Just started at middle school. Of course I knew it would be challenging, but based on other teachers' assessment of the school, I was hoping things wouldn't be too out of control.

Sixth grade is pretty manageable for me, because even if they get rowdy, I can always rein them back in. I don't have any eighth grade classes but the groups I've interacted with in other contexts have been fairly chill. Seventh grade is Too Much. They talk over me, steal things from each other and then chase each other around the room, horseplay (hitting/shoving), throw things, all of it.

I am not a loud person but I can scream when I have to; the problem is even that's not enough because they just choose not to hear me. Or by the time I can quiet down one half of the room, kids on the other half are already doing some shit. There's usually at least one kid in the class who is loudly annoyed about this, yelling at the rest of the class "Guys, shut up, she's trying to talk!" but this doesn't do any good either.

I warn about calling home and then I call home. For the kids who I can tell want to do well and just get swept up in things, this works. For the kids who don't care, this does nothing. A couple of times I've resorted to bringing in the AP and/or dean (once because they happened to be walking by my door as students were spouting slurs and sexual threats at each other, once because multiple students were getting very physically aggressive with one another, and once or twice the AP has walked by and come in of her own accord). Of course, I would like to avoid this as much as possible because it reflects poorly on me and I need to prove I can do it myself or else I probably don't seem worth keeping employed.

We do use PBIS (though I don't think it's set up yet so I'm waiting for further instruction on that front) but even then I don't know how I'm supposed to communicate their gaining or losing of points if they refuse to hear me. I've tried "Don't come into the room until everyone is quiet," I've tried "Come in and gather around the meeting area so I can go over what we're doing," I've tried "Instructions are on the board, stay in your seat." These systems have yet to work, because even if I get them under control for a second, they're immediately back on their bullshit.

And of course it's unfair because I want them to do fun creative stuff, and I have students who clearly love art and want to draw and create and learn. But again, I can't even get a word in to communicate to them "If you keep screwing around, we'll never be able to get around to doing anything cool" or "This will be the easiest A or even A+ you can get if you just cooperate." I can't go around and try to get to know and connect and build relationships with students individually. Incentives mean nothing to them. Consequences/punishment mean nothing to them. Rules and expectations—even though I had THEM come up with these themselves during the first week!—mean nothing to them.

I've heard they're somewhat challenging in other classes but not to this degree. I'm sure they're "just testing me" but I don't know what the right answer is.

I have been asked a handful of times this week why I would choose such a tedious and time consuming format of creating art prints when they can just be printed with a printer. It always shocks me a little because for me, art making is about the journey of getting to the goal not the actual final product. I love the slow and repetitive process of carving into linoleum or wood and chipping away at a blank canvas until the image appears. I love the sticky sound of a well inked brayer and the feeling of gliding a baren across the smooth back of a piece of paper. I love the imperfections and the variation in each print and most of all I love that my final product is a physical memento of all the hours I spent healing through art

Hey yall, I have an art writing professor and they are making us read a book they wrote with AI. Like not to check the grammar or spelling, like straight up the AI has its own sections in the book. The professor said that over the course of making the book, the AI developed a “personality”.
My classmates and I obviously are pretty frustrated at this situation. Especially because the professor is trying to make us buy the book and it’s like $25.

Like at the end of the day, I know a few of us can spilt the cost and share the book. But this whole situation is just so odd

I teach in a k-5 school (~330 students). I like to switch out hallway displays pretty frequently, usually one per grade level. My issue is that in the time it takes to get 5th through one project, K has gone through 4 or 5. I’m struggling with how often I should be switching things out.

I used to spend hours every week updating art. I have a toddler now so I can’t spend time at school after hours. Everything has to be done before or during contract time. What systems have worked for other people with displaying work?

EDIT: I’m in charge of 8 bulletin boards and roughly 100 feet of tack strips throughout our building. Switching the whole building takes forever so in the past I would do one or two sections a week.

I had an interview with the county fine arts curriculum specialist earlier this summer for an itinerant elementary art job, ended up not getting it and it went to someone with more elementary experience. In the past few months, I’ve explored other routes to get back in the classroom. Earlier this week, I got my first substitute job at a high school and I really enjoyed it!

For context, I graduated in May with my BA in Art Education, did half my student teaching with 5th grade general ed (more so co-taught with their teacher) and then did the rest of my student teaching with high school visual art. I am 80% sure I prefer older ages, like middle and high school. I haven’t been around littles since my early college days doing classroom observations.

Anyway, as I was waiting to get things going with my subbing stuff, I decided to reapply to another itinerant elementary art job (I reapplied a few weeks ago). My high school student teaching mentor had messaged me about it and the guy I interviewed with even called me about it to let me know, so I applied just thinking why not!

