Approaching Teacher-Directed Instructional Time in TAB Art Rooms
In a choice-based curriculum, all studio work looks different. It is one of the joys of centering student voice and encouraging neurodivergence. But if everyone is doing something different, how then do you structure communal, teacher-directed “Teacher Time" to meet the needs of all learners? At the beginning of each class, I challenge my artists with an essential question (EQ) based on the overarching concepts in our unit of study (for us, it’s the Studio Habits of Mind). These EQ s are meant to be open-ended in order to encourage discussion and provide multiple outcomes. Sometimes, the EQ connects to a skill-builder; others, it connects to an artist I want to show them for inspiration; it could also connect to a creativity challenge I want to pose to them (some people, including myself, call this "filling the Artist's Toolbox " (the word toolbox is a synonym for the artist's brain ): This approach has helped me focus my “Teacher Time” (which I keep to 5 minu