Teen Happiness without Wifi

Sketchbooks take students out of the scrolling life. Many teenagers in my high school art classes seem to spend an alarming amount of time on digital devices. There is great information on these devices, of course. They have immediate access to contemporary knowledge, which can serve them well. With this project, I would like students to exercise a different part of their brain. Sketchbooks for my 60 AP students will give them an official place to record their ideas, both big and small. These portable volumes provide a convenient place to experiment. For the first semester of this school year, I asked students to spend 10 minutes with their sketchbook each day. We tried a variety of different prompts. This practice of consistently revisiting a physical practice of drawing garnered great work for some students. I think all students emerged with stronger finished pieces. I would like to buy multi media sketchbooks so students can use marker and color pencil in addition to graphite. I would like to buy one sketchbook for each student in AP Art, plus a few extra ones for overachievers and any lost ones.