Art Room Crawl

Yesterday I hosted our first Art Room Crawl! Interested art teachers participated and we each had the opportunity to share an Art Room Management strategy or an amazing Art Lesson. We toured several art rooms in our district and each member was able to present their ideas. Afterwards, we gathered for dinner and further artsy discussion. A great evening.

We began the Art Crawl in my room. Since we still are at the start of the school year, I shared my basic management strategies that I find basic to how I like to structure the art environment.

To help frame my expectations to behavior or how students "act" in class I have my Red Carpet chart. Students can move upward by being Respectful, Responsible and Ready to Learn (part of our school pledge) and can become an Award Winning Performer by showing great character consistently.

Another important element to my management style is my board. Students practice the routine of "reading" the board as they enter the room to understand the outline of our work day & learning. It includes simple cue card visuals, simple text and art samples. Once students understand how I review the outline, a student will present the board to the class giving students the an active, engaged part of the instruction.

Others in our group shared lessons or their own management style. It was fun seeing everyones art environment to see how we all are wonderfully different.  If you would like a more detailed copy of my management strategies I shared along with copy sheets, please email me and I'd be happy to send the PDF to you.