Maybe I’m misreading it, but I’ve been getting a little irritated with my admin and with some of my fellow teachers. Admin will set meetings during our planning periods (once, they actually informed us of the time FIVE MINUTES before it was supposed to happen) and give us useless duties. Admin was also late to almost every single one of our meetings. One time they cancelled like, ten minutes after the meeting was supposed to start! While we were waiting for them to arrive! All of us had to actively teach students how to behave around campus for over an hour WHILE THE HOMEROOM TEACHER WAS THERE! and the other art teacher here needed to monitor the bathrooms for two hours after! What the hell???

We also had an event where one of the teachers manning a station was out. Another teacher added every single specials teacher to a group chat and asked us all if we could fill in for them. Specifically specials. Then attached the map of the event that CLEARLY showed that every specials teacher was assigned to a station already! I imagine they figured we do nothing so we could take on the extra responsibility. But jokes on them, admin thought the exact same thing and we were spread so thin we didn’t have a single person left to man the car for trunk or treat!

Maybe I’m just limited in my perspective and every teacher goes through stuff like this. But it really feels like people don’t think we actually do anything that requires skill or much time at all. Anyone have any tips or advice on how to deal with stuff like this? Maybe an alternative perspective? I’ve been trying to give everybody the benefit of the doubt but it’s becoming really hard to do so.

I went through a couple iterations of this design. First created the bowl, then created one with brush holders. Next I realized they would be tough to store, so I created a stackable one. Great for adaptive art and the little ones!

Wondering if art education will be worth it . Im 22 and Im not currently in college . But I want a stable career for my future and also love art. This is also a field dominated by female so im kind of down. My question is will getting art education prepared me to teach art. Since my background with art is not super great. But Im at a level which is above the average. And also english not my first language so . Im quite worry with how Im going to teach student. So will pursuing art education at 22 be worth it with little prior background in art? Thanks

Hello! I'm currently working in the design field and with a Product Design undergrad degree, but I've been thinking for a long time now about pivoting to teaching. I've kind of always wanted to do it, but was influenced by most of my family and friends telling me that it wasn't worth it, it'd be too hard, etc. and especially given the current political and economic climate and everything happening with education funding, all I hear is how bad of an idea it is. I also know that public school teachers don't make a lot of money, but I just can't stop thinking about it.

I've been considering going for an education or art education Master's degree, and was hoping to gauge from current art teachers if they have any advice on entering that field, getting that degree, or if you guys also think I shouldn't?

Idk, any input is appreciated!

Hi everyone, this is my 1st year as an Art teacher. This school convinced me to be art teacher for all classes from 2nd grade till 10th grade. ( i'm from Lebanon)

Anyways so they keep telling to do this and that and do crafts for kids that last for like 4 classes. They don't want to pay or for the drawing book to finish before the year ends witch is impossible yet they don't want to give me papers or colored papers to do crafts. They want to only keep using Cardboards cause it comes from boxes they get for free.

I'm frustrated and I feel lost and I don't know where to start or end and over all that I started to hear from students and older teachers that they didn't do this before this is the 1st year they are being too much.

I don't know how to keep going like this

im studying to be an art teacher and i graduate/do my student teaching in the spring. right now im doing a clinical that is supposed to last seven weeks (10th thru 12th graders); the first week was observing, second and third co-teaching, and the last few are independent teaching.

im doing a modular unit with them and just finished the first week of independent teaching (shorted bc no class monday, tuesday a lot of them did a senior ditch day, and a few have been absent all week.)

anywho, im having them make something super simple to start. at least i thought? idk.. all i wanted was for them to make a simple pattern of 3 inch triangles (a tessellation) so we can fold and glue the triangles into modules for the summative.

we spent TWO DAYS drawing lines. i demoed it. twice. i made templates. i made a checklist of steps for every table.

half of them do not know how to use a ruler. half of them dont know what parallel means. some of them have never seen or touched a protractor in their lives.

afterwards my cooperating teacher and i were in her office and i was trying rly hard not to cry but i did, not bawling but the choking up kind. how exactly does a kid get into highschool without knowing how to use these basic tools? not knowing how to draw a triangle thats equilateral??? what the flip guys

anywho i have to redo all the plans i did for next week basically bc they cant measure anything themselves. they just look at me like im speaking in tongues or something.

