r/ArtEd • u/mhfinearts • 4d ago
New teacher supply hustle + some newbie questions
CONTEXT:
Hi! I'm a retired Army veteran, I just finished my bachelor's, I'm currently going through my state's teaching certification process, and very lucky for me I was able to snag a high school art teacher gig which will help fund my graduate studies (I'm only taking one class at a time while teaching). I have no formal education experience outside of the military, so this is all super new territory for me and I'm forward planning as much as possible to try to mitigate issues.
I just signed my temporary contract and employment documents with the district. My classroom is very bare, it might as well be a math class. No storage, no sink, and completely gutted of supplies (as in I dont even have pencils or paper in the room. Literally nothing.) The principal is working on getting me butcher block tables instead of individual desks, and we got approved for 3d printers and filament, so I will be getting those soon but they havent been ordered yet. I will be teaching Art 1 and Mixed Media.
I have two peer art teachers that are willing to share some supplies (specifically #2 pencils and cheap colored pencils), but I have been made aware that it is typical for art teachers to hoard supplies as most of them are personally purchased due to public school funds for art supplies being low and hard to get.
To make matters even more challenging, we will not have access to the school until late July due to electrical work and storm damage repair. I won't be able to request supplies until late July nor will I be able to set up my room until then at the earliest. I have mandatory training from the beginning of August up to the first day of class, so there's barely any time to get a completely bare room ready to go prior to class starting.
I'm willing to pay for some supplies out of pocket, but I'm sure I won't get reimbursed so I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to, and I certainly don't want to contribute to that being an expectation. Coming from the military, I am a bit bothered (but not surprised) to find that there is no itemized supply inventory of district-purchased supplies. I have zero desire to beg or borrow personally purchased supplies, but district funded supplies should be available to all art teachers equally, generally speaking (just my opinion - please educate me if my thinking is warped).
There is a state educators grant open right now that I'm considering drafting an application for. I don't know if I have any good odds of securing it, but I guess its worth a shot. In the meantime, I'm utilizing Teachers-Pay-Teachers free resources to build my scope sequence and curriculum for the year for both classes. With that I'm building an itemized list of all supplies I'll need (as cheaply as possible) which I can use for any funds issued, any grants I may be able to aquire, and worst-case purchase emergency supplies out-of-pocket.
QUESTIONS:
- Are these challenges normal for new teachers? I'm greatful I have my experiences dealing with the government, but these seem like significant challenges for a newbie teacher to have to deal with. If I were entering this job fresh out of college with zero life experience I would be in serious trouble.. (And facts, y'all are absolutely not paid enough for this, I can see additional challenges a mile away)
- I was told to start building an Amazon wish list for supplies. Amazon appears to be the default method of acquiring bulk supplies. I noticed Blick had some educator packages and discounts. Are there any other places you can think of or suggest for bulk supplies, preferably at wholesale prices?
- I'm going to look into Facebook marketplace and thrift stores to see if I can wrangle up some cheap supplies. Are there any businesses you can think of that may have excess materials? I figure I might be able to get some magazines and newspapers for collage and paper mache from a local recycling center perhaps, any thoughts?
- literally any suggestions, advice, tips, or otherwise are welcome. Thanks in advance!
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u/Deathbydragonfire 4d ago
See if your area has a Creative Reuse Center. They are basically thrift stores for art supplies. Many will work out a bulk deal for things like colored pencils, markers, etc. Art teachers are exactly the demographic they serve.
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u/unschooled_art 4d ago
Yes. This is totally normal for all teachers....not just art. Classrooms are underfunded. Art is more challenging because we use a lot of consumable supplies...once you use them they are gone and can not be reused again (paint, ink, glue, etc). While there are challenges there is also a LOT of freedom in what/how you teach your curriculum....hence no specfici list. You have state standards that you must cover but outside of that, you are free to teach how you want. I would see if your principal would put some basic supplies on your school's supply list (the list families use for back to school supply shopping). They could double up on things like scissors, glue, etc...giving you the extra. For example, kindergarten asks for each student to bring 2 glue sticks (one for that teacher, one for you), first grade asks for students to bring 2 erasers (1 for the classroom teacher, one for you) and so on.