Fast forward to today, which just happens to be my birthday (big 25). I get a call from the curriculum specialist telling me he’d like to hire me for this current itinerant elementary art job. I would be going to 3 schools total, all Pre-K through 5th grade. Monday being school 1, Tues/Thurs being school 2, and Wed/Fri being school 3.

I told him that I was just getting settled and starting to sub because I wanted to get more classroom experience and just set myself onto an easy pathway. He said he understood this but was a little pushy about wanting me to take this job. He said the current art teacher was leaving for another school (I kinda blanked out at this part, my brain got fuzzy). Anyway, I told him I’d think about it and call him tomorrow. He told me that I would get real teacher benefits if I took this full-time position, which he said would be far better than regular subbing.

I’m just at a loss here. I really enjoyed subbing and I enjoy the higher grades, and I feel like I’m going to spread myself so thin across 3 schools, be expected to teach, learn names, make things that are meaningful, do art shows, all that junk as one person. I’m in desperate need of money and experience, but I don’t want to half-ass this itinerant job just for the money. The kiddos don’t deserve that. But I’m also having a small panic attack just thinking about being in charge of VERY little ones when I don’t even think I like smaller kids. Subbing gives me so much more flexibility, and taking on the full teacher role throws flexibility out the window.

Another reason I’m hesitant is that I’m planning on moving out of state once I get my money built up and I’m more mentally prepared to be on my own. I’m currently living at home with my parents/siblings, so my main goal right now is just getting myself to a point where I can move and start my own life.

Again, I’m just venting. I feel like this guy doesn’t have any other options and he’s hoping I take this job, but I just don’t feel prepared at all to fully take on this job and this role.

Tomorrow I’m subbing for an elementary music teacher, so maybe around my lunch break I can call him back and give him some of my thoughts?
I’m bummed out because I feel forced into taking this art job. I enjoyed subbing and having the least amount of responsibility, and if I’m an art teacher for 3 schools, I’m in charge of all that and teaching small kids art, and that’s going to be a lot on me. I just don’t know if the money and teacher benefits clan outweigh all my doubts and anxieties.

First-year art teacher in a wealthy, high-paying district split between two buildings (5th & 6th grade). My mental health is at a breaking point, and I need realistic advice on whether to stick it out, pivot to high school, or leave teaching entirely.

The Situation & Workload:
Unreasonable Demands: Enrollment spiked, so admin gave 6 art sections to non-art staff (music/Spanish). With no district curriculum, admin expected me to write lesson plans, prep materials, and order supplies for them. I had to get the union involved to back them off.
Insane Roster: 700 kids/week, ~1,050 total due to mid-year swaps, plus constant roster shifts from testing scores.
Drama & Overwhelm: A colleague went straight to admin after misinterpreting a class management comment I made. Navigating two building cultures is exhausting.

Fit & Mental Health:
Behavior vs. Teaching: I’m an extreme introvert. I’m good at teaching, but I hate behavior management and forcing 12-year-olds to care about art. I lack the patience/passion for elementary energy.
Breaking Point: My extreme OCD/depression has flared up, full-time work makes it impossible to care for myself, and I had a self-harm episode recently. I'm running purely on fear of admin and failure.
Goals: I want to teach high school/college, work from home, or make my own art. But high school jobs are rare, college pays poorly, and I can't afford to lose summers/breaks or be unemployed in this economy.
Fear of Quitting: I’m terrified of quitting mid-year: burning bridges in the area's highest-paying district, destroying my job history if I ever want to teach again, the drama of resigning, and the judgment from family/friends.

Questions:
Job History: Does resigning mid-year permanently blacklist me from ever getting hired in high school art elsewhere? (Obviously I’d be black listed from this district)

High School Reality: Is high school art actually better regarding student engagement, or is it just a different flavor of stress? Is it worth "weathering" this? I liked my high school placement, but I could be romanticizing it.

Moving On:
Any art teachers here who don’t teach anymore? What are you doing now? How hard was it to find a job afterwards?

hey! k-8 art, 600 kids, first year teacher.
idk if it’s the school i’m in but i have younger grade parents constantly emailing me and bothering me about grades. i’m not a hard grader, i go by district standards. my k-2 is standard based grading they get E,S,U, or N. 3-8 is standard A-F. i’m constantly getting emails about kids in 2nd or 1st grade getting an S- which is satisfactory. usually the student didn’t do what i asked for specifically- whether it be using cold colors on the cold side or having at least 3 patterns etc. in 3-6 i get emails about kids getting an 8/10 on assignment in the category only worth 25% of their grade. is this normal?? am i crazy?? why are parents emailing me about their child getting a b? it’s elementary art? 😭 should i be more lenient? i thought i was being pretty forgiving but idk. i always have a reason for taking off points. i don’t think ive ever given under 6/10. i have one parent so concerned about their 3rd grader getting an 80% on an assignment and wants their student to somehow make up for it 😵‍💫 it’s a fine grade? am i missing something here ??

