Final Thoughts On Summer Art Camp Session I

Is there a way to precisely describe my feelings after teaching 18 kids different forms of art for 4 hours a day for 5 days? Yes, there is a way to describe it. Here, my feelings can best be described using Caravaggio's Medusa:

Art teachers do a lot. My past week teaching art classes has taught me just that. There was even a point in time in which I pondered to myself, "how many calories does an art teacher burn during a full day's work...." (I later googled this question yet, the search drive didn't give me any precise answers). Regardless, no many how many times I wanted to scream at my kids, yank a paintbrush out of their hands, or even just walk out of the classroom, I kept my cool. I had to think to myself, "patience, Steph... patience." But it's hard. And anyone who says that teaching is an easy job can just spend a day in my shoes. Because, I have been of those people who has thought it was all easy.

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Here are some things I learned from Session 1- Mini Masters Series:

1. Learn names!!! It makes a huge difference when you're talking one on one with a student about their artwork and calling them by their name after every, "good job, nice work, way to go, etc." form of praise to them. It's personal and makes them feel special. After all, that's how I feel when someone ends a praise using my name. "Good job, Stephanie", makes me feel special and will make your students feel special too.

2. Don't yank art materials out of students' hands. I see my head art teacher doing this over and over again and it makes me CRINGE. I guess you could do this if you were running out of time and needed a child to focus on another area of a painting/drawing. Regardless, always ask. In my opinion, "Can I help you here?" goes a long way rather than grabbing art materials out of a child's hand.

3. Create lesson plans where the students' creativity can really show through in each work. For me, it's a little sad to look at the students' works at the end of the day and then realize that everything looks the same. Instead, opt for lessons where kids can experiment with designs and other materials. I don't think that buildings will burn down and the world will explode if you let a child do a couple of polkadots in the background of a painting.

4. If you must re-work or "touch up" a child's work, don't do it when they are in the room. You'll have to deal with the student watching you paint over their master pieces and then come up with an explanation as to what you're doing. That can get awkward and can easily make an art teacher feel guilty and... a little sad. In all honesty, I am against re-working a child's art. Just avoid re-working at all costs, honestly.

5. Most youngsters don't know how to work with paint...adjust lesson plans accordingly. Though 3rd graders + are usually good about working with paints, it's easy to forget that younger students don't have the dexterity skills or the knowledge to handle paints.. especially acrylic or tempera. I think it's okay to substitute collage pieces for works that use paints. If a student gets finished with a collage piece faster than other students who are working on paintings, then they can create multiple collage pieces...which is where the creativity can happen!

I'm sure there's countless other things that are important for art educators to know when they are teaching a new art project for their students but, for now, I'd like to just let these 5 things marinate with myself and any other art teacher who might be grappling with the task of making art fun, yet educational for students.