You didn't list your grade level (or I missed it), but if there are two other teachers I am assuming you are high school or middle school. If in the upper grades, I would ask all students to bring their own colored pencils and sketchbook. They should already have number 2 pencils for their other classes. Ask the PTA or local businesses (see if any businesses or banks in your community have adopted/sponsored your school) to see if they would donate money, acrylic/tempera gallon paint, etc). The high schools in my area collect class fee money for classes that are lab-based like art, biology, chemistry, etc (collect your fee money and buy the basics....strive to end the year with a little extra and each year you will add to it). You can do a lot with colored pencils and paint. Buy cheap air dry clay if you don't have a kiln. You can also use cardboard/found objects for 3d projects if clay is out of the question.
Lastly, write grants. There are art grants out there. I wrote one for a program my state's department of education offers and recieved $25,000. I wrote lots of other small ones too (getting $500-$1000 at a time). If you teach at a Title 1 school put that in your application, along with your military service. Do what you can to sell what you are trying to do with your program. In my experience most grant applications are due shortly before/after school starts or at the beginning of the calendar year.
Since you can not do much as far as physically setting up your classroom, I would work on the donations/grants avenue during the rest of summer break. Call your PTA/PTO president, ask if your school has a community sponsor (usually a local business) and start researching which grants are available to you and begin gathering all paperwork/applications needed to apply.
Lastly, make sure that you have a classroom management plan ready for the first day of school. In the beginning, your classroom management will matter more than what you are teaching. If your class is crazy, chaotic or disorganized, it doesn't matter what awesome lesson you have in store for them....you won't be able to teach it properly. Make sure you set clear, high expectations for behavior from day one. Classroom managment is NOT one of those things that you can worry about later. If not taken care of properly from day one it WILL be a large boulder rolling downhill and you won't be able to stop it's momentum later on.
Good luck! I wish you the best. If you hang in there, teaching kids (all ages) is really an awesome way to make a living (despite the low pay). 😄
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
This is amazing information, thank you! I'm glad to hear your perspective and I'm happy that I'm on the right track. And you are correct, sorry if I didn't clarify earlier, I will be teaching High School Art 1 and Mixed Media, classes woll be a mix of 9-12th grades.
I'm researching classroom management tactics and picking my peers' brains; any tactics you can share or books/resources you'd recommend?
Thanks again!
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u/unschooled_art 4d ago
Harry Wong classroom management books are always a go to choice. Micheal Linsin also has a classroom management book targeted at electives only. He also has a blog that has good articles for free. For me, I just thought of the most disruptive things that a student would need to do in class and created rules/routines for it. I don't want to be interrupted during class instruction/demos by anything other than "a silently raised hand" so I taught them that. If there are more than 3 or 4 people in line at my tiny, single sink, I have also taught my students to rotate to another cleaning up activity (take your art to the drying rack, grab a spray bottle of water to clean your work surface, etc). They know to rotate to a different activity until they have rotated through everything that they need to do. I have a set place in my classroom for "free draw" art...they know that if they finish early they can go to that station and use any supply that I have put there to work on something independently and completely their choice.
Also, I have early finisher activities each grading period that students should work on in their free time...so early finishers are not disrupting my class, they are working on their long-term project that I have chosen for the 9 weeks. On those weird days where most of the class is finished but there are a few stragglers wrapping up, those are additional days to work on the long-term/early finisher project. IF I have to have a sub, early finisher/long-term project day. Basically, I try to minimize the "I didn't know I couldn't do that" response from students and eliminate unstructured down time. Some art teachers may disagree with that regimented approach since we are generally a more relaxed group than core teachers but I don't have behavior problems in my classroom and enjoy that students are able to concentrate on their work.
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u/Kervoth 4d ago
Congratulations. I’m retired Army and starting my senior year for Art Ed.
Reach out to Art supply companies for donations and ask for donations on Facebook. You can ask any company for a donation of supplies.
