Week4

What I Did:

Honestly, this was probably my least productive week so far, or at least I feel like it was. I think that once I get into contact with one of the people whom I have reached out to, I will feel better off and start to really be able to throw myself into this project. Hannah, thank you for talking to Orli- I am definitely going to call her soon.

-I drafted an email and wrote to the group Strong Moms Strong Girls, as well as Janie Paul (thanks for that suggestion- Erica!) I am still waiting to hear from both of them. (30 minutes)

-I am also still in the process of really getting myself into the literature that I have picked up at the library and trying to discover more about art therapy and bullying in general. I spent about 3 hours in total reading and taking notes on my books. I am finding them very helpful and they are definitely making me feel more knowledgeable on the subject. I am also getting some good ideas from them. (3 hours)

-I also discovered a few more interesting websites that seem to be pertinent to my project. Stephanie- I read the interview with Rachel Simmons (could not seem to get the audio piece to work). Her book sounds so interesting and relevant that I decided to order it off amazon so that I could read it. Thanks for that resource! (1 hour)

-On Tuesday I also had a conversation with Sean that was very helpful. (15 minutes)

-Trying to come up with a question to pose (45 minutes)

-I am not sure exactly how I spent the rest of my time this week, but I am going to say that I spent at least the rest of the time just trying to think and take in all of the feedback and advice that I am getting. It feels weird to be doing so much thinking without actually making stuff, but I think that it is helping me really get organized. I also know that once I start talking to the resources that I am trying to get in contact with, I will have a lot more to work with.

What I accomplished/discovered/encountered:

Through the book Something To Draw On I thought about the idea of possibly working with the bullies as well. The author suggests asking questions such as: "Why do people bully? Can you think of a time you have been a bully, or seen someone else being a bully? Imagine you are that person for a minute. Why are you doing it? How does it make you feel while you are bullying? How do you feel later on? Children draw images to represent what is going on for the person who bullies.

-Another idea is having children make images of themselves feeling good and confident in relation to situations they find difficult: They are asked to consider what they are thinking about? How would they be feeling? What would they be saying to themselves?

-Another idea posed in this book is to ask children to represent a situation that causes fear or anxiety for them (such as speaking in front of a group, confronting someone or dealing with a bully) The children then, in a separate picture, represent themselves overcoming it or standing up to it- asked to draw the thing that they feel anxious about. How does it feel to be able to do it?

In the book Creative Interventions with Traumatized Children, there is an entire section on Art therapy groups, and working with a group of bullied girls for 10 weeks, for 1 hour sessions. "All group members are encouraged to bring in bullying situations that may haveduring the week, which may lead to role playing, discussion, or drawing. Each occured group member has his or her own drawing pad.

-I think this idea of working with a specific group of girls for a certain duration of time is very interesting. I also like the notion of actually being able to interact with the girls rather than just having them draw in a classroom setting without me having much interaction with them. This idea was also brought up by Anna in the small group discussion on Tuesday.

A few possible questions I came up with to pose:

-Draw what happens when you are treated poorly by other girls?

-How do others make you feel at school?

-How do you feel when someone takes away your rights?

-What are the times at school that you feel uncomfortable?

Conversation with Sean:

-I need to create a network that is supportive

-anonymity factor?

-handbook to give to school districts to make more accessible?

-creating a book for teachers to serve as a lesson plan?

-pen pal system?

-I need to consider the age group and drawing skills- I have been thinking that these girls are younger than they are, and perhaps some of them might feel uncomfortable drawing. Maybe I should also allow them to write or create poetry?

-perhaps creating a network between 10 different schools so the girls are able to see that girls in other schools are feeling the same way as them, and so the bullies can see what they are doing, however it is anonymous since they won't be seeing drawings from their school.

Here is my WHAT and WHY that I came up with:

Generation of drawings from 5^th- 7^th grade females who have been psychologically bullied to allow for victims to articulate themselves in a safe way and provide for nonverbal self-actualization, while in effect giving these girls more confidence and showing others the prevalence and severity of this such problem.

-I found today's class very helpful! It was so interesting hearing what my group had to say about possible projects that I could create if I had all the time and money or if I only had a week. I am definitely going to take some time to take these in.

Lastly, I found this program that is being done by Dove, which seems very relevant to my project, and it is interesting to see how they are doing this program and giving girls more self esteem.

http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/

What I think I should do next:

This week I am going to be very focused with making contact with at least one person to get me going. I am really looking forward to this interaction, and I now feel like I am able to articulate my ideas much better than I was a few weeks ago. From this, I will have a direction to take, however it is hard for me to predict what these people will say.

I am going to keep researching and reading, which I am finding very helpful- almost therapeutic in some way. I am also going to go over all the points that my group made today and think about taking ideas from a couple of the suggestions made.

That's all for now :)