Author: Kath

Today I played with a new form of art. At moments I have been known to play with spray paint art for kicks… and have had fairly good success if I may do say so myself. After purchasing a couple metal working pieces from Redline Steel… sound like a free lance advertising agency with two posts like this but… I played with spray paint and water to color them. This was a student driven idea as I had purchased a custom piece that says Create, and I wanted to make sure the message was seen for what it is meant to be. Art in its purest form.

That being said, it was a success. My fingers are semi permanently maroon, peach, red and gold. The blue and green didn’t stick as well, but this is an adventure I will have to try again as soon as I can. Given the temperatures we are in store for, I am half expecting the paints to explode now that they are in a temp controlled environment, namely the house. If I walk in in and faint from odors… well, you will hear from me eventually… I will be that human for sure. I try not to over share, but the goofy things I set myself up for… yes. Most definitely.

As for the success of painting the metal signs, – they worked well, but not necessarily with the intended color layering I had in mind. Oh well. In my world that means I have the perfect opportunity to do this again… on the same piece and layer the paint until I am seeing what I hope to see. If the view I had earlier proves to be true they do kind of look a bit like a preschool finger paint job. Maybe I will like them dry. My student definitely will see what a mess I made before I continue though.

One thing I have learned this year, – take advantage of my students’ creative minds. Anyone else find that to be more rewarding -even when  a mess occurs – than you expect it to? I sure am. With that thought in mind, I shall bid you a temporary far thee well.

Good morning , good night wherever you are.

Kath

Over the last six months I have become far too embroiled in what has become a Zox (elastic strap/bracelet) fetish. This includes old stocks that I have never heard of, new ones that I missed or missed when I first joined the company, or seasonal collections that come in sets of 6 with an extra that you earn by sending in the corresponding cards. When I saw that each was numbered to go along with the positive quotes and such, my overzealous brain went, Oh heck yeah! Collectibles, collectibles Collectibles. Whole my appreciation has maintained with the unique qualities of the items, the chaos of finding the right sets when very few of what I really am looking for come my way is annoying as, excuse me but, hell.

So I turned into something more. I started saving the old straps I don’t need or want, and began passing them out at school to my students. Soon I had help from somewhere along the lines of six or seven other Zoxers as we like to call ourselves. That is what has kept my sanity through this crazy mess. This bit reminded me daily how the little things in life make a huge difference in another’s day. To me, it was a simple gesture that I hoped would … okay, I’m going to say it,  bribe… the kids into better behavior and more cooperation.  So far so good on that mark.

My only real concern now is that I must let the spending ease a bit, but I also hope to get ahead of the game and buy the troops more before school is out if not sooner. This one human band though, I got that down too well and often get myself backed into a corner, Fortunately, my crew seems to get it. I will find a way to get extra to get rid-ofs again soon.

Thank you for listening to my crazy little rant on my own inability to remain focused… Oh yeah, HI WORLD, I really am still out here. I just let myself get sucked into school and out of my routine… whoops. Not much of a routine maker am I huh?

Anyway, thank you again for being part of my crazy journey for the day. I hope that we can work together again soon and I will have another happy train of thought to share. In the writing Realm, I have surpassed 12,000 words on day 8 for NaNoWriMo… not too bad.. not too bad at all. 😀

Happy day one and all.

Good morning, good night wherever you are.

Kath

Today, I shared a little bit of my story with a student that I have been trying to reach for months. The way they lit up, and shared their vision of what I could do with this story gives me a special kind of hope that will possibly bridge the gap between their interests, and my teaching style.

To have known how easily fired up this one could be is something that I wish they all would share. On top of that, I shared their view with another of their peers – same result. The excitement to extend time with creative writing prompts and activities absolutely made my day, as well as brought about a chance for greater success.

Oh how I wish my natural self would ask the right questions more often.

With that little bit of run-on sentence excitement I am going to leave you and ponder the depth of possibilities that are now in front of me.

What new ideas and possibilities are you facing?

Hope they are plentiful and enjoyable.

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

Talk about time flying and my attention span diminishing to not a complete thing beyond teaching. So sorry world, but I do exist. This crazy thing called a writing adventure is still in the works, though I have taken a few weeks off to focus on the year starting. I meant to have a moment on or near the 11th to properly pay tribute, but the focus again was on what I wanted the kids to learn.

I have no major revelations to share, though I still hope each and all of you are taking a moment to relish your creative talents.

Wishing you all a blessed day and for those like me, a break from the annoying little bugs.

Take care one and all!

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

I promised that I would write, and keep in touch better over the summer… LIES! All of it LIES!

Well… not all of it. I did write and meet my goal of 35,000 words not just before school starts (next week), but within 29 days in July. Whooo!

I have otherwise spent my time focused on decompressing, and planning for next week. I have big dreams and high hopes that are overlapping with maintaining the plans for what has been working with the younger troops.

I cannot wait to see how my ideas pan out, and hopefully have yet one more year that teaches me the joys of educating our youth. They never fail to amaze me.

Have a blessed and happy day!

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

Whichever suits you best. So far I have read roughly a book a day, been through Flash, Madame Secretary, and now am on Supernatural binge watching.

In July alone I’ve put together over 4500 words with a goal of 35000 for the month, and hope to hit closer to 80000 total – another 15, by mid August.

I am also working on gathering bits to create a fairy garden/ mini version of my creative world. 😀

Being a bum is my goal for summer because school will come round much too soon.

This is me decompressing and taking care of myself.

What are your favorite tools?

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

Whoo! Time to get going with the writing. I have had a very productive two weeks with my writing, and now I have the perfect opportunity to put it into high gear.

The ideas, plans, and possibilities are endless so, here’s to a great month of writing.

… that is if I manage to keep the brain on writing rather than re-watching my shows. 😀

Hope all is well in the world out there.

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

The little things in life are all too often the big things. In this case it was spending a few minutes here, or a phone call there to my Aunt Em and Uncle Tom. On Memorial Day, Tommy passed, but it was 91 1/2 glorious years of life that we had with him… well… 50 and 1/2 for me.

He was a fantastic uncle, father, brother, and grandfather. In ’46, he spent time in the Pacific with the Navy which is where he and I bonded with my interest in World War 2 history. Together, with dad working as liaison, we shared books, stories we found, and learned more about one another.

We don’t always have time on our side, but wow, what a fantastic ride. Celebrating his life also gave me a chance to see long lost cousins… or rather those I missed by a day or two for decades – literally decades…

No sad thoughts allowed, 91+ is a great life, so focus on celebrating those you have.

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

Now that I have half a minute to completely focus on my writing, I feel scattered. The website that I went to on a daily basis, (well… almost) and tracked my writing habits is shutting down. With that habit forming tool, I feel disconnected and frustrated. I know word will do the trick, but accountability – outside myself, is the key.

I’ve spent time searching for a replacement, but none work as this did and the ‘creature of habit’ in me is rearing its ugly head.  Hopefully my routine will shore up in the next couple of weeks so I can focus the rest of summer.

Any thoughts on your part are quite welcome!

To a peaceful and heartfelt Memorial Day!

Good morning, goodnight wherever you are!

Kath

School’s out for summer…

That’s all I gotta say now. I should write, but all I wanna do is think… Ok. Scream…

FREEDOM!! WHOOOOooooooHHhhoooooEEeeeee!

I’ll be around… hopefully much more soon. 😀

Take care one and all.

Good morning good night wherever you are.

Kath