5 Smart Strategies to Maximize Your Art Teacher Professional Life

Being a great art teacher doesn’t always start in the art room—it can begin the moment you wake up and even sneak into your wildest teaching dreams at night! But being a healthy art teacher means setting up boundaries to protect your time, energy, and creative joy. When you intentionally organize your life around your priorities, you dedicate space to recharge and fully enjoy all that life has to offer outside of school. Take time now to set yourself up for success, both in and out of the studio, so you can step into your best personal and professional year yet!

Work smarter, not harder, with the five tips below to maximize your art teacher life.

The Art of Ed’s Community Engagement Team is here to help you conserve your art teacher energy. We share our top curated picks to help you manage your time at home and at school so you can truly flourish!

1. Put on your best art show yet with one step of prep per month.

Art shows are our Super Bowl—it’s the culmination of a year of fabulous artmaking, curated for the world to see! You’re probably familiar with the many hours of work it takes outside of the traditional school day to get displays ready to go. But did you know it doesn’t have to be like that?

Get your afternoons, evenings, and weekends back this spring with a little organization ahead of time. Check out how elementary art teacher Sarah Krajewski and high school art teacher Jenn Russell take one small step each month to make their end-of-year show a spectacular breeze! They break down what tasks they knock out each month and share insider tips, tricks, and hacks to save your valuable sanity, enlist support, and advocate for you.

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2. Do a mindful breathing exercise to reset during transitions.

There are days when you feel frazzled—you’re running around cleaning up spills, searching for lost artwork, and trying to grab everyone’s attention before the bell rings. Don’t let these days become the norm! Protect your stress levels with something as simple as taking a deep breath. It’s quick, it’s free, and most importantly of all, it’s recentering.

Whenever you have a transition, take a few seconds or a few minutes to reset. The transition can be moving from independent studio time to clean up, switching classes, sitting down to lunch, or getting out of your car before entering chaotic family life. Take a short, mindful break like desk yoga to find pockets of peace in your day. Discover simple exercises through short videos and other exclusive Wellness resources in The Art of Ed Community.

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3. Prepare for evaluations with a reflective and open mindset.

A big part of your professional life is managing evaluations and observations. While it can be a lot of work regarding paperwork and meetings, the most impactful shift you can make is to “reorganize” your attitude and approach. Most administrators don’t expect to see a perfect teacher—they want to see someone who is open to improving and refining.

Shift your mindset from evaluations as “corrective tests” that are scary and stressful to opportunities to advocate for your program and gain other perspectives. Take ownership of the process and proactively partner with your administrator. For example, invite them to pop in if your students are doing something exciting, even if it’s not during a scheduled classroom visit. Pick their brain and ask them questions about how they would handle a specific situation or student. When you invest in the process in these ways, you build confidence and remove the pressure.

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4. Clearly define your boundaries with a policy document.

As an art teacher, requests from colleagues are never-ending. Can you make a poster for me? I need you to teach a cross-curricular lesson next week about ancient Egypt. Do you have some orange paint I can borrow? While the vast majority of our coworkers mean well, fielding so many requests can be mentally and emotionally draining and impact our ability to carry out our designed curriculum.

This year, set yourself up for success by explicitly outlining your policies for common scenarios. Clearly stating your boundaries helps others know what to expect and what types of requests are acceptable under various circumstances. Start by identifying the most challenging interpersonal parts of your job. Set clear and firm expectations around each, much like you’d do for your students. Distribute it to your colleagues and follow through when situations arise. 

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5. Find one new thing to explore!

Pushing yourself to explore something new can really reignite a passion for creating and give you fresh ideas. Plus, it won’t just expand your skill set; it’ll also allow you to experience what your students do. It’s good for us to step back into the role of a learner because it reminds us of the vulnerability and excitement that come with trying something new for the first time. It’s also a great way to model adaptability and experimentation for students!

When you discover a new material, tool, or process that you’re excited about, it’s contagious. Introduce your newfound passion with your students and get them hooked, too! Trying new things keeps you relevant and motivated, and it also boosts student engagement and connection. It unlocks fresh artists, activities, and lessons to add to your curriculum, growing you as both a professional artist and teacher.

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Being an art teacher is both inspiring and demanding, which is why working smarter, not harder, is the key to making the most of your professional life. With small yet intentional steps, you will not only get your teacher responsibilities done with excellence, but you will also have a fulfilling life outside of school. Check one thing off your art show to-do list every month, set up firm boundaries with colleagues, or pick a novel artmaking supply to fuel your joy. Whatever you choose, invest with purpose so you can thrive at home and in the art room!

What are your best tips for juggling your personal and professional life as an art teacher?

To chat about managing your professional life with other art teachers, join us in The Art of Ed Community!

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