During my second round of facilitating my Teaching Art 101 e-course, a group of us were discussing organization in the art room. Just like most of the class participants, I struggled with sorting piles and piles of artwork.
One gal piped up and said she used ordinary clothespins clipped to stacks of art projects to help separate classes. Isn’t that genius? Maybe you heard of this tip before or maybe you learned it from her, but whoever thought of this idea deserves a medal.
But lazy me didn’t implement the clothespins until this Fall. I vowed I would be more organized this year so I got out this great little mini-set of acrylic paints that I received from a vendor at the NAEA convention and painted my collection of clothes pins. I used 7 different colors for seven grade levels.
Once dry, I placed the bunch in a tray along with a sharpie marker and set beside my drying racks in the art room. I tacked up a clothes line to the wall and clipped colored clothespins to the string. When a group of paintings were placed on the drying rack, I wrote the name of the teacher plus grade level on the clothespin and then clipped the pin to the bottom of the stack. This way when I have two or more classes creating the same projects, I won’t get confused as to which painting belongs to which class. It does help to stack the artwork on separate racks. I have 4 small racks in my art room and each class takes up one rack plus a bit of overflow.
It’s the overflow that always causes me sorting problems. So this is where I add most of the pins.
Have you tried clothespins in your classroom? How do you use them? Share your ideas!
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I hot glued thumbtacks to the back of about 1200 clothspins to hang art on bulletin boards without putting holes in the art or damaging it. I give it mixed reviews. Because of the smooth surface of the tacks, they pop off of the pins pretty easily. They work if you have a gentle touch!!
Such a good idea. I’m sure it looks colorful and cute, too!
I Keep the classes in a “folder” that I made using 2 poster boards. I tape two together and fold them like a folder. I label each class on each folder. I insist for the kids to put their grade and room number on the back of their work. Once the pieces are dry from the dryer rack, they are placed in the folder. When my classroom was remoled they made drawer large enough to hold the folders. Before, I just stacked the folders in order of the week, keeping the “classes of the day” on top.
I use the method of if it is not named by child with class number on it and on the front and bottom neatly ( Like a famous artist.),, it has the ability of finding it’s way to the bin. Well not really but the kids soon get the message . I get the students to monitor whether it has name etc on it before it is put on the racks. I also clear the rack if all dry and grade it if finished on the day, putting it away in class storage box in readiness for yearly art show. All art work goes home as a portfolio of work for the year. Also have a set of class shelves which I place unfinished art work in.I always ensure that my class lists indicate the absentees and uncompleted projects.this stops students and myself second guessing if they did it or not.
At the end of the day or sometimes the beginning of the day I collect all dry art and put together classes by clipping onto a 8 1/2 x 14 clipboard that has teacher’s name on it. Then I slip the clip board into a drying rack. I have clipboards organized my first to last classes of the week. Having all the art work clipped on a board and somewhat organized helps keep my room tidy and my mind less cluttered.
I am adding clothespins to my list of changes for art. I am not good at being organized. Thank you.