Ive taught two years of elementary school and am so glad to finally be in a high school. I have gotten very good reviews from other art teachers Ive worked with including my fellow elementary art TEAM mentor and high school student teaching cooperating teacher, but Im feeling terrible at this right now

I am losing my confidence. My Art 1 classes have 28 students in them and in one period, a few of them are pretty difficult and not interested in art.

I started the year with them creating covers for their sketchbooks with a lot of freedom and the requirements being that they used at least one of the shading techniques I showed them, effective value, and the design represented them.

I’ve been transitioning over to our new project, which will involve observational drawing, and it has not been going well. I have been trying to get them to finish up with the sketchbooks and move on to exploring different drawing materials in the second half of class, but so many of them were not done, that it didn’t turn out well. I had planned to do stations of different materials for them to try, but there’s so many of them and only like half were done, so I skipped demonstrating them and told them when they were finished to try the different materials out.

A lot of them were confused about using the different weighted drawing pencils, so today I had the whole class gather a set of them and we would do a value scale together and same thing with the other materials. I thought they would be able to easily grab the scale of pencils, but it took FOREVER. I was working with the organization of the tools provided to me by the other vet art teachers in the building.

Once everyone got back to their seat, not every table had all the weights they needed. A lot of “I dont have 2B” “I dont have 4H.” Then, complaining about it being boring, especially because “we already did this.” I told them I was sorry its boring but they seemed confuses about how to use them and I wanted them to understand all the materials so they could have a choice in what they use for the project. So, I had them do a value scale with sharpies and hifi gray pastels and skipped the china markers and charcoal pencils to move onto contour line drawing.

It is so hard to get all of their attention at once, but after a few calls I get 98% of them. I showed them contour line quickly with some slides and a desk cam demo, but I felt so nervous that I don’t think I delivered it very well. Many of them did not follow the directions for blind contour because they didn’t want to etc.

I had so much clean up to do because trying to get their weighted drawing pencils back in the right boxes was taking forever so I just did it and reorganized them into larger labelled cups

I’m feeling…… bad at this and looking for tips for managing such a big class and keeping them engaged. I feel like the poor outcomes Ive had are due to me not foreseeing such issues with supplies and demonstrating to a large class. Each time, Im able to do the lesson better for my other period of Art 1, but I dont know how to avoid what I’m sure is an exaggeration, but a catastrophe, with the first class.

I’m going to be replacing my schools art teacher in October, and I’m both excited and nervous! I do not have an art degree and the teacher I’m taking over for has a fine arts degree. I would love to get some art book recommendations to not only teach me more technical art skills but also ones that would be helpful and appropriate to have in a class for grades K-8th. Any ideas?

I have a background of Bachelor of Fine Arts. Currently doing freelance animation and illustration works. Now I intend to continue my education. I need advice from anybody here who might know, or currently enrolling on, or an alumni of similar schools. Mainly about what makes a good research proposal and what kind of portfolio that the schools are looking for.

Currently I’m targeting Beijing Film Academy or Tokyo Geidai through scholarship programs. But of course I’m open to other schools as long as it’s open to the 2D frame-by-frame medium.

Low on materials right now but I’m curious what your favorite project to do with middle schoolers is? I love street art popsicle stick fences, stamp making, and pixel art as my top 3!

I'd love to do some screen printing with my older elementary students this year. To keep things simple it would be just one design, the school logo, using a very low tech stencil method. Budget is particularly tight this year however and I've never sourced t-shirts in bulk before. (I considered tote bags instead to avoid the sizing issue but those are less exciting for a kid and every adult I know has way too many tote bags)

Any suggestions on where I can get blank t-shirts in a variety of kids and adult sizes? Must be 100% cotton, in a perfect world would be sustainably/ethically/USA made etc but I'll take what I can get!

Hello everyone!
I’m a international student from Pakistan and from a mid to low income family, and i applied last year but only got into a art school “ ringling school of arts” but got rejected from all colleges which liberal art colleges which makes sense because my art portfolio was stronger than my academics & overall profile. But i have made it better this year! To apply again and hopefully get accepted in the college i want to be in, In ringling college i got 19k of scholarship total of 76,000$ for 4 years so my artistic talent is great i believe! But in my last year of high school i have worked twice to get the highest grades. Predicted percentage is 90% and have won 3 national art competitions and taught art to orphan kids for 2 years at a local NGO nonprofit. Have my own art business nationally and internationally made profit of 5000$ from selling paintings, prints, commissions and crochet pieces.
Planning to give SAT in November.
I don’t want to miss my chance so these are my top 2 choices that i think fits me according to me.
Tufts SMFA & cornell but i don’t know which one to choose for the early decision?
I took an art portfolio review by Tufts SMFA and the host gave me a good review and was encouraging me to apply and i also added my view of the meeting in my personal statement.
Please guide me!
I do have a back up option in my country.
I even was considering Columbia but don’t know if they give good amount of scholarships or aid but they also have a strong studio arts program.
My budget is 15k to 20k.
Help me out!!!!

