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.