February Mosaic

I am continuing my Numbers and Letters Project for my version of Project 365 this year.

1st Row: 2 (2 hands, child reading 2 versions of CORALINE), 7 (Food for Thought at the Old Worthington Library), Food for Thought

2nd Row: 1/2 (Food for Thought--Macaroon), 11 (Tweet Peeps before the Reading Recovery Conference), G

3rd Row: 11,13, 57

4th Row: I, Hand of Buddha, 9

5th Row: 5, 4, B

6th Row: P, H, X

7th Row: S, M, J

8th Row: Snowdrops, 1 (first dandelion!), Pete the Cat

9th Row: Bottles, Plate and Cup, Playing for Change

January Mosaic and A New Photographic Focus

This year, my Project 365 has a new focus.

I'm going to collect photos of numbers and letters (actual and representations). By the end of the year, I'll be able to make my own Alpha-Numeric picture book through the iPhoto store!

Top row:
0 (garden stepping stone)
0 (knot in wood)
0 (classroom sink strainer)
00 (rings around the moon)

Row two:
00 (condensed milk can)
00 (goofy glasses)
1 (hemlock cone)
2 (hemlock cones)

Row three:
3 (oak leaves on the oak that's growing in the geranium on my classroom windowsill -- formerly the geranium on my front porch!)
3 (hemlock cones -- one of my favorite pictures of all time -- love the light and the sky...)
4 (acorn split by squirrels)
4 (number on sign at the deaf school soccer field)

Row four:
5 (sweet gum leaf)
12 (bloggers + 1 big red dog)
A (fence along McConnell walking trails)
Avocado Mismatch (not really part of the ABC/123 project)

Row five:
S (vine along McConnell walking trails)
W (tree trunks along McConnell walking trails)
Winter (not really part of the ABC/123 project; along McConnell walking trails)
Y (rabbit track in the snow along McConnell walking trails)

December Mosaic

Hmm...every single row of this month's mosaic features food.
No wonder I'll be back to the health club with a renewed dedication beginning...tomorrow.

November Mosaics

I've had loads of fun with the ComicBook app this month! It's gotten me taking more pictures on my phone because I'll be able to use them in a comic!

Actually, it looks like the company, 3DTopo, has several more apps that I need to look into. Motivational Poster looks like a hoot!

So as you can see, November started with Election Day. We had success at the state level getting SB5 repealed, but at the local level around our area, results were mixed on the school levies.

Above is a nod to the season. The leaves have been down for awhile, but it's only in the last couple of days that it has really FELT like November. (Not that I miss the usual dank chill...)

And of course, November brings NCTE. Here are a couple of collections of Chicago pictures, and one from NCTE itself. You might be able to tell how much I loved the Field Museum!

And here's the "standard" mosaic for this month:

In the top row, you will find a reunion. That's me and a former student, David Donofrio, who has just announced that he is running for a spot in the OH House of Representatives!

We've had an unusually nice November this year -- look at all those blue skies! You might not be able to tell what the first picture in the second row is. You'll need to check it out on Flickr to get the full effect -- the title is Brutus Buckeye Butt and Blimp: Fun With Alliteration. 

In the fourth row are two I took from my classroom window. We watched that squirrel napping in the top of the Sweet Gum tree for most of an afternoon. And there's Mr. William, our big handsome kitty, basking in the sun by the back door. We humans aren't the only ones who enjoyed the sunny November!

In the fifth row is Bill, from Literate Lives. (His is the picture in the middle, silly. That other turkey is the one we ate for an early Thanksgiving dinner with friends!) Bill did a family storytelling event at my school and I finally got to see firsthand how he works magic with his Picks from the Pit. I, too, lovelovelove I Want My Hat Back, (Franki's posts here and here) but I love it even more now that I've heard him read it aloud. 

And now, on to December! Bring it, Twelfth Month! Show us what you've got! Next week I'm going to review a picture book that's giving me some ideas for a way to spice up my Project 365 for 2012. Stay tuned!

October Mosaic

October is probably my favorite month of the year. Here's a peek into this year's fall color, dramatic skies, the Fairfield County Fair, and the MG Club Hayride. If you're a local and you haven't been to Winan's Fine Chocolates & Coffees in German Village (first 2 pics), you owe yourself a field trip!