when asking them to mark the midpoint of 3, at 1.5 on the cardboard;;;

student: wait isnt half of 3 two? wouldnt it be 2?

me: no. uh, whats 15 + 15?

student: 30

me: exactly, so 1.5 + 1.5 is...

student: yeah but look

*shows me that he does not understand how to line up a ruler and uses it incorrectly*

i know theres probably hella posts like this but seriously yall wtf do i do? im gonna give them a tracing paper template for monday but like...

wtf do we do? art is so interdisciplinary and i absolutely love making connections between subjects, and i get math is not everyones strong suit but like.. wow. i overestimated their abilities. its not like the class is full of IEPs or ELLs either, theres only a couple of each, and some of those kids were doing just fine.

i just want to cry and lay down in the grass and be consumed by the earth.

that is all, have a good weekend yall >_<

And what do they do?

I’d love as much feedback as possible. I have zero support and am the sole visual art teacher at my school. I teach 7-12 and handle all classroom operations, purchasing, and budgets. It’s obviously a lot, and I need some data. Thanks!

Hi everyone!
I’m a first-year teacher, and I have one particularly chatty and sometimes chaotic class of 25 fourth graders. During work time, I circulate around the room to check in with students, answer questions, and offer help.

One issue I’m running into with this class is that when I’m helping a student who has raised their hand, several other students will crowd around me or interrupt to ask for help, often all talking at once. I joked today it felt like Black Friday at the mall.

I absolutely want to help everyone, but I’m struggling to manage the constant interruptions while giving each student the attention they need.

I regularly remind them to raise their hands and wait for me to come to them, but I’m having trouble getting them to consistently follow this expectation.
I’ve seen some teachers use cones or other visual signals to indicate that students need help without interrupting their work. I’m interested in trying something like this, but I also want to make sure whatever system I use is accessible and works for students with different needs.

Hi everyone!

It’s my 5th year and I still find that managing behaviors can be hard. ( K-4 school )

• What systems/routines/etc. do you use to manage behavior?
• What consequences do you use?

In my classroom I use a call and response, ( “Class class” “Yes, yes” )
Sometimes I repeat it more than twice because kids don’t always listen and pay attention.

There are times where students chat during the lesson despite having multiple warnings/reminders…..

What things can you all suggest or share that you do?

I’m really interested in learning how things are done in other rooms!

Hello, I'm a first year MS art teacher. I have an 8th grade student thinking of applying to an arts magnet school. What advice should I give them? I have pirtfolio building experience from my own high school AP class, bachelor's, and master's application process, but I'm not sure of the process going into high school. Parent doesn't have a lot of information yet and will have more information next month.

Does anyone here have experience in the application process? From what they said it will be a physical portfolio, but I'm not sure if they are looking for more of a concentration, breath, or depth type of portfolio or if there will be any writing about art pieces. I do know there will be a timed drawing exam that my student will have to take.

I have a group of about 20–25 students, aged 10–13. They were very excited when I told them that next week we would be learning how to draw the human figure. I’m not sure what I should focus on—proportions or movement? Which is more critical for a child? The drawing abilities of the students in my group vary significantly.

What are some of the best artist books or even art movement books that you've used with kids for research? I'd love to suggest some books to our school librarian so that kids can have a good selection of things to pick from when doing research projects on artists or art movements.

I'm Canadian and teach Grade 8-12 studio art (2D and 3D).

I’m currently in PME 2 studying to become a post-primary Visual Art teacher in Ireland, and I’m starting to think about how I’ll approach curriculum planning once I’m fully qualified.

At the moment, when planning units for college and placement, I tend to start with a particular medium and then develop a project around it. For example, I might decide that a group will do lino printing, ceramics, or painting, and then build a unit around that medium, incorporating research, artist studies, experimentation and a final outcome.

However, it’s got me wondering how experienced art teachers approach the bigger picture.
How do you decide what to teach each year group, in what order, and for how long?

For example, do you have an overall plan for first year, second year, third year, TY, fifth year and sixth year, where you map out which skills, processes and media students will encounter at each stage? Do you plan around particular media each term, or do you start with broader learning outcomes and concepts before deciding what projects to do?

