I thought I would share about my current classroom. As of now, I am pretty happy with the space. It is colorful and open and full of light. It stays cold most of the time (which I love) and is home to about 23 plants. It’s organized, easy to move around in, and able to host about 22 classes throughout the week easily.
Here are some notes I thought you might find helpful as you watch the video above:
– There are two signs from @antiracistartteachers in my room: one on the door greeting students and one on the wall that they can see as they leave my classroom.
– I have keycard access to my room. Both Junior School art teachers and our AT, Ms. Chen, have access. It’s to keep people from borrowing (“borrowing”) things or students hanging out without our knowledge. Our classrooms are in the Senior School because of spatial reasons, so keycard access is the only way.
– This year I moved my tables into islands for more space. It’s easier for the students to walk around and way easier for me to do demos and ascertain clean-up. I love working in threes. I like counting out in threes, prepping in threes, organizing supplies into threes, etc. I just find it easier than worrying about 6 tiny 4-tops.
– I have four sinks and four soap bottles and 6 towels for tables. We only use paper towels in case of emergency for sustainability reasons. I only keep paint trays and water cups out and near the sink. Occasionally brushes are out if we are using them on that particular day. I like a clean sink area. So one of the first things I do for the school year is teach the students how to clean up.
– The signs above the sink come from @theartofed and @cassie_stephenz. The clean-up signs were designed by my colleague and we have them in both of our rooms.
– I have 25 black aprons that each hang on their own hook. Above the aprons near the drying rack, there are two behavior posters from my school that we are required to have in our room on display.
– The drying rack can easily hold a million pieces on it and it is great for drying printed fabric when we make our printed canvas bags with Year 6.
– All of the artist posters in my classroom come from @lottaleonie. I love them so much! My favorites are above this water station. The water station was created in both art rooms because students were forgetting their water bottles and temps were reaching high 90’s and 100’s outside at the beginning of the school year. I have yet to fall in love with the water station, as it feels like a bit of a distraction at the moment. But, it does look cute!
– Headphones for each student hang on hooks at each island for easy access. Students use headphones to go through videos or during free draw time if they want to watch a drawing video or something similar. I may switch these to a large basket on the floor later on in the school year, but for now they are working great at the tables. There are 4 hanging on either side of each island.
– We are attempting to grow limes in our classroom, which is a slow process. I keep plants all over my space at home and at school because the air quality in China is not great. There are lots of days during the school year where the students do not get to go outside for recess. So, it’s important for us to have the plants around to help with our indoor air quality.
– My classroom looks out over the Junior School playground, which is amazing! And when it snows, it’s magical to look out onto the trees and watch the snow pile up down below. I just love it!
– Sketchbooks for all 11 classes sit in two boxes each of my Ikea shelving. I love these shelves so much. My dad always said growing up that cleanliness is next to godliness – let’s hope so with these sketchbooks! I don’t know how, but the kids are constantly breaking apart their sketchbooks or pulling out the coil binding. Ha! Fingers crossed!
– Supplies that we use for either free make/free draw time or one-off projects live in the drawers and cabinets under the sketchbooks, my own signage hangs above the sketchbooks: “Art Makes Ideas Come To Life!”
– I keep a stash of meds and vitamins for myself and other teachers in my room for the cold months when sore throats and sniffly noses pop up. I also have cups for hot tea and coffee and water, alongside two First Aid kits for the students (lots of Band-Aids).
– A special box of charms lives behind my desk that students can purchase with stamps to hang on their sketchbooks. Each charm costs 5 stamps. Stamps are given out for clean tables, efficient work spaces, and general great behavior. I’m pretty loose with the stamps. Art is fun!
– Large stamps are given to students as value credits on post-its that are the color of their “houses”. Each of the 5 houses competes for points throughout the year and the value credits are a big draw. Values include things like: resilience, kindness, respect, confidence, etc.
– My apron hangs on the outside of the sketchbook shelves. I wear my apron only on cooking days, clay days, and painting days.
– My desk is surrounded by student-made love art. Love art is artwork that students draw on the fly and give to me. It might say, I love art or thank you or it might just be a random drawing of a cat, but I keep it all and collage it around my desk. My mirror is covered in Taylor Swift album drawings created by one of my now Year 6 girls.
– On my desk, I always have my mug of choice, a desktop, and my giant calendar/planning book that my colleague made us.
– Where the projector plays is also a giant whiteboard. So, I can show Seesaw activities and circle things that I want them to finish first, second, third, etc. I can play videos and music. And, I can also write notes to my students or to myself for them to see that can be erased later. It’s nice.
– My veggie pillows are called emotional support veggies. Students can grab a pillow if they need a cuddle or as a reward for finishing a task early. They actually love the emotional support carrot the most!
– I have a long, heavy table under the pin boards. The table houses easy-to-grab things like table caddies, books, free draw paper, flat rulers, messy mats, and watercolors. We use all of these items a lot, sometimes daily.
– There are 8 brooms and dust pans scattered around the room. The kids can grab them whenever they want to help keep the floor tidy.
– The pin boards get changed out with each new project. We do about 4 – 5 projects with each year group each year. The boards are very curated by my colleague, but I added some of my own things this year.
– We have giant flat drawers that keep all of the big paper, printings, watercolor work for each class flat and undamaged. They are great! I also keep cutting mats in them, as well as organized folders for each project that needs to be changed out on the pin boards.
Overall, I am pretty adamant about having a clean and organized space. I do not like a bunch of extra furniture around or supplies laying out. I like surfaces to remain clean. I like students to be able to spread out and work on the floor, if they choose. I like to be able to walk around without tripping over things. There is a lot of action that happens daily in my art room, so the less extra there is, the better. A carpet is essential for community time and behavior management. We keep all of our supplies and clay items and kiln in a totally separate storage room that is right off of my classroom. Our AT, Ms. Chen, keeps everything organized and well-stocked in that space which is priceless.
Below are some pictures of my previous classrooms – enjoy! If you have more questions about how I keep my space, or if you have any questions in general about how or what I teach, please feel free to email me. Have a great school year, everybody!
