There are art books and examples of fine art all over the room. I love it when the kids gather around one and start chatting about it...except when they are supposed to be listening to the lesson instructions!

This is our behavior management tool. It is a reproduction of Ed Ruscha's painting. The letters are removable and I make a big show of putting one up each time the noise level goes up or the focus goes down. For every letter I don't put up, the class earns a "chance ticket" to put in the jar. At the end of each trimester I'll pick a ticket to see whose class earns a party!

This is our job responsibilities chart. Kids scramble for the chair with the green dot; apparently that is the most coveted job. But I've seen some mighty good floor sweepers, and the sink people always volunteer to stay late and finish washing paintbrushes. It seems to be working with all but the Kinders...they all like to be a part of the game.

One of our first lessons: edible color mixing! The 2nd/3rd graders were very enthusiastic mixologists, especially when they learned they could eat their work. It did take some reminding that our objective was making colors, not making cookies!

Reflections on the first day!

Whew! It flew by in a flash!

I feel that the day went really well. Here are my reflections:

I created a Powerpoint presentation to discuss table jobs, rewards, behavior, and responsibilities, but I quickly realized that it was just too linear and boring to go through slides. Instead, since I knew what I wanted to cover, we did it dynamically based on how the kids were responding.

The" secret color code" was a hit, albeit a little hard for the younger ones to understand. On the back of each chair I put a color coded dot. On a sign in the classroom I have giant color coded dots and the jobs they represent, so the students know what they are responsible for based on what color dot is on their chair. One snag we ran into was that we did not communicate what to do if there was more than one "green" dot person getting materials, and so some were confused to find someone else had brought a tray of materials to the table, too. They key here is cooperation!

I hope to refine a table assignment plan. I tried to allow students to pick their own tables with the only criteria being "have an equal number of boys and girls at each table," but that got difficult because many who chose their seats tended to talk and fool around instead of listening to directions. Also, the color coded job dots complicated things whenever there was not a total of 4 people at each table. We'll have to establish that everyone pitches in to help in this situation.

At times when I needed to perk everyone up, we skipped right to a discussion of how their class can win a party!! I made a reproduction of a Ed Ruscha painting that says "NOISE" to use for reinforcing good behavior. When the class is out of bounds (noise or behavior) I put up one letter in the word NOISE. They begin class with 5 chance tickets to put into a jar. Every time I have to put up another letter, I take away one of the tickets. The remaining tickets get their teacher's name written on them and go into the jar. At the end of the trimester I'll pick one ticket out and we will see whose class wins a party!!

Unfortunately, the kindergarteners were in no condition to hear about the NOISE strategy. They could barely follow the directions to stay in their seats or to listen to what we were drawing. What a long full day it must have been for those little ones! I predict those kinders shall be my most challenging classes -- no surprise. They just don't yet understand the structure and expectations of school, but they'll get it. In the meantime, I'm going to adapt some of my expectations, such as preparing materials for them instead of expecting them to figure out who is supposed to do what and when. They can all pitch in to clean up and even they now know that the fastest table cleaners win a cookie (well, most of them got that)!

It is a work in progress! As we all are.

So here it is, the eve of the first day of school! I suspect everyone goes through a little anticipatory anxiety, whether seasoned or green. I am confident in my ability to teach and engage my students; what worries me is how to incorporate all of the new information that's been handed to me in the past week, and how to create a great art curriculum that meets everybody's expectations, especially my own.

My classroom is looking great and my supplies are laid out. A powerpoint is prepared and our art class responsibilities and rules are posted on the walls. Now, I just need the children.

A great new adventure....

I feel incredibly lucky to be on this journey to become an art teacher! What could be a better fit for me than to work with young children and art, all day long, all week long, all year long??

I'm also grateful for the support and resources available to me as a new teacher. I never realized what an incredible school district we live in (I suspect Obama will be at our Motivation & Engagement conference, but for security reasons his people can't actually tell us that.)

As a perpetual student, anything new I can learn is fantastically appealing. For example, learning to Blog is something I never thought I'd do (or care to do). But aside from it being a condition of new teacher employment, I do believe I might actually enjoy it!

At this moment, however, things are somewhat overwhelming...and I'm not easily overwhelmed. Since I'm enrolled in an alternative teacher's licensing program, the year ahead is filled with professional development hours (in the neighborhood of 250!), meetings with mentors, and observations by the administration. No pressure there.

I also need to fulfill some art requirements. Five weeks from now I must pass an enormously important art exam, plus I need to take 4 art classes by the end of the school year. At least the classes will be enjoyable (painting, drawing, art history, ceramics!); it's just keeping all the balls in the air, along with managing a family in the "off hours," that worries me!

I am truly looking forward to the time, say, 5 years from now, when I have the entire thing totally dialed. Then I can put my efforts into finding new and exciting ways to make art meaningful and fun for my students.

Some of my new favorite quotes

"Art is either plagarism or revolution." -Paul Gauguin

"A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." -Michelangelo

"Art is not a thing, it is a way." -Elbert Hubbard

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." -Pablo Picasso

"O Lord, thou givest us everything at the price of an effort." -Leonardo da Vinci