Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Does it count as reading if it's grading? Or, creative outlets keep me sane.


My  winter break is off to an excellent start.  The south couldn't handle a few inches of snow, so on my way to Fort Myers, I was rerouted right back to Newark (curses in a million ways over not being able to see two of my favorites in the whole world).  And, this is what is staring me down since I've been back in Brooklyn (and yes, those are notes for future lesson plans written on an airplane napkin. Nothing but class here) : 













So, as of 4 pm today, I finished sixty 7th grade reading responses and thirty 8th grade poetry anthologies. I have thirty 7th grade independent writing projects to go. (This is not inlcluding the 120 projects waiting for me on my desk at school. Teaching English is the best!)  Needless to say, I was losing my mind by the end of today's installment. Anything sounded more entertaining than grading: I distracted myself by filing for a loan forgiveness, planning mother's day gifts for my favorite mom, making a mix cd for my brother and essentially finishing every other possible thing on my to-do lists.  I was feeling productive in a practical sense, but my creativity was at a loss.  So, after being inspired by one of my best friends yesterday, I got crafty.

 I have quite a few stacks of shelter magazines in my apartment that I'm not ready to part with yet (perhaps I need to enlist help from editspaces.com) and another growing stack of New York Magazines.  NYM comes every week, and I've realized that if I don't want to become the old lady whose trash you wade through to get to the kitchen table, I needed to recycle them pronto. But before I did that, in the spirit of reusing, I turned some of my favorite articles and photographs into envelopes!










This will also help me be inspired to write real letters an art I have lost in recent years. Anyway, the point is, sometimes it's cooking, sometimes its crafting, sometimes it's writing, sometimes it's walking with a camera in hand, but this reader needs creative outlets.

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