TEACH • LEARN • ADVOCATE • CONNECT

Best Practices

Get your students attention.
Positive Incentives for students who are doing well-recognize them.
Tell students to see shapes first then add the details later.
Give expectations to your students as they write them down on the back of their projects so they have ready access to them.
Talk to your students not at them.
Learn with them on new projects.
Let them know that you are human complete with faults.
Be happy and smile.
Call home for the good things.
Take time to talk to your students.
Go to extra curricular events.
Show off your students hard work.
Meet your students at the door everyday, shake hands or high five, call them by their name and ask them how their day is going. This sets a great tone, establishes mutual respect, and builds rapport.
Theme your clean up time-clean like an animal, clean like a machine, clean like a grandparent, etc.
Don't forget to give praises to students, even if it's the smallest success.
Give students free time to create what they love.
Share art samples with your students.
Make art while your students work on theirs.
Set time frames and communicate with students when time is about to run out.
Get in touch with local art museums and art centers to see if they want to partner with you.
Attention grabbers Mona Lisa, Marco Pollo, hand claps, class, class class class.
Don't argue — state the facts, give corrections, then move on.
Love all of your students, they know if you do and will do anything for you.
Remember why YOU love art.
Show your kids your passion for art making.
Make art don't just teach it.
Respect is a two way street.
Remember why you are there.
Give authentic praise to each art student.
Use media maps to help keep supplies on tables returned.
See the good in all.
That's a great beginning.
Keep it real.
Invite students to generate and purpose their own projects or just questions they would like answered over the course of the school year or unit-it is fun to honor their curiosity.
Say THANK YOU to your students-encourage them to do the same.
Be original; you aren't a copy so your artwork shouldn't be either.
Be authentic to the students, they can tell when you are bing fake.
Buckets of supplies at table groups for things used daily.
Cell phones are put away when demonstrating.
CARE about who you teach and what you teach and how you teach.
Humor Humor Humor.
Use the best materials you can get-makes your students feel like real artists.
Write name in a notebook when you catch them being a STAR-give a small reward.
SMILE.
I am a safe place for you.
Rather than shouting out "I am done", have them give a silent thumbs up.
Second emails to coworkers about who is displayed in the hall.
Show students your own mistakes to prove that we still grow as adults.
Thank students at the end of class for their effort.
The Power of Yet.