The return to school after winter break can be challenging. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when students forget classroom routines and your well-planned lessons don’t seem to be landing. You may find yourself struggling to maintain order, battling constant interruptions, and feeling physically and emotionally drained at the end of the day. These are all signs that you need a classroom management reset. We’ll show you how to make it happen so you can get your art teacher energy back and tackle the second semester with vigor!
Identify nine signs that you need a classroom management reset and gain simple ways to bounce back!
This is the time of the year when days are shorter and the winter blues reign supreme. Even your best class will have a bad day and may be feeling down too. While it is important not to overreact to a problem, some situations are unsustainable and call for a reset.
1. Students have the “winter break brain drain.”
Students often forget classroom rules and routines after an extended break. They may struggle with simple things like lining up or turning in assignments the right way. Remember, we all forget how to do something if we aren’t doing it regularly. Spend time explicitly re-teaching routines. Since this is a refresher, feel free to make it more humorous! Then, give students opportunities to practice meeting your expectations.
2. Students mistakenly believe they know it all and don’t need to listen.
On the other hand, when students return from break and see the familiar art room, sometimes the sense of stability and predictability you worked hard to cultivate can create a bit of overconfidence. Students aren’t aware of how much they still have to learn. They tune out because they believe they have “been there and done that.” They may engage in off-task behavior, interrupt lessons, or fail to follow directions because they assume they already know what to do.
Keep students on their toes and shake things up with novel experiences. Teach students about a new medium or an artist who used a familiar material in an unexpected way. Students will automatically pay attention because everything is fresh!
3. You struggle with your job because students aren’t doing theirs.
You’re exhausted from doing your job… and your students’ jobs. They aren’t cleaning up after themselves. Work is submitted incomplete. No-name work leaves you playing detective. Students are tardy more than they’re on time. Then, they go to the bathroom to avoid work. Every time you turn around, they are slowly moving their desk closer to the door so they can escape class.
While any one of those would be manageable in isolation, if the cumulative weight of all of these minor problems is too much for you to bear, then it is time for a reset. Scale back your assignments, mediums, and requirements so you can redirect your energy and attention to reteaching and practicing foundational expectations. Keep it lighthearted so everyone is motivated to push forward. Not only does this provide you with a bit of a break, but it creates space for students to step back up in responsibility and independence.
4. Your throat is sore or you’re losing your voice.
You may have a common cold—or you may be trying to talk over your loud students. Constantly yelling is not only ineffective for your classroom management, but it also damages your vocal cords and amplifies a stressful, chaotic environment. Yelling signals that you’ve lost control and can set a negative tone for learning.
Here are some easy strategies to maintain a healthy volume in your art room:
- Switch it up and select a new call and response each week.
- Establish clear non-verbal cues, like a raised hand or a chime to signal transitions or attention.
- Display a visual timer to silently prompt students to manage their work time.
- Turn your studio into a coffee shop, like in the video below, where only quiet work is allowed.
5. The lessons seem boring.
Face it, even the best lessons get stale over time. While you must teach required skills every year, you don’t have to teach them the same way every time. In fact, you will find that both you and your students are more engaged when you liven things up with a fresh twist, updated resource, or new lesson. When you’re passionate about what you’re teaching, your students will be too!
Check out FLEX Curriculum to find vibrant, standards-aligned lessons for multiple grades and mediums. Level up things in a big way by trying a new art project. Hand out a technique practice sheet for students to attach in their sketchbooks or incorporate a new artist with an artist bio. Use the search filters and bookmark your favorite finds so you can pull them up when you need them!
6. You sit down at the end of the day and can’t get back up.
The cumulative effect of all of the little things constantly coming your way leaves you exhausted at the end of every day. You may find yourself zoning out during your planning time or at the dinner table, too tired to get anything done or be present with those you love. If you’ve reached this level of exhaustion, use your leave and take a personal day to rejuvenate! Take some cues from art history and pour into your art teacher bucket so you can show up as your best art teacher self.
7. You long for a happier, healthier learning environment.
Are you dreaming of spring break and summer vacation? Are you looking longingly at teachers who have left the classroom and seem to have it made? If your mind is somewhere you’re not and it’s spreading comparison and disappointment, it’s time to make a change for the better.
First, shift your mind to one of gratitude. Think about what you love about teaching art, your student population, and your colleagues and campus. Shout out a student who did something outstanding, or have students shout out their peers for an exit ticket. As you build positivity into your daily routine, you’ll see more good. Plus, the negative experiences won’t feel so heavy.
Then, take a moment to imagine your ideal classroom: organizational systems, stages of a lesson, delegated tasks, and more. Select a few small specific changes you can make over the next few months to make your ideal classroom a reality! To continue the positive mindset, instead of looking at these as problems you’re fixing, approach these changes as a cool improvement.
8. You find yourself blaming students.
After a rough class, it can be easy to start blaming students for your frustration. After all, only half of them turned in their bellringer drawing and they left palettes loaded with paint in the sink. If they cared more about the drawing exercises you took time to plan, their artwork would be stronger. If they cleaned up their paint palettes properly, you wouldn’t have to stay after school for an extra hour.
Combat budding classroom management resentment by holding a class meeting. Many students don’t realize yet how their words or actions impact others and this can be a learning opportunity. Build your students’ capacity for empathy and share how the problems in the classroom affect you and other students, and how you’d like to see things improve. Remember that you are not the only stakeholder in the classroom community. Allow students to share what is working and what is not, and things they’d like to change.
Try something like, “I’m happy to help with clean up, but at my age, it really hurts my knees to crawl under the tables to pick things up. Plus, it takes valuable artmaking time from students in the next class. I know that sometimes it can be hard for you to figure out where everything belongs. Here is a solution I think can work for all of us! If you don’t know where things go, put it in this box on my desk, and I will put it away, but you will make sure everything is off the floor.”
9. You give up and don’t speak up.
You’re letting things slide that you normally would have put an end to at the beginning of the year. You don’t remind them about the deadline because they’re too loud right now, and there are only a few minutes left anyway. The students are starting to rule the classroom instead of you!
Just as you provide feedback on student work to help them learn and grow, it is important to also give feedback for growth in studio habits. A class health meter gamifies immediate feedback. A simple slider with heart shaped cutouts is a visual cue to alert students to both problems and progress. Move the health meter down when the class gets too loud, too messy, or too off task. When students quietly focus on their work, clean up after themselves, and help their peers, move the health meter up.
Persistent challenges are signs that tell you something needs to change. Instead of ignoring them, use them as an opportunity to implement a classroom management reset. By proactively addressing issues, trying new strategies, and fostering open communication with your students, you will transform your art room into the thriving learning environment you envision. Small actions every day will make for a healthier, happier, and more successful new year for you and your students.
Where do you see opportunities for growth in your art room?
What signs do you look for that signal a classroom management reset?
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Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.
