Books, books, books!
I sure do love me a good inspirational learning book. I especially love when I ACTUALLY want to read and I'm excited to open it up and learn more. What I look for in a great learning books is relevancy, clear format, and engagement.
When you're a teacher, there are a lot of text books and mandatory professional developments to trudge through. Sure, some of these learning experiences can be very helpful, but more often they are barely relevant in the art room. Sometimes you have to just find your own learning experiences.
I made a list of seven books that every elementary art teacher should try to read at least once. There are many other books that have been helpful through the years, but these are books I go back to over and over again.
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1. Classroom Management for Art, Music, and PE Teachers by Michael Linsin. Read this for an easy and concise guide to classroom management strategies specifically for specials area teachers.
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2. Teaching with Love and Logic by Jim Fay & Charles Fay. Read this to help build better relationships in your classroom. It will give you strategies and examples on how to respond to tough situations. I love books that give actual stories and example rather than just all theory.
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3. The Art of Teaching Art to Children in School and at Home by Nancy Beal. Read this if you want to create your own curriculum based on art medias while giving students more freedom and choice with specific examples for scaffolding all materials. This is honestly my favorite art teaching specific book. (I bought my copy used so I have sticker residue, but I can still read it!)
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4. Studio Thinking from the Start, The K-8 Art Educator's Handbook. Read this if you want to figure out how to implement a choice-based TAB class focusing on the Studio Habits of Mind. Teaching for Artistic Behavior methods have been growing in popularity for years, but it's not well taught in a lot of art education programs. This book is easy to read and understand. There's also the book "Engaging Learners Through Artmaking" but I found that book a little more actually read.
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5. Art Workshop for Children by Barbara Rucci. Read this if you teach preschool or younger and need ideas for process based art lessons. I never really learned how to teach the super littles and this book can gave me excellent ideas to start with.
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6. Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. This one isn't about teaching, but most of us are also artists and need some motivation. When we start teaching, our personal art can get a little sidelined. This is an amazing book that will surely boost your passion for your own art making/
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7. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. Also, not quite a teaching book, but it's a very fun read. Sometimes you just need a fun inspirational book to flip through. Plus, this one you could finish in a day.
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