Adding Sketchbooks to the Mix

      As an individual, I've always been great at starting a project- such as blogging- then watching it get lost in the shuffle of life. Now the new Georgia Performance Standards for Fine Arts are listing sketchbooks as something that all Art students must have and use from the third grade on. These standards state that students should begin reflecting on their art-related experiences as early as Kindergarten.
      My first reaction upon reading this was to panic a little bit. Now that I've had some time to reflect, and research art journaling for kids, I am beginning to believe that this could be a great thing!

1. Here's a way of documenting that the students hear the standards, essential questions, principles of design, and elements of art that I endeavor to teach them in a brief 40-45 minutes per week.
2. Here's the impetus that I need to keep the current standards posted where students can reference them.
3. Here's a form of documentation that seems much more manageable than keeping up with permission slips, uploading photos of student work. (I still love http://www.artsonia.com/ , but have yet to wrap my brain around the time management aspect of such an endeavor.)
4. This is a perfect excuse to begin developing myself as an artist myself. It only seems fair to me that I have an art journal if I want my students to journal about art. That seems to be a huge undertaking with a toddler at home, yet just makes sense as an art teacher. 

Once I get my third through fifth graders to bring their "source books" (some teachers call them journals) to art each week, I'll have to get them into the habit of using them properly. I have to figure out how to do this myself! I'm also going to endeavor to blog about the process!