1. Students who waste rubber cement by painting and rolling it into a ball. (Submitted by Dori Pratt, Park City, Utah)


2. Creative young people who devote their talents to gang symbols. Teachers lack information on what these symbols mean and how to deal with some students' overwhelming need to promote gang culture. (Submitted by Sheryl Jasinski)


3. People who think the amount of time spent on a work of art equals it's value: "That looks like it took five minutes! My four year old could paint that! Therefore, it stinks!"


4. People who think all artists are "starving." What about Dali? Picasso? Matisse? (Both submitted by Joni DeRouchie)


5. Art teachers who have pet peeves and don't know what to do with them. (submitted by Donna Lyle)


6. Parents who tell their kids that they do not have to pass my class (or even try), because "it's only art". (submitted by Laura Walker


7. Pressure to turn art into just another academic subject by requiring standardized testing. (3 peeves submitted by Suzanne Thomas, elementary art teacher.)


8. Students who put crayons into the pencil sharpener. (Submitted by Janie Joslin, Moreau Heights Elementary School.)


9. Other teachers who think I'M the Art SUPPLY store instead of the art teacher! (Submitted anonymously)


10. My pet peeve is little suns up in the corner of all landscapes. (Submitted by Valerie)


11. When I suggest ten different objects or subject matter ideas and ecah one is met with the same response--"I can't draw that!" (Submitted by Geri A.)


12. My pet peeve is SQUIRREL HOLES IN THE TREE. (Submitted by Annie M.)


13. A) A state (Oregon) that has a robust economy but has cut back education funding to the extent that there are few art teachers.

B) Teachers who think cutting out colored paper patterns is art.
C) People who don't understand the value of observing what is to be drawn, painted, etc.
D) People who don't understand the importance of art education. (Submitted by Kay Burt, art teacher in Oregon.)


14. Teachers who think art teachers don't write lesson plans. Administrators who have no clue what is going on in your classroom when they have a copy of your curriculum collecting dust in their office. (Submitted by Dean Lollis.)


15. My pet peeve is teachers who cry, moan and complain about everything that is wrong with the system and wait for some non-existent "them" to do something about it. (Submitted by a teacher at Roanoke Rapids Graded Schools.)


16. My pet peeve is when students only want to use magic markers to create artwork. (Submitted by Becca from South Carolina.)


17. Administrators who schedule art teachers on carts to be at opposite ends of the building, sometimes on different floors, with only five minutes between classes. (The three above peeves were submitted by AMANDA.)


18. My Pet Peeve is Art Educators who take themselves too seriously! Yes, we all agree that art is important and valuable, but you have to put things into perspective. Relax, have fun in class! Art is fun and should be fun! (Submitted by Brodey2727)


19. Principal gives away the kiln, because he didn't know what it was. (Submitted by Martha, art teacher)


20. Students who, even after 1,000 reminders, still press as hard as they can with their pencil and then have "shadows" on their finished art!


21. Administrators who want you to have a "standardized Fine Arts test" by Monday but wait until the Friday before to let you know.


22. Students who put their unwashed paint tray on the bottom of the stack. (3 Submitted by Ami Murray)


23. Having classes of up to 26 students with a total range of abilities and maturity with who I am supposed to accomplish something in a time span of (believe it or not) 20 minutes to 45 minutes while the Gifted and Talented teacher gets, say at the most, 6 students to work with and they end up doing art prjects that she proudly shows me!!! (Submitted by Judy Cardassilaris)


24. Regular classroom teachers who think art in-service meetings are a bore and they don't have time to intergrate art into the subjects, yet will do stupid color sheets and say "Look, we did art today." (Submitted by "DKB Art Teacher")


25. Students who rush through a project just to be through and turn it in. They usually then complain about their grade! (Submitted by Kay Barrow, high school teacher)


26. My pet peeve is that we, as educators, are required to be the ones to solve all of the problems that our students come to class with. If a student won't work, it's because we're not challenging him enough, not because he stayed up till midnight watching R-rated movies! The broken families, abuse, poverty, amoral teaching in the home, drug culture, etc. is sending those problems to the classroom and we can't be the sole responsibility for solving those problems! (Submitted by Anne Hawkins of Bryson Elementary School, South Carolina)


27. Not even having an art teacher or art program in either of our K-5 elementary schools. (An anonymous submission)


28. I have a daugher in 4th grade ...loves to draw, maybe hasn't got a whole lot of "talent", and not once, not one single time has she had her art displayed at school. Always the same 20 kids. Nauseating. (Submitted by "Grand99")


29. Students who are chronic disrupters and are obliged to remain in the Art classroom and prevent the other students from receiving the lesson and myself from teaching... (Submitted by Fred Hinkley)


30. Teachers who think art teachers don't write lesson plans. Administrators who have no clue what is going on in your classroom when they have a copy of your curriculum collecting dust in their office. (Submitted by M. Womble)


31. Students who socialize in class, work on their projects at home that are substandard, and refuse to bring their work to class.


