In the charter school classes that I teach we have four main rules that all revolve around respect. Respect is also something that the other charter schools teachers use in their rules and procedures and I’ve been focusing on it in my art classroom in these four ways.
Respect Others and Their Artwork
Respect Yourself and Your Own Artwork
Respect Materials
Be Safe in the Classroom
In an art classroom students need to be safe with the materials and respect the materials that they are given, which is important when just drawing with pencils, or painting with acrylics. Students also have to be able to feel safe and secure in the art classroom, especially when they are creating work. Teaching students not to put down someones work, or devalue it when every student is in the learning process is so important. What’s challenging is that students will often do this to themselves more than any other student. I recently found an old notebook in my art classroom where on one of the pages had written “I am bad at art” over and over and over again. Developing the kind of environment where students don’t have to worry about whether they are bad at art is essential, and having the language and the expectations that are in an art classroom to reference during times where the students are not being respectful and safe is key. When I brought respect up in the classroom, I had students help create the rules for the class, as many of them know what respect looks like in the classroom.
This is a interesting blog post where an art teacher goes over some expectations for an art class: https://ccsdart.wordpress.com/elementary-art/classroom-proceduresexpectations/
4 comments for “Classroom Rules”