Art Room Management and Differentiated Learning

 Art room management for all and for all success!

So often it has been said in my teaching experience and my own education that the best teaching practices are truly the best accommodations and modifications you can make for your students. After teaching for almost 10 years (and especially in this pandemic), I can finally say this is completely and utterly true. The more I button down on routines, expectations and consequences the better off ALL of my students are. While, it may feel as though students have too much structure during the day, if you let them have free reign in your art room, not only will you not be accessible, but you won't get quality work. Children crave routines, structure and limitations... however I'm not talking about limitations to the art they create or the ideas they produce. 

I'm talking about the management of clean up from how students should put their materials away, to how they should sharpen a pencil. Everything that your students do in your art room should have a clear expectation or you'll have paper towels on the floor and 20 students trying to use the electric pencil sharpener at once. Most of my first years preparing to be an Art Teacher were spent learning how to teach the different mediums to students or learning as much art history as humanly possible...yet there was so little time in which I spent discussing and talking about what classroom management would be for art. 

When students aren't given clear limits of what is appropriate or acceptable in art they will create their own expectations. This is an example of a student who has destructive tendencies and benefits from having his own space as you can we were still working on what his space should look like while he is working...

Whether you have 30 minutes or a whole hour with students, it is important to spend some time planning how that time will go. Think about what will happen when students need to go to the bathroom? Where will their art go? What should students do when they finish early... yeah you know which students I'm talking about! Once you have planned out your expectations for how your art class should run then you need to do your best to stick to them!  I know for my first (and still current) years as an art teacher this was the hardest part about expectations. However consistency and art room management go hand in hand. When my students know what I expect them to do and they know that I will follow through, we become a well oiled art making machine.  

Being predictable and consistent is super important for students with divergent thinking and abilities. Many of my autistic students, students with anxiety, PTSD or other diagnoses prefer and need the consistent expectations. They need to know how class will start everyday, they need to know where things are in the room and most importantly they need to know that they can make a mistake in art class and I'm there to give them the tools and help they need to succeed. If you don't provide this consistency students with divergent abilities will be more likely to break down and act out in aggressive and destructive ways. Here are some examples from students when I wasn't clear on expectations...

These students destroyed property and their art projects when I wasn't looking, because they were frustrated by my lack of clear expectations. Not to mention they do tend to be more destructive and inappropriate in general, but when I provide clear expectations and manage the classroom effectively I see less of these behaviors. Less behaviors that are unsafe or unexpected means that my students are actively engaging in art class and making! Because at the end of the day that is my ultimate goal for my art classes–– EVERYBODY MAKES ART!

Tune in next time when I talk about how you can use art room rules to help shape these consistent routines and practices in your art room!