Thread: Elementary Art Room Rules/Problems

Some teachers feel that receiving a list of names for recess lost is not their responsibility.

Then they should have responded to what you had asked them for previously, although I doubt anyone with that sort of attitude would be cooperative to anything they didn't come up with themselves.

Some of the teachers feel that my lessons are too advanced.

Tough. They are not the art teacher- what do they know about it?

Some teachers feel that my grading is wrong. Right now I am giving about 10-15% of the class O's - outstanding this is the highest grade you can receive in elementary art. Mostly this is with the kindergarten teachers, they have approached me and said that in kindergarten students do not have art talent.. I disagree...

See the above statement.

And how do I resolve the discipline of my classroom?

Perhaps something the student will not like for a short period of time? Have to get some more advice on this one though....

I know I am not a perfect art teacher, and that this is my first year but I thought I was doing a wonderful job...

Hang in there....you might well be doing a wonderful job- just don't depend on some adults to notice, or like it if you do.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I am trying not to think about it so much but it is hard. I am trying very hard and giving 110% of myself to my job because it is what I have wanted for so long.

I have had a lot of similiar problems this year, so it is breaking me down a bit.

Again thanks, and a thank you in advance to any ideas for discipline during art time

Your art lessons sound terrific. Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me a Kindergarten type art lesson. I did one on Matisse a few weeks ago that I'm very pleased with but don't really know where to go next.

Okay, now to my comments based on your questions.

On Friday I had a teacher confront me in front of the students. She told me that this is not her problem and that me doing this had happened for too long (this is the first I knew that a teacher had a problem) I also feel that I lost a lot of credibility with those students, because their teacher talked down to me.

It was wrong of the teacher to talk to you in front of the children and wrong that she didn't talk to you about this right from the start. She is right, however, that it is NOT her problem and her point is that she shouldn't be the one disciplining children on your watch. Wait, I will get to how to do this.

1. Some teachers feel that receiving a list of names for recess lost is not their responsibility.

I agree with them. If I got a list of children to give a recess detention to, I would be quite annoyed that I were the one to have to give the detention. Perhaps I'm missing something here. I also have issues with children missing recess. Many of the ones who have the horrible behaviour that causes them to miss recess are the very ones who need to run around at recess time.

The artwork the students create now is very individual, creative and lets students express their OWN ideas and responses to what they have learned in art. The previous art teacher created stencils for everything, and the students artwork looked the same. Some teachers want me to do this.

Screech!!! Stencils are not art!!! If they want to teach art this way, then they can teach their own art. You are the art teacher, teach it how you want.

3. ...snip...Mostly this is with the kindergarten teachers, they have approached me and said that in kindergarten students do not have art talent.. I disagree...

Screech again!! Yes, Kindergarten children do have amazing art talent and they eat up the kind of lessons you're doing. Keep doing them.

And how do I resolve the discipline of my classroom? I see students for 35 minutes once a week. My mentor has suggested taking away class time as a punishment, which I hate to do because I only have that much time in class.

First of all, you are responsible for the behaviour of the children in the class when you are the teacher. I don't particularly care what the discipline plans are for other teachers, they might not work for me and my personality. You need to come up with your own expectations and consequences and tell the children what behaviour you will and will not accept. Have a lesson just on behaviour. Yes, you can; it will not be a waste of time. Then, they can choose--disrupt the class and they will not be allowed to do the art project but will be allowed to colour in the colouring book or they can choose to participate and do the art activity. Get some dollar store colouring books and have them at a separate table with a bucket of crayons. A child will test this so you must be consistent about this. If they continue, they can write letters to their teacher and to their parents explaining how their behaviour in art class is disruptive. If their behaviour still continues to be horrendous, then they will not be allowed to do art in your class but will have to sit on the carpet during art time.

Thanks for the reply.

I do not agree with the recess thing either.. but this is what other teachers do and what the principal has said I can do. I am a recess monitor and I get a list everyday with names of children to put on the wall. It is frustrating because

1. I have to find the children, and I am doing this for the other teachers ( and I know they were doing it for me). I understand how this should not be my problem and it should not be the problem of the recess monitors when I send my list out. BUT that is the policy of the school... and now I am being told seven months into school that I shouldn't have been giving children recess lost and that I CAN'T do that. (basically that makes me feel I am not on the same level of other teachers)

2. I agree that students that get in trouble need that time!!! If they had that time I probably wouldn't have 60% of the behavior issues I do. I see first grade and kindergarten right after their recesses.. so it makes sense that the children that are in trouble come right into my class and misbehave too because they couldn't get the energy out at recess.



I am mainly frustrated because I feel that I am not an equal at this school. Yes I am young, but I know that I am making a difference. I feel that I would also be doing a better job if I didn't have to keep adapting to what other people want. But i'm playing the game for now. I have decided to look the other way when all of the other teachers make their recess lists, and it is perfectly okay because they are long time friends who are helping each other out and it seems I don't have that ability...

I like the idea of giving children a coloring book.. even though it make me cringe a bit. I have decided to take art time away from individual students for small amounts of time . I have been doing it all this week, and it is going okay.
I also had students that misbehaved take their artwork out in the hallway to work on by themselves. I'm going to try this. I also like the idea of students writing to their parents in art class about their behavior.

Thanks again for your input.

Your art lessons sound terrific. Perhaps you wouldn't mind telling me a Kindergarten type art lesson. I did one on Matisse a few weeks ago that I'm very pleased with but don't really know where to go next.

Kindergarten is probably my hardest because this is the first time i've taught at this level. What I try to do in every lesson is introduce a new art element: line, shape, color, pattern, texture etc.
After I pick the art element I choose an artwork or an artist to talk about that uses that art element.
Then I decide my project, I usually change the media with each project too.

One thing that I have found that works well is using books. I just got done with the book by Marcus Pfister (he is the author and illustrator so he was the artist of the week). I read the book and then we talked about the texture of the fish scales (bumpy etc.) How rainbow fish is made of cool colors: blue, purple and green. Shape what the main part of this lesson though: students had to make an oval for the body, they they drew their scales.. we talked about the shape of the scale looking like the letter C or U, a circle eye, triangle shapes for the tail etc.
Students drew their own rainbow fish based on these shapes on either blue or purple paper, they then colored their fish with crayon. The last step that we did was cut out the rainbow fish and glue it to white paper. On the white paper students drew their own ocean scene. We ended by making a few scales from metallic paper.

This project worked well, I really like the idea of using a book. This is the first I had done that this year with kindergarten.