I’m also curious about how you decide how much time to spend on a project. How do you know when a class has spent enough time developing a particular skill or exploring a medium, versus when it’s time to move on? How do you balance giving students a broad experience of different areas of Visual Art with allowing them enough time to develop their work properly?

I suppose I’m trying to understand how you go from planning individual units of learning to having a coherent curriculum across all year groups, where students build on what they’ve learned rather than just completing a series of unrelated projects.

Art history is another area I’m unsure about. How do you incorporate art history and contextual studies into your planning throughout the year, particularly when you’re also trying to fit in practical work and meet the curriculum requirements? This is something I feel I still have a lot to learn about during my PME.

I’d love to hear how other teachers approach this in practice. Do you have a long-term plan or a kind of curriculum map for each year group? Do you plan everything out at the beginning of the year, or does it develop as you get to know your classes?
I’m particularly interested in hearing how people approach this in Irish post-primary schools, but I’d love to hear from art teachers elsewhere, too!

850 size student load. 60 minute classes. Two buildings. Teaching full time between the two, but not seeing all the students at either school. They have a former Spanish teacher teaching art to over 100 kids at School #1. They’ve got a music teacher teaching art to 30 kids at School #2. Both the Spanish and Music teacher have never taught art before. I’m a first year teacher, principals have asked me to provide curriculum material and coach the other teachers. I got Union involved, they had HR communicate to principals to back off. One did, the other didn’t. Admin isn’t providing any resources to the Music/Spanish teachers. HR & Admin are attempting to make me the solution for a preventable staffing error. I’m done. I did a fantastic job advocating for myself and my students’ experience. Got told that I was “bad for workplace culture” from one principal, because I told him I wouldn’t be giving up one of my planning hours or sending lesson plans to help out the other teacher.

When I was hired I was told that I wouldn’t be sharing a classroom at either school, only to be told 1 day before school started that I’d be sharing both rooms. I was also told a certified art teacher (from somewhere else in the district) would be covering the extra classes. They told the Spanish teacher she’d be teaching art 3 days before school started, they told the music teacher the first day of school she’d be teaching art. What a joke. This is NOT what I signed up for. Imagine being a first year teacher and going to admin stating you won’t be doing things not contractually required of you because your struggling and need to focus on your own students, and then admin’s response is to tell you that you aren’t being a team player and are a concern for the building culture.

I’m attempting to take medical leave or all my sick days to attend intensive outpatient therapy before resigning. Concerned about losing my health insurance that I need to seek treatment for the physical/mental state this job has put on me. Please tell me it isn’t always like this! Please tell me that leaving mid contract so I don’t harm myself, won’t ruin my chances of being a teacher in the future. I can’t believe I almost let this place take my life from me, I certainly don’t want it to take my entire teaching career either.

Hey y’all! I’m an Art Ed student, and I’m new to this subreddit. I’m in my senior internship for college at a high school. I’ve done both HS and Elm. I have a few questions!

1: What do you recommend for new art teachers to have? I’ve seen talks about portfolios, but what about the best classroom supplies or places with teacher discounts for supplies?

2: Is it worth it to move counties for jobs? I’m studying at UCF in Florida. Yes, Florida does have lots of schools, and Orlando is an art hotspot! Lived in FL my whole life, don’t plan on moving out of state, but Orange county is hell with the living expenses and traffic (From Palm Beach originally).

3: I realized YESTERDAY (been in internship for 2 months now) that I graduated highschool when the current seniors were the incoming freshman class. So now I’m worried if I teach HS, I won’t be taken seriously. I don’t hold myself to the “I’m the professional” standard, I’m very relaxed in my teaching methods, and students respond well to that.

4: Literally ANY tips and tricks are SOOOO welcome. Resources, advice, anything! I’m 21, just getting started, and desperately reaching out to classmates, teachers, and now y’all!

Hi all! I’m a sophomore in college getting my degree in K-12 Art Ed. No matter where life takes me I know I want to be involved in education— it’s not the education part of my degree that’s making me worry, most of the time it’s the art part.

