A System for Creating Smooth Transitions from Project to Project
“I’m finished, now what?”. I’m sure every one of you has had the overwhelming swarm of students draw near as they proudly shout this phrase across the room. If you are sick of students rushing through a lesson just to sit around and socialize, you need to try this system for transitioning smoothly from project to project.
I remember when I first started teaching I got really bad anxiety towards the end of each unit. I’d think to myself, “What are we going to do next?”, “What do I do with the students who finish early?”, “How do I introduce the next unit?”. Luckily a teacher friend shared what he did to help make the transition from project to project a little easier and I have been using this system ever since!
First, always make your project is due at the end of class on the day that it is due. That way students have some class time to add finishing touches and finalize their work before they turn it in. It also allows for something I like to call “flex time”. This is time during which students can work on finishing up the current project or start working on the next project.
I usually wait until most of the class is about 75% of the way finished with the current project when I introduce the next unit. I make sure the students know at the beginning of class not to get their materials out yet so I can have their full attention for my explanation.
Once I have the class’ full attention, I show a slide show introducing the next unit, or next assignment, to the class. During this time I share the main objective, student/teacher/artist exemplars, and some information about getting started on the preliminary work like sketches and/or brainstorming. I try not to talk longer than 10-15 minutes as I have found students pretty much tune me out after that.
After I share the information about the next project, I give the students “flex time”. What that means is that students have uninterrupted time to work in the studio on whatever they need to get done. The students that are finished with the current project start on the preliminary work for the next project and students that are still working on the current project have time to work on that.
The next day, I show a little more about the next steps for the new project at the beginning of class and then I give more flex time for the remainder of the period. This system really helps with early finishers and helps prevent students from having idol time with nothing to do. Students always have something to work on which is great for behavior management. It also shows students that we are continuing to move full steam ahead and if they mess around they will get left behind.
I have tried this system with both my middle and high school classes and it has really helped. So the next time you are nearing the end of a unit, implement this system and I promise the transition will go much more smoothly!
*If you are interested in the project that I am currently introducing to my year 3 middle school art students, check out my best selling cardboard sculpture unit here!
Happy Teaching!
Christine