September Mosaic

September...

It starts with the Arts Festival, jumps into school with both feet, and ends with the Casting for Recovery retreat.

Beehive Books, a very nice independent bookstore in Delaware, OH was bonus this month.

However, the rain with which the month ended has not yet gone away...

Tourism Sunday: Belgian Places and Food

BRUSSELS, MONS, BRUGGES, GHENT, ANTWERP

Visit this photo set on Flickr for more details.

BELGIAN FOOD

Visit this photo set on Flickr for more details.

August Mosaic

Glimpses of August -- food, BIG dog, BIG bug, a trip to the West Side Market in Cleveland, fun with Central Ohio bloggers at Cover to Cover, a peek into my classroom.

Coming tomorrow -- the last of the photos from Belgium (food and places).

Souvenirs From Belgium

I brought you chocolates from Belgium!

Oops! I ate them all before we left Europe!

Oh, well, push back from your computer so you don't drool on the keyboard, and enjoy vicariously:

(Click on the mosaic and/or on each image to enlarge. You can also visit these pictures on Flickr.)

July Mosaic

This month's mosaic comes to you from our 2008 trip to Germany and England.

The actual mosaic for this month will be from Belgium, where we are...right this very minute!

Stay tuned!

June Mosaic

How to make a mosaic:

1. Make a photoset in Flickr.
2. Go to Big Huge Labs -- Home of fd's Flickr Toys -- and select the Mosaic Maker.
3. Choose the dimensions of your mosaic based on the number of photos you have.
4. Choose Flickr photoset as the way you'd like to upload, and paste in the URL for your photoset.
5. Create it, save it as a pdf, and -- VOILA! -- insert it into your blog as an image.

May Mosaic

Fun month -- nut butter tasting, Orlando, a retirement, line drawings and nets in math, Race For the Cure, Time With Teacher, the requisite peonies and iris, retirement party, never-ending rain, camp, a baby opossum in our back yard, the best scallops I've ever eaten (Barcelona -- birthday celebration), Mulch-o-Rama in the land lab at school, a bridal shower, a wedding (unrelated to the earlier bridal shower), a towering TBR pile, and school out before the calendar page turned to June!

Poem #3 -- Metaphor Poem (plus a Simile Book Review)

Mosaic Metaphors 

Moments, memories, mementos

Organized optic chaos, gridlocked visual clutter

Soundless soundtrack of days

Artistic arrangement of scraps: quilt of time

Incidents. Incidental. Incremental.

Catalog with pages missing

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2011

It took me three tries to make this acrostic do what I wanted it to do. It started out as an acrostic about the images, even though I titled it "Metaphor Acrostic" in my writer's notebook. Not a single metaphor. It was a fairly adequate acrostic, but it didn't do what I wanted it to do. I wanted metaphors that described a mosaic. The second try got closer, but it still tried to do what I require my students' acrostics to do (at least initially) -- SAY SOMETHING. I tried to give it narrative flow, so that it could be read aloud without the listener realizing (or needing to know) it was an acrostic. I like the third try, the one above, best. It is a just a series of phrases, but I worked really hard on my word choice, and I like the way alliteration decided to join the fun. 

This is a metaphor poem, even though I never say outright, "A mosaic is...", which I think makes it a more interesting poem. I imply the "A mosaic is...", trusting that the title will alert my reader to infer the meaning in my lines as they relate to the vertical word, "MOSAIC." Hopefully my March mosaic helps the reader visualize to construct meaning, too.

Speaking of the mosaic, don't you love how it starts out all blue and blooming and ends all white and frozen? "In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion."

Now for the simile book review.

My Heart is Like a Zoo

by Michael Hall (his website is here)

Greenwillow Books, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

A metaphor is a way of comparing that says this thing IS that other thing. ("A mosaic IS a catalog with pages missing.") Similes compare by saying this thing IS AS _____ AS that other thing, or this thing IS LIKE that other thing.

My Heart is Like a Zoo is a simile poem that compares the speaker's heart to different animals in the zoo.

"My heart is like a zoo--

eager as a beaver,

steady as a yak,

hopeful as a hungry heron

fishing for a snack..."