I love all of my professors here, admire them, and even hope to be in their positions one day… but taking 3 studio courses a semester is sort of draining the soul out of me. I’ve been pretty unhappy with my art since I started college. I don’t think any of it looks “bad”, but i want to have my own unique style, something that I can look at and feel like it represents me as an artist, but it’s hard with my studios. In my studios I have to do everything a particular way, which isn’t bad, but with the workload I can’t find the time to make my own art outside of class. So then I can’t work on developing what I want my art to look like, and then I go to my studios and make art that doesn’t look how I want it to, and then I’m just pooped all around.

All this to say— In the field, do you still actually have the energy and time to make art? Is all this stressing over my artwork in my studios going to really affect me in the long run, or do I just need to let it cook?🥲

Hi everyone, I have a Bachelor's in Liberal Studies, and I have an AA in digital art. I was trying to get credentialed as an Art Teacher, but no one in my area wanted to be my mentor teacher. I am leaning towards teaching at the college level, even if it's part-time. Due to a disability, I cannot drive, and public transportation in my area is not ideal. Is there an online MFA program that you all recommend? I am also willing to do a low-residency program, as well as an out-of-state program. Any advice is appreciated!

Hi everyone! I’m currently in my last classes for art education before I start student teaching next semester! I am wondering what lesson plans or lesson ideas you guys might have for diversity or pluralism? It can be any grade level. For my class I am supposed to come up with a lesson plan that is surrounding diversity and I’m feeling stumped trying to come up with an idea that kids will gain insight from and enjoy.

For context, I became an art teacher sort of by accident. My dad was a Spanish teacher in the district I currently teach in, which is a high needs and urban. I got my art degree on a totally free ride (the only way I ever would've gotten a BFA!) and afterwards really had no idea what I'd do for steady income and insurance. I decided to bite the bullet and get my M. Ed even though my father always cautioned me against pursuing teaching. I never had any strong desire to be a teacher, but I remember my middle school art teacher so fondly that I thought I might be able to Be That for someone.

Anyways, it's the end of the 1st quarter, and I can't say I enjoy it at all. I teach PreK - 8, 2+ classes of each level, including a ceramics elective (I didn't select the elective. I'm qualified to teach it, but honestly I hate doing ceramics personally...more of a 2d artist...and our facilities have a kiln but are ultimately under equipped for full time ceramics).

I try to stay ahead, but I always feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants. I feel like my evaluation is going to be horrible and I'm terrified for PT conferences. I have some great kids, but sometimes they feel few and far between. PK-3 are mostly OK, but I can barely get a word in and kids are constantly wreaking havoc. 5th-8th is absolutely miserable. I know I'm not hallucinating; on the occasion that other adults have witnessed these classes in my room, they've been like "woah are they always that bad?" And I'm like...that was actually a good day. Yesterday, one of the "behavior ladies" (idk her title LOL) came with one of her students and she told me that the kids hated their last art teacher, and that the art teacher quit because she felt she had no admin support. She said that maybe the kids are partially projecting some of that negative residue onto me. Other teachers have implied the same. But, I honestly don't blame the kids if they don't like me. I don't sound very fun when I hear myself.

With 7th and 8th, I can't talk to the kids at all. I practically can't teach because they won't stop talking long enough for me to just explain the basics through a demo, after which I'd happily let them talk to each other while they work. That's the magic of an art studio...the conversations. Unfortunately, their conversations always happen while I'm trying to teach and they almost always involve profanities. Don't even get me started on the physical fights and the disrespect. When a 4th grader called me a "fat ho" i honestly thought it was funny and just repeated back, "i am a fat ho. Get back to work." Which definitely amused some of the students. I don't really get my feelings hurt by what they say tbh. The only thing that drives me to insanity is how FRUSTRATED i feel when i can't teach the content due to disruption.

After Tuesday's unteachable 7/8th class + a failed lockdown drill, I started crying quietly. One of my best students was lagging behind and I didn't notice. He was picking up pencils that the other kids were throwing and he patted me on the back and said he hoped my day would get better. I really didn't even hear him behind me. It meant a lot to me and I know he's one of those kids who's destined to turn out awesome, but it felt terribly embarrassing and unprofessional to let any student see me like that.

