Why have a classroom management plan? In order for the students to flourish into the best artists that they can be, a classroom management plan must be in place. Having consistency in the classroom and acknowledging the expectations will not only help the students to succeed, but will enable an atmosphere for the teacher to effectively intergrade their meaningful lesson plans. With procedures established, the students will feel a sense of safety and comfort, which will then influence their overall creativity.
What are the expectations in the classroom? Most of the expectations fall under, respecting the teacher, classmates, and classroom. It very important for me as a teacher to respect and care for my students as individuals, so with this, I expect my students to reciprocate that same mutual respect back towards me. My ideal classroom setting will be founded on building deep and meaning relationships. I’ll encourage the students to build one another up, pushing each other to become the best selves that they can be. Lastly, respecting the classroom, materials, and other student’s workspace is a must. Since the students are graciously given a great amount of material to use, they need to know how to properly manage the material in the most successful way. All these expectations can be difficult to achieve right off the bat, so I’ll give the students a chance to self reflect on their actions and behavior if they cannot handle these fundamental expectations. After giving a warning and time to reevaluate, if the student is still not meeting the expectations, I will instill an appropriate and fair consequence. With this, it’s very important that the teacher has an honest and loving conversation with the student afterwards, explaining why they received a consequence and asking them how they could do things differently next time. Having this follow-up dialogue with the student will offer more future opportunities to improve on their behavior.
Why is organization and safety procedures important? An organized classroom, and daily practices will create a stress free and smooth sailing environment. Just a few examples of this is, labeling the supplies in their designated spots, greeting the students everyday, preparing before classes, having pre-established helpers, and allowing enough time to thoroughly clean up after studio time. With these practices integrated within the classroom agenda, the students will have more time to focus on their actual tasks rather then stressing about being unorganized. The teacher also needs to remind the students that the classroom is a shared environment, where safety needs to be enforced.
How can students be successful in my class? In addition to understanding and applying the expectations within my classroom, I simply ask the students to enter the classroom space with eagerness to learn and create. I don’t want to promote perfection, since it does not exist; I want to embrace the beauty that can be found in mistakes. At the same time, an art educator should strive to create an atmosphere where students can enjoy the process of creating and additionally enforce the expectations that will only benefit the learner at the end of the day.