Why Art Teachers Look Forward to Going Back to School

There are still five more days to enter the back to school giveaway!  I will announce the randomly selected winner on August 22.

What are teachers looking forward to most about starting a new year?

I picked a selection of the answers teachers gave when asked this question.

1.  Carrie:  “The best part of going back to the classroom is seeing all of the kids. It’s all about them and allowing them the opportunity to explore, create, imagine, and learn new techniques with new materials. Opening up boxes of markers and crayons is better then any birthday or holiday!!!”

2.  Katie:  “I love going back to school, starting a new year with fresh supplies, fresh ideas, and a fresh, sparkling clean room! There’s nothing quite like it ”

3.  Ellen Duncan: “My favorite thing about going back to school is seeing all the new students and how the kids I’ve taught in the past have grown up over the summer.”

4.  Tab Lloyd: “My favorite part of going back to school is the beginnings of all the new relationships. Even when a kid comes back to school with a bad attitude, it provides a great base for change. Then we get to reflect at the end of the year and say “remember the first time we met?” I am part of a group starting a new school this year with NO ART PROGRAM (besides what individual teachers take on themselves).

5.  Michelle: “Going back to school means going back too work for me. Seeing all the children is like coming home again. The excitement in the air is utterly contagious!”

6.  Jennica: “I love the beginning of school because it is a fresh start. I am refreshed, I have new ideas, the students are well rested, and the beginning of school is exciting.”

7.  Kathleen: “My favorite thing about going back to school is the ENERGY!!! I love the energy of a fresh start of a year. Everything starts with a clean slate.”

8.  Claudia: “Going back to school gives me a sense of purpose! I love seeing the students after the summer break, all fresh and ready for new art ideas. As an “older” teacher, it is inspiring to be with the kids, K-8!”

9.  Annemarie Catalano: “My favorite part about going back to school is Possibilities! Who will reach? What will they learn? What will I learn? How will we change each other? I get so excited, and I’m so thrilled to stumble onto this blog. I’m an English teacher but every single assignment I do includes some art component, because 1. I love all things art, and 2. sometimes students need a different way of communicating, and art is it!”

10.  Eva Marina: “We home-school, I can’t wait to get back into our routine. I’m also looking forward for a lot of fun trips I’ve planned.”

11.  Sadie: “I love having an organized desk and clean tempera cale palettes. But then again I love the messy palettes because that means we are making beautiful art!”

12.  Meredith: “I teach my kids at home, and I am grateful for the chance at a fresh start each year. The planning and organizing fills me with a sense of hopefulness!”

13.  Mrs. C: “I’m looking forward to the smiles of my students as they come in the art room door for the first time after a good summer! I miss my Kinders saying,” I missed you! Are we painting!?!”

14.  Christine Garmong: “Getting ready to go back to school is magnificent and joyful. Wow! Trying all the new lessons I found during the summer weeks from MANY art teacher blogs…… Seeing the change and growth of each student, as well as introducing a new group of kindergarters to the wealth of ART. I can’t wait.”

15. Debbie Johnson: “Yesterday I was groaning about going back to school… but that didn’t last long! My favorite part is how I’m always surprised at how excited I get once I break out one of my many school bags & find lesson & fun classroom ideas written on little pieces of paper, all over the place! That’s what happened today! Then I started reading about other art teachers’ ideas for inspiration online, which inspired me to jot down art supplies I’d still like to order, to then researching apps & blogs, to imagining art projects for my students, and then to imagining art projects for myself, Oh My!! Looks like I’ve dived right in without realizing it! Hopefully my students will feel the same way.”

16.  Maricela Mardi Leonard: “The best thing about going back to school, especially fall 2013: I am finally at my dream job! Teaching K-2 ART in the best school, ever! We just started yesterday and I am still walking on clouds!!!”

17.  Genie Holt: “Back to school is much like springtime – the promise of new things, expectations of growth, excitement about possibilities.”

18. Crystal J: “Setting up… then re-arranging, deciding on colors/themes, waiting for tax free weekend, going Pinterest crazy…can’t sleep the night before, meeting 600+ faces rushing by you in the morning, the smiles, oh and the hugs that are always a little too tight…and the thought of walking out that afternoon knowing I will change 680 young artist in the course of 10 months because of all the knowledge and patience I have. 1 of them may change the world and remember me :0)”

19.  Darlene Drummond: “Creating. Inspiring the children to create. These are the reasons I enjoy coming back to school. For the children to think outside the box, to see the world in a different way, and to see the pleasure art brings to them lifts my spirits each day as they step through my door into a place where their minds can explore the many possibilities of creating their own world.”

20. Julie: “I love back to school because it is a fresh start!”