Classroom Management

Piktochart: A Cool Tool to Keep Your Art Room Running Smoothly

Cleaning up in the art room is inevitable. It doesn’t matter if you teach High School or Kindergarten, there are messes to be made, and therefore, messes to be cleaned up! Managing this less-structured time can make or break you as an art teacher.

That’s why, when we find out about a cool tool like Piktochart, we want to shout it from the rooftops! If you haven’t heard of Piktochart, you really must check it out. Piktochart is an amazing online design tool that allows you to create your own infographics with ease.

Take a look at this cleanup map that student Jon Taft created in our online class Managing the Art Room.

 

piktochart clean up map
In this assignment, students are inspired to create their own visual aides to assist with an aspect of clean up in the art room. It could be as simple as a sign to put by the pencil sharpener, a more comprehensive clean-up map, like those seen in this post from “The Teaching Palette,” or even a detailed step-by-step visual process for cleaning brushes by the sink. Each participant chooses if he or she wants to make the map by hand, on the computer or a use a little of both.

Jon discovered that Piktochart provided the perfect solution for him to craft this exceptional example.

Inspired by Jon’s work, I decided to try out Piktochart for myself and was blown away by the possibilities. Although there is a paid version that offers an astounding array of choices, the free version has enough features to create some truly dynamite visuals. The platform is extremely intuitive and took me just a few minutes to figure out. You can start with a pre-designed template or create your own.

Rather then tell you some of the cool uses this could have for your art room, let me show you!

 

Piktochart in the Art Room

Cool, right!? I hope you click on over and check it out. Be warned, it’s fun, so save it for a time when you have a few minutes to spare!

How do you create signage for your classroom?

Would you consider using something like Piktochart in your room?

Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amanda Heyn

Amanda Heyn is AOEU’s Director of K–12 PD & Media and a former AOEU Writer and elementary art educator. She enjoys creating relevant and engaging professional development just for art teachers.

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