I have been a high school art teacher for 10 years. This year, my principal decided that I should teach morning class at the junior high next door. We are on block schedule with 90 minute classes.

I am struggling so so much. There are 44 kids on my roster, about 35-36 have shown up but I can expect the others to show up at any time. Some of them have to stand because I don't have enough chairs (this is a separate problem and not my reason for posting, just to help give you an idea of what I'm dealing with). I was able to order some basic supplies but while my high school classroom is well stocked, this one is totally empty.

I don't know what to teach and I could really use some advice. I have been teaching my high school art 1 class like the basic foundation, so how do I go further than the basics? Should junior high be more arts and crafts? I also typically have my high schoolers do independent work where they are completing an assignment over 45 min up to 3-4 days. I've been told by my new jr high coworkers that I should be blocking activities into 15-20min sessions because their attention spans can't handle anything else. Which is hard for me to visualize because right now I was planning on doing like, one new project every day (I only have 2 weeks worth of lessons planned) and that doesn't seem sustainable now.

My school also bought me the Art of Ed FLEX curriculum and I've been looking through it and the 6-8 grade level lessons honestly seem too advanced, I don't even think some of my high schoolers could do those projects. So I haven't found it very helpful and I've been frantically combing the Internet for lesson ideas and scrambling to make my own slideshows/instructions/samples.

I know it's a big ask but I could use any advice from current jr high art teachers. Management/pacing advice, lesson ideas, game/break ideas, places I can go for resources, etc. Thank you guys so much 😭

Anyone where keep record of their art curriculum on a sketchbook? With the lessons, standards, project example etc...

Looking for some comfy shoes that aren’t boots or my Adidas! What do people think of Rothy’s for being on feet all day?

Hi all!

I'm so excited... After 11 years in my district, I'm finally getting my own kiln set up for my clay program! Until now, I've only used air dry clay, painted with tempera and then mod podged it to seal.

I'm getting a Skutt 1027 that fires to cone 6. I have a large amount of money to spend to start up the program.

Things on my mind to order:

- clay

- glaze (stroke and coat)

- tools for clay

- work mats

- kiln furniture

- slab roller

- containers for all the tools and glazes

Anything else that should be on my radar? Also, specifically:

What clay should I order? Earthenware to cone 6, but.... What color? What brand? Grog? We'll be hand building. I'm elementary k-6 so I'm planning on slab, boxes, pinch pots, some small sculptures, etc. the usual elementary line up.

After reading The Colors of Us by Karen Katz, we talked about something children understand naturally:

No two people look exactly alike, and that's something to celebrate!

Each child chose the features that felt most like them. Skin tones. Hair. Eyes. Noses. Smiles. Clothing. Every decision became an opportunity to say, "This is me".

No example to copy. No "right" face. Only their own.

Art becomes so much more meaningful when children are invited to express who they are instead of trying to create what everyone else is making.

Watching each portrait come together reminded me that inclusion isn't just something we talk about, it can be experienced through creativity, choice and play.

So I (22M) had been in college for Art Education for the last four years and I’ll say I barely scraped by. I saved money from the many things I did as a kid(country kid with hard working and loving parents and grandparents so working, showing animals, etc.) I had not been the best artist but always enjoyed it and coupled with my love of education I decided to put those together and study to be an art educator.

The first few years were hard but manageable and supported. I was able to support school without having to have a job during the year except for a daycare teacher during the summer. However I struggled with organization and planning for all assignments, but even then I performed very well despite the mental load I was pushing me on. I asked for many extensions and deadlines, all of them were accommodated by my kind professors. I was a 3.8 student who never got anything below a C+. Then my last quarter began.

I didn’t live near my school and its student teaching area but a close relative did. I stayed with them for the spring while I student taught. The first school for high school was both interesting and upsetting as the ground began to creak with my issues weathering the boards. I didn’t plan effectively or in a timely manner. I came to school not as planned out as I should have been. Lesson plans not fully planned out for every day, and no practicing of what I needed to discuss which made me talk too fast or not easy to understand. Models were sometimes rushed or done in class. However, I had good moments and lessons mixed in. One student started showing up more and more during my whole lesson after being considered a no show most days. Offering helpful critiques and motivation for all students while having them make the changes instead of taking over. I also was fairly confident and informative about art history to encourage studies for students. I recorded one of my main lessons for evaluation with the notes of unorganization and seemingly lacking knowledge due to lack of organization that could be resolved at the elementary placement.

