Tips for managing behavior in the art classroom

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

1. Enforce the classroom rules promptly and with consistency.
2. Teach art lessons with many demonstrations. It is human nature to learn through visual observation as well as spoken instruction.
3. Be both sincere and accurate with compliments.
4. 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!
5. Start every day with a fresh attitude. Forget the confrontations of yesterday. 
6. Except the fact that not all students will "like" you. 
7. 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.
8. Positive reinforcement drives student enthusiasm for work.
9. Teach age appropriate lessons in order to eliminate confusion and frustration.
10. 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.
11. Establish your authority for several weeks prior to developing a more congenial relationship with students.
12. 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.
13. Give your students something to do as soon as they step into your classroom.
14. Be flexible with lesson plans.
15. Reinforce and praise positive student behaviors.
16. Try to remain quiet and wait patiently for students to focus on you.
17. 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.
18. Don't create classroom agendas that you cannot realistically comply with.
19. Enlist students to help create practical rules for your classroom.
20. Students should be involved with problem solving when rules have been broken.
21. 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.
22. 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.
23. Choose your battles carefully.
24. More group participation than lecture.
25. Some outdoor activities that promote objectives in the curriculum really improve behaviors.
26. Give your students choices.
27. Students will have confidence in you, when you have confidence in your own authority.
28. Maintain a steady sense of humor and mutual respect for all of your students.
29. Plan ahead when arranging your classroom. Develop practical access to frequently used areas of the classroom.
30. Many discipline problems will disappear if you are enthusiastic about what and how you teach.

Classroom Management Strategies:

LLC- Discipline, Motivation and Classroom Management Seminars

http://www.tlc-sems.com/

Tackling Classroom Fears

http://www.nea.org/tools/48480.htm

Eleven Techniques for Better Classroom Discipline

http://www.honorlevel.com/x47.xml

Classroom Management: New-Teacher Toolbox

http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/ClassroomManagement.html

Classroom Management Topics from the NEA (National Education Association)

http://www.nea.org/home/20570.htm?s=classroom+management&t=Works4Me

The Stages of Discipline

http://www.honorlevel.com/x45.xml

Dr. Mac’s Behavior Management Site

http://www.behavioradvisor.com/11583.html

Four Steps for Better Classroom Discipline

http://www.honorlevel.com/x116.xml

Discipline Techniques that Backfire

http://www.honorlevel.com/x46.xml

Discipline for Promoting Responsibility and Learning

http://www.marvinmarshall.com/

Fred Jones: Tools for Teaching

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/jones/jones.shtml

Resources for Handling 124 Behaviors at School and at Home

http://www.disciplinehelp.com/

Classroom Tips from Teachers Like Your

http://www.nea.org/tools/Works4Me.html

Strategies for improving low-performing schools

http://educationnorthwest.org/news/1707

Proactive Discipline

http://www.honorlevel.com/x41.xml

Lesson Plans That Promote Discipline:

Stepping Out

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/285.html

Discussion Board for Classroom Management:

teachers.net

http://teachers.net/mentors/classroom_management/

Asian-American link resource for art education

Asian-American Collections from Museums:

• Angel Island: The Immigration Station Barracks Museum
• The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
• Honolulu Academy of Arts
• Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles
• The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
• The Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco
• The Chinese Historical Society of America
• The Bishop Museum
• Chinese American Museum of Chicago
• Hakone Gardens
• Japanese American Cultural and Community Center
• Peabody Essex Museum
• Japanese American National Museum
• Museum of Chinese in the Americas
• Kam Wah Chung and Co. Museum
• Hawaii's Plantation Village
• Pacific Asia Museum
• National Museum of Asian Art
• Lyman Museum and Mission Home
• The Trammell and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art
• The Wing Luke Asian Museum
• Korean American Museum

More Web Sites:

• Asian-Nation
• "Echoes of Freedom: South Asian Pioneers in California 1899-1965" 
• The Chinese Historical and Cultural Project
• The "Asian Pacific American Heritage Month"
• The Asian Society
• Enchanted Learning
• "The Chinese in California, 1850-1825" from American Memory 
• Japan Guide
• Camp Harmony Exhibit
• Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
• Kaboose
• Lao Family Community of Minnesota
• "Virtual Japanese Culture," Kids Web Japan
• Timeline of Chinese Dynasties for Art Education

Articles Listed by The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco:

