Part One: Defining with SnigletsExosicle (eks oh sik el) - n. The state of being after exiting a warm shower in the middle of winter. Artapy (art uh pee) - n. Treatment intended to heal the mind and soul through the creation of art. Octoyarn (akt oh yarn) - n. A piece of equipment created and used in the art room to aid the process of distributing yarn to many students. Part Two: Reconsidering and Reframing For each art project we do in my classroom, each student artist creates at a different pace. A majority finish around the same time but there are always outliers that finish way early and way later. One of the biggest problems with this is what to have early finishers do or work on while the rest of the class is still in the thick of the project. This used to cause me a lot of stress. Last school year, any artist that finished early was allowed to do "Choice Time". This meant they could choose something to do from an array of things: blocks, connecting cubes, drawing with paper, using drawing books, sculpting with modeling clay, drawing on whiteboards or in sketchbooks, and more. At this point, clean up was not simply the project students were currently working on, it was so much more. Although I absolutely loved the idea of students being able to choose what creative activity they wanted to do, clean up was always very loud, slow moving and was never done completely right. Things were always put away incorrectly and I always ended up cleaning up after the clean up. It was way more trouble than it was worth. I needed to simplify and look at the situation differently.
This year, I have reframed this early finisher problem; "Choice Time" is now restricted to free drawing with whiteboards or sketchbooks and using drawing books. Because of this, clean up is significantly more efficient, much more quiet and is always done correctly. With this change, I had to sacrifice some choices but early finisher work should not mean more work for me as the teacher. It should be something quick and easy, which whiteboards and sketchbooks are. Moreover, I actually allow students to help do an additional job during "Choice Time", such as wash paint brushes. You'd be surprised at how many are willing to help! After reflecting on this situation, I realize that clean up used to be a highly stressful and chaotic time for me in the classroom. Now, after observing how clean up goes in my room this year, it is calm and students already know what to do and know where things go. I believe the biggest takeaway is for me to remember to generally simplify and sacrifice what I can with any given stressful or chaotic situation. This concept can be applied not only to my lesson plans and classroom management but also to my personal life. For example, something that is always overly complicated for me is planning out meals and the grocery list for a week. I have already been considering what I can do to make this a simpler process and if I can make any sacrifices in any way. Perhaps I have the same breakfast and lunch every day and choose 3 different dinners to make for the week. So, I would sacrifice variety with breakfast and lunch but would significantly simplify my grocery list and shopping.
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