Saturday, March 14, 2015

Celebrating The Week Plus SOLC # 14/31



Come celebrate and share with Ruth Ayes at Discover, Play Build.  
                                                       Tweet at #CelebrateLu!

SOLC # 14  

Day Fourteen of the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge. I'm also blogging with students at Linda & Jonathan's Class Blog      Tweet at #SOL15
        Thanks to Tara, Dana, Anna, Betsy, Beth and Stacey for these terrific two weeks!

         Antoine de Saint-Exupery, in Flight to Arras, wrote: "A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."


        I'm celebrating imagination today, wish I had pictures for all of it.

       Must start with PI day. 3-14-15,  a special one, and today's it! All but the younger students celebrated this day, seems like all week. They made posters, they found the history, and they ate pie, of course. One of our student's birthday is today. He was quite excited!



       This week was the BIG play, the Advanced School Performance Company play, the one we wait for every year, the one some students look forward to when they become Advanced School students (our middle school title). In the fall, auditions are held, the play is cast, and they begin work, along with the crew designing and creating the sets. It's a tradition and the teachers who do this each year are to be celebrated for the performance that is always awesome. They've done As You Like It, Annie, Frog and Toad-the musical, Twelve Angry Men, and so many more. This year the play is The Miracle Worker, four performances. Again, the play was beautifully done. I went opening night, and even the smaller children quieted with the story as we wound our way to the inspiring end, "teacher".  I celebrate the imagination by these teachers who care so much for the students that they help them be their best!

        Finally, like many Fridays, Ingrid came home with me after school. I have a box of legoes, and a container of "mostly" matchbox cars. Both grand girls have great imaginations when playing. It's fun to watch what uses are made from the cars. Sometimes they race, sometimes they become family groups and speak to each other, anything goes! This day, Ingrid brought a few Barbies, and the cars became their cars. She took them on trips, let them choose which car they might like, etc. Imagination knows no bounds, does it?

May you all always have a bit of imagination in your lives!

27 comments:

  1. Pondering the connection between theatrical plays and imaginative play after reading your posts. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas, and art with the world.

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    1. Good thought, it all does connect. When Ingrid is older, she'll be able to imagine herself in a role already written.

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  2. Celebrating teachers has really been on my mind lately. So many things to celebrate, all they give to accomplish such amazing things. Imaginative play is the best! I love boxes of toys like this, that aren't really organized. This morning, we have cars, a track, and some wooden blocks to build tunnels. We should all play everyday.

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    1. I see my colleagues working so hard, & those who have given many hours for this play, then others, and I, are preparing for conferences-whew-lots to do & we do it for the students. Yes, the toys are there for "play" & that means imagination. Thanks, Kendra.

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  3. Imagination is a wonderful thing. Think of how many things we would not have today if someone had not imagined them first. I love watching a child with a blank piece of paper and a box of crayons. It is sometimes amazing what they will come up with. Happy pi day. I just might celebrate with a piece of pie.

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    1. Hope you get that piece of pie! It is a joy to watch children draw or make things. They have such power & my hope is that they never lose it! Thanks!

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  4. Imagination knows no bounds. Exactly. It is amazing where a few legos, or some boxes or some random objects can take children, when using imagination. I miss those days when my kids went to magical places with simple and unexpected objects. Glad you have that with Ingrid.

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    1. It is magical, Deborah. No need for more than a few "somethings" and time to play. I love seeing it too.

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  5. I love the story of The Miracle Worker--I can picture the younger students getting quiet during that play! Beautiful post to remind us all to celebrate the opportunities for imagination. Thank you, Linda!

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    1. You're welcome, Melanie. I had forgotten how inspiring this story is to everyone, but especially to teachers. Imagining the reach of possibilities for students is the goal of teachers I think.

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  6. Imagination is something I cultivated in my kids when they were little like Ingrid. Any opportunity to ignite that creativity in "olders" is a gift. We need to nurture more of it and then celebrate! Thank for sharing these celebrations.

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    1. Agreed, Julieanne. Imagination can take us so many ways.

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  7. I do love that photograph of Ingrid, Linda - and I can just imagine her conversation as she played and made up stories. This used to be one of my most favorite things to do when my kids were little. Sometimes, I can hear them still...

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    1. It's both heartwarming & amusing to watch her get right to work, & it is her "work", that play. I remember my kids too, Tara.

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  8. I love the quote about the rock! Lovely. Always celebrate imagination.

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    1. I'm glad you liked it, Jone. Saint-Exupery's writing is rather heavenly, don't you think?

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  9. There was a Pi day run this morning - we didn't find out about it until after we had signed up for another run but it is on our radar for next year. Lovely celebrations

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    1. Thanks Juliann. I assume your weather is super for running now. Glad you were out!

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  10. Matchbox cars or big cardboard boxes with a sprinkle of imagination make the world so much bigger. I like the little girl play and the collective big kids play in one celebration.

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    1. Thanks, Terje, all in the same way, play & imagination. I think even my older students would love to do something with a big cardboard box!

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  11. So happy to see imagination reigning in your house - it seems like the older they get, the less imaginative play there is. How I loved Matchbox cars when I was younger...

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    1. I wonder why we think that those cars are only for racing or going along tracks. They are so much more!

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  12. Oh that quote! Made me sit up in my chair a bit as I read it, I love it. Love all the links to imagination in this slice as I sit and watch my children draw and color from their own.

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    1. Yep, to see what they want to do and can do is spectacular I think. Thanks, Betsy.

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  13. Imagination is an awesome gift to explore.

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    1. Well, you know I agree, Crystal. If we can just keep it going!

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  14. What a great beautiful quote. Thanks fro sharing it and all kinds of imagination.

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