Cog Storm

This one came out of the blue! Its the result of some random experimenting on my part.

The wallpaper version is available at the preceding link.

Today's Gratitude Item: Managing to fold over 60 small boxes using squares of silver and red paper. Fifty of these boxes contain magnets so they stick to the fridge and with a small bow on the top, they look great. The plan is to give these to my students who did a good job on their "Magnets" assignment. Those who only did a "half job" will get the pretty box, sans magnet. My boss did not have a problem with my plan and hopefully it will be a creative way of telling students that "half jobs" are not really satisfactory. The magnets cost about 20c each and our $2.00 store used to sell the small bows in packs of 40 for $2.00 - so the entire project should cost less than $15.00.

Pure Wool

The symbol in the middle of the disc reminds me of the symbol for pure wool. In retrospect I don't like the image at all, its horrible - much like my week has been. I'm feeling increasingly frustrated with the uncertainty surrounding my work situation :(

The wallpaper version is available at the preceding link.

Today's Gratitude Item: The Microbe Magic website. It has everything I need for the upcoming unit on Microbes and it means that I don't need to do too much to prepare. This site has activities, practical experiments and loads of information. All I'll do is write down some instructions for my students and decide which activities we will do as a group. Having it all there for one is so much easier than re-inventing the wheel.

Woven Waves

The name of the ship, Tangata Whenua is slightly ironic as it is Maori for "People of the Land".

The wallpaper version is available at the preceding link.

Today's Gratitude Item: Managing to find some great, cheap smiley faced magnets. I'm planning on giving them to my students who completed a task on the topic. Those who did not submit anything don't get the cool magnet :) It will be interesting to see the reactions.

Tipsea

This is what happens when things at sea get slightly out of kilter. The name of the boat alludes to the current lack of democracy in Fiji. If you look closely, you'll see a bunch of bananas on their flag. Don't believe me? Look at the bottom right corner of the crest on this Fijian Flag.

The wallpaper version is available at the preceding link.

Today's Gratitude Item: Realising that I don't see my "dodgy" class tomorrow because of assembly! Normally I don't mind teaching them but having an unscheduled break from a difficult task is always nice.

Shining Dawn

The tiling in this one was done "manually". I think it turned out rather well.

The wallpaper version is available at the preceding link.

Today's Gratitude Item: Getting the first draft of my student's reports done. I still have far too much work to do but at least that major task is out of the way.