• The Gold Rush and Anti-Chinese Race Hatred – 1849
• Photograph: “Chinese Girl with Bound Feet”
• Chinese Miners in the Gold Fields – 1860
• Chinatown Gambling and Vice – 1871
• View Inside a Chinese Opium Den
• Anti-Chinese Sentiments in San Francisco – 1874
• Kearneyism in California, by Viscount James Bryce – 1877
• Kearneyism, The Chinese, and Labor Unrest – 1877
• “You Sabe Him? Kealney Must Go!” – 1877
• “The Sand Lot and Kearneyism,” by Jerome A. Hart – 1877
• Remarks by Denis Kearney on Kearneyism in California
• “The Kearney-Kalloch Epoch,” by Jerome A. Hart – 1879
• The New California Constitution – 1879
• “Chinatown Declared a Nuisance!” – 1880
• Scene in a Chinese Opium Palace – 1880
• Chan Pak Kwai – 1881
• “China’s Menace to the World,” By Thomas Magee – 1890
• Arrest in Chinatown – 1897
• Arnold Genthe Photograph of Chinatown – 1898
• Tour of Chinatown – 1900
• Chinese Telephone Company – 1901
• Why Chinatown has Remained Where it is – 1902
• Funeral of Tom Kim Yung – 1903
• Chinese Orphans Escape the Great Fire – 1906
• “Asiatic Coolie Invasion” – 1906
• Mayor Schmitz Bars Coolie Labor from Earthquake Reconstruction – 1906
• Treatment of Chinese Refugees Following the 1906 Earthquake
• Plans to Relocate Chinatown – 1906
• China’s Empress-Dowager Contributes to Chinese Relief – 1906
• National Guard Members Loot Chinatown – 1906
• Relief for the Chinese – 1906
• Smuggling of Chinese Slave Girls Thwarted – 1912
• In Chinatown (Chinese Women Vote) – 1912
• Chinatown Tong Wars of the 1920s
• Chinese Wedding Mid Scenes of Splendor - 1924
• Brief History of Chinatown, by Jesse B. Cook – 1931
• English-Language Newspaper for Chinatown – 1940
• Ronald Reagan at Charlie Low's Forbidden City – 1942
• Paper Sons – 1969
• “Celebrating Chinese New Year,” by Audrey Wong – 1995

make a miniature decoupage bottle

Mona Lisa smiles on this miniature
decoupaged bottle.

Brief Description: Turn miniature bottles into keepsakes.

Supply List:

• miniature bottle
• tiny metal star
• decorative string
• Mona Lisa graphic
• blue butterfly wings (below)
• Mod Podge
• soft brush
• scissors
• glitter
• white glue

Directions:

1. Thoroughly clean and dry the bottle you intend to work with.
2. Cut out the pictures that you wish to include in the project. I've included a set of blue butterfly wings for you to download below.
3. Glue the pictures and glitter in place with ordinary white glue.
4. Now layer the Mod Podge on top of your work with a soft brush and let this dry. 
5. String the star onto a twine and wrap this firmly around the bottles neck and knot. 

Additional Suggestions: These little hand-crafted vases are perfect for miniature collections.

Blue butterfly wings.
This template may be downloaded and sized in a
word document. Read the Terms of Use before
using it folks.

All instructions, template and photographs copyrighted by Grimm 2017

Watch Aggie Craft paint and decoupage a bottle.

craft a vintage envelope tag book

A student's sample of a vintage envelope tag book.

Brief Description: My daughter decoupaged this little envelope tag book several years ago. There are also letters tucked inside of each page as well.

Supply List:

• You may either purchase envelopes or make your own. I've included a template below.
• scraps from newspapers, magazines
• Stamps and inks
• small additional charms, tokens etc...
• yarn
• scissors
• white glue

Directions:

1. As with most collage craft projects, the object of this process is to basically cut and paste. One needs very few directions when this is the case.
2. As for the template, down the image below, drag it into a Word document and size it according to the size you would like for a envelope tag book. 
3. You will need some kind of paper, preferably not too light weight.
4. Use glue sparingly as you go into order to keep the envelopes in shape.
5. Tie the pages together with an interesting bow or yarn.

All instructions and photographs, templates are copyrighted by Grimm 2017

The envelope tag book template.
This template may be downloaded and sized in a
word document. Read the Terms of Use before
using it folks.

More Tag Book Crafts:

• A lovely circus tag book!
• Going Dylusional
• Mini Steampunk Book
• Mini Circular Tag Book

35 questions for promoting aesthetic inquiry in k-12 art classrooms

Questions for Promoting Aesthetic Inquiry: Students should never be allowed to answer questions with a simple "yes" or "no." Teachers should always encourage and wait for the students to give a reason(s) for their answers. This practice will develop complex thinking skills.

