it starts.

I recently began a new teaching job in MSAD 57 in southern Maine. This year, I have made the switch from teaching high school age students to teaching grades K-6. I spend three mornings per week teaching 5th and 6th grade at Waterboro Elementary and the rest of my week teaching K-6 at Lyman Elementary.

Recently, one of my administrators told me about a different style of teaching Art known as "TAB Choice," or Teaching for Artistic Behavior. After researching on the internet for a good number of hours, I am very excited about the possibilities of this teaching and learning style for my classroom. In a TAB Choice Art class, the students are the artists. The teacher does not come up with specific assignments for the students to complete, instead, they are in control of the subject matter and choice of materials and medium of their work, just as professional artists are. The teacher provides instruction for a brief 5-10 minute period at the beginning of class to introduce a new material center, or to demonstrate a different technique using materials the students are already familiar with. After the instruction, the students may choose to use the new materials or technique and practice that that day, or work on something else. Students are responsible for the care and cleanliness of their studio and know that the consequences of not caring for the materials are the loss of the privilege of using them the following week.

I am going to begin using TAB Choice with a 1st grade and a 5th grade class beginning this coming week. This will give me the chance to figure out what works well for me and my students and iron out all the kinks. The experimental classes will last through the first trimester, at which point, I will evaluate the pros and cons of the method and make a decision of whether it would be educationally valuable to use this method with all of my classes.