Behind the scenes:Classroom Displays

I'm not sure if this completely falls under the term 'behind the scenes' but often our posts are small snapshots of things that we do in the classroom (or at home to practise!) so I thought I'd show you a bit of my daily teaching life - my classroom! As an art teacher I find displays are key! I like to make sure that my classroom looks as beautiful as the work my students are creating! As well as putting up inspirational stuff though theres the more general things, motivational tools, timetables, 'rules', health and safety and so on so I thought I'd share some of the bits and pieces from around the room I'm currently teaching in! I'll let you in on a slight secret though, whilst I wish my classroom was always this tidy this was in fact just before an open evening so the room was looking particularly clean! 

I'm lucky to have two large noticeboards in my classroom, one along each end of the room! This is perfect as it allows me to have one board dedicated to showcasing student work and one to share information with the students! On the board AS and A2 have their own boards. I share student schemes of work, current project themes and inspiration, competitions/clubs/workshop session information, our homework policy, the assessment policy and some class 'rules' that our tailored to each group (we come up with them as a joint activity in one of the initial lessons at the start of the year!) 

As well as the more 'serious' stuff on the noticeboards there's also a mixture of more visually engaging and motivating things! I like to include a 'student of the moment' to showcase pieces of work created in class that are particularly exciting or innovative! We try to update this a few times a term and sometimes include more than one student! A lot of our projects are based around colour so I keep a general colour wheel and colour chart information as well as some inspirational colour palettes based on 'street fashion'. I try to encourage my students to get out to local events and exhibitions in London so I share that information on the 'What's on' section of the board and lastly my favourite thing - inspiration sheets! For each new project I'll create an inspiration sheet with examples of exciting work by artists and designers - we also share it via pinterest with our students but I like to have it up in classroom too! 

Finally there's the exhibition/workspace outside the classroom! It's a lovely spot to put a few mannequins and to hang work and it's a space for students to work outside of lesson time if the classroom is too full! I hope you've enjoyed having a look at where I'm based for the best part of the week! I'd love to see the inside of your classroom and to hear ideas about displays - I'm planning a fresh display for the start of the exam unit so I'm on the hunt for inspirational stuff! Get in touch via email with your shots on on twitter @ihearteachingart

- Claire  ❤