1.  What is the difference between bad art and good art?
2. What is the difference between bad art and something that isn’t art at all?
3.  If something is carelessly constructed, from junk, can we call it art?
4. Why do people disagree so much about how art should look?
5. If I think some art is ugly, can it still be called art?
6. If an artwork costs a lot of money, does that mean it is better than less expensive art?
7. If art is kept inside an art museum, does that mean it is more important than art that is kept inside our homes?
8.  If an object is useful, is it considered art?
9. Are you born an artist or can you learn to be an artist?
10. Is a very old piece of art more valuable than a newly created piece of art?
11.  How do you become an art expert?
12.  If I’m making an artwork, am I working or playing?
13.  Should artwork be used to sell things, if so when is it the correct thing to do? When is it wrong to use artwork to sell things?
14.  Can people make art in a factory or does it need to be made by hand?
15. Can art be about ugliness?
16.  Are animals, insects, or plants considered art?
17.  Can you describe for me what a beautiful portrait of a lady would look like, and why you think that is the way she should look?
18.  Does artwork mean only one thing to every person? Can one artwork have multiple meanings?
19.  Who makes the best art in your opinion?
20.  Can more than one person work on one artwork at a time?
21. Should a gallery sell an artwork for less money if it was created by a woman, instead of a man?
22.  Does a painting of a city need to look real in order for us to enjoy looking at it?
23.  Is there such a thing as art that should never exist?
24.  Why should artists invest so much time in their work when they could be easily entertained in a theater or with a book?
25. Can we consider anything art?
26.  Should the government pay artists to create artworks that offend some people?
27. Should artists need to prove that they are capable of painting something realistically? If so, why?
28.  Do artists need to sell their work?
29.  If one painting is bigger than another, does that mean it is better?
30. If you could copy another artists’ work exactly, would your copy be as valuable?
31.  Can monkeys or elephants make art?
32. If art is easy to make is it less valuable or less important?
33. Can you name something that is not art but people might think that it is?
34. How long do you think it would take to make important artworks?
35. Who makes the best art?

Don't you feel embarassed about . . . ?

Question: Don't you feel embarrassed about being a fine artist who also posts crafty things?

Answer: Not at all! Crafting can be an enjoyable occupation for many people. Do professional, downhill skiers mind playing on the kitty slopes with their kids? Artists can become too sophisticated. Everyone needs to be open to simpler pursuits at times, in order to relax and appreciate the modest joy of living. Never apologize for spending time with children and family doing what they are capable of doing in order to talk, laugh and build relationships that will last.

stitch some felt coasters to protect your furniture

A sample of the snowflake design was
used to craft the felt coaster above.
(approx. diameter across, 3 1/2 inches)

Brief Description: Felt coasters make wonderful little, inexpensive gifts. Children may practice their sewing and cutting skills while producing a set for a parent or grandparent. 

• Supply List:
•    1. At least two contrasting colors of felt or a grab bag of felt scraps will due.
•    2. Sharp scissors
•    3. No sew if you prefer (I did not use it, but it can make this endeavor much easier. You will need an iron too if you go this route.)
•    4. Embroidery threads of matching or contrasting color.
•    5. Coaster templates
•    6. Black permanent ink marker or a very soft lead pencil

Directions:

1. Print and cut out the felt coaster templates provided below.
2. Trace around all of the details of the template on top of the colored felt you have chosen for the top part of the coaster. Children may prefer to use the permanent ink pen for this part of the process. It is easier to see on dark felt.
3. Then place your circular felt top onto a contrasting felt and use it as a template to cut two additional felt circles that will become the bottom half of the coaster.
4. Set aside the third blank felt piece for later.
5. Sew with straight stitches the fancy top to one of the back sides with a pleasing design. Children find it easiest to follow the outlines of the pattern. Remember to knot and backstitch in order to keep your work from unraveling.
6. Place the third felt circle on top of the first back side and either whip stitch the three felt circles together or use a blanket stitch, if you prefer. This third piece of felt will hide all of your knots!

Additional Suggestions: Some people may elect to craft this project with "No Sew."  Read and follow the directions given on the packaging of the "No Sew" instead of stitching the coaster together by hand.

Diamond design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

Cross and fish design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

Mum design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

Snowflake design template by Grimm for a felt coaster.

A wheel and spoke design by Grimm for a felt coaster.
All of these templates may be downloaded and sized in a
word document to fit the above measurements.
Read the Terms of Use before using it folks.

All patterns and photographs by Grimm copyrighted 2017.