Creative Juices.......

So this summer has been one of soul searching, confrontation, and learning and it's been good... I've spent my summer working on the Bible course I took at the beginning of July. It's been a long haul, but I finally finished all my assignments, but that's not what this post is about...it's what started everything. If you know me at all you will have an inkling that I am a bit of a procrastinator, just a bit.... :) As I put the pro in procrastinate, I can always find something to consume my time and distract me from the task at hand. This time it was my new love, Pinterest. This site is full of pictures that other people have copied off the web, or taken themselves and posted for everyone else to see. The pictures usually link you to their source, so you can see what the story is behind the picture. There are recipes, DIY projects, clothes, posters, and what I am LOVING, ideas for the classroom. Art projects, math centers, literacy centers, classroom management ideas, organizational tips and tricks, and links to fabulous blogs by other teachers. I have spent so much time, I am kinda ashamed to admit how much (actually I don't even know the number, but it's a lot) looking at all the pictures, the blogs, the ideas behind the pictures, and while my course work was suffering a bit, my classroom mojo is BACK!!! This past year was one of the hardest years I have had to date, and I was completely zapped of any motivation and creativity. I was going through the motions of teaching, but not enjoying it. AP (after pinterest), I am starting to really look forward to going back. I have some cool ideas that I want to try, I have some fun activities to supplement my curriculum with, and I am making things for my classroom, which may sound weird, but I've been needing a creative outlet that nurtures the artist in me.

I have made a wall decoration from wooden letters and buttons.

I have made some posters and worksheets on Word, which isn't art, per se, but takes a kind of technical creativity,

and I am working on a few more... This site has reawakened the teacher in me, the one that loves her job and is always creating and thinking and doing. The one who wants her kids to want to find their passions because they see someone who is passionate about what they are doing (I think that sentence makes sense!). I lost her for a while, but she is back and I could not be more excited. The creative juices are flowing, all thanks to procrastination!! haha...jk.....