It really does make me nervous to think about having a classroom all to my own sometime in the future. I feel comfortable in the classroom setting and with the students but organizing and creating that warm feeling in your own classroom. While at my current placement I have noticed that my teacher has collected so much over her last 17 years of teaching, it is fantastic. Her closets are full of materials that could cater to different types of projects and ideas galore. This is the part I feel I will need the most support with. I know that you don't start with it all your first year but it would help to have some backbone, I will most likely turn to my mother who is an elementary art teacher getting ready to retire. She is going to have a plethora of lesson plans, materials, ideas, and organization ideas that I can use.
It is also important to keep your cooperating teachers close for ideas and your school because sometimes they offer a specific budget for each teacher to use at the beginning of the year and maybe even throughout. Never throw something away you are questioning, "This may be useful for a project in the future?" This is how my cooperating teacher has all the neat things she does now, some may call these things junk but I believe they are the foundation of a great art project idea.
