The May Mailbag: Student Frustration, Classroom Cleanup, and End-of-Year Sanity (Ep. 516)

It’s the first Tuesday of May, which means it’s time for the Art Ed Radio Mailbag! Host Tim Bogatz is joined by Amanda Heyn for a jam-packed episode full of practical advice and a few laughs along the way. This month’s mailbag covers some of the most common challenges art teachers face as the school year winds down.

Tim and Amanda tackle how to support students who get frustrated when their work doesn’t match their vision, how to teach and maintain effective cleanup routines for paint and clay, end-of-year survival tips for first-year teachers, and how to keep your classroom culture strong without losing structure as spring fever sets in. They also answer a question from a brand-new high school art teacher starting a program from scratch, with plenty of creative supply suggestions.

Full episode transcript below.

Resources and Links

• • • Join the Art of Ed Community and find the May Giveaways!
    • 40 End of the Year Cleanup Jobs for Your Students
    • 7 End of the Year Checklists for the Art Room
    • A Complete List of Supplies for Your New Art Room

Transcript

Tim: Hello and welcome, everyone, to the first Tuesday in May. And as always on the first Tuesday, we do the mailbag episode. Welcome to the May Mailbag! With me is Amanda Heyn. Amanda, how are you?

Amanda: I am great, how are you?

Tim: I am thrilled to be recording a mailbag episode with you — that always makes for a good day. Let’s start with introductions, because people always find us through the mailbag episode. If you’re listening for the first time, welcome! My name is Tim Bogatz. I work for The Art of Education University as a podcast host here on Art Ed Radio, every Tuesday. I also help put on the Art Ed Now Conference, which happens twice per year. I started my career as an elementary art teacher, then taught for a long time at the secondary level, and I’ve now been working full-time for The Art of Ed for ten years. Amanda?

Amanda: I’m Amanda Heine. I’m the Director of Community Engagement at The Art of Education University, where I get to run the amazing team that creates all the media content you see — podcasts, YouTube, the magazine, the NOW Conference, and the Art of Ed Community. Prior to my time at AOEU, I was an elementary art teacher.

Tim: You mentioned the Art of Ed Community — I noticed your pitch went up a little because you’re so excited! We have so many cool things going on in May. Tell us what’s happening.

Amanda: It is Teacher Appreciation Month, in case you didn’t know — which I’m sure you did, because maybe you got a pack of gum from your district.

Tim: We used to get a full-size candy bar. Better than what a lot of teachers get!

Amanda: Full size! I distinctly remember getting a little note that said “Thanks for going the extra mile” — and it was gum. Just don’t get me anything if that’s what it’s going to be. But now, in my role, I get to decide what we do for Teacher Appreciation Month in the Art of Ed Community, and it is more than gum. We are giving away something every single day in the month of May. If you haven’t come in yet this month, there is still plenty of time. We have items from sponsors including Sculpey, Wacom, Blick, Royal Brush, and Artsonia — not to mention goodies from AOE itself, including a free year of Flex and Pro, Art Ed Now conference passes, art supplies, and more. We’re even giving away cash at our events. Over $1,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs. Sign in to the community at community.theartofeducation.edu and look for the yellow icon in the left-hand menu — that’s all the May giveaways. Just follow the directions to enter. Of course, we also have our monthly events. Tim, can you tell people where they can connect with us?

Tim: Absolutely. I want to start with Lunch Bunch because it is my favorite. Every month we host Lunch Bunch on a Friday at 11:30 a.m. Central. We hang out, we eat lunch, we talk about art teaching, and we talk about whatever else comes up. It’s a casual half-hour hangout. If that lines up with your lunch period, we would love to have you there. If it doesn’t — totally understandable given time zones and school schedules — it is recorded, so you can always watch it later.

Art Club is coming up on May 14th, a Thursday evening at 6 p.m. Central. Anjali Wells is going to be the guest. She presented at the Art Ed Now Conference in February and did an amazing job talking about why mindfulness is so important and how we can incorporate it into our classrooms. Art Club will follow a similar theme — she’ll be leading a watercolor session. Grab your watercolor supplies and come hang out!

Then May 20th is Pop-Up Studio — another opportunity to come hang out and bring whatever you’re working on. It’s a great time to see what other people are doing and get some creating in. We would love to see you at any of these events. Amanda, anything else before we get to the questions?