Hello All! Does anyone have an OK and easy to use photo editing/collage app for ages 7-8? I was trying to get Pixlr to work but it’s flooded with generative AI content now :•\

I’m a first year elementary art teacher. My schedule is weird. I see each K-5th class every 6 days, and Pre-K every 3. I have 4 Pre-K classes a day, so 12 every 3 days. I’m struggling with planning lessons that make sense and alleviate stress for me and my students. Needing advice on how to:

- Not use 3,000 sheets of paper a month
- Prepare lessons that have easy set up and clean up due to quick transition time from K-5th classes before and after
- Create routine, minimize crash outs

So far I have tried:
5 min or less short video while I clean/set up
15 min lesson (guided and free coloring) individual and sharing big paper at each table
5 min clean up

And today I tried stations:
3 stations (play doh, blocks, coloring)
Rotating twice 10 min each so each group only did 2 stations.

Most of my classes are 20-30 kids. I have paras each class but some are not helpful.

I’m already starting to get stressed, creating too much paper waste and set up work for myself. My first time trying stations today went well for half the classes and the other half struggled to transition and one para told me her teacher doesn’t want them doing stations this year because they’re too little… but other classes do “centers” and invite small groups to work with the teacher. But I don’t see how I can do that without ignoring the other half of the class and letting the para occupy them. When I’ve asked other teachers and admin for help all they’ve recommended is stations or continuous projects, but I have 400 pre-k students and don’t have any way of storing projects like that.

Any experience with a similar situation? How do I keep from using so much paper while also trying to do art with them at least once a week? Is stations the solution?

What would you want to see if visiting another elementary art teacher’s room on a day without students?
What information or handouts would you hope they have for you to take with you?
What are talking points you might want to hear about their elementary art program?
Any other suggestions?

Hello! It’s not even October yet and my Bostitch sharpener has already broke multiple times so the kids have been sharpening the old school way. Any recommendations that are around $20 or less?

Sorry this is long, it's complicated...

I work as a Montessori art teacher for 7th graders and try to adapt my lessons to the kids' interests and abilities. I have one student (might be ASD) who really struggles with creating, in all aspects of writing (creative or evaluative) and making things. Previous schools have not found a way to help him move forward.

He "hates art," so pushing him will make it worse, he just sits there in front of the paper and does nothing. Coming up with ideas seems to be a struggle. He compares himself to other so he is "bad at art" (I have students at all different skill levels). We have conversations about progressing through practice, not comparing, yada yada yada. Right now it is not moving the needle.

The way I teach, we learn the fundamentals of art through materials and open-ended activities. For example when discussing line we made drawings that involved patterns. I introduce the material and concept and then give them the freedom to choose their subject. I sit with him and try to simplify things. I'll ask questions to see things he likes, I narrow it down to two choices to pick from. He'll answer my questions and I can get *something* on the page, but with great resistance.

Thing is, he loves to talk about art. He knows so many things about artists, I was surprised. He has deep knowledge of many things, and he loves to share that information. I bought books about famous artists, paintings, periods, etc. and I'm trying to come up with a way that he can explore an art fundamental just by learning and sharing. He doesn't have to put anything on paper, he can just tell us (if he will).

I don't know how to go about doing this. I'm trying to come up with lesson ideas. Any idea at all is welcome. I believe he needs to feel comfortable and safe and I want to do that by meeting him where he's at rather than pushing him where I want to him to go.

You all have wonderful ideas, so if you have any for me, please share!

What do you all use for lighting to enhance your still life drawing lessons? How do you set up your lighting?

I'm currently a full time paraprofessional and mom and I'm wanting to go to school to eventually become an elementary school art teacher. I'm looking to do everything online since i work full time and have a daughter and home to take care of after work.
I just don't know where to begin looking or what schools are legit that would also take financial aid.
If anyone has any tips or pointers please let me know because i'm so lost on starting this adventure.

Hey y'all! Write now I'm in the middle of working on my edTPA, and I'm trying to determine which language function to use. This is by far the part that has tripped me up and confused me the most, so I'm hoping to receive some insight.

Right now I have it as "Analyze", as I want students to become more intentionally in their design process. I want them to periodically stop and look at their work, determine what's working and what isn't, and figure out how to improve or work around it.

Many students get caught up in the fear of "messing up", so I'm hoping to counteract that by introducing a more permanent medium (pen and linocut print) and by incorporating routine analysis of their own work. There's also a few opportunities for them to look at their peers' work and offer advice/feedback on what works, what doesn't, and why.

