Art Leaders Care, Learn and Lead

After school for me is 2:40, which happens to be my planning period but I don't usually plan during this time. I use this time for 6th grade art leaders to come down to the art room and help me catch up on ongoing projects, prepare for next day lessons or just basic cleaning (work smarter, not harder). Today I have students synergizing to help complete our Goal Posters for Open House next week. All the squares have been painted by students in art class, but some squares still need to be glued and the center signs have to be painted. Not all of this work will be finished during class art time, so I need my art leaders to assist me in getting the posters completed in time for Open House. 6th grade students really enjoy coming down to my room late in the day to help with art projects and preparations. I count on these students for help because they know what I expect from them and I can trust that they will do a neat and efficient job and they genuinely want to help. Today I had three students synergize to paint the center signs for the posters, and glue some remaining squares. The posters look amazing, and the students are helping me while enjoying themselves in the process. Synergizing is my favorite habit because many hands make light work, and it's so rewarding to be a small part of something bigger and then see it all come together. I know these posters will look amazing in the classrooms and they have already succeeded in helping the students remember our school goal, We care, we learn, we lead. My art leaders live the school goal by example.

Start the year with Habit 3

As teachers we all start the year with Habit 3, to put first things first. The first week of school is filled with rules and procedures for starting the year on the right track, and in the art room there's no exception. As a third year teacher, I've improved upon clearly defining the rules in the beginning of the year, and reinforcing those same rules throughout the year. It's not that I didn't know to do that in my first year, but with experience you learn from your mistakes and see first hand how discipline and classroom management can go awry if you don't stay on top of it. I think often about something Kathy says when talking about procedures in the classroom... "What does that look like?" is the phrase that comes to mind. Yes, what DOES that LOOK like to the student? So my first week of school now shows them exactly what my procedures look like. We practice the clean-up routine with a model table actually getting out of their seats, pretending to put away wet paintings in the drying rack, going back to the tables to gather wet brushes, paint trays and water buckets and placing them on the carts. Next, my model students show everyone the proper way and time allocated for washing hands and going back to their seats where an art leader is allowed to clean their own table with a wet sponge. And last, the model table shows everyone how to line-up at the door for dismissal. The model students act like performers and the student audience loves this style of learning. We clap and thank the model students at the end of their presentation and allow for questions at the end of the class. The students really benefit from seeing exactly how art procedures work in the classroom, and I benefit too from all my students understanding the rules, so I can enforce them fairly all year long.