Amanda: I have a great story from AOE Impact Week in April. We go out and volunteer in art rooms for a day, which makes my heart so happy. I switched out bulletin boards, organized a closet, and even participated in a fire drill — which, I don’t get to do those anymore, so genuinely exciting.

But the real story happened in the teachers’ lounge. I was eating lunch with two art teachers when one of them started talking about her child’s school. She mentioned not wanting her kindergartner to nap on the floor. Fair enough. But then she said, “What really takes the cake is my sixth grader came home and told me there’s a communal tub of Vaseline in their classroom for kids with chapped lips.”

Tim: No, thank you.

Amanda: I was aghast! I don’t even have a communal Vaseline tub for my own family. And just think about sixth-grade hands going in and out of that tub — and then it just sits there. I was laughing so hard. I don’t think any of our listeners have a communal tub of Vaseline in their classroom. I didn’t think that would be a thing.

Tim: I would love to hear from anyone who does — and please explain why. Good intentions, I’m sure, but communal Vaseline is a bridge too far for me. Also, the kindergartners are doing way worse things than laying on the floor, so that part doesn’t bother me at all.

Amanda: Very true. Quick update from last month: the puppet my son was making is about 78% done and will never be finished. He’s moved on. We made an origami ship-in-a-bottle and are now working on a Spider-Man wrist contraption. The puppet is not done, but we are done with the puppet.

Tim: Done but not finished. I love it. On my end — my pollinator garden is going wonderfully. Year four, and the plants have filled in so completely that weeds can’t even come up anymore. I just go outside and stare at it. Nothing to do but enjoy it.

Amanda: I wish I could say the same. Half my tulips came up with no flowers this year — just leaves — and I have no idea why. And on top of that, poison ivy has grafted itself onto one of my rose bushes and is growing right out of the trunk. I think I have to dig the whole thing out, and I’ve already texted my garden friend to ask if she knows anyone I can pay to deal with it.

Tim: We’re wishing you luck on the flowers and on finding someone brave enough to tackle that rose bush. Alright, on to the questions. Amanda, would you like to give us the official start?

Amanda: Let’s open up the mailbag!

Tim: Our first question is from Jerry in South Dakota. Jerry asks: “How do you handle it when a kid doesn’t like their art? I know not everything is going to turn out perfect, but I have kids who get really upset when their work doesn’t look how they imagined. I try to talk through it with them, but they have trouble handling their emotions and they never want to go back and fix it or try to make it better. What is the best way to deal with this?”

Amanda: I think this is one of the trickiest scenarios to manage in the classroom, because it’s not a simple behavioral issue. This is a kid who desperately wants to do a good job and falls apart when they don’t think it’s happening. For me, it happened most often around fourth and fifth grade, when kids start comparing themselves to each other and their skills are all over the place.

A few things I did: First, I stopped showing finished teacher examples, because certain kids hold that up as the holy grail of what they should achieve — and that’s not a fair standard when you have decades more experience than they do. Instead, I would demonstrate just the step we were doing that day, starting from scratch, or work on an unfinished piece and get input from the kids as I went. It shifts the focus from “here’s the perfect finished product” to “here’s the process we’re doing together.”

Second, I would intentionally model making mistakes during demos and narrate my problem-solving out loud: “Oh no, I made the head too small — good thing I was drawing lightly, I’ll just erase it.” Or, “I used permanent marker by mistake — can anyone help me turn this into a happy accident?” Watching their teacher make and recover from mistakes normalizes the experience.

And sometimes, I would let them start over. I know there’s often a one-paper rule for budget reasons — absolutely understood. But can they flip the paper over? Cut off a portion and work smaller? Sometimes a fresh start is the quickest, easiest way over the hump.

Tim: The core of the issue is the gap between what a kid imagines and what they’re able to execute — and that gap is genuinely frustrating. I always try to validate the feeling first: “This is frustrating, and that’s a totally normal part of building your skills.” Then I find something specific that is working and point it out, or give them one small, concrete fix to focus on. Redirecting from the big picture to one manageable detail can make a real difference.

It’s also worth asking yourself whether this is primarily a skill issue or a perfectionism issue. If it’s skill-based, that’s a teaching moment. If it’s perfectionism — which is especially common in fourth and fifth grade — the conversation shifts to mindset: everyone makes mistakes, including professional artists. And at the middle and high school level, putting more emphasis on planning, sketches, and brainstorming before students touch their final materials can head off a lot of this frustration before it starts.