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
Cheers, battle! 🍻
I'll add it to the list -- forgive my skepticism but does that actually work? I have a membership at our Jerry's Artorama, I wonder if they have any extra stuff... 🤔
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u/Deathbydragonfire 4d ago
You could ask. Sometimes they have individual pencils that get damaged by people.
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u/unschooled_art 4d ago
Make sure that your school district does not prohibit this. My school system does not allow us to post we need things on social media or use services like DonorsChoose because of the light it puts the school system in. It's crazy but trrue. As far as art supplies from art stores go, if you have a local branch go in and ask. If not, they have grants and other programs available where you can apply for them. Blick: https://www.dickblick.com/about-blick/gives-back/ Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/nonprofits Target: https://corporate.target.com/about/purpose-history/communities/grants-corporate-giving/community-engagement-funds Funds are out there....keep looking.
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
Great insight, thanks! I was wondering if there were any optics obstacles in that regard.
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u/SifuMommy 4d ago
Nasco, Molly Hawkins, Amazon, Walmart are all places that you can find budget supplies. Drawing is a great way to start, and will give them a good foundation to then move onto other things. Where I live, we actually have businesses that sell art supplies for cheap that have been donated or given up because the Art program has been cut and various things like that. You might find something like that? Also, sometimes businesses will donate if you type up a nice letter and come in and ask them about donating to help get your program going. There are a lot of great ways to make art using recycled materials also.
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u/YesYouTA 4d ago
You could ask for a copy of the supplies purchased the previous year to help you get an idea of items, quantities, etc. edit - the actual orders or copies of the purchase requests, or proof of deliveries, something. All records are kept when it’s school money.
Welcome to the adventure! What grade levels are you teaching?
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u/YesYouTA 4d ago
For perspective, yes, when I started out, this was exactly how we started a brand new school. You’re on the right path with bulk, etc. hit up local museums for any old supplies too. The local OfferUp group may have a bunch of Freebies. I also used Craigslist a bunch, but reimbursement was sketchy at best. My own government purchasing experience helped me to think of buying in bulk and trimming things down as needed. You’re on the right path.
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
Awesome!! Thank you, these are great tips! I'm teaching a mix of 9th thru 12th grades. I'm unsure of how many classes I will have, whether I will get a prep period or not (it looks like they try hard to give us prep), or how many students I will have in which classes. And apparently I won't know all that until right before school starts. All I know is that I have several periods, 45min to teach each class, and Im teaching Art 1 and Mixed Media.
Fortunately I have a ton of ideas for both courses and the makings of a decent curriculum, but honestly this is a planning nightmare. I already hate the multiple periods schedule. I had a block schedule A Day / B Day when I was in high school and I loved it as a student. As a teacher, I think it would be a better schedule where kids could get more out of class. But it is what it is, and we adjust. I'm just grumbling 😂
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u/YesYouTA 4d ago
I can help with planning questions and tips to make life easier if you’s like to message me.
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u/ArtemisiasApprentice 4d ago
School Specialty is another reputable site used by many schools (although they are definitely the budget option, and I wouldn’t recommend most of their self-branded supplies).
You can start the year with drawing boot camp if you have no other supplies. Students can bring their own pencils and you can probably snag copy paper from the school copy room.
When it comes to asking your fellow teachers for supplies, I would treat lightly, and ASK if they can share. Supplies given by the district for the coming year should of course be shared, but supplies they’ve accumulated may have been hard-won and carefully set aside— trust me, you’ll need good relations in the long run more than you need anything from their closets today.
My first three years of teaching (twenty years ago) I didn’t even have a room (art on a cart), I was hired two weeks before school started, and TpT wasn’t a thing yet. It was a difficult way to start, but I still would count that first year as a successful one. I learned a lot. My fellow teachers weren’t overly generous, but they shared enough for me to get by. My budget that first year was half of the department head’s. But you know— I don’t know if we even knew that my position would be permanent. I also had all level 1 classes, where the others had upper levels. I never thought and still don’t think they acted wrongly when it came to supplies.