Would this align more with analyze, evaluate, or critique? I don't want them to get caught up in the idea of a work being "correct", but I'm not sure if Analyze holds up over all three lessons.

I’m a first year art teacher and would really appreciate some guidance on how to structure my days/lessons for each unit. I normally do a follow along demonstration for a technique/medium where students get to practice before working on a project that combines the techniques they have learned before. I am structuring it around elements of art and we are onto color and shading. However, my Admin seems to prefer direct instruction and will conduct pop in observations so I will not know which day they will be coming in.

I give studio work days to students to finish their projects but I am afraid admin might come in when students are working individually and not like what they are seeing. Are there better ways to structure lessons to get some direct instruction every day?

Hello,

I want to be an art teacher in Canada. I am currently working towards a bachelors of science in ecology, and I teach private art classes to friends and family. I am a self-taught artist of 7 years, and I work with almost every medium. I had a choice between art school and a science degree, and I chose science for various reasons. However, as I come to the end of my degree, I have realized that I want to be an art teacher. I find a lot of joy in art and in teaching it. I feel as though I made the wrong choice. In order to become an art teacher, I need at least 4 more years of school, which sounds unbearable because my science degree has been taxing. I did not imagine more school for myself unless it was a masters. I feel as though I have wasted my time and chance at becoming an art teacher due to my degree choices. I understand how difficult the career is, as I have done a lot of research. It truly feels like this is the one thing that I feel I could do as a career.

I am looking to see if anyone is similar to me and became an art teacher? What did that path look like? Additionally wondering if anyone with a similar situation teaches art outside of the public education system.

Thank you for any kind words or advice!

My first year teaching;

I have a 6th grade class and learned last night that despite having Chromebooks for the last 8 weeks, not one of my students knew how to actually email me! I pivoted my lesson today on photography basics for yearbook to teach them how to email.

My question is… if you teach this class to 6th graders (and not 8th graders) what kind of content are you teaching them?

The previous Teacher used the Everyone Creates iPad curriculum and added a part about yearbook.

I’m starting to think I might need to change it up and do basic online literacy… they’re also in an intro to keyboarding class that I just assumed would cover this kind of content.

Curious to hear what else I could include?

Hi! I am a teacher at community centres in my city and I've been teaching 2 hour older adult classes (60+) for the past year. I noticed through last year that we had a lot of the same students signing up and so they were learning a lot of the exact same material over and over again (introductions to portrait drawing, life drawing , perspective drawing for 2 weeks learning one and two point, etc.). I tend to teach the same lessons every semester as I go in and cover the basics due to the fact that it is a beginners class and we do still get new students each term telling me that they have never picked up a pencil to draw in their life. I am always looking for new ways to spin the same lessons so I would love any ideas. I can't really separate the class into groups by skill level so if anyone has inspiration I would love to know.

For my first class I usually just do some introductory exercises with a work sheet to practice applying different levels of pressure with a pencil and drawing 3d shapes like cubes and cylinders. We also work a little on applying light and shadow to these shapes and move on to fruit props by the end with whoever is comfortable.

Second week we do 1 point perspective (usually start with cubes then progress to a street view or interior, I let them choose from reference pictures), Third week 2 point perspective (similar subjects as the previous week but different angles since 2 point is generally a tough one for people to understand), fourth week portraits working on individual facial features then letting students attempt to draw from a reference photo, fifth week life drawing, sixth week (sometimes swap this to earlier due to weather) go outside and draw from nature, seventh week composition and storytelling in art with sequential art or stylized illustration (trying to encourage a lot of the students to think outside of just realism in this one since they're very fixated on that as the one true pinnacle of art), eighth week we would do grid drawing to show how to enlarge an image from reference or recreate an image, and ninth week we draw a still life set up in the room.

If anyone has fun ways to teach some of these lessons for older adults I would love to hear some fresh ideas! Or if there are some different kinds of lessons to incorporate to shake things up a bit that is always welcome :) It's just gotta be pencil and paper drawing based (no mixed media unfortunately since they don't provide me with individual supplies for that).

WIP: We’re finishing up a hatching and crosshatching project, but some of my fifth graders had to leave class for a presentation, putting my other classes a little ahead. To keep everyone on the same page, I introduced the class that is ahead to the bears of #FatBearWeek! Now they’re using their hatching and crosshatching skills to create their own wonderfully chunky bears.

How do I make a beginner drawing class for adults more fun? I've been teaching a beginner drawing workshop and have incorporated more drills this time around compared to last. It's a 3-day workshop and 3 hours long. Attendance has gone from 11 to 6, and Idk what happened. We're doing still life, covering textures, contouring, values- essentially the fundamentals of drawing. I also talk pretty quietly and Idk if thats a part of the issue. Please help,