let me show you things
Last year I practically begged to begin a program, during school hours, where I could pull kids from their regular education classrooms and give them extra support via the arts. Towards the last trimester, the principal gave me the go ahead and 2 days out of the week I pulled kids desperately in need of the emotional support.
I called it “Art Power” (everyone calls it Art Therapy, but I’m not a registered art therapist so I’m trying to save my ass from being sued by using the cutesy code name) and I designed it to service those students I felt could benefit from therapeutic use of art materials in a small group setting.
It was successful. When kids had melt downs in their classrooms, they started asking for white paper and some drawing materials so they could “work it out” via a drawing. This was a shocking change, especially for those who would choose to get physical. Teachers began noticing a difference in the nature of their most difficult students - they had another form of communication. Once it was on paper and not inside them, they felt a sense of relief… even if it was a small and short lived.
I came back to school in September to find that my schedule had be revamped to INCLUDE Art Power. I was given a half hour, Monday-Thursday mornings, to set up small groups and service children. I was blown away. In addition to all that time, I was also given a half hour in the afternoons, Monday-Thursday, to work with our 9th graders.
It took 3 months and a lot of collaboration between myself, administration, special ed, and classroom teachers to put together groups of students according to age and need. I kept the groups small, intimate, and I service children with learning disabilities (trying to up their confidence and feeling of success) as well as those with severe behavioral and emotional disturbances.
So what do I do? With the elementary students I have them engage in activities that encourage a lot of self-reflection and confidence building exercises. Sometimes, depending on the group and their background, I’ll do activities that pry into their personal lives. Just recently I asked my Wednesday group of 5 boys to draw me a picture of their family, or the people they live with, in any way they want. I discovered one of my very shy, reserved 2nd graders lived with his mother, sister, uncle, and someone by the name of “Mr. Man.” In his picture Mr. Man and his mother were drawn so close together that they looked to be holding hands. He did not know where Mr. Man came from or why he was staying with them. Interesting, to say the least.
Remember Jovaan that I wrote about in my last entry? His activity for Art Power this week was something I call “self card.” On the outside of the folded construction paper, students were asked to draw how they believed OTHER people viewed them. On the inside, they wrote/drew how they actually felt about themselves. I read what Jovaan wrote after he left, because he was in such an odd, quiet mood during our session, and I cried:
” I see myself as a boy thats very different. I see that sometimes I may not fit in here and there, but I always make a friend and thats what keeps me strong. Art is just a hobby to some, but to me, its a way to get out all thats inside of me.”
With my 9th graders I can get even more personal. I have a group with 2 girls, one who just lost her father to lung cancer and another who is 14 years old, but very mentally immature (intelligent, but on the social level of a hyperactive, dreamy-headed 2nd grader. For the group, I do a lot of activities that center around healing and self expression. This week, we did worry dolls.
Jashalyn did a worry for her friend currently in the army and stationed in Korea. We just completed a book making project where she used it as a tribute to her father. She still hasn’t quite come to terms with his loss, so I’m giving her assignments that will ease her int that realization (ex., draw me the earliest, or most clear memory you have with your father.)
With my other group of 9th graders, 5 young girls that have experienced abandonment and pain, we get into very deep discussions as they work. This week they created an envelope and wrote a letter to someone they haven’t communicated with in a long time… or ever. The follow-up discussion on these will most likely take 2 30-minute sessions…
I wish I had more time with them, but some is better than nothing. I don’t always know what I’m doing… but I did a lot of reading last year and this summer on art therapy, researched appropriate activities, and adapted a lot of my own ideas to make these brief sessions count. I was in a few groups similar to this in high school and they made me feel a lot less alone.
aside from art power….
I wanted to share this extremely awesome still-life by one of my 5th graders
I decided that since this trimester is coming to an end, I’d have my 5th graders practice their observational drawing techniques via pen & ink still life.
This drawing is by my student, Anthony. Anthony is severely autistic. At the beginning of last year when he was in 4th grade, before I had seen his IEP or knew he had autism, I gave a suggestion on what he could do to improve a drawing he was working on. He shut down, took great offense, and ran out of the art room crying. I put some pieces together and realized his needs. We are on good terms now.
Regardless, he is a very talented artist… very advanced in his understanding of techniques and materials. I never have to check on him during class, because he has everything on lock down from beginning to end. No other still-life, out of a class of 27, looked like this one. I hope you can appreciate the maturity in this.