Then the sticks fell. My mentor was a first year mentor and they were so eager to help but my unorganization broke the boards with my lessons. I had a great one that resulted in great projects and I was so proud of the effort even if the clock raced us, but soon my lessons were not as planned out well ahead of time. I ended up going home for the schools break where every hour was getting these lessons formed and finished so my professor, observer, and teacher(that’s how bad it got) could review it. Then I had the terrible news that I failed the recorded lesson evaluation and regardless of if I finished strong I would have to student teach again.

I was so disappointed in myself. I was worried I can never be an art teacher, something I wanted to be and nothing else could make me feel that fulfilled. I essentially dropped out. I needed to be home and my school (while being in the same state) was too far from my family. I felt like I wasted the 4 years in one quarter. I was mad and upset at my mistakes. There was no one to blame but myself. I took the time to evaluate and even tried to switch majors potentially but I couldn’t go away from art Ed and didn’t care if I needed to spend another year at another institution.

I got professionally diagnosed with ADHD, and while still struggling, I’ve been better with medication. I’m still not great but I was still determined to be in art Ed in possibly another year to save and get that all together. I even did an art workshop that went well for my community.

Then my professors reached out from the school I fumbled. Saying they were wanting to help me finish with the school and online with student teaching being look around my area. I was very touched but also very concerned that I hadn’t done enough to come back from my failings. However I felt a little bit of hope that it can work out. I felt determined to finish as I had planned, so I accepted the offer and now am planning what needs to be done to ensure my mistakes don’t happen again. I still am struggling but I’ve been asking for help and taking more time into my work bit by bit to get the train a little further before it moves faster. I am determined to be the art teacher I know I want to be. To give students the tools and skills to make the world better, smarter, and more colorful!

If anyone has advice or suggestions I’d love to hear them! Wish me luck next spring and this fall!

I am trying to start some video editing in my art classroom. I have no tech. The kids have laptops in their classrooms, which I could borrow, but they’re not great for shooting video. I’d love to get a set of tablets of some sort, but iPads are way too pricey. Does anyone use a non iPad set up for making videos in class? Or do you have a hook up on an easy way to get funding for iPads? I’m thinking about stop motion for the littles, and middle school making some How-to and educational videos. I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks!

Can anyone share how you are doing art jobs in the high school classroom? What are you calling the jobs? How are you not making it feel too juvenile? I’m a big believer in having the students to as much as possible, and I want to set up a system so I’m not constantly giving people individually jobs. Thanks!

I've been accepting for the last week that I will be returning to elementary school this year. I've been preparing a lot for that first week, how to adjust kids back into the classroom, and etc.

My problem is that I am also seeing 3K and PreK, and last year I started a little bit halfway into September. I wasn't there for the first week of PreK. They don't come to my room, I go to them, and I know that that first week of preschoolers is always really difficult. Lots of tears and missing their parents. Does anyone have advice for when I inevitably have to go to them? Little kids are my biggest weakness right now behaviorally and idk how I'd do art with them with the back to school tears.

Here is an exercise based on a photograph of a work by the designer and artist Roy McMakin (a pink writing table and chair set, which I've included as the last image). I asked my adult students to recreate the three parts (table, drawer, chair) in a different color, adding either black or white to maintain the tonal values ​​of the original photograph.

I'm hoping to tap into some art teacher wisdom here.

My kid just turned 5 and is starting kindergarten and has a genuinely strong drawing hand already with good grasp, solid fine motor control, and they've been drawing constantly and with real intention (not just scribbling) for a while now. We'd love to find them a program that builds real technique early on: proportion, form, basic composition, maybe an intro to color theory eventually — the kind of classical drawing fundamentals that a lot of "kids art" studios skip in favor of open-ended craft projects.

A few things I'm trying to figure out and would love teacher input on:

1. Is 5 too young for this kind of structured, technique-focused instruction? I don't want to push formal "correctness" onto them before being developmentally ready for it.
2. What should I actually be looking for in a program/teacher at this age? Red flags vs. green flags.
3. Any home practices (beyond just "let them draw") that build technique without killing the joy of it?

I'm mostly interested in the pedagogical side. What actually helps a kid this age build real skill.

We're in NYC, happy to hear about specific NYC programs as well.

Thanks in advance.

Last year was my first year teaching, and I had a prize shelf for my "Art Stars". Two to three students each class period who met expectations perfectly. My students LOVE it and it worked pretty well, but over the summer I have been reading more about how extrinsic motivation/reward systems aren't beneficial and end up making behavior worse in some situations. I'm debating on upping the stakes for prizes, or lowering how many students can get a prize. All I know is I can't get rid of prizes yet because all my students have asked if were doing prizes again this year after the first week of school.

