Ishful thinking

Ish, a book about loosening up the creative spirit by Peter H. Reynolds, has been a real treat for my second graders this week. This is the second year I have introduced the book during the first days of school, and I can really see it working with my students as they laugh with each other while they pull Popsicle sticks from a cup with drawing instructions like "truck-ish" or "fish-ish" or even "your wish-ish." We happened to see a baby bunny outside the art room window during our story time and most of the students included -ish bunnies on our sketch pages as well.
The story inspires stress-free drawing and a fresh outlook toward the rest of our year of creativity. Although it is a simple pencil drawing that will remain in our portfolios, it represents much bigger things to come!
On another note, this is my 200th blog post and the beginning of my 20th year as an art teacher, hard to believe how time flies!