Elementary art rooms

Sketchbooks Made Simple in the Elementary Art Room Engagement % %

Kids need art.

14 years ago I walked into my very first art room, full of so much excitement but also feeling totally overwhelmed wondering where to even begin!?

Welcome to the How-To Guide for First Year Art Teachers where I give you my 10 Steps for Success! Congratulations! You got your own classroom. OH MY GOSH, you have your own classroom. Your mind and stomach start racing, both with extreme excitement and panic because now, it all just got real. You will have a lot of students, a lot of planning, and a lot of classroom to keep organized. Figuring out where to even start is a huge stress and will require a tea (or a beer) and a nap (probably…

I'm finally back from maternity leave and ready to teach (kinda)! Can I bring my baby with me? Can he be my assistant? No? Awe. :( Towards the end of the last school year, I came back from my maternity leave early so that I could work the two days of post-planning. I decided it would be best if I were the one to clean up and put away my classroom, so I’d know where everything was when I officially returned. Last school year, we had to take EVERYTHING off of the walls so that our custodial…

Who wants to spend Summer vacation in a hot, sweaty classroom? If you'd like to reclaim your personal time, check out these 10 THINGS TO PREP FOR SUMMER BREAK. These art room systems will become a yearly routine to help you leave on the last day on time and prepped for the Back to School.

Hey there! I tried a new classroom management system this past year and I LOVED it. I shared about it on my Instagram at the start of the school year but hesitated to do so here. I wanted to make sure it was a system I could stick with. If you've read my book, Art Teacherin' 101, then you know I ONLY do systems that are easy and ones I can keep up with. This one...is it. Here's a video of just how it works: And if you need a refresher on my classroom management series (much more to come!)…

Yesterday, some pretty big and exciting news was released: I'll be teaming up with The Art of Education in the creation of Everyday Art Room, a podcast dedicated to all things elementary art teacherin'! I sat down with Tim Bogatz, the co-'caster of Art Ed Radio to share the fun news. You can listen to our chat here and catch my very first podcast next Thursday. I'm super excited! I do hope you'll take a listen. In one of the first podcasts, I'll be chatting about how I start my school year…

Inspiring Art Room Doors. Lately, I've seen some truly inspiring art room doors posted by art teachers on social media.

Hey there, friends! I come to you just as excited as this photo from Monday because...it's a three day weekend. Here's to staying in my pj's all weekend, watching The Office for the umpteenth time and working on all the projectzzzz. I hope you all are livin' it up and partyin' hard like me! To kick off the week, I wore my needle felted Kandinsky inspired dress to inspire my third graders as they started painting their plates for our Circle Loom Weaving unit. I've got several weaving videos…