Not only is this a delightful simile poem that compares the heart to twenty animals, all of the illustrations are composed of hearts!

Also reviewed by Katie at Creative Literacy
Betsy Bird reviews Michael Hall's new book, The Perfect Square, at A Fuse #8 Production

February Mosaic

Snow and ice, with a break for jazz and Chinese food at PF Chang.

More snow, with a delightful warm spell, spring-ish skies, a trip to Skillet, and a full moon.

Jacket weather in Austin for the Notables, followed by ice the day  after I returned.

Dublin Literacy Conference Friday author dinner. If you want to know more about the significance of the restroom signage, ask Patrick Allen.

January Mosaic

In January, many people make resolutions to watch what they eat. I guess you could say the same was true for me this month...more than half of my photos are of food or food events! It's got to be a good month when you end with fresh pineapple (10 for $10 at Kroger -- WOW!) and a bourbon ball-making party!

Sunshine and blue skies have been quite rare this month -- that skyline shot in the next-to-last row really shines out, doesn't it? I took it from a Metro Park I never knew existed. We ate brunch at Skillet (details of the Reuben and the Omelette here) and on the way home, I asked where Whittier St. took you if you stayed on it and crossed Front Street.  Come to find out, this is Columbus' newest Metro Park -- Scioto Audubon Metro Park. We'll go back in the spring with our bikes and do some exploring to find out how the bike paths there connect to Grandview, German Village, and Downtown.

The Christmas Cactus has been making appearances every month since November, but I think the last, shriveled, dried bloom will be dropping off soon. On Friday afternoon, when I watered the front porch geraniums that are living on my classroom windowsill again this winter, I noticed that the crocus that made an appearance in one of the pots last February is coming up again.

And so the seasons go round and round.

Poetry Friday and December Mosaic

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

Blink
I'm 50
Blink
My 4th/5th grade student is 21

Blink
The towers are built, the cookies are decorated
Blink
Towers and cookies are destroyed, eaten, forgotten

Blink
The sun makes a certain light across snow, through trees
Blink
Another day is here

Blink
Keep looking, keep seeing, keep wondering
Blink
The wonders of the world await your watchful eyes


My 365 Photos for 2010 are here.


The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Carol's Corner today.


If you are a member of the Kidlitosphere Yahoo Group, the html code for a Jan-June Poetry Friday Roundup Hosts gadget in your sidebar is in the "files" area. If you aren't a member or can't find it, just drop me a line (mlhahn at earthlink dot net) and I'll send it to you.

November Mosaic

There are lots of doubles in this month's mosaic. There are two Epcot balls, two friends riding into a possible Jetson-like future, two big stuffed Disney characters, two tropical flowers, two shots of a rainbow, and two kinds of popcorn. Two flowers were blooming in our house at the same time: the hibiscus had one last fling while the Christmas cactus was ramping up. There are two yummy dishes -- grilled cheese and red beans and rice -- from Skillet, our new favorite restaurant (thank you, Meredith!), and there were two crab cakes and two spears of asparagus on my plate at a dinner "Off Property" (ie: NOT Disney) at NCTE. The two people are Julie Johnson, who received the Donald Graves Excellence in Teaching of Writing Award and Steph Harvey, who was thrilled with her flight of Margaritas at Maya Grill. (There was an advertisement for the Maya Grill in the elevator of Coronado Springs Casita 2 proclaiming that if you ate there, you would be "besieged by enchantment." If that isn't a Disney mission statement, I don't know what is.)

Poetry Friday: Change of Seasons

Here are two parts of Linda Pastan's twelve-part poem, The Months:


October

How suddenly
the woods
have turned
again. I feel

like Daphne, standing
with my arms
outstretched
to the season,

overtaken
by color, crowned
with the hammered gold
of leaves.


November

These anonymous
leaves, their wet
bodies pressed
against the window

or falling past—
I count them
in my sleep,
absolving gravity,

absolving even death
who knows as I do
the imperatives
of the season.


Pastan has perfectly captured the changes that have taken place between the glowing, sunny October images in my mosaic, and the chilly, dark dampness we now have. Her whole twelve-part poem describes an entire year just as effectively. It's sometimes hard to remember the oppressive heat of summer or the delights of the first buds of spring at this point in the swing of the seasons, but her poem takes you right back. Poetry is good for that -- holding onto what is fleeting.

