How the Arts Transformed My Teaching (and Changed My Life)
Discover how arts integration transformed not only my teaching but also my life.
“Come see this work,” she said, her smile beaming with pride. I followed her down the hallway to her third-grade classroom, where a stack of student artwork waited for me. “I’m really amazed at how well this lesson went,” she said. “Even my lowest student got it. I mean, he really got it.”
We had worked together to plan an arts-integrated math lesson. Her students were learning how to multiply by multiples of ten, and she wanted them to explore Cubism in the process. Since I was also their visual art teacher, I knew their strengths, and I crafted a presentation that connected what they knew about art to the math skills they were learning.
The students created art by cutting out shapes—squares, triangles, circles—and arranging them on paper. They then tallied how many of each shape they used, multiplied those numbers by assigned values (e.g., squares were worth 40), and reflected on their work. For many, it was a new way of thinking about math, but for one student in particular, it became transformative.
Two weeks later, I asked a few students how they felt about the project. One boy proudly told me, “The principal called my mama at church! He told her how well I did, and now all her friends know.” He smiled and explained, “I learned that even if you use ten shapes instead of nine, it’s okay. You just get a bigger number when you multiply!” His pride and joy were palpable, and it hit me: this was more than a math or art lesson. It was a moment of confidence and validation for a child who needed it.
Another student shared that the project was hard for him but made him think deeper than usual. “I had to find a way to make all these shapes fit together,” he said. “The parallelogram was tough, but I learned what it is, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.” This was an exercise not only in math but in persistence—he was stretched in ways that helped him grow.
And then a girl, bubbling with excitement, told me how she made a dog and a doghouse with her shapes. “Cubism is interesting,” she said. “It’s like broken glass. The project was fun, but we were still doing math. It was like fun-math!” She had found joy in the process of creating, and she remembered how to use multiplication because it was embedded in something meaningful to her.
Teaching arts helped me rediscover parts of myself I thought were lost.
This moment was a turning point for me in understanding the power of arts integration. It’s not just about adding art to math or literacy—it’s about transforming the learning process itself. As the Kennedy Center defines it, arts integration is an approach to teaching where students engage in the creative process to explore connections between art and other subjects. The creative process allows students to experiment, reflect, and revise, which develops critical thinking and adaptability. It encourages risk-taking and celebrates mistakes as part of learning. These third graders weren't just learning math—they were learning how to be confident, persistent, and creative thinkers.
The Kennedy Center’s definition highlights how vital the creative process is to this approach, and that resonates deeply with me. I saw it in that classroom, and I felt it in my own journey too.
The summer before I started teaching, I attended a Whole Schools summer institute. I was shy and uncertain, fresh from personal trauma I hadn’t yet processed, and honestly, I didn’t know how I had landed my first teaching job. It was all so new, and I felt like I was just hanging on. At the institute, I was placed in a theater class that pushed me so far out of my comfort zone that I cried. I hated every second of it at the time. But once I stepped into my own classroom and began to embrace the visual arts, I began to heal.
Arts integration connects us through creativity, reflection, and humanity
I leaned into the creative process in my teaching. Creating lesson plans, watching my students engage with art, and slowly rebuilding my confidence, I realized that I wasn’t just helping my students learn—I was rediscovering parts of myself I had left behind in my teenage years. Engaging in the arts again brought back the joy and freedom I used to feel as a child, and as I grew more confident, I became a better teacher and a better human. I stretched my empathy, connecting with my students and their families through the art we created together. Arts integration didn’t just enrich their learning; it helped us build deep, lasting relationships. Many of those families are still in my life today.
It’s through this lens of arts integration and the creative process that I see the whole school system. The children, the teachers, the community—we all deserve to be whole. Arts integration fosters that wholeness because it taps into what makes us human: our ability to create, to reflect, and to connect. This is why I do what I do, and why I believe so deeply in the work of arts integration.
Join the journey of transformation through arts integration in teaching.
More Great Ideas:
Get your copy of the free Social Emotional Skills with Vincent van Gogh resource.
Get to know Amanda Koonlaba!
Hi! I’m Amanda. Teaching children to be creative thinkers is my greatest joy. I’m here to help you bring that same joy to your classroom.
This guide is packed with 25 ideas for using art to teach math and ELA. It’s arts integration for the win!
I want all students to feel successful in the art room, so I created a standards-based Daffodil Collage lesson to do just that! The lesson includes an artist study, student reflection, and more, so push your artists to their full potential.
