Inspiration Swap

I recently discovered a video of a guy named Ken Karbone.  As a lover of altered books, I was particularly taken with one part of his video in particular.  He says that for every book he reads he scans the cover and makes a tiny copy on heavy paper.  He uses the tiny copy as a book mark while he reads and then when he's finished he glues the tiny copy in his book journal and then writes about what he learned or ideas he had while reading the book.  I'm trying to do the same thing.  (My sample is shown.)

Yesterday I shared this idea with the Language Arts Committee at my son's elementary school.  I talked about how we keep writing portfolios to show students how they have progressed with writing and how maybe some teachers might like the idea of doing the same thing for reading to illustrate for students how they have grown as readers... to show how much they've read.  I shared my actual journal as an example.

One teacher in particular was drawn to the idea.  She said she was inSpired to try it out with her own children and then see if she could incorporate it into her classroom.  She seemed to like the idea that it is POSSIBLE to incorporate visual expression with the written word. 

I just LOVE that... sharing an idea that makes someone else feel the power of inSpiration (S capitalized on purpose). 

What made it even better was that before I had shared my idea, she had inspired me.  

This woman is poised and beautiful, comfortable in her own skin and confident.  As the meeting started she was talking so lovingly about her own children and about a generous thing she had done for one of her students.  It was clear she felt joy associated with both parts of her life, working and being a mom.  I'm sure she feels frazzled from time to time like we all do, but in that moment she showed me that next year when I get a part time teaching job that it will be POSSIBLE to be good at both being a mom and being a teacher.  

In this exchange of inSpiration, I realized another part of the definition of the word.  InSpiration is about discovering that something we didn't know existed is indeed POSSIBLE to attain or be a part of or create.  It is about expanding the mind to discover a whole new universe of paths available for exploration.

If you'd like to see some more pages from my book journal, or visit a slideshow showing photos of my altered book journals, here's a link: Book Journal Slide Show.