Going Green

After four pots of white orchids wilted under my care I came to conclusion that plants hate me. Then I saw a friend harvest her wheatgrass at home and I was intrigued. I bought a wheatgrass kit and followed its instruction and it worked! I never thought it could be this exciting to see a bunch of small seeds turn into a super healthy wheatgrass shot. Skeptical but hopeful at first, joy and humble at the end! What else can I sow and reap?

What's In A Name

A yearbook photo session. At the end of the photo session with grade 2, the teacher lined up her students and asked, "What do you say?" In unison and in a singsong voice all screamed, "Thaaank youuu ibuuu...," a slight confusing pause, they had no clue who I am, then a boy in front of me, without missing a beat, finished the trail off greeting with, "...visitooor!" LOL. This used to be a place I called second home where everybody knows my name.

Sunday

I met three kids in IES South who were used to be my students. One has grown up to a sophisticated young adult who are studying in US. I couldn't believe she still recognizes me, I only taught her for two years about eight years ago. I taught the other two since they were tiny tots and watched them grow up before my eyes. A heavenly reminder why I love teaching: children are precious gift. Hello Gabby, Putra & Nannette.

Yearbook 2010-2011

Yearbook 2009-2010

C & I Kitchen

Speaking of logo I just remembered another project I did for a friend. One thing lead to another; that's how my brain worked these days. The other day I completely went blank & couldn't remember why I went to my room. I actually had to trace my steps to remember. Sigh! But this one didn't take me that long to finish like the dog book project. Not because my brain is improved in the memory department, mainly because my friend consistently reminds me in many different pleasant ways. Plus her carrot cupcake is to die for. I guess bakers are more organized than artisans. Should I start baking to help my brain, Cianti?

C & I kitchen

Change Of Plan

For a fundraising in IES South I made 20 sketchbooks. I wanted to make a hand made envelope for each book, but it was too time-consuming. Think! Think! How do I pack these sketchbooks nicely & quickly? I sorted out my stuff and found some clear paper, colorful elastic bands, left over round stickers from a yearbook project, and some buttons. 
I used my printer to print a title on the clear paper, wrapped it around the sketchbook, hold it in the back with the round sticker, and secure it with the elastic band & button. 
It was less than 5 steps and cost me nothing. Woohoo!

Guilty As Charged

I think I suffer a mild case of short term memory deficiency syndrome. Though I'm not as bad as poor Dory in Finding Nemo but I do get trouble for remembering stuff. Often time my brain can't keep up with my mouth. I promised my friend's daughter to make a handmade journal for free back in October and completely forgot about it until another friend reminded me the other day. The worst thing is my brain has no recollection whatsoever about what my mouth said! I'm sorry Dita for taking this long to make your journal. I hope you like it. Thank you Ira for your photographic memory.

Frank's Best Friends

I finally finish the dog book! The trouble of doing a complimentary project with no time restrictions for a friend who never complains or reminds me about it is the time itself. I managed to steal time between grieving, getting accustom to a new long distance relationship, adapting & adjusting to empty nest, daydreaming, running, forgiving, breathing & laughing. I hope he likes shades of green. 

Panthera Tigris Sumatrae

Do you know that there are only 400 Sumatran tigers left? {latest status: endangered} Do you know that Sumatran tiger is the smallest compare to the other tiger species? Do you know that they are the only species who are excellent swimmers? Grade 3 students, teachers and parents joined forces to host S.T.A.R {Sumatran Tiger At Risk} to launch grade 3 comic: How The Mole Save The Tiger {click here to read the comic online}. All profits from the event went to WWF Indonesia to save Sumatran tigers.

Paper Cut

DIY print project is easy with digital printing these days. You are not required to print a minimum number of pages, you can print 1 or 10 or 100 in retail printing. As long as you have a little imagination & remarkable cutting skill you can make anything. Yes, cutting skill is crucial in DIY project. A steel ruler, an extra sharp cutter & a glass top table are a must. {All drawings for the cover of the sketchbook are done in KidPix by grade 3 students}

Portfolio Week

How did the dinosaur extinct? Researched on theories why dinosaur extinct and create a multimedia presentation for a grade 2 audience. That was the task for grade 5. I usually give guidelines for the format and the content for a project, but this time feeling a bit adventurous I let my students to decide what format they want to use & the content of their presentation.

Sekar & Angel turned their research into a story, and drew the illustrations in Kidpix, and used Kidpix SlideShow for their presentation. Click here to read their story. Maura & Rania turned their research into a non-fiction story and drew the illustrations in Kidpix, and used PowerPoint for their presentation. Click here to read their story. I should be more adventure-ish.

