Fearless and Fabulous in First Grade

The new year is around the corner and with it comes the promise of a fresh start...a new beginning. With every new beginning comes a new plan. This feeling of "new" provokes a childlike excitement in me. A feeling of "anything is possible" starts to grow inside me and compels me to give it the focused attention it is yearning for. So a plan must be created! A plan to take this new beginning by the horns and initiate a non-stop, full speed ahead, anything is possible determination that in the end will leave me standing with a satisfied smile on my face. A feeling of accomplishment... One word... This is the beginning of my plan. One word that will give me the focus to see the goal at the end of my "new beginning". What will that word be...it can't be just any word...it has to be a word I've thought about, prayed about, sat with, to determine that it will be the one...the guiding focus for my new beginning. It happened yesterday. I was driving...

I am blessed beyond reason. I have three children who often share their plans for what they want to do when they "grow up". They go back and forth between their dream careers and how they plan to reach them.  Each time we have these talks I remind them of the most important consideration...Follow Your Passion and Do What You LOVE!  This is so important because when you do what you love, it doesn't feel like work.  What a blessing to be able to go to work and be excited about being there.  When your work makes you feel like you are contributing, or making a difference in the lives of others... what more could you ask for? I am thankful I am able to set an example of this for them. I look forward to going to school each day.  I have the honor of working with amazing educators who live by this mantra, making it a point to do what's best for kids.  They continuously set an example for our students that hard work and education leads to completed goals and...

The first nine weeks of school... So many words can be used to describe the first nine weeks of school.  I bet you thought of several words as soon as you read that first line. This is the time when we make "those comments"... you know what comments I'm referring to...they are the same comments we hear our fellow educators, parents, grandparents, and students saying... there just wasn't enough time, I feel so overwhelmed, MY CALENDAR IS SO FULL, it's too much pressure, I can't do any more than what I'm already doing... When our schedules are full, and the pressure to get the routines down and the skills taught, and for families, the skills learned... it can be just that...overwhelming and stressful!  Stress brings in negativity.  It creeps into your day little by little and before you know it, your "glass is half empty" attitude has ruined your outlook on what was meant to be a perfectly wonderful day.   PTA:  Pause, Think, Act!   ...

     Here we go, the preparation is beginning. Educators are sitting in professional development classes, learning new strategies, and making plans.  We are connecting with our PLNs and participating in our favorite chats, all for the main goal of preparing ourselves to provide a meaningful, innovative educational experience for our students.      Soon we will be given our student lists and we will pour over them to see who we will spend the next nine months with. For me, getting a student list handed to me is like getting a great new book!  I'm filled with excitement, anticipation, and anxiety.  Yes, anxiety at the idea that these children are coming to me filled with the same feelings; excitement, anticipation, and anxiety.  It is my job to put them at ease, think of their feelings and goals as I plan for them. As I turn each page, I digest the information, thoughts swirling as I take in the words.  I will plan for them...encoura...

Yet...so much power in one word.  It brings to mind the notion that something is not finished...an action yet to be completed. Teamwork!       A good friend of mine...a mentor, who happens to also be my principal,  Bethany Hill, recently posed the question on Twitter... "What if we viewed  barriers and obstacles as opportunities?"  My mind immediately went to the  amazing obstacle course that our PE teacher currently had set up in our  gymnasium.  I was visualizing my little first graders' eyes as they walked into the  gym and saw this colorful array of obstacles.  Their eyes lit up with excitement,  some of them literally jumped up and down with pure glee at the challenge  before them.       Next, I thought of how they intentionally took the challenge and began to  problem solve how they were going to maneuver through the course.  They  didn't know how they were going to do it yet...

    I recently had the honor of writing for an amazing new website called Kids Deserve it.  Although their website kidsdeserveit.com is new, they have long been a Twitter sensation.  Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome created the hashtag,  #KidsDeserveIt.  The idea was to create a place where people could share ideas and opinions that would challenge the way we have always done things in education.  That definitely sounded like my kind of place!  If you have not checked out their hashtag or their website, you are really missing out!  It is truly an inspiration and because this place now exists thousands of students, teachers, administrators and families' lives have been impacted in the most wonderful way possible!  The following is my blog,  OneWord, One Mission which was featured on kidsdeserveit.com on January 1st, 2016.  A big thank you to Todd Nesloney for the opportunity! One Word, One Mission      I though...