Personal Artifacts Project

A exercise in self reflection:

Our assignment was to bring in five personal artifacts that represent who we are - or something important about us. I thought that this assignment would be challenging for me - but it turns out I am not really that complex :-) I found it easy to choose five items.

The first item I selected is my Bible. From the age of thirteen, the Bible has been a source of guidance and hope for me - and my faith really defines many of the decisions I have made in my life. To me, the words within are are like fresh water - often giving me strength and bringing me peace. I included two other books - one is a family album that I put together during the years I lived in Bulgaria. The five years of my life that were consumed with raising funds and preparing to go to Bulgaria - and then living there - were really tremendously life changing years for me. They are years which changed me dramatically in so many different ways. The other book I included is an album of portraiture that I assembled while taking a course in digital photography. In it I represented the techniques of many famous artists through unusual portraits of myself, my mother, my husband, and my children. I chose to include this album because I feel it represents the creative side of me - which I do not always have a chance to express. I was also pleased to include both of these books - because both are stocked with fabulous photos of my precious loved ones - and this represents me because my family is so important to me - so the books each served a dual purpose! The fourth item I included was my passport. I love to travel and discover new places, people, cultures, and foods - I love adventure. I never want to live my life in fear or with regrets. The fifth item I included in my personal artifacts is my university ID card. Returning to school has pretty much consumed the past four years of my thoughts and time - so I thought it appropriate to say that the university ID card is a very accurate representation of me right now.

I think this would be a wonderful activity for an upper elementary or high school classroom. This is not only a great opportunity for students to reflect and make personal connections - and for their classmates and teacher to know them better - it is also an activity with potential for extensions of writing and the social studies explorations of famous peoples or groups of people and the artifacts which might represent them.