Flip book by PageFlip-Flap

Flip book by PageFlip-Flap

Fossil Friday

Almost every kid love dinosaur...I think. I remember when Dena was in grade 2 she was mesmerized by dinosaur and entered a dino-phase in which all she drew was dinosaurs and all she watched was The Land Before Time. Everything remind me of Dena these days *sigh* I still can't believe she is graduating this year. Time sure flies when you are having fun. Just like last Friday. 

In language art Grade 2 made a dinosaur poem, in IT they used KidPix to illustrate their dinosaur poem to create a multimedia presentation. Some students chose to draw by hand and then scanned the hand drawing and color it in the computer. I love KidPix. Almost every kid love KidPix...I think.

Drawing by Aisha

Drawing by Sabrina

Hot Digitty Dog

My friend asked me to make a book about his dogs! I don't usually post work in progress but I'm too excited & thrilled! He gave me awesome pictures of his dogs and I have collected quotes about dog from the internet. I'm going to make him a handmade blank journal with his dog pictures. Here is my plan: 

The photos are already beautiful as it is so I'm going to put the quote in the photo and play around with different fonts. Or maybe I can turn some of the photos into different style of famous artist (Warhol, Lichtenstein). And I'm working with Egy the wonder boy; he is doing the illustration for the book cover.

Photo by Frank Agustinus  | Digital work by Outodbox

Photo by Frank Agustinus  |  Digital work by Outodbox

Grade 2 Heroes

According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary a hero is a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability. 

Last semester Grade 2 picked Ibu Magda, Ibu Elsa, Ibu Bambang, Ibu Niniek and Pak Oky as their inspirational persons. These people are not mythological but they are divine creation and all of them are blessed with great strength and unique ability and more importantly they use their talents & passion to be blessing for others. Ibu Magda looks after stray dogs, Ibu Bambang & Ibu Niniek recycles & takes care the environment, Ibu Elsa & Pak Oky teaches less fortunate children for. 

Grade 2 interviewed them and worked on the story in Language Art class, in Drama class they work on voice projection and articulation and recorded their voices, and in computer class they created drawings with KidPix and learned to scan their art works. It takes a village to raise a child.

Tante Nelly

4 simple designs + 4 colors of paper + 10 types of ribbon = 100 one-of-a-kind-invitations; cut, glued and tied by hands with love. A tribute to Tante Nelly who left her footprint in my heart: Maleos-leosan, Marendem-rendeman, Wo masawang-sawangan {Love one another, care for one another, help one another}. You are always be remembered!

Eager Beaver

It's almost the end of semester. The grade is already in, all projects are done. What to do, what to do? When stuck with ideas I ask my students, they are endless source of cool ideas. Derek from grade 5 suggested enthusiastically to make a silhouette. So I took their side-ways-mug-shot-style photos with my mobile and teach them how to create silhouette with Photoshop. Awesome idea Derek!

Card Sale #2

I love children's drawings; there is always something whimsical about their drawings. That sense of innocence and wonder can't be captured even by the most experienced painter. KidPix is an awesome drawing program with loads of cool tools to create amazing digital drawings. You can turn this digital drawings into all kind of products: blank cards, postcards, bookmarks, place mats, books, t-shirts, totes, posters and more! The list just go on and on.If you need to do fundraising go with the blank cards with your students' drawings. We sold 100 cards last Friday during a special event in our school.

Book of Rhyming Lines

Recycled cardboard, colorful ribbons, 156 poems

Child of Collaboration and Think Outside The Box

Lover of words, doodles & day dreaming

Who feels enchanted, cuddled and loved

Who needs a good shelve, illustrator, and a hug

Who fears shredded machine, termite & internet 

Who gives joy, love & laughter

Who would like to see dreams, imagination and nothing turns into words

Rhinolicious

Once upon a time there were 30 grade 3 students who were enchanted by Charllote's Web, a classic story beautifully written by EB White. They decided to take matter into their own hands and went to the King & Queen of Words and asked their guidance to make their own comic based on the story. The Queen dust them with grammar & spelling sprinkles, while the King guard them from the 3 legged word snatcher.
The Queen & The King had many helpers:The Knight of Hue dipped the students' hand drawings in rainbow.

The Knight of  WWF brought the students' attention to Rhinoceroses in Ujung Kulon National Park. They were all in tears when they learned that the rhinoceros are endangered.  "Let's...sell...comic to ...to....to....help the Rhino!" one boy said, barely able to speak while crying. 

The Knight of outOdbox helped them brainstormed different ways to raise more money to adopt a rhino and the Wizard of Sound help them created a rhino song.

People and creatures from far land came to Adopt-a-Rhino Fun Day. All the hard work paid off. The students raised enough money to adopt Lulu, a female rhinoceros. The Queen & The King were so proud of them; the students were awarded the highest title of all: The Duke & Duchess of Rhinolicious (When the land of the Printed Words learned about this they sent reporter IC to see it with her own dot).
THE END