I’ve been teaching art, K-high school for 15 years now. You are so spot on with all of what you said! I am thankful that my school now realizes that art is a real subject and art students actually have to be in my classroom to get a grade and turn in projects! For so long other teachers would keep them from my class to tutor but I was still expected to turn in grades without giving homework!! Another thing I see for all artists across the board …….we are being taken advantage of by entering art contest. The city I live in had an art contest to paint giant egrets to be placed around town. The winner received $500 and the rest got nothing. There are beautifully painted egrets all around town that would have cost the city a lot of money to pay an artist for…. But guess what???…….. they got them all for $500! ….. I loved your video….it made me feel better knowing I’m not alone……….thanks for letting me vent…..you can tell I’m not bitter😂❤❤
You are not alone! It is important to share what we have all learned so our skills and kindness isn’t taken for granted. I agree with you about the contests! I stopped doing them many years ago for this very reason (and it often didn’t fit into my curriculum).
Thank you, ❤️ hearing you verbalize everything I often think. I've spent a lot of my own funds for so many years. It's crazy. My budget isn't enough, and there are so many tools & supplies that are substandard and need to be replaced. I was told by a co-worker that all I need to do is use anything/everything I have floating around in the room. Then they said to go on Pinterest and find projects! That is an example of how unaware people are. I have a curriculum, goals/ objectives / standards / art history, etc! It's nice to know I am not alone and you understand and explain the issues art teachers deal with very well.
All so true! But, a few years ago I learned to set boundaries. I'm not the last car in the parking lot anymore. The result is my classroom is not "cute" and sometimes it's unorganized. There's no way to have a tidy, cute, beautiful classroom and have amazing art projects all prepped in 8 hrs/day, 5/days a week. I put in many early morning hours prepping lessons at home. I dread going in this week because I know I left it messy and I need to display art throughout the school but have not done that yet. I feel like I'm not keeping up. Boohoo!
It’s a huge balance to juggle it all! It’s important to share we are prioritizing and letting other stuff go. No one is perfect on this job and managing to do it all.
I’ve been an art teacher for 10 years. I no longer have any of this put on me because I value myself In my own curriculum, I have clear boundaries share one appropriate and kindly redirect people to other resources when I say no.
Katie I cannot express to you how much this lifted my spirits. I am a third year art teacher at a school (and district) that had never had an art program before I was hired. I struggle with every single one of these things and hearing that I am not alone in this made me start sobbing. I have never felt so seen and validated. I’m so grateful that you took the time to put this together. I love hearing that this is not the experience of every single teacher or that they are setting boundaries and getting paid, but while the extra stuff sucks the time and life out of us, not being able to feel important or like a real teacher weighs so much heavier on me than any extra task every could. In short, thank you so much
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this. I’m happy the video was helpful for you. It must be very tough establishing a new art program! Thank you so much for watching!
Thank you for making this video!! I just graduated high school a little bit ago and I was looking into being an art teacher. This gave me a good perspective on what being an art teacher entails!
You’re welcome! I hope this helps you to think about your career path. I made a video specifically for anyone thinking about being an art teacher that you might also enjoy Want To Be an Art Teacher? 10 Realities You Must Know About Teaching Art th-cam.com/video/qkTA516bIW4/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for your video! I also noticed that other "Specials" teachers think they have it the hardest. I heard our music teacher comment that in art kids at least get to work with their hands and be engaged, so they behave better in my classroom because of it. And sometimes PE coaches say that at least art teachers have one class at a time, but they have to manage multiple classes in the gym. Others comment on how naturally fun art is for kids, therefore, again, it must be easy to teach 😂. As an art teacher, I love being a part of my "specials" group and would agree that we all have our own unique challenges within the subjects we teach.
This all resonates with me. Thankful for your channel to have another community of art educators who "get it." I spent 25 years in the gen ed classroom and have been in Art for two years now so I get both sides of it and often defend specialist teachers to regular classroom teachers (and vice versa). I always wanted to teach art, but back in 1995 there were so few teaching jobs and so many applicants I knew I'd never find a job as an art teacherso I went gen ed. I'm now living my art dream, but it's WAY harder than I imagined it would be. Loving every minute tho!
Watch next- Want To Be an Art Teacher? 10 Realities You Must Know About Teaching Art
th-cam.com/video/qkTA516bIW4/w-d-xo.html
You are the voice for the reality of what art educators really go through and the value they should have. Thank you.
Wow! Thank you!!
I’ve been teaching art, K-high school for 15 years now. You are so spot on with all of what you said! I am thankful that my school now realizes that art is a real subject and art students actually have to be in my classroom to get a grade and turn in projects! For so long other teachers would keep them from my class to tutor but I was still expected to turn in grades without giving homework!! Another thing I see for all artists across the board …….we are being taken advantage of by entering art contest. The city I live in had an art contest to paint giant egrets to be placed around town. The winner received $500 and the rest got nothing. There are beautifully painted egrets all around town that would have cost the city a lot of money to pay an artist for…. But guess what???…….. they got them all for $500! …..