Tim: Our next question is from Olivia in Maryland: “I’m a first-year middle school art teacher and I’ve been making a list of all the things I want to do better next year. At the top right now is how we clean up. Sixth grade is working on clay and seventh and eighth grade are doing paint. I feel like I spend more of my day cleaning up after them than I do teaching. How do you ensure that kids are washing brushes properly and not leaving globs of clay on the tables?”

Amanda: Great question! And great job making that reflection list. One proactive tip before we get into cleanup strategies: think about staggering your projects so only one grade at a time is working with a very messy material, while your other grades are working with something more manageable. It may not always be possible, but as you build your curriculum map for next year, it can significantly reduce your daily supply management burden.

Tim: That was my first thought when I read the question. Having one grade on clay and another on paint simultaneously is a lot. If one class is doing acrylics, maybe another class is doing pencil drawings or something lower-maintenance. You can always help yourself by being intentional about what materials are in use at the same time.

Amanda: Now for cleanup itself: explicitly teach cleanup skills, step by step. We don’t usually think about this as something that needs to be instructed intentionally — but it does. My second year of teaching, I forgot to show kindergartners how to use sponges. I just said “wipe down your tables” — and my room turned into a giant slip-and-slide. They were soaking the sponges without wringing them out and carrying them dripping across the room. Hilarious and terrible, and I never made that mistake again.

If we take painting as an example: what do students need to know? How to carry water cups to the sink without spilling, how to dump the water, how to wash brushes without damaging the bristles, how to store brushes, how to clean a palette without spraying paint water everywhere, how to use the drying rack, and how to wipe down their table. That’s seven or eight distinct skills — second nature to us, but not to a sixth grader. Break them down and teach them one at a time. Maybe students use paper plates instead of palettes while they’re learning to rinse their water cups. Build toward the full routine gradually.

Tim: Older students are very good at not doing things they don’t have to do, so accountability matters. That might mean checking tables before class ends, or assigning a cleanup captain at each table. And when kids still leave brushes in the sink or skip steps — reteach it at the start of the next class. It’s frustrating, but if you are consistent from the start of the year, students will understand that cleanup is simply part of what happens in your class. And once they have it down, you genuinely don’t have to clean anything yourself. That’s the goal.

Amanda: And if you have a projector or smartboard, posting the cleanup steps so students can self-check is a great tool too.

Tim: Our next question is from Erin, also a brand-new teacher: “I’m about two months away from finishing my first year of teaching elementary art. I’m trying to wrap my head around everything I need to do at the end of the year. When do I start taking things down and putting stuff away? Do I change my lessons? Do I have kids help with the put-away? I have so many things I don’t know — any advice is welcome.”

Amanda: Great question, and good for you for thinking about this now. Because this covers so much ground, I want to point you to a fantastic article: 7 Easy End-of-the-Year Checklists to Take You From Final Grades to Party Time by Andrea Wildarchek. It comes with a printable checklist and breaks the end of the year into seven categories: student-centered tasks, classroom tasks, supplies, technology, administrative tasks, self-reflection, and self-care. If it’s your first year, use it as a starting point and choose what feels manageable.

Tim: I’d start with the classroom and the supplies — those feel most overwhelming and are easiest to involve students in. Self-reflection and self-care can wait until the bigger tasks are done. But do what works for your own mindset.

Amanda: For when to start putting things away — I honestly started as soon as something was no longer needed. If I knew we were done with oil pastels for the year, the kids sorted and boxed them up right away. I also sent artwork home as students finished it throughout the year, rather than saving everything for a big end-of-year portfolio. Get it out the door as it’s completed, and you’ll have much less to manage in May.

Tim: Same with supplies — pack things away as soon as you think you’re done with them. If you end up needing those markers back out for two days at the very end, that’s fine. And don’t be afraid to ask classroom teachers for help distributing artwork. Most are happy to take five minutes to pass things out at the end of the day.

Amanda: Do I have kids help? Absolutely yes — and we have a whole article with 40 cleanup jobs students can do. My favorites are tasks that need zero supervision: testing markers, sharpening pencils, scrubbing tables, cleaning sinks. Even first graders can do a lot. I personally didn’t have students handle actual artwork, but there is so much else they can help with — and they love it.

