4 Ideas that Support Artistic Behavior in my Classroom
I start the new school year on Monday with a week of workdays (I’m about 80% emotionally ready🙂). I’m thinking about what really worked from last year and new things I want to try for the upcoming year. After much pondering, there are four ideas that I want to focus on this year to support artistic behavior: accessible materials, teaching how to collect ideas, skills support vision, and classroom community.
Accessible materials
I spent some time at the TAB Institute this summer and the biggest “ah ha” moment for me was in the Studio. The materials were organized so they were easy to locate but also so easy to access that it was hard not to grab some and start creating. That creative pull sucked me in and I want the same thing for my students. So, a change I’m making this year is pulling some materials off the shelves and making them more accessible and, hopefully, more inviting. My updated acrylic paint storage is pictured above. These materials used to be stored in a less accessible, inviting way but now, looking at this picture, I want to reach in and grab a palette. Hopefully, my students feel the same way. I have some work to do next week implementing this in other areas!
Teach how to collect ideas
This is the idea from last year that I am the most excited about because it made a huge impact on learning. Last year I started teaching idea collecting as an artistic habit and started school with a "100 Idea Challenge” that lasted for a few weeks and gave students so many ideas for work that some had too many exciting ideas it was hard for them to choose which one to start with. This shift in focus, which I use along with the other ideas pictured above, was both impactful and empowering for my students. I explain what I did in more detail here.
Skills that support vision
Ideas can be frustrating instead of exciting when students don’t know to execute them the way they envision. I use these Explorations (more here) to teach skills and techniques in different ways. Some are used as whole-class units while others are available when students request to use a new material or process. They all work for students to use on their own, which saves me tons of time. All of this content is available to students on our learning platform (last year it was Google Classroom, this year it will be Canvas).
Classroom community
Building a supportive, welcoming, and positive classroom environment is the foundation of good teaching and is especially important in TAB, where students have to feel safe enough to use their ideas. In my experience, the classroom community I establish is what makes all the rest possible.
Best wishes for a great year!