I loved your video….it made me feel better knowing I’m not alone……….thanks for letting me vent…..you can tell I’m not bitter😂❤❤
You are not alone! It is important to share what we have all learned so our skills and kindness isn’t taken for granted. I agree with you about the contests! I stopped doing them many years ago for this very reason (and it often didn’t fit into my curriculum).
@ ❤️
I agree! City contests are a joke! So much work and for what?!
Thank you, ❤️ hearing you verbalize everything I often think. I've spent a lot of my own funds for so many years. It's crazy. My budget isn't enough, and there are so many tools & supplies that are substandard and need to be replaced. I was told by a co-worker that all I need to do is use anything/everything I have floating around in the room. Then they said to go on Pinterest and find projects! That is an example of how unaware people are. I have a curriculum, goals/ objectives / standards / art history, etc! It's nice to know I am not alone and you understand and explain the issues art teachers deal with very well.
It is frustrating when people don't understand the realities of what we do. Pinterest?!?! 🤪
All so true! But, a few years ago I learned to set boundaries. I'm not the last car in the parking lot anymore. The result is my classroom is not "cute" and sometimes it's unorganized. There's no way to have a tidy, cute, beautiful classroom and have amazing art projects all prepped in 8 hrs/day, 5/days a week. I put in many early morning hours prepping lessons at home. I dread going in this week because I know I left it messy and I need to display art throughout the school but have not done that yet. I feel like I'm not keeping up. Boohoo!
It’s a huge balance to juggle it all! It’s important to share we are prioritizing and letting other stuff go. No one is perfect on this job and managing to do it all.
I’ve been an art teacher for 10 years. I no longer have any of this put on me because I value myself In my own curriculum, I have clear boundaries share one appropriate and kindly redirect people to other resources when I say no.
Thanks for sharing your perspective! It gives others awareness and hope.
Katie I cannot express to you how much this lifted my spirits. I am a third year art teacher at a school (and district) that had never had an art program before I was hired. I struggle with every single one of these things and hearing that I am not alone in this made me start sobbing. I have never felt so seen and validated. I’m so grateful that you took the time to put this together. I love hearing that this is not the experience of every single teacher or that they are setting boundaries and getting paid, but while the extra stuff sucks the time and life out of us, not being able to feel important or like a real teacher weighs so much heavier on me than any extra task every could. In short, thank you so much
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this. I’m happy the video was helpful for you. It must be very tough establishing a new art program! Thank you so much for watching!
Love this type of content, made us feel seen and not alone ❤
💕 Thank you so much for watching!
Thank you for making this video!! I just graduated high school a little bit ago and I was looking into being an art teacher. This gave me a good perspective on what being an art teacher entails!
You’re welcome! I hope this helps you to think about your career path. I made a video specifically for anyone thinking about being an art teacher that you might also enjoy Want To Be an Art Teacher? 10 Realities You Must Know About Teaching Art
th-cam.com/video/qkTA516bIW4/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for your video! I also noticed that other "Specials" teachers think they have it the hardest. I heard our music teacher comment that in art kids at least get to work with their hands and be engaged, so they behave better in my classroom because of it. And sometimes PE coaches say that at least art teachers have one class at a time, but they have to manage multiple classes in the gym. Others comment on how naturally fun art is for kids, therefore, again, it must be easy to teach 😂. As an art teacher, I love being a part of my "specials" group and would agree that we all have our own unique challenges within the subjects we teach.
I think we all have unique challenges and perspectives. It’s good to have that support within our "specials" group!
This all resonates with me. Thankful for your channel to have another community of art educators who "get it."
I spent 25 years in the gen ed classroom and have been in Art for two years now so I get both sides of it and often defend specialist teachers to regular classroom teachers (and vice versa). I always wanted to teach art, but back in 1995 there were so few teaching jobs and so many applicants I knew I'd never find a job as an art teacherso I went gen ed. I'm now living my art dream, but it's WAY harder than I imagined it would be. Loving every minute tho!
Thank you! There are many reasons I am thankful to be an art teacher too! 💕
Yes!!! This!!🙌🏼🙌🏼
🙌🏻
Thank you so much! The best video!
You're welcome! Thank you so much for watching!
Thank you for making the invisible VISIBLE.
You’re welcome! It’s important to shine a light on these things!
I am not asked to do this and if I am I say NO. I do an art club but the parents pay me for it not the school it's extra money for me.
“Last car in the parking lot” is 100% TRUE 🫶🏼
Great video!!
Yes! Thank you!