Art Education Daily: tips for managing behavior in the art classroom

The following tips for classroom management are collected from many expert teachers:

Enforce the classroom rules promptly and with consistency.
Teach art lessons with many demonstrations. It is human nature to learn through visual observation as well as spoken instruction.
Be both sincere and accurate with compliments.
Collect and create "procedural drawings" for your assignments so that these may be projected onto a white board or drawn by hand onto a chalk board. I often include these with my lesson plans here on my blog. This will eliminate constant repetitive requests for the information while you are helping individual students with immediate concerns. Young students especially need this kind of help!
Start every day with a fresh attitude. Forget the confrontations of yesterday.
Except the fact that not all students will "like" you.
Include music in the classroom that is representative of the culture or ideas taught through the artworks. Music, if properly selected, can definitely add a peaceful dimension to an art classroom environment. If the music is improperly selected, it can work in the reverse.
Positive reinforcement drives student enthusiasm for work.
Teach age appropriate lessons in order to eliminate confusion and frustration.
See your students as a collective body of individuals. Consider their unique interests and problems and this will enable the teacher to manage their behaviors productively.
Establish your authority for several weeks prior to developing a more congenial relationship with students.
Remember that you are your student's teacher, not their friend. Be a friendly teacher but not a teacher who is more consumed with friendship than those responsibilities you are paid to do.
Give your students something to do as soon as they step into your classroom.
Be flexible with lesson plans.
Reinforce and praise positive student behaviors.
Try to remain quiet and wait patiently for students to focus on you.
If you have a mentor assigned to you, ask him or her for help with classroom management. These mentors have a wealth of experience in classroom management.
Don't create classroom agendas that you cannot realistically comply with.
Enlist students to help create practical rules for your classroom.
Students should be involved with problem solving when rules have been broken.
Constructively criticize students apart from their peers so that only they can hear your words if this criticism is only for a particular student. Otherwise, generalize the criticism to include every student who might break codes of conduct in the future.
Students who behave poorly are often looking for attention. Locate these students towards the back of your classroom. You want to be able to see them clearly without letting other students observe and copy the poor behavior.
Choose your battles carefully.
More group participation than lecture.
Some outdoor activities that promote objectives in the curriculum really improve behaviors.
Give your students choices.
Students will have confidence in you, when you have confidence in your own authority.
Maintain a steady sense of humor and mutual respect for all of your students.
Plan ahead when arranging your classroom. Develop practical access to frequently used areas of the classroom.
Many discipline problems will disappear if you are enthusiastic about what and how you teach.