High School Learning with Apple #7: Psychoanalytic Drawings

Megan Trahan (@Dragon_Coach) and I met at ADE Institute in 2023 and have been working on compiling lessons for high school teachers using MacBooks or iPads in class. Megan uses MacBooks, and I use iPads, and in our collaboration, we realized that small adjustments can be made to apply the lessons in each environment. Over the next 30 days, we’ll post one lesson idea each day with tips on how to make it work in either environment you are teaching in. 

Lesson Idea #7: Psychoanalytic Drawings

First, I can't talk about this lesson without giving credit to the amazing English teacher it came from. Ms. Melissa Surber at Troy Buchanan High School is one of the best! I helped her and another English teacher, Mrs. Lindsay Bell, implement this lesson in their classrooms and had so much fun. They have graciously allowed me to share their brilliance with all of you. 

After reading part 1 of the book 1984 by George Orwell, students are asked to complete an analysis of the novel with a psychoanalytic lens. While students have several choices of how to create their analysis, this example was my favorite. This choice allowed students to reimagine a Norman Rockwell painting to illustrate the novel's psychological effects. They started with a Norman Rockwell painting. 

Rockwell, Norman. The Connoisseur. 1962, Oil on canvas, 37%" x 31½". Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, January 13, 1962.

Some students opted to recreate the paintings freehand. Others chose to use Keynote and Apple Pencil on their iPads. Using the original image, they lowered the transparency of the image and then used Apple Pencil to draw over the image so they could add their details as they went. Their final products looked something like this:  

Finally, students explained their drawings with a written analysis of the book and how it relates to their drawing.  

The benefit of drawing digitally is that even students who didn't feel artistic could use the original image to support their drawing. In addition, students like the ability to be able to undo mistakes or easily change colors as they go, as opposed to paper drawings that may require them to live with it or start over.

While this lesson is specific to iPad, it could easily be adapted to MacBook by using Keynote shapes and animations to illustrate their analysis. The other beauty of this lesson is no template is required! Students just need the expectations and can time to get creative.

📣 How could your students show their understanding visually?