Primary Painters: The Making of an Art Room

Hello! My name is Ms. B, and I decided to start this blog to document
my journey as an elementary school art teacher. Working as a Pre-K teacher was a blast, but I am finally beginning my dream job! I was accepted as an art teacher for a K-2 school, and was fortunate enough to be given the most beautiful room to use. I thought that I'd share my process of making this room (in my opinion ☺) the best room in school.

The school I am working at is located on the 3rd floor above a church, which means a LOT of stairs. My room is on the only one on the second floor, and this is the view outside my classroom.

So, my initial reaction to the room was that it was PERFECT. It has gorgeous high windows and pastel geometric designs painted over every wall. However, there was a lot of work to be done. I knew I had a smart board coming, and the 4 chalkboards wouldn't be necessary. There were also a few holes in the wall that needed to be covered.

The holes were fixed by using foam board painted the same color as the walls and some seriously strong tape.

I used foam presentation boards and strong tape to cover up the super old blackboards. After covering them with some bulletin board paper, they look like they were meant to be display boards! The foam board allows me to easily staple into it too.

I found this shelving unit in the hallway at school. After making sure no one else needed it, the director gave me permission to use it for my room. It will be perfect to store accessible supplies!

My elements of art displayed my friend Frida Kahlo.

My school requires us to have a word wall in each room.

I'm sure every kid will wonder what exciting things are in this fancy prize box!

Students' tables are each assigned a color to help keep things organized. I found colorful aprons for the student to use. Taking the one that corresponds with their table color will help keep the students from fighting over who gets which one.

This is my "Let's make smART choices" board! Each class gets a colored crayon at the end of class for good behavior. Once they get all the colors of the color wheel, everyone gets to go to the prize box! I thought about rewarding them with a party, but I see my classes twice a week, and they will be getting a full crayon box at least once a month (I hope!)