Art class has the same energy as a potluck dinner.
Everyone brings the same basic ingredients, but somehow half the dishes turn out incredible while the other half looks like they were made during an earthquake.
The traditional solution has been to blame the cooks or double-down on more detailed recipes. While this may work for Chopped, that won’t work for a K-12 art class.
Lindsey Sherrard spent years watching this happen until she had a lightbulb moment: what if we stopped forcing every student to make the same dish and started letting them cook with ingredients that actually work for their hands?
After more than 10 years teaching visual arts from kindergarten through high school, she figured out the secret ingredient isn't better instructions—it's better matches.
She plates her own tried-and-true process for an enriching art program below.
Here’s what’s on the dashboard this week:
Today’s Deep Dive: Art Class Matchmaking 101
Reading Rainbow: Kid reporters, parent subs, and art recycling
From Our Desk: Conferences, cats, and a new podcast!
Watch of the Week: Grab yourself the World’s Best Cup of Coffee
Art Class Matchmaking 101
The great art class conundrum feels like being stuck between a Pinterest board and a hurricane.
Give students complete creative freedom and half of them freeze like they're playing artistic statue. Lock them into rigid structures and watch their souls quietly pack their bags and leave town.
Lindsey, who's currently developing content for our Subject virtual schools and helping students with credit recovery after more than a decade in visual arts education, refused to pick a side in this fake war. Instead, she figured out how to hack the system by matching students to materials that actually work with their brains instead of against them.
"What's interesting about arts education is that we tend to get a good mix of diverse learners in the classroom," Lindsey explains. "I've noticed that it's great to offer different ways to complete the lesson. That way you're challenging your advanced learners, but you're also meeting students who need to work on the foundations."
Here's how medium-matching works:
It's like speed dating for art supplies (but less awkward): Some kids who struggle with pencils because of fine motor skills absolutely dominate with clay they can grab and shape with their whole hands
Students still hit identical standards: They just get there through paths that don't make them want to fake sick every Tuesday at 10 AM
Teachers become matchmakers, not dictators: Instead of forcing materials on students, they observe what actually works
Lindsey's three-steps to make it work:
Step 1: Watch students work through basic skill-building activities (detective work, but for art teachers)
Step 2: Match them to materials based on what you observe, not what you assume
Step 3: Adjust your teaching style based on whether students are working with clay, digital tools, or traditional drawing materials
"I've seen students who don't like drawing because their hand skills aren't great with tiny objects like pencils. They have messy handwriting, but if I give them clay to work with—something they can grab better—they do really well in that area."
The payoff: Students who actually want to create instead of counting down minutes until class ends, and teachers who get to focus on skill development instead of managing creative frustration.
Check out Lindsey’s complete guide on medium-matching → https://resources.subject.com/articles/match-art-methods-how-students-learn/
Virtual school parents are the new substitute teachers: Turns out that "learning from home" really means "mom and dad become unpaid teaching assistants," and everyone's pretending this is totally normal. Parents are signing actual contracts promising to supervise their kids during virtual classes, basically becoming substitute teachers without the training or the paycheck.
NYC's journalism renaissance is missing 99% of students: Only 1% of NYC high school students have access to journalism classes, which explains why most teenagers think "investigative reporting" means scrolling through someone's Instagram “close friends” stories. A new initiative is trying to fix this by training teachers to help students tell actual stories instead of just posting them.
IPS sells art to buy art class: Indianapolis schools are selling 148 pieces of vintage artwork from closed schools to fund current arts education—basically turning old art into new art supplies. It's like educational recycling, but with more emotional attachment to dusty paintings from the 1890s.
College mental health crisis gets a group project solution: Colleges are finally realizing that putting all mental health responsibility on overworked counseling centers is like trying to fix a flood with a single bucket. The new game plan involves training faculty, staff, and students to actually notice when someone's struggling instead of waiting for the crisis hotline to ring.
The year may be coming to a close, but we’re not slowing down!
Check out our episode of On the Subject with Ana Romero! We go deep on all things Texas, from education to the joys of Friday Night Lights.
This week, the team is on the road at SLATE (WI) and NCPAPA (NC) conferences. If you are attending please find us or email [email protected]!
We also just finished up at the IMCAT Instructional Materials Conference this week in Round Rock, TX!
Have you met our new mascot, Blue the Cat?
Our pick of the week: Elf
Why We’re Obsessed: Buddy the Elf sees magic in escalators, gets genuinely thrilled about mail rooms, and treats strangers like long-lost friends. Basically, he's got the exact energy we're all trying to bottle up and share with our students.
Recommended lesson integration:
Economics and Financial Literacy (Grades 9-12): Dive into Papa Elf's toy workshop economics: supply chains, seasonal labor demands, and small business operations. Students get to explore market forces through a lens that doesn't involve another boring case study about widget manufacturing.
English Language Arts (Grades 6-10): Follow Buddy's journey as the perfect example of character development and fish-out-of-water storytelling. Students identify narrative structure while watching someone discover the simple joy of revolving doors.
Health and Social Studies (Grades 6-12): Explore themes of belonging, family, and community through Buddy's adaptation to New York life. When Buddy explains that the yellow ones don’t stop, he’s a true New Yorker.
Art and Design (Grades 6-12): Channel Buddy's creative spirit with holiday art projects that celebrate color, texture, and yes, lots of glitter. Students practice design principles while creating decorations that would make even the grumpiest Grinch smile.
Drama and Performance (Grades 9-12): Study physical comedy and character voice through Buddy's infectious enthusiasm. Students explore how actors use movement and vocal choices to create memorable characters.
Daily News for Curious Minds
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Thank you for joining us for another edition of On The Subject. We’ll see you again in a week, with more stories from the hallways.
The Subject Team
Want to learn more about our curriculum offerings? Contact us today.
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