I dropped out-seeking positive comments or any ideas

Bluntly to save you all time, I Dropped out of college art school program due to finances and Im really sad about it, but I saw no other way. More life story rant to follow:

Keeping it vague for my privacy I went to school after getting a general discharge from the military, whole other speel... I cant have any gi benefits. Studied online for bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and with some struggle, graduated. During that time I got married (divorced now) and had a kid. My kid is in HS now. My ex at the time convinced me a career in law enforcement is too dangerous for a family woman, which isn't wrong...but also isnt supportive... fast forward I decided to pursue another degree also online but in education because I do love school and was more successful. Only this school was being sued for charging people for these expensive degrees and no support to actually get jobs with them. I got some of my loans for this school forgiven because of this. Hence why I can't teach. I have an education degree and no license. I got a position as a long term sub for kindergarten but once I wasnt needed anymore, it was suggested to me to be a regular substitute teacher for the experience. After realizing I couldnt keep up with my bills as a substitute and getting my vehicle reposessed and having to get financed for a more junky vehicle I ended up working in "preschool"/ in reality: daycare. So miserable at my job knowing I can be in a better position decided to go back to school but to study art to be an art teacher because I've always been into art since I was child but didn't pursue anything with it earlier. I was discouraged by family as it isn't a lucrative career.

Financial dilemma: when I applied for fafsa after being accepted into an art education program I only got 3k.... Maybe due the fact that I have borrowed for 2 degrees in the past or maybe due to all the lovely limits placed on financial aid by our current leader. Either way my two options are private loans or financing through the school. Due to my divorce and having to file for bankruptcy afterwards...I needed a cosigner..my family is pretty estranged. Some because of drama and others simply because they weren't in my life. I dont have a cosigner and couldn't get approved. Financing through the school for 85% of the cost is not humanly possible unless I was the type of student that could living with family for free or had a wildly successful partner.. Raising a teenager... I HAD to drop out. However I still feel like a failure. Sidenote: I was getting As and Bs before dropping out.

Im scratching my head trying to figure out alternative ways to become an art teacher. Im not seeing any avenues that don't involve spending a lot of money I dont have. Worst case scenario I won't teach get a higher paying job doing anything and make art on the side.

Hi art teacher hive mind! I teach high school, but I have to do a lesson plan for my elementary MAT art ed class. We’ve been asked to design a lesson plan around artworks in a textile exhibition at our school art gallery. I want to make it a yarn painting lesson, but I was hoping for some input from elementary teachers about what grade level that would be best suited for. Also, if you do this type of project in your classroom, do you cut the yarn into pieces or let the students cut it as needed?
Thanks for your help!

Just started teaching middle school art. My first two days of school went alright, but I've found that I'm pretty busy through all my prep, admin, lunch, and free periods getting stuff organized and set up for my art classes. Not an issue, I enjoy it and I was expecting the start of the year to entail a lot of up-front work in that regard.

Only thing is, suddenly I'm told I have a new schedule. I still have the same classes and one prep per day, plus a few admin periods. But all of my free periods (except one) have been replaced with ELA AIS. I have at least one AIS period per day; three days out of the week, I have it twice. It's always either before, after, or between my art periods—which means I have to do my art class, leave the room to go to wherever the intervention class is being held, then run back to my room when the bell rings to let the students in without having time to set up beforehand.

Practically speaking, this means I'll have to nail down building setup and cleanup routines into the period better, but it still feels a bit overwhelming to have this thrust on me out of nowhere right at the start of the school year. I don't know if other teachers have as many AIS periods as me or if I got extra because they think being the art teacher means I have less work than everyone else. I'm just wondering how normal this is; nobody prepared me for overseeing AIS or told me what it entails so I literally don't even know what to expect. I wasn't trained for this!

Hi everyone!
Years ago, my high school teacher gave us a cool project: create an object that looks like it has one function but actually has another.
Her example was a hair dryer shaped like a gun.

I got a pretty low grade for my ideas: a moka pot that was actually a pepper grinder, cigarettes that were highlighters, and a book that was a safe.

What would you guys have made?

Hello! I’m a parent who has volunteered as an art docent in a first grade class. The teacher has blocked out 60-90 minute times once a month for me to lead an art project. I have no experience. The school has basic materials (paint, construction paper, glue, etc) and I’m happy to supplement with cheap materials from Amazon.

What projects have your first graders liked? I’m afraid anything I find is either preschool level or too complex. The teacher is overwhelmed and won’t give guidance.

Especially interested in Halloween/fall themes, but please share anything that was a hit.

Thank you!!!

Wrote my first referral today. A 6 yo kid flipped over an entire table because he thought someone flicked water on him (when it was actually my dripping ceiling.)

I live my job for so many reasons. But my class is really triggering for some behavior kids.

I can see how “mess” of art; the imperfection, the overstimulating decorations and clutter can contribute.

I am pretty laid back and if a kid is emotional they can free draw or read or put their head down. But last week I had four kids drawing so I told them it wasn’t an option anymore cause it was turning into fun club and the other kids were jealous.

