However, I did encourage students to make at least 50 percent of the work drawing. There were no hard and fast rules on how much collage or text needed to be incorporated. In my classroom, I looked for 3 things in each entry: Then, I provided students with a handout that told them exactly how their journals would be assessed. I told them the work they do in these journals could push their class projects to the next level. I focused on how my students’ journals could become a storehouse of ideas to pull from throughout the class. In my room, my students and I started early in the year by discussing why artists keep journals. It was a win-win-win experience! Let’s take a closer look at how visual journals promote drawing and creative thinking skills in an incredible way. Plus, it allowed me to see how they were developing as artists. These assignments not only gave students inspiration to work on their technical skills, but also became important creative outlets. I came up with prompt-based weekly visual journal assignments.

I wanted to hold my kiddos accountable for their learning in an enjoyable way. Telling them to practice wasn’t cutting it, but I wasn’t sure what the best solution might be.

When I started at the secondary level, I quickly realized my students needed to be encouraged to practice their drawing and composition skills.

Doodle ideas for journal