A Wake Up Call

Too often we get caught up in the daily grind. I love my job, but to do it properly requires many hours of dedication, both in and out of the school building. Sometimes weeks go by and I notice that I have spent the majority of my time marking, planning, and doing various other tasks, to the exclusion of family time. It is always a struggle to find the balance, as I mentioned in my last post many weeks ago.

Unfortunately, it usually takes a wakeup call of some sort to force us to put the most important things back on top, as was the case with me over the past week. A few health scares in my family quickly reminded me that I often work too hard and do not take enough time for myself.

 And so, with that spirit in mind, a few sites to help you appreciate life and to enjoy all this world has to offer:

 1000 Awesome Things

Because I work too hard, it does not take much to put a smile on my face. I don’t need huge vacations (although it would be nice) or grand gestures. Rather, I find the greatest pleasure in the smaller things – a funny comment from my son, a delicious bowl of ice cream, or finding the next great read. This site reminds us of the smaller things in life that can sometimes offer great pleasure.

 Fantastic Contraption

I love this site. Fantastic Contraption touts itself as a “fun online physics puzzle game”, and that it is. Get a pink ball into a goal zone by building contraptions to manoeuvre over/under/around various types of obstacles. Once I started, I was hooked for days until I had completed all levels. I introduced it to my grade 8 students, and they, too, were hooked.

 Kseniya Simonova’s Sand Art

I believe this was originally created for the show ‘Ukraine’s Got Talent’. The artist creates drawings on an illuminated sand table, and the whole process is set to music.

 The Lost Generation Reverse Poem

No words to explain…..go watch.

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