Popplet:
Automatic Drawing:
Collage:
Inspired by:Henri Matisse
This collage represents my identity through my Georgia roots. I was born on my family's summer vacation to Callaway Gardens, GA. We continue to go there every summer for a week for a family reunion. It is the only time of the year that I get to see cousins and distant relatives. There are magnolia trees everywhere, which has made them my favorite tree with their huge, cream-colored leafs. I chose to put a little butterfly on the side because at Callaway Gardens they have a butterfly center where we visit every year and most times I go there on my birthday. Callaway Gardens is a consistent event in my life where I can always look forward to a time of relaxation and happiness. I would incorporate this collage idea in to my own classroom. I think this is a great way for students to express his/her identity. I would probably set up the activity similarly to how we applied it in our classroom, by having students sketch 3 main events from his/her life and then choose one to begin with.
I chose to make this collage to identify with myself through my trip to Ghana. The three blocks and the black star are the Ghanian flag. I then chose to put 17 circles surrounding the heart to represent the 17 Mizzou people that went on the trip. Through this trip I was able to teach Ghanian students with special needs. I grew very close with the members of the trip and grew as a person. I really found a stronger love for the teaching career and a more appreciative outlook on the life I have. Through this experience I was able to feel more confident in myself and my choice to become a teacher. This trip has had one of the biggest impacts upon my life. As mentioned before, I would definitely use this activity in my classroom to help students identify with something in their lives.
The Good and the Bad:
Inspired by:Chuck Close
I chose Belle as the Disney character that best exhibits my personal characteristics. Her kind, caring and imaginative characteristics are something I would like to use to describe myself. I chose Tangled's Mother Gothel to represent me as the antagonist for some personal attributes I find to be the things I need to work on the most to make myself a better person. I chose to make Belle the overpowering picture because I want me good qualities to overpower the poor qualities I have. I can identify with both characters but I better identify with Belle. I added my birthday in the positive yellow color with hints of the negative red outlines, but I kept it yellow to show my overall positive character. This is definitely something I would use in my own classroom because it is a great way for students to start thinking about the good and negative characteristics of themselves. It could be broadened to any protagonist or antagonist from any movie to appeal to a wider variety of students, but overall the idea would remain the same. Students get the chance to look at what they do well and what things they can work on. Students could group share their ideas so that other students could see ways to accomplish the task.
Rapunzel smiles:
Inspired by: William Wegman
This project was one of my favorite experiments with the class. I was able to experiment with many different mediums and grow from the experience. I chose to work with Rapunzel's fairytale for this project. I chose a peaceful countryside postcard to start my own drawing growing from the postcard. When I think of Rapunzel, I think of solidarity because of her time spent alone in a tower. I have this mental image that the land around the tower is beautiful and full of nature life. The two things I used to display Rapunzel were a queen's card head and a bird. I chose the bird for the body because I always think of a Rapunzel as a peaceful bird that wants to fly away. She wants to get away from the life she is living. I chose the queen's card head because I think of a queen from a card as something that always seems to be thinking peacefully in her head. The face shows a beautiful woman with little expression on her face. She is sitting there thinking of a way to escape. I put the phrase "bright smile haunts me still" in the tower because of this idea that a beautiful girl is locked in a tower. Her beautiful smile will always remain in this tower. I put a piece of wax paper over the whole picture to give the idea of a picture frame because we are looking in to her life like we look in to a picture or painting. This project would definitely be something I would use with my students because I think it is a great way to get students thinking about deeper characteristics of a character from a familiar story. Students will get practice using different mediums and practice with supporting their ideas.