Hello teachers! For many of you, we are on summer break! Most of us take the time to chill out and catch up on our PDs and make time for our own art. Some, like me, continue to teach summer classes. For the past few years, I've offered summer classes at a local art studio. Some have been successful, while others were low attendance. If you're interested in offering classes over the summer, I would like to offer some advice with planning and prepping.
1. Plan your projects in advance. I find that picking and choosing classes can be very tricky while you're heavily involved during the school year, but the earlier you plan what you wish to teach, the better prepared you are for your classes. If you're working with a studio, park district, or gallery, your collaborator would also want your class descriptions to plan their next few months as well. Park districts especially want their classes listed a few months in advance in order to notify the community of upcoming events.
2. Prep your materials in advance. If you're borrowing non-consumables (like brayers or brushes) from your classes, make sure to pack them up and return them once you're done in the beginning of the school year. I normally create a checklist before closing up my room and return everything when I head back to set up in August.
3. Prep your examples in advance. My summer art classes normally take about two hours each day, so projects are more involved than my 40-minute classes during the school year. As your first year teaching summer classes, you may be spending quite a bit of time creating al the examples, but over time, you will find yourself creating fewer since you may be repeating projects.
4. Decide what you want to charge. Most paint party classes range from $25-$35 for a two hour class, which covers materials, space rental fees, and a little for you to cover your time (or babysitter). It's good to try and keep a consistent amount so parents know what they can spend.
5. Figure out what time you wish to offer your class. Classes can be offered any time throughout the day, depending on when you're available. I was only able to do morning classes, and our studio owner held afternoon classes. We've discovered that it really depends on when parents are available to bring their children in, so sometimes I have full classes and other times I have 2-3 students.
6. Don't overdo yourself! Remember this is your break too! Teaching summer classes is a great way to explore new lesson options with multiple age levels. It can be fun to teach to a different crowd, but remember not to overdo yourself.
Have fun with your summer classes and PDs!
Here are a few successful classes I've offered in the past!
This post is a part of The Art Ed Blogger's Network: Monthly Tips and Inspiration from Art Teacher Blogs. On the second Tuesday each month, each of these art teacher blogs will post their best ideas on the same topic.
Participating Art Teacher Blogs:
- Art Class Curator
- Art Ed Guru
- Art is Basic
- Art Room Blog
- Art Teacher Tales
- Art with Mr. E
- Arte a Scuola
- Brava Art Press
- Artful Artsy Amy
- Capitol of Creativity
- Create Art with ME
- MiniMatisse
- Mona Lisa Lives Here
- Mr. Calvert's Art Room Happenings
- Mrs. Boudreaux's Amazing Art Room
- Mrs. T's Art Room
- Ms. Nasser’s Art Studio
- Party in the Art Room
- shine brite zamorano
- Tales from the Traveling Art Teacher
- There's a Dragon in my Art Room
- 2 Art Rooms
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