The Continuing Saga of Too-Large Classes

An email from a reader:

Nancy, 

I just received my issue of SchoolArts and I was reading the article “How Many Students Did You Say I was Going to Have?”  Although I work in a smaller private school, I do have a few larger classes and I believe I have some ideas that I incorporate into my procedures that would work for large classes.  One of the dilemmas was not having the students all up and moving around the room. 

I have 6 students at most assigned to a studio table.  Each of them have a specific job for their table such as distribution manager, supply manager, teachers assistant, sink monitor, maintenance manager, and table leader. Each studio table has its own corresponding wire bakers rack.  All student supplies are on this rack.  Elementary are in bins by grade level and in bags by student.  Community supplies are also kept on the racks as well as a sketchbook bin housing sketchbooks for lower grades and “inspiration envelopes” with drawing ideas and examples. Each rack also has a book basket with a few textbooks for reference, picture books with great illustrations, and various art books.  

At any given time there should only be one person up from their table at a time.  Students come in at the beginning of class and pull their job tag, clip it on, and then go to their seat.  The supply manager gets the supply bin, the distribution manager gets the work in progress portfolio, and they begin working.  I will break in after they have gotten situated and are working to do my mini lesson or give instruction.

When it comes to clean up, there is only one person from each table at the sink, the sink monitor.  I have a baking sheet for each table that is set up with a layer of paper towels, a water container, brushes, and paints.  When it is time to clean up, students place their brushes in the water containers. The sink monitor brings the whole baking sheet to the sink and cleans the brushes and paint trays and then resets the baking sheet and returns it to its place.

These are some of the procedures I implemented this year.  My first year teaching art was very rewarding but frustrating when it came to having too many students up at one time or moving across the room to get supplies, passing out papers, storing works in progress neatly, and cleaning up.  I felt like I did not have enough time to instruct and then for them to work.  I discerned over this past summer and researched the web to see what might work so that art students would have more time to actually do their art. 

Melinda Dunn

Art Teacher, Saint Mary’s Catholic School, Longview Texas