Spiraling Curriculum, Sketchbooks, and Student Choice

In today's episode of Art Ed Radio , Nadia Fernandez-Castillo joins the show to talk about how she built a strong, structured middle school art program rooted in a modern version of the Atelier model. After more than two decades in education and years of teaching middle school art, she shares how repetition, observation, sketchbook practice, and gradual student choice can work together to build both skills and confidence. The conversation explores how a spiral curriculum can make complex ideas more approachable for teachers and more effective for students. Nadia explains why she starts with the basics, how she uses drills and repetition to help students improve, and why she believes artistic growth comes from practice rather than talent. She also shares how she balances structure with personal voice so students can develop technical skills without losing creativity. Resources and Links Join the Art of Ed Community Listen to the Art Ed Radio episode on Atelier Training Draw From Old Methods to Teach New K-12 Artists How to Make Sketchbooks a Vital Part of Your Classroom 100 Sketchbook Prompts Your Students Will Love

You can listen to Spiraling Curriculum, Sketchbooks, and Student Choice online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Spiraling Curriculum, Sketchbooks, and Student Choice is an episode from Art Ed Radio by The Art of Education University.

This episode is 27:57 long.

This episode was published on Mar 17, 2026.

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