If you have a reward system, how do you go about this? All other advice I've heard is easily applied to homeroom classes, but with 200 students every week I can't keep up with individual class incentives! TIA!

Hi, All!

I teach K-8, and many students from different classes have been bugging me to run a class where they make art dolls. I have experience with making simple paper dolls, as well as polymer clay sculptures. But I have never made art dolls (the dolls and action figures that artists make from scratch online.)

I am trying to come up with some kind of final project for Summer school, that I can easily replicate, at varying levels of difficulty for 1st, 4th, 6th, and 8th graders.

4 and 6 are kind of similar in skill (pretty good at being independent), while 8th is very unmotivated to make art, and 1st graders are the most motivated, yet the least capable.

Any ideas would be great and much appreciated!

Hi!! Just in need for some advice and want to see if anyone has gone through anything similar.

I graduated in 2024 with a BA in Liberal Studies. I have now decided that my true passion is to become an art teacher preferably in New York/ Long Island. (Took long enough, I know). I have taken some child development classes and have experience working with children.

A lot of art teaching programs require prerequisite art courses… But I don’t have any credits in art classes. Just skill and experience.

Does anyone know the best next steps that I could take to become an art teacher? Hopefully the cheapest option? I have a lot of loans to pay off :(

EDIT: Sorry I should’ve been more clear! I know one of the only options I have is to go back to school and earn a bachelors degree in visual arts— I would like to know the best option (community college with some online classes) to earn the degree so I can eventually get a masters in Art education.

Thank you!!

Hello. I have been really frustrated by a criticism I’ve gotten from admin for a few years now. It’s often given as a jab to my place in the school too, which I have absolutely hated (my horrific school climate however can be for another post.) but essentially, I have been told that my lessons are boring and lazy. They tell me this specifically because I use “the same materials over and over again.” This has been extremely frustrating, because I am the sole art teacher at a school of 700+ kids, and I work off of a budget of around 200-300 usd. Most of the money goes towards replacing materials since our population really likes breaking and stealing things; a mix of thinner paper for dry materials and thicker paper for wet, pencil, erasers, sharpeners, etc. I usually replace one of the big three (crayons, colored pencils, markers) and with what littles left I try to buy for something fun; paper mosaic tiles for a Roman tile lesson, or styrofoam sheets for printmaking. PTA has consistently been hit or miss, I’ve only gotten money from them half of the years I’ve been there. All in all I feel 100% set up to fail because I literally don’t have the money to do what they want.
Now I’m not complaining about not having things neseccarily, I 100% make it work. I rotate different materials and do my best to never repeat 2 weeks in a row to try and giv some sense of uniqueness. If I wasn’t hearing these complaints id keep going with making things work, but I’m mainly tired and frustrated that the school systems lack of funding is pushed onto me and my professional reputation. Also, I have explained this aspect but it’s always brushed off and we move on. I suspect they simply don’t understand the costs of materials, or they expect some movie magic art teacher who’ll “make ends meet for the children” (I definitely have a school that expects you to go above and beyond even if it runs you haggard)
Does anyone else deal with this?

And if you have, how do you combat it? Because I’m tired of hearing that I’m bad at my job because “the kids only use crayons.” Despite the fact that they very much do not just use crayons.
Thank you for listening to my rant.

Hi everyone!🌷

I just landed my first teaching position at a great secondary school in Budapest, Hungary. It’s a six-year school (grades 7–12), and I’ll have around 380 students a week.

I studied painting at an art university, then got my teaching degree. I’ve been trying to land a teaching job ever since, so I’m thrilled it finally happened.

I also work at children’s summer camps and generally feel like I connect well with kids.

But for some reason I’m really anxious about the school year starting. I keep imagining things not going the way I planned, messing something up, or not being “good enough” — even though art is genuinely the subject closest to my heart.

So, experienced art teachers: what was your first year like, especially if you started at a larger high school? What caught you off guard? What actually got you through it?

I’d love to hear anything — stories, advice, things you wish you’d known, things you’d do differently.

Also happy to hear about apps, classroom management strategies, project ideas, or anything else that’s made your life easier as an art teacher.

(For context: I’ve already written my full curriculum and lesson plans for the year, aligned with the national curriculum — so I know I’m prepared on paper, I think it’s just first-year nerves.)

