Week 8

What I did:

Created a new proposal to send to the clinical psychologist I will be working with on this project- Orli Avi-Yonah. I then spent most of my 30 minute meeting with Hannah editing the proposal. This is the proposal that Orli will send out to Principals and schools that she has contacts with. (3 hours)

Read some of Rachel Simmon's Odd Girl Out- 1 hour

Worked on timeline for Dec. Review once again- 30 minutes

Brainstormed activities to include in my kit: 2 hours (didn't get too far)

Worked out sample journal that I might include in kit- 2 hours

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered:

My 30 minute meeting with Hannah was very helpful and once again focused me. We talked about coming up with activities that would be included in my kit so that I can present them to Orli. Also, these activities would be meant to better direct the girls with their drawings/writings/poems. We talked about perhaps creating role play activities etc...I have been having a lot of trouble with this. I just need to make sure that the girls are still going to be expressing themselves in a nonverbal way. I do not really want to open up a conversation with these girls about bullying- I feel this might make them feel uncomfortable.

-A possible activity that I came up with was creating stickers of words that girls can put together to form sentences that they find most hurtful. This words can also perhaps be used for them to explain what makes up a good friend and a bad friend, or words that they believe constitute bullying. This might help spur some ideas for their drawings.

-I also came up with the idea of creating small journals (not anything too professional) for them to take home and use. In Rachel Simmon's Odd Girl Out, she stresses the idea of the importance of journaling or using a diary. She says that they should write down who is being being to them or how they are being mean, and then trying to figure out what they can do to solve the problem. I think this is a great idea and a great way for the girls to be able to get out what it is they are feeling. I wish I would have kept something like this when I was going through these issues. This is another tool for them to express themselves in a nonverbal way. In this, I would also include blank pages to encourage them to continue the process of creating artwork or writings. I would also use this journal as a way to take into account what Orli explained to me about the 3 levels of bullying and not allowing one to feel empathy for themselves. We can either be hurt, hurt others, or be a bystander and just watch. Below are a few pages that I created to give a sample of what I was thinking for this journal.

Here is my updated timeline and plan for Dec. Review:

Timeline: 10/29/09

10/22 Meet with Orli

10/27 Complete Proposal to send to Orli

10/29 Come up with ideas & visuals for activities to be included in kit

11/03 Continue to create visuals of kit

11/05 Work on Grant Proposal

11/10 Work on writing pieces of brochure to send to Orli for review

Meet with Carole Lapidos

11/12 Grant Proposals Due, work on paper that will be included in kit

11/17 Work on packaging

11/24 Begin creating presentation and finish up loose ends

11/26 Thanksgiving- continue working on presentation

12/01-end work on presentation and finishing up loose ends

To Be Included in December Review

Proposal- tell my story and why I am doing project

Show how I came to idea (brief)

Provide research (brief)

Include people I have been working with & groups I am set up to work with

Show what is going to be included in kit and give visuals:

Activity examples

Sample brochure with filler text or actual text

Drawing I received from peers

Questions I will pose to girls

Provide brief layout of book (similar to Post Secret book)

This is the proposal that I sent to Orli:

My name is Carly Grafstein and I am a senior in the School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan concentrating in Graphic Design. As a senior, I have the privilege of working on a yearlong project that is self-initiated and intended as a capstone to my education thus far.

For this project, I intend to focus on the subject of psychological bullying amongst elementary through middle school girls. This topic is particularly meaningful to me since I endured being bullied during my middle school years. I was rejected, excluded, psychologically battered, and somewhat scarred. I was ostracized and taken advantage of: I was the girl who had no one to sit with in the cafeteria, and the one who lent people money and was never reimbursed. For me, turning to art as a means of expressing myself became an outlet. I was able to enter into my own world and rid myself of the catty nonsense that I experienced everyday.

Eventually, I began to see through what these girls were doing to me and I was able to change my situation. I joined the tennis team, acquainted myself with girls that I felt comfortable with and transformed into a confident new student. Through my project, I want to be able to tell girls my story and let them know that they can be strong enough to not have to endure psychological bullying. I want to be able to share the therapeutic process of art with them, and allow for them to express their feelings in a safe, nonverbal way.

I am planning to bring my ideas to fruition through the design of a kit to be used by classes and workshops. This kit, which I am in the process of developing in collaboration with clinical psychologist Orli Avi-Yonah, will include a range of activities and the tools essential for the girls to create not only drawings, but also any means of nonverbal expression (poems, writings, collages, etc…). In this kit, I will also include a summary of my story and information about psychological bullying and ways to prevent it. Ultimately, I aim to compile the works in a book form at the end of my project. All of the pieces created by these girls will be anonymous to protect the safety of the participants. I feel this will be a good way to document results from the kit and to show all of the drawings/writings I collected. In effect, I also hope to bring attention to this issue through this book, as it is sadly so often overlooked.

What I think I should do next:

-Continue to create visuals of samples of materials that will be included in kit

-Continue to brainstorm activities to include in kit

-Continue to read Odd Girl Out