Transitions in the Art Room: Direct Instruction

My last 2 posts discussed the transitions Meet and Greet followed by Attendance, Now we get to the meat of the class - direct instruction. This portion of the class should take approximately 5 - 10 minutes depending on lesson. I liked to use the minute per year old scale to keep it short and simple. Kinder attention span varies from 4 - 6 minutes. 5th graders can handle 10 - 12 min.

What it looks like: students in assigned places, hands and feet to self
What it sounds like: voices off unless responding to teacher, body quiet

This portion of class can include a lot of visuals:
national/state/district Visual Art standards
content and language objectives posted and referred to during teaching
illustrated step-by-step procedures
illustrated vocabulary words
PowerPoint/Keynote presentations

Those visuals need to be set-up in advance. With today's scheduling nightmares (no time between classes), it's best if you can make charts that can be switched out easily. I know some students who have been trained by their teachers, to post objectives, directions, etc. as soon as the class enters the room. While you are taking attendance, one or two kids can quickly find what you want posted, put it where it belongs and get to their seats by the time instruction starts. I suggest you train 2 or 3 to begin with - once everyone sees it being done correctly, repeatedly, others can earn the privilege as the year goes on. At the end of class, these same students quickly put things away. When you are training your first group of students to do this, choose students who always like to be the 'boss', who are always concerned with getting things just right and can follow directions the FIRST time. Hopefully these are also the ones who finish regular assignments on time or early.

Of course, some of you have the luxury of HUGE classrooms! You may have room to permanently post these visual resources, only occasionally switching them out.

To begin direct instruction, I usually reviewed, through questioning or student to student discussion, what happened in last class IF it was a continuing project. Next, introduce ALL the information needed for today's lesson. Once students get materials in their hands, it will be extremely difficult to get their attention again.

I often moved on to a hands-on demo during direct instruction to show exactly what would be done and tools/materials necessary for completion. Some of my colleagues would do this seamlessly by using a doc camera or other technology that would not require students to leave their places. My classroom was not setup for these methods so I'll talk in my next post how I set up hands-on demos. Regardless of your methods, Direct Instruction WITH a hands-on demo should not exceed a total of 15 minutes and less than 10 min. is ideal, especially for your youngest students.

It would be great for my readers if you would list below what YOU include in your direct instruction section of your lessons.

Next up: the Hands-On Demo component of Art class.

TRANSITIONS in the Art room: Meet and Greet

Transitions in the Artroom:
MEET and GREET

Recently, I was asked to observe an Art teacher that was new to the District I taught in for 30 years. It became clear that her class structure needed help, so I made a list of transitions in any given Art class period and how to manage them smoothly. The transitions I came up with are:

1. Meet and Greet
2. Attendance
3. Direct Instruction
4. Hands-On Demo
5. Distribution of Materials
6. Independent Work
7. Collection of Materials
8. Dismissal

I'll explain how I manage these transitions over the next several posts. I hope you will leave comments for my readers on how you manage transitions in your classrooms!

Transition 1
MEET AND GREET

What it looks like: eyes on teacher, hands and feet to self
What it sounds like: voices off unless responding to teacher, body quiet

This transition begins when students arrive for class. In many schools here in AZ, students line up outside the classroom door, (which is usually also outdoors). I believe there should be a visual change in authority in neutral territory when possible. Students know when I give them permission to enter, I am now in charge.

I take a few moments to quickly inquire of the classroom teacher whether any students had moved or if there were any new students. The best teachers also let me know of any issues that might be going on with their crew that could affect their performance that day in my room.

Once students were quiet, they were allowed to enter and directed to walk to their seats. Depending on your classroom, you may want to teach a certain traffic pattern to quickly get them to their seats with the least amount of interaction. This also helps to discourage running, chasing each other or touching materials that are setup for their use.

This is an earlier blog post about my routine here.

I have to give credit for my meet and greet routine to Harry Wong and his books "The First Days of School" and "The Classroom Management Book". They really opened up my eyes to all that I could accomplish in my classroom!

How do you handle this transition for your classes? Please share in the comments below...

Next post: Attendance

Meet and Greet

On that first day of class, I do a meet and greet outside the door to my room. All of my classes line up outside the door, which also happens to be outdoors. Fortunately for the kids, weather is rarely a concern – in our part of the country we have 2 standard forecasts: sunny and warm OR sunny and hot.

This meeting process is a great visual and physical transition from the classroom teacher’s authority to mine. We meet on neutral territory so there is no confusion about who is in charge – we both are! Somewhat like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace! At the end of class, we reverse the process: teachers pick up their students outside where I have them lined up and quiet…

The classroom teacher and myself exchange pleasantries, and on this first day I hand him/her a copy of my special needs list to fill out and return by next class/week. The teacher then leaves so I can continue giving my spiel…

During that first Meet and Greet I say my name, ask the students who are new to our school to raise their hands and welcome back those who are returning. If I’m lucky, I’ll remember the names of several returning students and welcome them by name. I don’t know about you but my brain tends to turn to mush over the summer and although I rarely forget a face, names tend to slip in and out of the gray matter…

The last things I talk about are the art room, how to enter (I use/teach specific traffic patterns) and the seat assignments for this first day (details about that process in the next blog). I’m a firm believer in assigned seating. I spend hours analyzing and using the info gathered from this first class to put together my table groups for an optimal learning experience all year long.

This meet and greet process should take no more than 3 – 5 minutes. Students don’t come in until I have invited them in. Of course they need to be quiet and ready (hands and feet to self, in line, etc…) before that invitation is extended!

Some of you may feel that all of this is a waste of precious class time but I’ve learned you can accomplish far more in less time if your students are taught and know the routines to move smoothly through their class time.