tala23 04/21/2013 at 12:31pm
Some of my students think because it's art they can mess around. We have a good whole school behaviour plan so the students know if they get 3 strikes they are out of there. BUT I use something else before I send them away. I have made up a 6 page art appreciation worksheet which they do instead of art, lots of writing and they have do it in their recess and lunch until it is finished. I have only had to use it once :)

paintpeace 04/21/2013 at 02:11pm
I like it. Would you mind trying to attach the "worksheet" you have them use. I keep forgetting to have Art History reports as an alternative project to messing around and creating chaos and distraction.

dreamstudio 05/18/2013 at 01:25am
For me, structure is having routines and expectations that are consistent and that help maintain order. I take the time to be firm about these, and the students learn how they need to behave in the art room. I will often slow things down until the students comply. For example, my room is small and I have no flexibility in how I can arrange the room furniture. When I start class, there are a number of children whose backs will always be to me, and they can choose to not listen and fool around and be a distraction while I can't see their faces and they can't see me. So I made a procedure where every child who normally sits with their back to me has to turn their chairs around at the start of each class so that I can see their face and they must stay that way until I have given the project introduction and then permission for them to begin working. I wait until every child is in this listening position before I begin. I also have a wall chart where at the end of each class I rate how well they behaved and listened during class. Classroom teachers will sometimes use those results in their own behavior management. I find that the repetition of a procedure or rule helps establish structure.

dreamstudio 05/18/2013 at 01:38am
Structure can also refer to the way a lesson is presented. For example, I only introduce certain steps to accomplish in one art class for a multi-step lesson. When the child finishes those first steps, they may do independent drawing. In the next art class we work on different steps in the process, and so on, until the project is completed. I prefer several art classes to complete the project in this way rather than having students on many different stages of the project all at once. Otherwise, it can become chaos (depending on the materials being used) I try to plan it so most of the class time will be used up doing the steps I have planned for that day. BTW, I teaching elementary children.

Ms-Organized-Chaos 08/11/2013 at 11:01am
I have to agree that my structure comes from the way I organize my lessons as well as routines. From day one, you need to have a solid expectation of what students will do when they enter, during direct instruction, during independent work, and in closing/clean up. Once those behaviors are routine, I break the class down into time....
Teacher time, work time, clean up time...the students know this is always how it goes and that all I usually want is 5-10 minutes of time to instruct, then it's their time to work. The combination of these two concepts: routine and organization of lesson, has been key to teaching my PS-5th graders