How could something so small make such a big difference in the art room?
Foray manual pencil sharpener works great on large and small pencils and colored pencils.
I purchased seven of these Foray double-hole sharpeners, one for each of my tables. I used my electric sharpener to sharpen all the new pencils at the beginning of the school year. Guess how many times I have used my electric since? ZERO.
Foray double-hole manual sharpener.
All the kids ages 6 and older use the manual sharpeners! They put a nice sharp tip on our large pencils. They save my time, the students have more independence and the room is a little quieter.
AND they work well on colored pencils,much better than my electric pencil sharpeners.
Welcome to a new year in the art room. This year my room looks completely different, from layout to bulletin boards to organization, thanks to all my fellow art teacher bloggers and my dear friend Pinterest.
Now every table, supply bucket, and chair is colored coded. Chairs are numbered as well (more art room organization photos on this post).
My value poster is made from construction paper in black, white and gray shades. Luckily, I had an O’Keeffe that matched!
Thanks to my colleague Nancy R. for the value poster idea.
Art Teacher Barbie again reigns supreme over the art room.
Every year I tell my students my dad banned Barbie dolls from our house. He felt his three daughters would turn into ‘clothes horses’ if Barbies made it through the door. So Art Teacher Barbie is my very first Barbie doll. She called my name from the toy department at Wal-Mart my first year teaching, and since then we have never been apart.
p.s. In the background you can see my new tempera cake rack (from Blick or Amazon). Hoping that will seriously reduce my clean up time.
Best wishes for a successful school year! May your kiln never explode, and may your messes be manageable.
Art classes start Monday and I just put the finishing touches on my art room. I love all the art room photos everyone is putting online. Here are a few shots from room 13!
Organizing samples:
I don’t use my filing cabinet for all my sample art projects. I store samples in boxes, one per grade level. The boxes fit perfectly in my cubbies.
Within each box, I store samples in individual manilla envelopes (I got this idea from Deep Space Sparkle).
Although I label everything, I do not have sets of beautiful full-color labels. I don’t have plastic tubs for everything (yet) – I am reusing old copy paper boxes and used manila envelopes.
Storing bulky work in progress:
Our weavings and sculptures in progress are just too bulky for table folders and flat files. Projects are stored individually in labeled gallon size Ziploc bags, clipped together by table and stored in a color-coded table box.
Color-coded table boxes store bulky projects in progress.
Organizing student work:
I have a ‘roly polies’ with one (labeled) flat drawer per class. They hold ALL the 2-D student art all school year until our spring art show. I store big boxes of watercolor paper underneath. I use the top of the cabinets as a place to dry our plaster masks and plaster sculptures.
We store student portfolios in the flat files. The are labeled with the name, grade, teacher. The student’s first initial goes in the upper right corner. This helps me find portfolios quickly.
Decorating cabinets:
Do you want to hang art on your slick laminate cabinets? I use a system of medium clear Command hooks and binder clips. It is really easy to change out art.
Tiny, clear Command hook and binder clip allows you to hang posters on laminate.
Scrap paper:
I store scrap paper under the paper cutter, sorted by color (thanks to The Art of Ed for this tip).
Scrap paper is sorted by color and stored under the paper cutter.
Encyclopedia:
Even though my 1975 (!) childhood encyclopedia set is out of date, it has TONS of photos and illustrations perfect for reference. As a bonus, it teaches kids how to use reference books.
My childhood encyclopedia set has tons of reference photos.
Art classes begin in 10 days and I am on an organizational rampage in my art room. I have an art room organization board on Pinterest, and now I get to use all the art room organization tips I have been pinning all summer. I have implemented 12 so far! Here they are:
I’m loving Pinterest. I’ve got over 100 pins on my art room organization board so I have a long way to go, but this is going to make a huge difference. Thanks to all the art teachers who put their tips online!
Are you on Pinterest? How has it helped you at work?
Its January. That means you want to get more organized, right? Here are a few products that make my art room life a little (or a lot!) easier.
Elmer’s triple-size glue sticks. Glue sticks – so much to love, so much to hate. Hate #1: the standard size sticks (.21 oz. each) run out so quickly! Solution: big fat glue sticks.
Elmer’s glue sticks: .77 oz. vs. .21 oz.
These are more expensive that regular sticks, but they are over 3x larger. Available in 12 packs of white and Goes on Purple/Dries Clear.
at office supply stores and Amazon (and maybe even your school district’s supplier!).
3M Command removable hooks
I used 3M Command removable hooks on my laminate cabinets. Instant rack!
Do you have laminate cabinets? Or some other vertical surface deemed off-limits to drilling/nailing by school officials? Try 3M Command removable hooks. These hooks have been in use for 3 years and none have fallen off.
2 oz. ‘salsa’ cups and lids
Glaze in 2 oz. 'salsa' cups
You will find many uses for these: glaze, leftover paint, glue, slip….made by Dixie and available at Costco , Smart & Final and Amazon (lids may be sold separately).
I read art room blogs for two years before starting my own….your organizational tips have been so helpful to me!!! Is there another tip you’d like to share? Leave a comment.
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