated by female so im kind of down. My question is will getting art education prepared me to teach art. Since my background with art is not super great. But Im at a level which is above the average. And also english not my first language so . Im quite worry with how Im going to teach student. So will pursuing art education at 22 be worth it with little prior background in art? Thanks

Hi everyone, this is my 1st year as an Art teacher. This school convinced me to be art teacher for all classes from 2nd grade till 10th grade. ( i'm from Lebanon)

Anyways so they keep telling to do this and that and do crafts for kids that last for like 4 classes. They don't want to pay or for the drawing book to finish before the year ends witch is impossible yet they don't want to give me papers or colored papers to do crafts. They want to only keep using Cardboards cause it comes from boxes they get for free.

I'm frustrated and I feel lost and I don't know where to start or end and over all that I started to hear from students and older teachers that they didn't do this before this is the 1st year they are being too much.

I don't know how to keep going like this

im studying to be an art teacher and i graduate/do my student teaching in the spring. right now im doing a clinical that is supposed to last seven weeks (10th thru 12th graders); the first week was observing, second and third co-teaching, and the last few are independent teaching.

im doing a modular unit with them and just finished the first week of independent teaching (shorted bc no class monday, tuesday a lot of them did a senior ditch day, and a few have been absent all week.)

anywho, im having them make something super simple to start. at least i thought? idk.. all i wanted was for them to make a simple pattern of 3 inch triangles (a tessellation) so we can fold and glue the triangles into modules for the summative.

we spent TWO DAYS drawing lines. i demoed it. twice. i made templates. i made a checklist of steps for every table.

half of them do not know how to use a ruler. half of them dont know what parallel means. some of them have never seen or touched a protractor in their lives.

afterwards my cooperating teacher and i were in her office and i was trying rly hard not to cry but i did, not bawling but the choking up kind. how exactly does a kid get into highschool without knowing how to use these basic tools? not knowing how to draw a triangle thats equilateral??? what the flip guys

anywho i have to redo all the plans i did for next week basically bc they cant measure anything themselves. they just look at me like im speaking in tongues or something.

when asking them to mark the midpoint of 3, at 1.5 on the cardboard;;;

student: wait isnt half of 3 two? wouldnt it be 2?

me: no. uh, whats 15 + 15?

student: 30

me: exactly, so 1.5 + 1.5 is...

student: yeah but look

*shows me that he does not understand how to line up a ruler and uses it incorrectly*

i know theres probably hella posts like this but seriously yall wtf do i do? im gonna give them a tracing paper template for monday but like...

wtf do we do? art is so interdisciplinary and i absolutely love making connections between subjects, and i get math is not everyones strong suit but like.. wow. i overestimated their abilities. its not like the class is full of IEPs or ELLs either, theres only a couple of each, and some of those kids were doing just fine.

i just want to cry and lay down in the grass and be consumed by the earth.

that is all, have a good weekend yall >_<

And what do they do?

I’d love as much feedback as possible. I have zero support and am the sole visual art teacher at my school. I teach 7-12 and handle all classroom operations, purchasing, and budgets. It’s obviously a lot, and I need some data. Thanks!

Hi everyone!
I’m a first-year teacher, and I have one particularly chatty and sometimes chaotic class of 25 fourth graders. During work time, I circulate around the room to check in with students, answer questions, and offer help.

One issue I’m running into with this class is that when I’m helping a student who has raised their hand, several other students will crowd around me or interrupt to ask for help, often all talking at once. I joked today it felt like Black Friday at the mall.

I absolutely want to help everyone, but I’m struggling to manage the constant interruptions while giving each student the attention they need.

I regularly remind them to raise their hands and wait for me to come to them, but I’m having trouble getting them to consistently follow this expectation.
I’ve seen some teachers use cones or other visual signals to indicate that students need help without interrupting their work. I’m interested in trying something like this, but I also want to make sure whatever system I use is accessible and works for students with different needs.

Hi everyone!

It’s my 5th year and I still find that managing behaviors can be hard. ( K-4 school )

• What systems/routines/etc. do you use to manage behavior?
• What consequences do you use?

In my classroom I use a call and response, ( “Class class” “Yes, yes” )
Sometimes I repeat it more than twice because kids don’t always listen and pay attention.

There are times where students chat during the lesson despite having multiple warnings/reminders…..

What things can you all suggest or share that you do?

I’m really interested in learning how things are done in other rooms!

Hello, I'm a first year MS art teacher. I have an 8th grade student thinking of applying to an arts magnet school. What advice should I give them? I have pirtfolio building experience from my own high school AP class, bachelor's, and master's application process, but I'm not sure of the process going into high school. Parent doesn't have a lot of information yet and will have more information next month.

Does anyone here have experience in the application process? From what they said it will be a physical portfolio, but I'm not sure if they are looking for more of a concentration, breath, or depth type of portfolio or if there will be any writing about art pieces. I do know there will be a timed drawing exam that my student will have to take.

I have a group of about 20–25 students, aged 10–13. They were very excited when I told them that next week we would be learning how to draw the human figure. I’m not sure what I should focus on—proportions or movement? Which is more critical for a child? The drawing abilities of the students in my group vary significantly.