(I know the video ended up sideways, I'm kicking myself. But I just grabbed my phone to take a clip while it was happening! I hope it shows up)
After reviewing the work my art club has done in the last 2 months, I noticed that the students who had me last year in the 4th grade visual journal club haven't pushed themselves this year. I enjoy their confidence, but they've stopped pushing themselves. I changed the next lesson to focus on the importance of content. They've been very focused on creating beautiful backgrounds and eliminating the infamous "white page." I expressed how happy I am that they dove straight in to creating great backgrounds, but I asked them to think about why they've done very little on top of them.
In the last 2 sessions, we looked at videos of artists creating journal entries with many layers, flip throughs of 'junk journals,' and discussed how prompts are meant to prompt you into thinking and create something meaningful. One of my students came in friday to work on her current entry, in which she decided to do quotes that meant something to her. She's been struggling with personal drama and art has been her "safe haven" so to speak. She showed me her work-in-progress and I had one of those moments :) It was hard to show the effect with pictures, so I took that short video.
She made a 4 page entry with windows that I had helped her cut last week. She repurposed the cut-outs and made quotes. She said she's still thinking on what to add to the color side and some small things to add to that black side. I am so proud at how well some of them have learned to take their time and carefully consider their work instead of mashing out page after page.
She's been filling in small drawings in her empty spaces this week. It's been wonderful to see how her thinking has evolved over time. When she interacts with other students who are struggling or stuck, she's become more confident and thoughtful in her suggestions - often asking a few questions to the person about context and direction before giving the suggestion. I'm so proud and happy to be able to be a part of their growth over the years. :)
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