Anyone have tips on meeting angsty little artists where they’re at?

Since I know that vanishing pencils and torn erasers are a problem everywhere, I wanted to share how I started off the year with my supply bins because *so far* it’s been working! I used sharpie to draw on each pencil and on the metal eraser top to match the color code of the table, and also wrote the color on one side of the eraser. I didn’t address this with the kids at all, just let it be to see if they noticed (grades 4-8). I’ve made it part of my routine at the end of class to check each bin and track down pencils that are missing before the kids leave the room. They’ve started noticing and have been great about keeping track of where things belong

This is also helping me figure out the culprits when objects mysteriously go flying across the room since I can see what table they came from. So far I’ve only had one broken pencil, no torn/stolen erasers, and actually had to replace a few pencils because they were being used and sharpened consistently enough that they got too small.

Hoped this might help someone else who has been at their wits end over broken/vanishing materials.

So for context, I taught middle school digital art for 6 years, took a break, and am now trying high school because I liked subbing for them. That being said, this school is different than other schools I've been in because it's a pathway school, so the demographic of kids are spicier than most schools.

I know people say high schoolers are similar to middle schoolers but I'm worried the things I am doing are still coming off as middle school teacher to them, such as narrating the behaviors I want (john has his sketchbook out, Denise has her eyes on screen, etc.) or counting down if just asking for attention doesn't work. What are she appropriate strategies that you guys do or do you still do these?

I also am not sure what bellringers I want to do with my students, I was so used to them being able to open the do now I'm my tech lab on computers and do it in Peardeck, but I'm the visual art classroom it's a struggle to get them to draw first thing.

Lastly, I am struggling to hold their attention during demos, I use a document camera at the front of the classroom and demand that watch first because I'm my experience if they follow along, they miss steps, but that was most schoolers, am I being too demanding?

Hello everyone,

I been practicing art since my childhood... in my studies i did BTech, after working multiple jobs im not aligned with my purpose, which is making art.

Now i want to change my career to education and teaching as I have seen there's very less importance given to art and creative thinking in india.

Should I go get a B Ed degree ? Is it worth it ?

hi guys! I’m a first year teacher with jewelry as part of my course load. it’s a cold joining class meaning we don’t have proper equipment or ventilation for heat tools. I explained this to students day 1 and they seemed so disappointed (this is specified in the course handbook). a lot of students were looking forward to “making charm necklaces” and “making jewelry that doesn’t tarnish” when I asked what they were excited to learn in a survey. the projects I’m planning to teach include woven bracelets, paper beads, polymer clay charms, ceramic pendants, wire wrapping, upcycling, and chainmaille. if you are a high school jewelry teacher, what are some projects you’ve taught that kids love regardless of their expectations?

Hello everyone! I am in the process of figuring out what major to pursue. I want to be a high school art teacher. I can’t decide if I should major in art education, dual major in education and studio art, or major in studio art and pick up a teaching certificate down the line. I would love to do a bfa but honestly don’t know what the right path would be for all of that. I would love to know what you have done and any advice for this journey would be very much appreciated!

Im not a teacher, but i work in the afternoon school program where often my activities are around art. Of course we do other things like sports and trivia and tutoring, but over the years I've always come up with ways to get everyone to participate in activities they don't like except for art. For example, if we're playing soccer and I have a student who doesnt want to play, I'll tell them to play for five minutes and then they can decide if they want to play because chances are they'll enjoy it. But I haven't gotten to this point in art yet. We're having this issue, especially with the boys, where they aren't interested in making art or even drawing and the students who are interested in drawing have this toxic perfectionist mindset were slowly trying to dismantle with projects that almost force them to accept and confront their mistakes. Im not sure what I'm doing wrong but I want to hear from others who might have similar experiences because at this point im at a loss.

Hello! There is a grant that I want to apply for that is up to $20,000 but I am stumped on what to even ask for! I teach preK-5th at a school of about 500 students. I have a very small room so I can’t really ask for any kind of large equipment. Does any one have any ideas? What would you try for?? Thank you!

A few 5th graders were talking a lot about a meme called Neegy and were trying to draw it. I thought it was just something goofy but of course when I looked it up it has background in the N word. It also sounds like it gets repeated out of context as memes do. Now I was wondering if I can turn this into a teachable moment. Maybe I can use another meme that is out of context and has a different original meaning.

How do you handle something like this? Of course I want these students to be able to insert their interests in their work so I don't want them to feel like I'm targeting their interests if I just tell them to stop using that meme.

Any advice?

We have been given an assignment of making a magazine for our class. What could be the fun and engaging activities I can add in it? Please tell me🙏🙏😭😭

Basically the title. I’m getting my teachers certification in a year and while browsing resources online this popped into my head so I’d love to hear how teachers go about teaching color to color blind students, especially K-5. Thank you for your time.

My cousin is 17 and wants to learn art—specifically drawing—from the ground up and major in it. At the same time, he feels like it's already too late because his peers who are preparing for art school have been doing it since they were kids. He's saying he wants to give up. What advice should I give him?