End of Year • Reflection & Goals

Showcase Student Goals with Creative Self-Portrait Displays

Torn paper self-portraits paired with student-written goal reflections — a project that combines art, identity, and meaningful end-of-year writing in one striking display.

End of year goals bulletin board with torn paper self-portraits

End of the Year Goals — Full Display

Students created self-portraits entirely by tearing pieces of construction paper — no scissors needed. The results were distinctive enough that you could identify each student without reading the names.

Close-up of torn paper self-portrait

Individual Portrait

The torn paper technique gives each portrait a textured, expressive quality that drawn or painted portraits rarely achieve.

Self-portrait with student goal paragraph

Portrait with Goal Paragraph

Each portrait is paired with a student-written paragraph reflecting on how well they accomplished their goals for the past school year.

Teacher-typed paragraph added to portrait

Typed Paragraphs

The teacher typed the student paragraphs — a time-saving step that gives the display a polished, uniform look.

Another example of a torn paper self-portrait

Another Portrait Example

No two torn-paper portraits look alike — the variation is part of what makes the display so interesting to look at.

About This Project

Students tore pieces of construction paper and assembled them to form self-portraits — carefully selecting colors to match their skin tone, hair, and clothing, and using smaller torn pieces for facial details like eyes, noses, and mouths. The result is a textured, expressive portrait that is uniquely theirs.

Each student also wrote a paragraph reflecting on how well they achieved their goals from the beginning of the year. The teacher typed these paragraphs and added them alongside the portraits, creating a personal display that parents and other students stopped to read.

Extending the writing

In addition to the goal reflection, students can write about a favorite memory from the year, one thing they learned that surprised them, or a specific goal for the coming school year. Adding a forward-looking element gives the display a sense of momentum rather than just looking back.

Connecting to art history

This project pairs naturally with a brief study of famous self-portraits. Students can compare their work to self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, or Pablo Picasso — discussing how each artist used their portrait to express something about themselves, and what their own torn-paper choices reveal about their identity.

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