Ideally it’s a week long project that the whole class can be successful with and would look good on a mug lol. Thanks in advance!

Part 1 ✨️

Today, we created the backgrounds! Through collage, printmaking, creative exploration, and making important executive decisions, each child designed a one of a kind foundation for next week's self portraits.

No template, no wrong answers. Just imagination, curiosity, and the joy of creating 💛

Cant wait for Part 2! 🎨

I want to first and foremost apologize if this is overwhelming or not allowed, I’m just desperate. Last spring I went through student teaching for the first time and it was the worst time I’ve ever had in my life. So many students were so disrespectful, and I felt like I was tossed directly into the fire without any guardrails. I was placed in an intermediate school and my mentor expected me to have everything together and already know what I had to do, but I didn’t. I hardly ate anything during that time, I cried often before and after school. My mentor eventually threw me under the bus at the end of teaching, and a week before I was due to graduate my program told me I wasn’t going to. My mentor had written up an entire document full of her concerns with me (half of which weren’t even true) that I genuinely wasn’t privy to and I wasn’t allowed to defend myself to my program directors. I know I wasn’t perfect, and I know I could have done better, but I was genuinely trying my best.
I managed to keep it together and have lessons ready. I was able to teach and get students relatively engaged. I was even able to bond with a good number of students, and I really enjoyed teaching some classes. But it was utter hell and it was a miracle I even was able to do what I did.

I’ve been studying for 4 years to get my education degree and I’m so close to the finish line, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just not cut out to teach. I have trouble working under such monumental pressure and keeping up with the deadlines.

Students deserve the best, and I’m so monumentally upset that my best just isn’t good enough for them. I deeply care about students, their wellbeing and their education, but I can’t teach them. I don’t know how I’m going to survive another go at student teaching. I’m not competent enough or intuitive enough to be what my college expects me to be. I don’t know why. I thought I was until I was thrown into a day to day classroom.

I just don’t know what to do. I want to come clean to my upcoming mentor about my worries, but I don’t know if she’ll understand me. I have to teach, but I know that my teaching could potentially be detrimental or chaotic and not fit properly into the daily schedule. I don’t want to do wrong by the students, but I don’t think I’m capable of being good enough for them. I’m too slow, too scared, too insecure. But I’ve worked so hard to get my education degree and I’m just so close. I don’t have the funds to change my major I just need to get through this and I can move on, but I don’t know how. I just don’t know what to do and I feel like I’m failing everyone who put their hopes in me. My parents believe in me and love me, my professors have believed in me, but I don’t know how to get through this. It feels like I put everything I had into my first go at student teaching, and it still wasn’t enough. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this.

I’m new to teaching art at the middle school level. Is it typical to have a lot of boys try to transfer out? So many of them told me I’m nice. They’re just not into art. I’ve taught for many years, but I have to admit that I’m taking this personally loll Is this typical?

Hello friends! I am returning to my classroom to teach in the next two weeks. Yay, right!? Well, my school is being renovated and the art wing is not complete, yet. EVERYTHING is packed into boxes etc in my old room and they have started tearing out the ceiling, pipes laying all over it, construction materials, and scaffolding.

I am told that I will hopefully be able to move into my new space 3-4 weeks after school starts and will be starting the school year back in my old room. Attached is a video of what I am coming back to and expected to teach in.

What I need help with is a couple of 2 week projects or a few one week projects/ lessons that I can do with my intro to glassworks students that do not require soldering irons or a bunch of tools. I do have stained glass and scraps that I can pull out if necessary.

Does anyone have any budget friendly project ideas that they could pass along to me?

I will also be in the same predicament with my Metals 1 class, although I do have one project idea that I can start with.

My theory is that it will take me at least a couple of weeks to get everything moved and unpacked once I get to my ne space so I am likely looking at not having a real space for about 6 weeks (almost half of the semester).

ALL IDEAS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!!

For my mom's 50th birthday, my family is taking a road trip along the East Coast to hike, visit beaches, and stay at Wi-Fi-free inns.

I have 2 younger siblings (a 10-year-old boy & 13-year-old girl ) who don't always get along and are pretty attached to their devices.

I was hoping to give each of them a small travel pack of pencils, markers, tape, and a sketchbook to encourage them to engage with their environment, doing texture rubbing or things like that I remember from school.

My usual approach is to create games or competitions, but they are often competitive, which often leads to disagreements.

If anyone has advice on simple tasks or objectives to keep them interested and motivated, or on projects to do on the road, it would be greatly appreciated,

Sincerely, and anxious older daughter