Inspiration

It is summer, the time of year we teachers have “extra” time. A time when we think about all the things we want to do with the “extra” time. As the days get longer, so do our lists, as our lists get longer our “extra” time gets shorter and our deadline gets closer and closer…the start of school!

At times I get a bit overwhelmed with everything on my list. I struggle to start new projects, procrastinate on “in progress” ones and then get stressed that there are very few things crossed off my list. I then get mad at myself for stressing out so much during a time of year that I should spend more time with my kids.

I’ve got stacks of books, teacher manuals and my blog binder all staring at me. I see it all and I think of all the work and time I put into a product and my mind starts to stall out. I create all my own fonts, background papers, and graphics to go with each of my products (I don’t want there to be any question about copyright issues) and I get tired just thinking of it all.

I start a project and I think about all the things I want to do with it and pretty soon it is a monumental task, a much bigger activity than I initially thought.

I am inspired and at the same time too tired to do anything about it, but in the end, when it comes right down to it, I LOVE WHAT I DO!!

I love the in depth study I do with each picture book I review.

I love drawing a creating clipart to go with each picture book.

I love working in Photoshop and making the clipart come to life. I love creating background paper to go with the theme of the book and I love figuring out what kind of border would work best.

I love creating freebies for stories that might be read and tossed aside. I love trying to help students dig a bit deeper into a book by having them find the problem, theme, or main idea.

I love creating a huge packet to go with picture books that we all know and love. I love offering so many options in one packet so you can use that book for whatever skill or strategy you are working on, whenever you work on it.

I love differentiating the skill and strategy pages so that you can have all your kids working on the same thing at a level that is right for them.

I love giving teachers ideas, possible questions, and answers to picture books. I want, in some small way, to help make your planning easier. It can be a daunting task to find picture books to use for specific skills or strategies and then taking time to figure out the cause and effect, theme or plot makes your planning even longer. I love giving you back a little of your time.

I love listing and reviewing books that you have but may have forgotten about. It  makes me happy to give old books new life.

And most importantly, I love the feedback I get from you, either from the review information, freebies or packets!

Thank you for keeping me inspired!