Hello Everyone! I will be starting my 5th year teaching High School Art this fall. One of the biggest challenges to any artroom is keeping materials and artwork organized. 3 things that I've found useful for staying organized are: 1) Label EVERYTHING. This helps students find and return materials easily. 2) A cubby for every student. A place where students can store their artwork is essential. I am lucky in that I teach in a large room with lots of storage (though it never feels like enough!) I use vertical storage for 2D works and shelves for 3D works. 3) Project bin on a media table. Rather than pass out materials to each individual student each class, I put the materials and media we'll be using for that project in a bin. For example, I'll have "dot painting" bin that holds the skewers, paint, and papers that we will use for the project. After the project is introduced, and students are shown what materials they need, I'll assign students to pass out the materials from the media table, or have them come up to the media table by table to get their own. By getting their own materials, they also remember where to put them away at clean up time! I am curious to know, what other art teachers do to stay organized in the classroom?
I label all my storage spaces. I make notes and stick them on my Macbook or in my pocket. Someone once said, "A picture says a thousand words." I take pics of anything that can help me. I sometimes take pics of my whiteboard after drawing or writing something that I do not want to forget next time. Believe it or not - I do not own a cell. That keeps me focused and organized too. I have one less major distraction and time waster.
