One of the lesson learned as the facilitator of a student driven art studio was understanding that we needed additional "rules" specifically for centers/stations. After noticing some unexpected irresponsible habits which could have stopped us from working towards a student driven room and instead of closing the stations down we empowered the artists to create the "Center Rules" themselves.
To our great surprise the artists came up with great "Center Rules" concerning behavior, supplies and clean up requirements. When we reviewed the new rules we didn't like how "negative" the rules sounded and as a group (facilitators and artists) decided to rewrite the rules as "Affirmation" and added a new habits in class to recite the Affirmations at the beginning of the art studio time to help set the atmosphere of a student(artists) driven art studio.
There are definitely times in the art studio this year that as I am actively supervising and facilitating the artists it has brought a great sense of satisfaction & gratitude in knowing the artists have created this "real art studio" feel.
TTESS
Learning Environment
3.2 Managing Student Behavior: The teacher establishes, communicates and maintains clear expectations for student behavior.
*Consistently monitors behavior subtly, reinforces positive behaviors appropriately and intercepts misbehavior fluidly.
*Students and the teacher create, adopt and maintain classroom behavior standards.
3.3 Classroom Culture: The teacher leads a mutually respectful and collaborative class of actively engaged learners.
*Consistently engages all students with relevant, meaningful learning based on their interests and abilities to create a positive rapport amongst students.
* Students collaborate positively and encourage each other's efforts and achievements.