Tim: At the secondary level, put the list on the board and let students self-direct. Ask students one-on-one if you need more volunteers — most will say yes. As for changing lessons: I wouldn’t make any dramatic curriculum changes. Toward the last few weeks, plan things that are simpler and shorter, because schedules get chaotic. But you don’t need to overhaul what you’re doing — just be ready to adapt.

Tim: Our next question is from Kiana in Arizona: “Throughout most of the school year, the vibes in my classroom could not have been more perfect. But we’re starting to get a little more crazy now that the weather is turning nicer. How do I keep the vibes impeccable without being too mean and without letting the room turn into chaos?”

Amanda: We love an art room with impeccable vibes! But good vibes have to be paired with structure, or students will start pushing boundaries. The vibes are what make students want to show up and do good work — that matters enormously. But there’s a real trap, especially for newer teachers, of sliding into a dynamic where students see you more as a friend than a teacher. Kids actually appreciate structure and clear expectations, even if they don’t say so. There is nothing mean about setting and maintaining boundaries in the art room.

If you haven’t laid out clear expectations yet, now is the time. What should class look and sound like at the beginning, during work time, and at the end? What do transitions look like? Being explicit about those things — and reinforcing them consistently — gives students the clarity they need to meet your expectations.

Tim: Structure gives kids a framework to relax inside of — that’s how you maintain great classroom culture without losing control. Build structure first, then let the warmth fill in around it. If things are already starting to drift, you have to decide how much is too much before it affects the learning environment for other students. Some students thrive in a free-flowing space; others really need structure. If the chaos is overriding the learning for quieter kids, that’s not working for anyone — and it’s okay to rein things in, even if it feels stricter than usual. That’s not mean. That’s what your students need.

Tim: Our final question comes from the Art of Ed Community: “I recently accepted a position teaching high school art and I’m starting the program from scratch. I just got my budget. What are some essentials you like in your classroom that I might not think of? I have paper, scissors, glue, etc., but I’m looking for the things you can’t go without. I’ll be teaching drawing, painting — acrylic and watercolor — fibers, and maybe puppetry, with hopes to add ceramics, photography, and digital art down the road.”

Amanda: Such a fun question! A few often-overlooked essentials:

First, Kiss-Off Stain Remover — if you’re teaching painting, this will get almost any stain out of almost any fabric. Keep it on hand. Second, Masters Brush Cleaner — the one in the beige flat tub. It’s pricier, so you’re not using it on every brush daily, but for brushes that are crusted or starting to go bad, it genuinely revitalizes them. I’ve also heard that soaking acrylic-caked brushes in Windex can help.

Tim: That works in my experience on brushes that are partway to ruined — but if a brush is a true lost cause, Windex won’t save it. Your mileage may vary.

Amanda: Think early about palettes too — plastic wells, paper plates, or old magazines. Each has its tradeoffs. And start building a still life collection now. Hit garage sales and thrift stores for interesting, quirky objects — you’ll use them constantly.

Also, invest in some bolder drawing tools beyond pencils and charcoal: graphite sticks, Conté crayons, Prismacolor Art Stix, tempera paint sticks. Things that let students really explore mark making and expressive line. I once had a college professor who had us use livestock marking sticks — those giant chunky markers used for branding animals. They come in colors now! They’re not ideal for finished work, but for expressive drawing exercises they are so fun.

Tim: Oil paint sticks are also incredible for mark making — I remember those being brand new in college around the year 2000. You work with turpenoid and they’re great on heavy paper or canvas. Wonderful to explore with.

On the media you mentioned wanting to add later: I’d hold off on ceramics, photography, and digital art for now. Setting any one of those up from scratch takes significant time and money. Start strong with what you know, and build toward those over the years.

For foundational priorities: get good storage and organization systems in place, invest in a decent drying rack, and buy quality paint brushes — then take care of them so they last. I love old magazines as palettes: paint on the top page, tear it off when you’re done, and the next page is a fresh palette. Bonus — those same magazines double as collage material and reference images. And for fibers and puppetry, put out a call to your school community for donations of yarn and fabric scraps. You may be amazed at what people are happy to give away.

Tim: That’s going to do it for the May Mailbag! Amanda, any final words?

Amanda: Happy Teacher Appreciation Month! Thank you for everything you do — come celebrate with us in the Art of Ed Community.

Tim: Absolutely. And a reminder: the end of the school year is in sight. We’re going to get there. See you next Tuesday!