A - Aim for your BEST - Be prepared, Encourage others, Show respect, Take pride.

R - Respect yourself, others (including the teacher), your supplies, and the art room.

T - Trust in yourself and your ability to learn. Turn mistakes into masterpieces.

TAB: Teaching Artistic Behaviors is a method and practice of teaching through which students learn to think like artists. It develops critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity skills. It is often called Choice Art, because each artist chooses what they want to create and in which studio(s) they want to create the product. My role in this process is to work as a guide, often with individual students, and to introduce the class to new techniques through mini-lessons.

Currently there are seven studios in which artists can work. They are Printmaking, Painting, Drawing, Architecture, Mixed Media, Sculpture, and Technology. Experiment lessons introduce the students to the different materials and techniques in each studio. Additional studios may be added throughout the year, including pop-up studios.

For a work to be published and displayed for an audience, the artists work through the Plan Art!, Create Plan, Feedback, and Reflect pages in their classroom sketchbook. They begin with an idea, create a daily plan, conference with the teacher about the project, and reflect on the process or product through Flipgrid. This gives the artist a chance to share about the things they learned while creating their artwork. Then, they are ready to mount and display the work for an audience to view.

This year, second through fifth grade students are working within this framework. Kindergarten and first grade students are being instructed through more teacher directed lessons. This allows me to build a groundwork of skills and techniques.

Some of the above content is borrowed from Clark Elementary.