02/06/2026
🎨 Teaching Feels Less Lonely When You Have People
🎨 Art Teacher Friends...
One of the strangest things about being an art teacher is that we can spend all day surrounded by people… and still feel completely alone.
Think about it.
We teach hundreds of students.
We attend faculty meetings.
Department meetings.
Professional development.
School events.
We're constantly interacting with people.
And yet many art teachers spend most of the school year feeling professionally isolated.
Sometimes we're the only art teacher in the building.
Sometimes we're the only person who understands what it's actually like to teach six, seven, eight, or even ten different classes in a single day.
Sometimes we're the only person trying to figure out:
🎨 Where to store 500 student artworks
🧼 How to clean paintbrushes efficiently
📦 How to prep materials for multiple grade levels
🚶 How to manage transitions
🗂️ How to organize supplies
📚 How to teach meaningful art lessons while juggling everything else
Most of the teachers around us are wonderful people.
But they don't necessarily understand the unique challenges of the art room.
And honestly?
I think that's one of the reasons teaching can feel so exhausting.
Not because we're incapable.
Not because we're doing anything wrong.
But because we're often trying to solve complicated problems by ourselves.
I know I certainly have.
There have been so many times in my career when I wished I could simply ask another experienced art teacher:
💭 "How do YOU handle this?"
💭 "What's working in your classroom?"
💭 "What would you do here?"
Sometimes we don't need another training.
Sometimes we just need people.
People who understand.
People who have been there.
People who can save us from spending six hours reinventing something that another art teacher already solved years ago. 😂
And honestly, that's become one of the biggest things I've been thinking about as I prepare for next school year.
Yes, I'm focused on planning.
Yes, I'm focused on curriculum.
Yes, I'm focused on systems.
Because I absolutely want next year to be different.
✅ I want my lessons planned before the first day of school.
✅ I want my curriculum mapped out.
✅ I want my supplies organized.
✅ I want my pacing figured out.
✅ I want my classroom systems established.
✅ I want my evenings and weekends to belong to ME again.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that preparation alone isn't enough.
❤️ Community matters too.
Because even the best systems work better when you have people to bounce ideas off of.
People who can answer questions.
People who can share resources.
People who understand exactly what you're dealing with.
That's a huge part of why I've been building something for this summer.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing more about a summer planning experience designed specifically for art teachers who want to build a calmer, more organized school year before August arrives.
We'll be working through things like:
🎨 Curriculum maps
📚 Lesson planning
📦 Supply organization
🗓️ Pacing systems
🖌️ Classroom procedures
⏰ Prep calendars
But one of the parts I'm most excited about isn't the planning.
It's the community.
Because included with the experience will be access to a membership community where art teachers can continue connecting, sharing ideas, asking questions, finding resources, and supporting one another throughout the school year.
A place where you're not the only art teacher trying to figure everything out.
A place where help is only a question away.
A place where art teachers can learn from one another instead of carrying the entire load alone.
More details are coming soon. 😊
But I'd love to hear from you.
👇 Do you currently have a strong community of art teachers around you?
👇 Or are you mostly figuring things out on your own?
👇 If you could have ONE kind of support from a community of art teachers, what would it be?
👇 And what would you love to see included in a summer planning experience built specifically for art teachers?
Drop your answers in the comments.
I'm reading every response, and your answers are helping shape what I create because I want it to solve real problems for real art teachers.
Hang in there, Art Teacher Friends.
We're almost to summer. ☀️🎨
P.S. If you've been following these posts and thinking, "I really don't want next school year to feel like this one," make sure you're on the waitlist for my upcoming summer planning experience, The Art Teacher Advantage.
This summer, I'll be walking a small group of art teachers through the exact planning process I'm using to organize my own school year before August arrives—from curriculum maps and lesson planning to supply systems, pacing guides, prep calendars, and more.
The goal isn't to work harder.
The goal is to create systems that help you reclaim your evenings, weekends, and sanity during the school year.
I'll be sharing more details soon, but if you'd like first access when enrollment opens, be sure to join the waitlist today.
I'd love to have you join us. 🎨💛
P.P.S. If you'd like some free classroom resources while you're here, help yourself at happyartteachers.com/freebies
