Building Empathy Through Mixed-Media Art

Key Takeaways

And then maybe finding an object that they're all looking at could help convey that, too. You know what I'm saying? Like something that fits that word. Because students [music] create emotion collages, they're able to build their emotional intelligence and [music] look at classmates' artwork and see how different people experience different emotions. It helps me [music] understand the kids a little more, too. This is a good idea that really helps convey that word. [music] So, let me find you a couple magazines with big faces in it, okay? >> [music] >> You ask somebody what's the point of high school, they're going to tell you to be successful when you leave. And [music] part of that is those soft skills like empathy. And so, you can build those with lessons. I think emotional intelligence is really important. So, this is just a really cool way to get kids thinking about that. Students draw an emotion. [music] They don't know what they're going to get and they need to depict that emotion through collage. It's a secret. Do not tell anybody what is on your paper. Look at it. Keep it hidden to yourself. They start by adding a background. I always suggest [music] choosing a color or landscape that reflects that emotion. And then they layer on top different images that can be facial expressions or other objects or [music] animals that kind of represent that emotion. Anyway, what's your [music] emotion? Where's your word? There's so many things that we focus on with little kids that we lose in high school and emotional intelligence is one. This would be easy to teach elementary school kids, but high schoolers are going through it. They have all of the emotions. I like to see them sort out how am I going to show this? What kind of facial features am I looking for? And also color, mood, vibe, all of that is really important, [music] too. Everyone has different emotions. And like it's hard to show them sometimes. I picked red cuz when you're angry, you see red. And then we have a girl. She like looks frustrated. Once their emotion is complete, [music] we lay them all out and students go around and try and guess which emotion [music] their peer was trying to reflect. Sad cuz the eyes. Yeah. Tear drops, [music] blue, sad in the eyes. One of the collages had blue pieces of the articles means sadness. It causes our brains to understand our emotions better and to understand other people's emotions. [music] I love when they start to see that people experience things differently. The same emotion can just look really different for others. I think it's fear. >> [music] >> I think it could also be anxiety, you know? Since right here, they're kind of scared. >> Yeah. Her eyebrows Anxiety. Her face is up a little bit. It helps not only as an artist, but it helps as a person to understand what to look for in emotions with other people because you may be making an art piece, but somebody out there may feel that actual feeling and it can help you understand, oh, that's what that looks like. >> Just make a little X or a check mark beside each one as I go through to see if you got it right or wrong. Number one is sadness. Number two is anxiety. Number three is surprise. Somebody who's empathetic, who understands emotions, [music] becomes a more successful adult in their workplace, in their personal relationships. Trying to understand [music] emotions, how other people are processing those, how you should move through one is really important. Okay, count them up. Give me a shout out. How many did you get right? 16, okay. 17, good.