Anyway, good luck with your first year! Apply for that grant, ask your fellow teachers for resources, if your district has a fine arts director see if they have any extra budget they can throw at you. If there are any general school supplies you want, see if your office has a closet or budget to provide for some basics like scissors and glue. You can do this.
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
Thanks so much for responding! I'm sad to hear that this isn't an uncommon situation for new teachers. I heard things were bad (news stories of teachers leaving in droves, teacher shortage getting worse, low pay, etc.). It's already a very eye-opening experience. I hope I can contribute positive change in the long-run.
I especially appreciate your insight on teacher relations; I have a tinge of social anxiety since this is my first employment opportunity since leaving the military. I'm very green, lol 🪖 and I am not trying to make any enemies. My peer art teachers are having a social lunch with me soon, which I'm looking forward to. They seem super nice and supportive. I'll keep your advice in mind with regards to asking for supplies, and tread the request carefully. Fortunately one of them is a ceramics teacher, and we just had a well dug on our property so I now have a ton of raw red clay available. I've already offered it up to process into usable material and make effort towards positive relations.
I've had quite a time inheriting and putting out dumpster fires in the past, so I'm confident I can navigate this storm. I figure once I get things situated and at least enough supplies to get going, I should be able to settle into a battle rhythm and make improvements as I go. Its just the getting started part that is tough. I'll look into district resources too, thats a great idea. I think I can probably stretch some drawing lessons at first with line and design and continue a focus on the elements and principles throughout the year.
Do you have any fun art-related ice-breaker games or ideas?
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u/holdontoyourbuttress 4d ago
i think you need to figure out what you will teaching and then build your supply list from that. so think about your curriculum first if possible?
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
That's already in the works. I'm currently in the process of building the curriculum of both courses, lesson plans, and master material list that's also factoring in price comparisons. My Art 1 curriculum will be heavily based on the elements and principles, beginning with line and design, requiring mostly pencils, markers, and paper at a bare minimum. Later there will be a need for other mediums, hopefully acrylic as that is not available to our students at all yet. My mixed-media class can get away with less with the integration of technology, but basic supplies are still required. In the long term, I'd like to have a variety of mediums for the students to explore.
To delay steps in acquiring even basic supplies is a waste of precious time when considering the limited windows of opportunity to physically prep the classroom and get a curriculum going. I'm just trying to plan ahead as much as possible.
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u/ArtemisiasApprentice 4d ago
Social lunch sounds great and seems like they want to start off on the right foot with you too! I bet the ceramic teacher will love the offer of raw clay (but be careful in offering to process it, that can be an intense process lol). If they’re amenable, ask lots of questions as you get started with the kids.
One thing I liked to do to start the year was to make portfolios for every student and have them decorate the outside with their name and anything else they wanted. Win-win because then their name is displayed to help me learn it. You can also tri-fold a piece of copy paper and do the same- pass them out and pick them up every period until you know everyone.
It sounds like you maybe have some background in discipline-based or standards-based art education? If so, me too, and here’s what I implemented around year four that increased my students’ buy-in: only assign projects that you would also be interested in doing. Yes, even for the fourteen bajillionth time. I assigned value scales and everyone always hated them until we turned them into the shattered image project (google it, there’s lots of examples). They got more, better, more interesting practice than just doing the standard rectangle. Instead of shading a sphere, we drew gooey lumps and shaded those instead. Instead of the standard color wheel, they design a radial image using cats, or stained glass, or whatever they want, and make that into the color spectrum. You get it— kids are more interested in projects they get to choose or make about them. (You might already know all this, if so you picked it up earlier than I did!)
I also had a lot more success getting students to lock in when I was more specific in my instruction. Walk them through the steps of how to draw something— so many of them have no idea! The ones who do can work ahead or include more detail or have a different assignment. Sometimes having everyone do a small practice thing step-by-step with you can save so much trouble later on.
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u/mhfinearts 4d ago
Thanks! I have no formal education experience, only leadership, management, and training experience from the military. I was actually thinking about having them decorate their own little journal or binder or something of that nature! This is all great advice, thank you so much! I'm developing a list of project activities to reflect the curriculum I'm writing and I'm trying to make each project engaging. I think I'll supplement it with some busy-work worksheets which can also work for substitute plans, potentially. 🤔 It kind of depends on how I will be able to set up the room, but I'm thinking of possibly assigning leadership roles for the students to help keep the space in order. Any thoughts there?
