It's late

Amaryllis 'Clown'

This week has been a whirlwind. I know that because I found myself nodding off in my desk chair at 4:30 this afternoon. I left school at 6 and half an hour ago I was still processing ideas, lists of things to do and parts of conversations (It's almost midnight).

Wondering what to write about makes me think of the guest speaker we had during this last Monday's PD day. Alec Couros mentioned that a lot of us have turned to Social Media in order to have a voice. The internet has allowed every one of us the chance to express ourselves creatively – to capture moments of time to both help us remember and to share with others.

Driving home and listening to CBC at some point this week, I vaguely remember a performer mention something about her real life reservations about social media and how when she uses it outside of her performance, she is mindful of the content she expresses.

It is so easy to just write stream of consciousness. Especially when one is tired. So in the spirit of mindfulness, I will try to just stick to the facts and the topic at hand... with a little veer off into technology in the classroom: one of the main reasons I'm so tired.

I took the photos of this amaryllis on January 5. I had managed to keep it moving and out of the way of our cats, but I took a risk and moved it into the living room where it would get some more light. It was really something to see how quickly the blossoms were bursting forth. It seemed to change so much even within a day.

January 5 progress.

If I ever try this again in a cat proof spot, I would love to hook up a time laps camera to document the blossoms unfurling.

On the 7th I got up and was eating breakfast in the kitchen when I heard a dull thud. One of our cats had gotten up on a chair and must have swatted at the stem of the amaryllis, tipping the bulb out of its pot. The pot itself was weighted down with rocks and so it remained on its perch, but sadly, my amaryllis lay broken on the floor.

Luckily I have people in my life who have had luck with these beautiful blooms. My Mom and I are going to Skype this weekend and she's going to show me the blooms on her 'apple blossom' and you can go to Flowery Prose and see some beautiful photos of the same type. Mine was 'Clown' but the only clown I have now is the one below, shown here wanting to help out with Artist Trading Cards for my students before Christmas.

One of my dear cats. Young at heart and indiscriminate in where she places her paws.

I haven't done any drawing for a few days now, but before school started back I began my Sketchbook Project. I've decided to just keep this one and not send it off. A souvenir so to speak (and one less deadline to meet).
I'm heading back to a magpie theme and hope that I can finally get something together for the piece I had originally planned to have finished last May.

Unfinished. Inspired by this photo taken by Graham Jeffery.

 Any spare time I've had I've been learning how to use my iPad mini. I bought one for school and must say that it has opened up some creative doors for my students. I have been working with students one on one to help them navigate through the App: Photoforge 2. They used digital cameras to take each other's photo portrait, I uploaded these images to the iPad and the kids have done really well creating some unique altered photos. One student asked why we didn't just use Photobooth, but I like how Photoforge allows them the opportunity to have more control over their manipulations.
I have a few grade 4 students also trying Animation Desk and I'm also working with my grade twos to make a pattern animation (inspired by the work of Anika Starmer!) So the ipad has had 11 hour work outs almost every day this week. I'm almost ready for some technology down time.

Are you excited about learning all that technology has to offer to help you be creative and put a voice to your work, to be inspired by others? Do you think about crafting clear messages that will be informative or make other people think about something in a different way? Do you take breaks from technology every once in awhile or has it become such an integrated part of life that you can not live with out it?

This is me. I always wanted to have freckles.