When going through life changes or growth it has to start with our mind set with that said this transition has to start with thinking of our art room where the teacher makes all the decisions to the art studio where the student's have options and help form decisions. Happy, Healthy and a Safety environment will always be our first priority and the students will be encourage to take responsibility for their learning, their actions and keeping the environment a safe place for exploring and learning.
We are one of the largest elementary schools in Fort Worth, averaging 860 students that attend specials rotation from kinder through fifth grade. How do I do it? Every student has had a job in the art room for the past four years Table Leader, Supply Supervisor, Cleaning Captain, Mr. Clean, Ms. Clean, Class Manager, Time Keeper and Teacher Assistant. With the transition we have new job titles that reflect the Professional Art World which now are Art Collector, Art Curator, Art Docent, Art Director and Art Guard.
We have four Special Rotations Red, Green, Yellow and Blue which I have assigned letters per color. Red is A, Green is B, Yellow is C and Blue is D. Each class has a full homeroom, a half homeroom and a fourth of a homeroom averaging 35 students per class. We call the colors/letters Special Class Names for example if they are in 3rd grade in the red rotation they are 3A (SCN) and every-time they write their name in art they have to write their SCN so that if they misplace their work I can easily identify which of my 30 classes they belong to and I can then put their work in that folder. Speaking of folders we have color coordinated folders based on their grades with their table number and SCN on the outside of each folder. This past year I made a Amazon Wish List and many of my close friends spent this past summer buying school/office supplies to help me keep the art studio organized. I am so grateful to them all for their contribution and support.
Everything in the Art Studio is labeled from where the supplies are located to where they should line up in the room. I use colorful duct tape on the tables so they know where to put their supplies & folders as well as on the floor so that they know exactly where to line up for either getting supplies or lining up to leave the art studio. We also use the duct tape in the main hallway and Fine Art Hallway to keep track of the six homeroom (that's an average of 140 students) classes transitioning in the hallway.
