Friday, October 22, 2010

Art and Material Management Tips

Art management can be very tricky, especially when you have close to 700 students! I have cleared an area in my supply closet where I sort the students' work as soon as it is dry on the rack. I have each vertical column labeled by day of the week. I then wrote the teacher's names on recycled foam core board. It is very simple--I just place the artwork underneath the teacher's name card. I even have some room for 3-D projects as well! 
Below are some photos of my classroom set up for a painting project. I pre-fill ice cube trays with paint and keep them in large Ziploc bags so I don't have to refill them with new paint each day. Whenever we do a painting project, I pull all the colors for the palette and put them in a large bin for quick and easy refills at the table. That way I am not scrambling to find the bottle! 
On the right hand corner of my whiteboard is my job chart. It is color-coded and the easiest system I have ever used! I tied a piece of different colored yarn to the leg of each chair in the room. For clean up, the students look at their color and then match it to the color-coded job on the board. Clean up is quick, everyone has a job, and my room is sparkling clean at the end of every day! I LOVE it!

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3 comments:

  1. Christie - Fine LinesOctober 22, 2010 at 3:57 PM

    I like the yarn on the chair leg system. I'm going to pass it on to the classroom teachers at my school. Thanks!

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  2. LTOctober 22, 2010 at 4:03 PM

    Glad to share that with you! I am just trying it this year and it has been SO wonderful.

    There is a similar system where the seats can be numbered, lettered, a different animal, etc. I actually tried it with numbers on the seats originally, but they rubbed off within a week!

    The yarn stays out of the way and hangs on for a lot longer!

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  3. UnknownNovember 14, 2010 at 5:15 AM

    I have this shelf at my house and I put it together myself. I moved it from my apartment to my house now it is the leaning tower of art work! I think I might get a piece of thin wood and wallpaper it to give it some structure. How is your shelf working out. Is it sturdy. . . don't move it!

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