32. Appalachian parents who don't understand my rubrics and believe in their own minds that I graded their child's art work unfairly.  I usually have an example of a "100" for the parents to compare the results.  Sometimes this works ~ sometimes it doesn't.


33. Students who say "I don't need this class to graduate"  (Submitted by Anonymous)


34. Students who write an "F" in front of the word ART on the back of the rulers. I have solved this by changing F ART into WORK OF ART.:-)
    (Submitted by Barbara Johnson)


35. My pet peeve at the moment is when the cleaner complains to the principal that my students' art work and props (for the school play) are on top of the desks that he wants to wipe! The funny part is he never does a good job of wiping them anyway!


36. (-Submitted by Liz Clout)


37. People who have no talent or desire in Art try to tell you how to draw, paint, etc. If they aren't artists who are they to tell you what good Art?! (Submitted by M.Morley)


38. I love teaching visual arts, and after 12 years I have lost sympathy for the groaning (and learned helplessness) of colleagues about "awful" students. Only a very few of the students at our huge highschool are really difficult. The rest are lively teenagers who deserve to be taught by teachers with decent preparation and delivery skills and an understanding of their clientele. After all, teaching is a vocation and a profession, not a clerical position! We'll never have enough money or time but we can pass on a passion for something that enriches our lives...and when we do most problems seem to evaporate. (An anonymous submission)


39. On a lighter note, I do hate the fact that just as students are really learning at full steam they graduate from school and go to art college! (An anonymous submission)


40. Administrators who love to advertise that they have schools with National Blue Ribbon status, but have since sabotaged the art programs that got them the award.  (-Anonymous)


41. When students crumble up their paper and expect that I'll just give them another one- especially if they were working in pencil and could have just erased or turned their paper over. Worse is when they shove it inside the desks I have nearby for storage and they sneak a new sheet- then I find their old one at the end of the day. I hate finding candy wrappers, too!! I have no idea how long they've been there so I don't know who to blame! Sneaky little suckers! (-Submitted by elementary art teacher)
    
    
42. My biggest media peeve is misuse of paint brushes - it makes me cringe and shudder, how, even after you've taught them how, students still tend to scrub with the brush. It's like fingernails on the chalkboard for me. My retort is usually - "it's not a toilet brush, therefore, don't scrub with it."


43. My administrator/powers-that-be peeve has to do with scheduling and funding. Scheduling used to be - put 6-7 classes back to back with mixed grade levels. For some reason it seemed as paper cutting, getting supplies ready or changed out miraculously happened  (art gnomes?!). I am thankful that I've helped shine a light on that subject (though the gnome thing could be really cool) As for funding, having less than a dollar per student is truly stretching one's resources while perfecting the beg, borrow, and acquire technique to an art form...  (Submitted by Linda Miller)


44. My fellow teacher peeve is the fact that they think banners, posters, murals can be whipped out momentarily - especially since you have a break/planning period. My fellow art teacher peeve - to sit back and do 'crafts' or insipid make & takes, and complain about how the budget is getting smaller, and how parents/teachers/admin. don't respect what art teachers do... A little more effort, more exhibits, and some promotion of what you do - it all makes a world of difference.
    (Submitted by Linda Miller)


45. My pet peeves are students who try to sleep in my high school art class.  I tell them that this is unacceptable because it's not a math or science class - it's ART!


46. I tell my students that they can have drinks, snacks, etc. on the lecture (not studio) side of the art room. The agreement is that if I find one piece of trash that this priviledge will stop. I've never had a problem. (Submitted by Anonymous)


47. My biggest pet peeve is being given the smallest room in the school with NO windows, and NO water, bad lighting, not to mention no floor space (with five tables crammed in the room, I can barely teach, let alone manuever around the students!!)
    
    
48. Another pet peeve is when parents complain because you've given their "angel" a poor grade (because of destructive and behavioral issues in your classroom, not to mention NEVER finishing a project and goofing off instead). I had one set of parents say "Art is not important, anyway!" When I tried to explain the poor grade was because the child purposely ruined others artwork and my art supplies and never did anything in class, they tried to pull the race card on me! RIDICULOUS! Finally, at last year's art show, the principal had the school custodians mopping and sweeping the floors during the exhibit time! When I complained, she answered, "Well, this is the time they NORMALLY come!" AAAUUUGGGHHH!
    
    
49. Y' know that teeny tiny art room? Well, it's soooo small, this morning I tripped over some art supplies (because I have NO storage space), and fell and hit my head on the corner of one of the art tables SO HARD, I MOVED THE TABLE! You should see the HUGE bruise I have on my head! Do you think that's proof enough???? Hope so!
    ( SOOZ)
    
    
50. My pet peeve (among many others already listed) is the ridiculous amount of "Art Contest" literature I receive throughout the year. Talk about a waste of paper. I participated once, to appease the administration. The kids (K-5) worked their little hearts out for some paltry reward, no one won and we didn't even get a thank you from the "multi-million-dollar-making" corporate sponsors. And of course, the artwork becomes advertising property of said corporation, never to be returned. Oh yeah, they do a lot of good for the kids, those thieves. -DV
    

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