Painting with students was always a bit of a headache for me last year, when I didn't have a more precise method for students to work and no real routine other than "water, sponge, color, paint". I showed them how to use each material, but it was a mess when it came to the water. I had a tray in the back of the classroom, next to the sink, with cups full of water for them to pick up. I found myself spending the whole time refilling these cups, mixed in with cleaning the frequent spill when they had to walk to their tables or go dump the dirty water in the sink.
I knew this didn't work, so I did some research and came across a picture of a teacher who used water pitchers on each table to distribute water and I thought "that is genius". I modified this idea and came up with the system bellow. I enlisted the help of my school team to help with gathering enough containers. I emailed the whole school and asked for various container sizes, from big to small, along with the lids (to use on other art projects). After the first couple of weeks of school I had all the containers I needed and more!
Watercolor set up from CaramelBun
During the first couple of painting lessons I would always start class with the presentation, then as time passed I would just show them the picture bellow and reminded them what each container was for. Big one for dirty water, medium one for clean water, small one for your water. Then I would have them repeat our painting mantra of "water, sponge, color".
After I remind them the painting procedures I give them their jobs for the day. Each chair, on each table, is labeled with numbers from 1-6. Depending on the materials it might be something like this:
- Water person ( in charge of the tray in the middle, fills up clean water cup and student cups)
- Sponge person (picks up sponge tray, takes it to the sink when class is over)
- Tempera Cake Tray Person / Watercolor Tray Person (picks up the trays, takes them back at the end of class)
- Brush person (picks up brushes, places them in the sink for cleaning)
- Paper Person (takes papers to the students on the tables, picks them up at the end of class to place on the drying rack)
- Cleaning person (dries tables at the end of class)
By having a student on each table in charge of the water, I don't have to worry (too much) about spills related to students walking around with cups of water. I gave students responsibility for their use of materials, and they all want to be water person. I let students dump their own dirty water inside the big container, but they must ask Water Person for some clean water, that is after all, their job.
What happens if a table runs out of water? Cue in the "Water Soda Can". I got this last summer at Walmart, it was too cute to resist and I needed a way to separate myself from the sink in order to monitor students.I used to tell students to raise their hand when they needed water, and I would walk around with the "Water Soda Can" but I soon got tired of it. I decided students should be able to get their own water! Now I place it next to the sinks for easy refilling, I place a bucket on the bottom to catch drips, and let the Water Person go get clean water for their table.
After each group leaves I walk around with a big bucket, and collect the dirty water from the tables or else they might over flow. I also wipe clean the cups and make sure the tables have clean water for the next group. I usually show the students a video, at the start of class, related to the project so I can go around resetting tables. Students help a lot by stacking all the small cups together again, and if there's time I tell them to make sure their table has clean water ready for the next class and they help wipe down tables.
If students are using the tempera cakes I place them on the same tray as the sponges, if they are using watercolors, I just place the sponges on the trays by themselves. I'm glad I ordered these smaller tempera cake trays this year, I also have some bigger trays that I think take up more space when I have to sit 5-6 kids on a table. The downside is it's hard to take out the "pucks" from these smaller trays, I tried changing some and it was a pain. I ended up just placing the new "puck" on top of the old one. With smaller classes I use the big trays.
This week I had a class that was painting. They were sandwiched in between two classes that weren't painting, and the space I would normally use for the trays is occupied with a printing station. I have some big lunch trays I ordered this year, so I used them to hold all the cups so I could distribute them faster, and pick them up faster. I just walked around the room and handed out the materials to each table. I liked this system a lot, so I might make it the permanent system for distributing the water supplies.
I actually did a lot of painting lessons this year, and I felt very organized once the kinks were worked out with the new system. Students had clear expectations and after a while, were very independent and understood the system completely. There is more time for them to paint, and there's more time for me to help and monitor now that I don't have to be next to the sink the whole time.
I hope this helps when it comes to painting with students, or at least sparks an idea!
