Awesome Things (I HOPE I keep doing!)

We all know how it goes, you start the year full force ready to conquer every day of class but inevitably life, stress, exhaustion, and time throw a wrench into things.

Here are some awesome things I am trying to do this year that I hope I keep doing (And will try my absolute best to do so) this year and the next!

PBIS! This is where our PBIS stuff happens in the Art Room. The numbers are velcro and change throughout class based on behavior (That 2 was the first day of art, UGH) the scale is 1-5. We ask the students "strive for 5", and this is part of our district PBIS program. I did this last year and I loved it but I was having to re-make make my charts when we got new teachers so my solution was to laminate everything! The charts were laminated blank and the names separately so all I needed to do was double stick tape the names. Next year, I just have to make new names! I hope I can manage to do at least that, or I might be a lost cause.

Table identification! Last year we just had table colors, this year, I'm trying to infuse a lot more art history. So, tables are also an artist. Tables might be called by their artist name or color so they really have to listen. I hope I can remember to call them by the artists! And do a project that is centered on each artist!

Displayed I CANS! Last year I was writing massive I CANs up on the board for each class and it took a lot of time and I had to re-write it each class and it left little room for me to use my board. The words "I CAN" are magnetic and so are the classes so I can easily move them when necessary. I REALLY hope I keep up with writing the I CANs, they are such a great tool...for me and students!

What do I need?! Once again magnetic, I did supplies that we use on a day to day basis including colored sharpies, erasers, pencils, rulers, oil pastels, crayons, paint brushes, glue stick, bottled glue, watercolors...etc I did not do one for paper and I have a Special Supply one for unique materials. I was already forgetting to change this in the first week but I hope once I get into a routine, I will be able to stick to it and it will answer a lot of questions that students ask me. In addition to this I have them tell me the steps of a project and we write it on the board next to this. That I  REALLY hope to keep up with too!

 "Show Me The Mona Lisa"! This has been all over the art teacher webisphere and I wanted to give it a try. I SERIOUSLY LOVE IT. The older kids think its a little silly but the younger ones are really into it. Whenever they start to get restless or I need to tell them something during work time I say "Show me the Mona Lisa" and they sit up straight, voice zero, and hands folded. Get this version here, otherwise you can easily do your own! I hope, because I love this so much, I will be able to keep up with it!

Handy dandy supply labels! Another question I'm really tired of is "where is the (art supply)" this will hopefully help with that and also keep my supply tables cleaner! I used the same labels for my What Do I Need? so it was no big deal. On the first day of Art we talked about keeping the supplies behind the labels to keep everything where it should be and so the Kinderbeaners can see the pictures! Obviously I can keep up with this because I don't need to do anything else, but I am worried about wear and tear. I may need to replace them half way through...they are laminated and packing taped on so we will see! I hope they survive!

 New "Free Art" excitement! Another Art Teacher webisphere idea/concept floating around is Legos as a free art choice. I also got my hand on geo-boards that teachers were getting rid of when they got new math stuff this year! The Legos were mine as a kid so i'm a little nervous about them being out but I told them how they were mine from when I was little and hopefully that personal connection will keep them around. I am also CRAZY nervous about rubber bands getting flung but I warned them of losing this as a choice if it happens. I hope they can handle this stuff so I can keep using them year after year.

"Write About Art"! This is also a new choice for free Art but will also be used as a consequence for kiddos that are off task. I feel like that is a little contradictory but I have some kids that just LOVE to write, so why would I tell them no? I hope I keep up with using it as a consequence because I believe it will be an effective one.

Le Piece de Resistance! New and improved seating charts! Somewhere in the bloggersphere or Pinterest I saw this idea for seating charts (if anyone knows where let me know)! Instead of writing names in pencil and having to deal with erasing and re-writing for seats that get switched, students that move, or new students, you write the names on tabs that can be moved easily. I write first name, last initial. I have the names blurred for safety reasons here but you can see how it works. I LOVE THIS and have gotten a ton of compliments from other staff on the idea already (but I give credit to the internet-don't worry). It is pretty low cost also, a pack of about 200 is less than $2 if you go with the generic brand from Walmart. I hope I do this each year to save me some sanity of the ever-changing seating chart!

All in all, lots of new things happening and this is just my second and a half year teaching. Can't wait for what the future brings me in my career. I hope its all as awesome as this stuff!

Anything totally awesome that I just HAVE to try in my room that you do?