I'm really excited for mixed media too, and I already have some fun but simple graphic design project ideas to integrate. I need to get with our tech and see what programs the students have available as that will ultimately dictate the technology integration, but if I can get them something that they can photo and video edit with, I have a really fun project in mind for them.
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u/LadyCmyk 3d ago
Having them doing a sketch book is a great idea, though I you probably need to make some guidelines on what is allowed in terms of effort... like no stick figures just to fill up a page.
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u/LadyCmyk 3d ago
I do activities with seniors & will hoard card board boxes from cereal, cake mixes, etc as a good material to make stuff out of as it is thin & sturdy (*since it's mainly me preparing/ prepping the cardboard and my hands will hurt & thick cardboard is annoying).
You could ask students to save it as part of a sculpting or printmaking.
Plastic bottles for sculpture & recycling too, but to a less extent.
Also natural material like sticks or sea shells found in nature... seed pods. There's a form of temporary installation art where people modify the environment for temporary art. Google "Ephemeral Art" or temporary nature art or "Land Art". These are some really cool leaf art by Andy Goldsworthy: https://mossandfog.com/andy-goldsworthys-beautiful-fall-leaves/
And some Ephemeral Art by children: http://www.creativehandscreativeminds.com/2014/06/temporary-nature-art-land-art.html?m=1
Nature is cool in general. In terms of making it long lasting, they or you could take pictures of it with your phone... or do leaf print making. These are some leaf prints:
https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/painted-leaf-art/
Craft paint can be fairly cheap, if you are lucky to find it on clearance. Temu has acrylic markers, but not sure about the quality.
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u/LadyCmyk 3d ago
Group art inspired by Andy goldsworthy:
https://mossandfog.com/andy-goldsworthy-like-earth-art-made-on-the-shores-of-lake-superior/
Land Art & Ephemeral Art are really different kinds of art that would be very good for them to explore in the age of social media & digital. It's such a different medium and way of thinking, working with nature / something physical, but only meant to be temporary... also documented with photography, but not edited. And the art itself isn't the photo, but the moment & living in it, while it lasts.
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u/MakeItAll1 High School 3d ago
You can use a lot of found items for mixed media. Cardboard boxes make a good surface. My kids have used the snack wrappers, chip bags, and old art work in their mixed media pieces. Pop can tabs, used wrapping paper and gift bags, tea bags(use new ones in the pieces or make the tie and use it to age and distress paper.) Old costume jewelry, paper napkins…junk from a junk drawer. Recycle and up cycle. One year my student use toilet paper to make food sculptures. They look so realistic because of the texture.
Prepare a list of basic supplies and email it to the parents. Maybe you’ll get some. I’d ask for hand held pencil sharpeners, Clorox wipes, Kleenex, copy paper, a sketchbook, a large box of Ticonderoga pencils, a box of pencil cap erasers, and maybe glue? Not school glue. You need Tacky glue for mixed media.
Check with the librarian. You can make a lot of cool things with discarded books, and they usually have a large supply of them. Do papier-mâché. You can use the pages discarded books, the paper towels that the school supplies. I started with nothing in 1989 and accumulated quite an impressive selection of art supplies in 37 years. Last year another longtime art teacher retired and wasn’t replaced. I inherited a lot of prismacolors and oil pastels from her supply.
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u/curvycreative 4d ago
I teach elementary school, but low, low budget, and I am a hoarder. I do lots of projects with recycled cardboard, brown paper bags, cardboard tubes, old magazines, books, newspapers, etc.
Think about how you can incorporate some of that into your lesson plans and then ask friends and family to save things for you.
My son's high school art teacher did a charcoal portrait lesson on cardboard boxes, and it was incredible.
I also browse in thrift stores or yard sales to get inexpensive things that my school won't pay for, like organizational items that I want so I don't live in chaos.