JoAnn at Teaching Authors has the roundup today.  Go over and see what other poems this fall day has in store for you!

September Mosaic

Photo #25 and photo #26 are my two favorites of the month (maybe of all time). One of the participants at our Ohio Casting for Recovery event was so excited when she caught her first fish (#25), and so sad when it promptly flipped itself off the hook (#26 -- see the splash in the water?!?!).

While we're on the subject of Casting for Recovery, here's a post I wrote about it a couple of years ago and a PSA:

Casting For Recovery (CFR) is an international non-profit support and education program for breast cancer survivors.

The program involves a free weekend wellness program where, in addition to support and education relating to breast cancer, women learn fly fishing, "A sport for life."

CFR weekend programs incorporate counseling, educational services, and the sport of fly fishing to promote mental and physical healing. Founded in 1996, CFR offers free programs across the United States and in several countries worldwide.

Today alone, over 500 women will be newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Tomorrow, it will be the same. This number does include those already living with the disease or those who do not know they have it.

Now, you can support women on their journey in recovery through daily voting.

Casting for Recovery is competing for a $250,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project now through October 31. CFR is currently ranked #4 in its category.  When they win this grant, CFR will be able to create 5-7 new retreats and reach more women.

There is strength in numbers, so CFR has joined an Alliance of community charities to reach out to even more people.

By voting every day through October 31, more breast cancer survivors will have the opportunity to attend a CFR retreat. You can vote three ways each day - On-line, on Facebook, and by Text. It is easy to cast your votes (see below).

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CASTING FOR RECOVERY ALLIANCE

There Are 3 Ways You Can Vote Daily

Vote On-Line: Go to http://pep.si/CFROctoberAlliance.  A page with 10 charities will appear. Register or Sign In as instructed at the bottom left corner of page, then vote for all ten charities.

Vote on Facebook: Go to CFR October Alliance and 10 charities will appear. Click to vote on one of the partners and when the Sign In or Register page pops up, use the Log in at FACEBOOK in the blue rectangle.The voting page will appear. Vote for all ten.

Vote by Phone Text: Text your votes first for CFR to: 73774, enter 101715 in body and send. Then vote for all alliance members; 100847, 102320, 100585, 100242, 102066, 102340, 100505, 100507, 100321. What better time than Breast Cancer Awareness Month to show your support. We thank you on behalf of the women we serve. At CFR, we believe TO FISH IS TO HOPE!

August Mosaic

No, I didn't forget to do my monthly mosaic, it's just that August kind of galloped away from me, what with school starting so early this year.

My favorite images of the month are of the little boy taking pictures at the British Car Show in Dayton (click on mosaic once or twice to enlarge). He was so passionate! He'd take a picture, look at the image he'd captured, say, "Yes!" to himself, and find another shot to take. It killed him that he couldn't see inside the Rolls, but his dad helped him out with that one. I wanted to ask him what he would do with or make with his pictures. I imagine him at home at the computer sorting them, organizing them, writing about them, maybe making a mosaic with them!

The view outside my classroom window is going to be interesting this year. I'm near the southeast corner of the building, and we're getting several new classrooms and teaching spaces added to the northeast corner. First, they built a road on the green space outside the window leading to the staging area for their materials (and the storage place for the topsoil they scoured to build the road). Luckily, they left our two sweet gum trees. At the end of last week, they poured the cement foundations. It's just a little disruptive to have the arm of the backhoe swinging around outside your window when you're trying to teach...

No, that's not our new puppy. Perhaps in a year we will have a pup from that breeding pair. (It's an English Shepherd -- a herding dog that looks a lot like a robust Border Collie, but with a calmer disposition and an upright herding style.) In the meantime, we help out the breeder by doing temperament testing to help her place the pups in the right homes. Here's a video I made of two of last year's pups tussling.

This was a good month for photographing insects! For one thing, I got a new camera that allows me to get lots closer (and do fun stuff like miniaturizing and fisheye-ing.) But the camera's nothing if the subject's not there! The cicada was on the school building, the butterfly was on my car, and the katydid was on our porch wall. How about those red eyes?!?!