Images and Imagining on a funny kind of day...

Yesterday afternoon it was fortunate I had choir and then visual journals and then buddies because honestly I was feeling kind of otherworldly and coughing and sneezing.  I watched a few minutes of the Senior Girls' basketball game and then ran home where I was meeting a lady to discuss windows.  And then I really started sneezing and faced the truth that I had better stay home today. 

But I wasn't sure how clear I had left my day plan and I had a lot of marking I wanted to drop off so I went to school to discover that there was no EOC until the afternoon so the resource teachers had to pinch hit in the morning.  What can I say?  I went home and fell asleep for a couple of hours.  Not quite as sneezy but not well enough to go to the party I was supposed to go to tonight, I have been finishing up an old blog entry and reading a couple of my favorite bloggers as well.  There is just so much talent out there.  And it is a bit of a luxury to have the time to peruse.  For a bit of a gardening and  design fix I was reading Aloe Design's Caitlin's Nesting journal and just because I always find it interesting,  Grade One teacher, Pavan Sumra's Pancakes for Breakfast.  Each of these ladies has a wonderful eye, and create and find the best images.  And that leads me back to yesterday afternoon.  Images...

I had a lot of fun last year working with Phyllis Schwartz through the Vancouver School Board's Artist in Residence program.  She did an amazing job working with my students on pottery described in this blog extensively.   She also is a great inspiration for what to do when you do retire from regular teaching.  She introduced me to The Sketchbook Project and then she shared her idea of making a mini sketchbook project in our school board and with the help of our arts coordinator, Peggy Bochun, this is going to happen.  I needed to recruit some fellow teachers so three of my former colleagues at Moberly and one colleague with whom I worked when I was a consultant have joined the project with their classes.  Two grade sevens, one grade four, one grade three, and one k-one class will all be creating sketchbooks and sharing them with each other and have them on display at the Vancouver School Board Education building in April.

In the fall we chose the type of sketchbook we wanted, but it took a bit longer to get them than I originally anticipated (illustration above).  Finally in late February they arrived.  We have a meeting on Tuesday so that I thought that I had better get started this week!  We had chosen a theme of voyage or travel-imaginary or real.  As I attempted to describe the project and brainstorm with my class yesterday afternoon, it didn't seem too clear so I grabbed a picture book, The Sounds of Color  for a little inspiration.   This book is about a girl who is going blind and her journey through a subway using her imagination to see.  The illustrations are amazing.  Here are a few more.  My class started planning in their drawing books and one by one I was handing out the new sketchbooks.

Although I told them not to take them home, I suspect Ellie did, because she gave me hers, the first, this morning.  Once Ellie gets organized, she is going to be famous one day.  So here is her first page... It's hard to see but that is definitely Ellie in the crows' nest!
I am hoping that my much more artistically inclined and imaginative colleagues (two of whom taught my classes art) will bring samples on Tuesday when we meet.  And I have been so fortunate this year with Allison, my amazing teacher-librarian and resource person teaching my class art.  There is much to be said for a specialist!

Barry asked, "Why are you always reading picture books?"   I had read Desmond and the Very Mean Word for Pink Day (Anti-bullying Day) a couple of days ago.  "Because I like them and I hoped it would inspire you," I think was my reply.    If you haven't seen either book they are worth a read and probably a purchase. 

So stay tuned for more about The VSB Sketchbook Project and how it all evolves!  And here is my image to brighten a weather wise dreary day!  The first image is from the new Chihuly Glass and Garden in Seattle I recently visited on a real journey and one where I got to appreciate Chihuly's imagination.