"God, help us not to be enticed by evil but to look to you for help in all things."
Thomas, 4/29/13, in response to Proverbs 1.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
It's All in Your Perspective
I work with some amazing people. I really do. So it should come as no surprise that they have some amazing kids. One of these amazing kids is little M. She's in kindergarten this year.
After doing her homework, her mom told her to put it on the table and she would check it. Well imagine her mother's surprise when she found this:
Of course everyone had a good laugh over it. "But Moooooom, my teacher KNOWS pigs poop!" But it got me thinking. Here this little 5 year old was asked to draw a picture to show how she arrived at her answer. And she drew exactly what she visualized - a pen with 4 pigs in it is obviously going to contain some poop! And once she had her picture drawn, she was able to go look at the illustration and find the answer, which she got correct. But all the adults could focus on was the fact that she added pig poop to make her drawing more realistic.
How many times do we do that in every day life? We have a tendency to focus on what is wrong with the picture and not what is right. We want to completely change the picture, to make it more acceptable or correct. But what if in order to answer the question we need all the details, even the more unpleasant ones?
Sometimes you just have to look past the poop to solve the problem.
After doing her homework, her mom told her to put it on the table and she would check it. Well imagine her mother's surprise when she found this:
Of course everyone had a good laugh over it. "But Moooooom, my teacher KNOWS pigs poop!" But it got me thinking. Here this little 5 year old was asked to draw a picture to show how she arrived at her answer. And she drew exactly what she visualized - a pen with 4 pigs in it is obviously going to contain some poop! And once she had her picture drawn, she was able to go look at the illustration and find the answer, which she got correct. But all the adults could focus on was the fact that she added pig poop to make her drawing more realistic.
How many times do we do that in every day life? We have a tendency to focus on what is wrong with the picture and not what is right. We want to completely change the picture, to make it more acceptable or correct. But what if in order to answer the question we need all the details, even the more unpleasant ones?
Sometimes you just have to look past the poop to solve the problem.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Photo Cube Block Puzzles
I really used to have free time once in a great while before Pinterest. Now I either pin stuff I want to do or do things I pinned.
Anyway, I saw these cute photo cube block puzzles and knew I'd have to make myself a set or 2 (or 3). I think I will take these to work and let the students play with them when they are chilling in my office.
You will need six 2" wooden cubes and six 4"x6" photos. You will also need Mod Podge, an applicator, a small sharp blade, and either a fan, hair dryer, or a LOT of spare time.
First, you are going to arrange your cubes into a 2x3 pattern. Then coat the tops with Mod Podge.
Put your picture on top of all 6 cubes and press firmly to get out any air bubbles. Then coat the top of your photo with a thin but even layer of Mod Podge.
Speed up the drying process with a fan or hair dryer. Or wait for a good long while for it to dry between steps.
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| Ignore all that gunk on my hairdryer. It's probably toothpaste. My kids can get toothpaste on ANYTHING. |
Flip the cubes to an uncovered face and repeat the steps until all 6 faces are covered. Then go back and recoat all the photos with Mod Podge because you may find they like to stick together if they aren't completely dry in between steps
Assemble your puzzle and enjoy! When you get bored with it, flip the pictures and you have something new to look at. Wouldn't these make fantastic gifts? And super cheap too - less than $1 to get the photos printed and maybe $5 for the blocks!
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| Yay! Now I can see 18 of my favorite pictures of them whenever I want! |
1) I really hate Mod Podge. It gets EVERYWHERE! How do people use it and not have it stuck all over their hands? Maybe I just have no patience...
2) These things really do need a lot of drying time between steps. If you rush it, they are not going to turn out nearly as pretty as you want them to be.
3) I used real photos printed on real photo paper by a real photo counter (ok, the drugstore, but it wasn't home printed!) If you used regular paper on these you really want to make sure every thing is super dry before the next step. While I think you probably could make these with a thin paper, I also think they would tear super easy and you'd just be left with a gloppy mess.
4) My photography skills suck. I have discovered that this is what sets you apart on Pinterest - if you have an expensive camera and can take really good pictures, people will think you are an amazing crafter. I think everyone's projects really DO look just like yours does, they are just better at taking pictures to make it look perfect!