New Thoughts for a New Year

 Happy New Year fellow educators! I know what you must be thinking... here is another "inspirational fad blog post" to get me going for the new year that I'll skim through and see the same thing as I did in all the other blogs I visit.  Maybe for some of you, my blog might slip into that category, but I can promise that is not my intention. My goal here is to give you a few brief thinking points to bring with you in your "teacher bag" as the new year starts. 

Technically, it is NOT a new year for us. Our academic year is about mid-way through, and for us, September is when we get our fresh start. So what to do with resolutions? Here are my thoughts; if you want to make one great! If not, guess what?!? That's OK TOO! As teachers we reflect daily on our practice, review data, and make informed decisions when it comes to instruction. Then we think creatively and put our ideas into action in order to achieve a certain goal, provide more support, and increase overall improvement. Isn't that technically making resolutions and working on them? 

It might be sensible for us to use time in the summer to consider making larger or different resolutions to try rather than now in the beginning of the year. At this point, maybe the best resolution is to not have one related to teaching, or focus on our personal-professional development. What's the difference? To me, making a resolution to start a book and read for 10 minutes a night, allow ourselves to participate in a Twitter chat with our favorite teacher groups, or listen to a podcast on a walk every-so-often is more attainable than deciding to make any major changes, adjustments, or start a larger goal at the moment. Another great idea is to get a blank notebook and write down all the goals we have as teachers and not put a time limit on when they need to be completed. This will provide us with ample time to think, decide which ones we find as priority, and make a plan how to start them, instead of sliding down the slippery slope of developing a resolution or goal and not achieving it at all. 

In my class I always invite my students to write a resolution or goal for the new year, but emphasize that the goal should not be so large that it looks and feels scary. Keep it simple, or if they do have a larger goal, write one or two smaller ones to use as stepping stones so they feel accomplished along the way. So my question is, why do we not do this as adults? We already have enough pressure on us as educators, and we put our own pressure on ourselves as well... there's not time to feel less empowered! 

Consider your goals for the year carefully dear friends, and take a moment to analyze if you really need one to begin with... 

Final Thoughts: Keep considering small ways you can achieve a larger goal if you have one. Keep your goals small and personal. Keep completing activities that bring you joy; this will help you work toward any goal. Finally, keep in mind that it's ok to not have an education related goal this year, your best is enough!