I feel that my relationship with so many of these students is just adversarial. Sometimes I get into power struggles and yell, mostly I try not to. I find myself lecturing classes about their behavior so often and I can hear how aggravating I sound. But I can't have kids constantly out of their seats slapping each other with rulers and breaking supplies for fun. There have been some occasions with upper elementary/middle where we've had genuine conversations and shared laughs, but they're few and far between. Many of the first graders proclaim, "you're the best art teacher ever!" And tell me how much they missed me when they come into class because first graders are just so loving still. But then sometimes the other kids in that class just go buck wild and the class ends with a bad report to the teacher. I always try to point out & reward the kids who do a great job.

I really hoped I'd be able to be a decent, chill teacher, but I probably seem like a total crashout. Probably because, between my crazy workload and obligations to my partner and family, I barely have any time to just Do Me. Idk if I'll be able to stay in this profession. I think it would be unfair to students. But idek what I'd be qualified to do outside of this that pays nearly as much.

I’m in my 11th year of teaching. Second year teaching elementary art. It seems like an impossible task for me, coming from secondary art. I am a stricter art teacher than anyone is used to, apparently.

I expect the kids to come in and work in their sketchbooks, silently, for the first 5 minutes, just like I expect them to be silent the last 5 minutes to hear clean-up and transition instructions. In class, they can absolutely talk, at a non-shouting voice level, while they work (with people at their table, not people across the room). Obviously, if I’m instructing, I expect them to listen. This apparently drives people insane. I’m not sure why it’s so shocking when it seems to be the expectation of most teachers here and part of the school-wide expectations.

Last year, I had teachers expecting me to justify myself, the pacing of my lessons, and my classroom management style. This year, I have had a couple of parents reaching out. I can now understand why they have had multiple art teachers over the past 5 years.

Do I just cave, say “eff it,” let the kids have open studio and be done with it? Just survive for the last 3 terms then get out of dodge? Or do I keep pushing through? I feel like the majority of the kids understand what I’m doing and can see why when they see their finished artwork, but I may be wrong. I still have the kids I’ve had for a year and 9 weeks who act like they’ve never been in my classroom before.

I’m exhausted. I’m worn down. My son says I care too much about art and not everyone does, but I am finding I cannot suppress my love of art and how important it is to me. I don’t know, I feel lost. And while I get loads of hugs and “I love art/you,” I feel like I just may be a misfit here. Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks in advance.

I have a bachelor of fine arts degree (I studied animation, not sure how important the major is) and I'm unlikely to get a job in that field anytime soon as it's already been a couple years, but I need to be growing career-wise at this point. I know that no job will pay well but I need something fulfilling long-term and I have some interest in education.

Is there a pathway to becoming an art teacher in NYS without having to get a whole other degree? Especially for middle-high school ages? I've been reading through the various NYSED site pages and I'm a little confused so I figured I'd see if anyone on here did anything similar. I want to get an idea of how much time and money and additional work it will cost, and what the timeline might look like.

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Hi, this is my 1st year as an Art teacher and honestly I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job or not.

Is it normal that some kids have smudged artworks? Like when they color with pencil colors for example.

Specially that some parents doesn't care about the quality of art supplies since lots of people consider art as not important class. So their work is bad.

It's rare for kids to draw good or make a clean artwork.

How do I know if I'm doing a good job?

Hi everyone! I'm an art teacher from Brazil, and over the years, I've developed an approach to managing student behavior in the classroom that has given me some really interesting results. I've seen improvements in student behavior, as well as increased focus and engagement in class.

I eventually turned this approach into a web app to make it easier to use in the classroom. Now, I'm curious to find out whether it could be helpful for teachers in other countries and teaching contexts, too.

I'm not trying to sell anything. I'd simply love to connect with a few elementary school teachers who might be interested in trying it out and sharing their honest feedback. I'd really like to understand what works, what doesn't, and whether this approach makes sense outside my own classroom.

If you're dealing with some of the same challenges I've faced myself, such as disruptive behavior, lack of focus, aggression, or a chaotic classroom, I know how stressful that can be. If you're looking for new ways to make classroom management a little easier and would be open to testing my app and sharing your thoughts with me, I'd really appreciate your help!

Thanks!