Welcome to the New School Year 2023-2024

 Welcome back to school and happy new (school) year! It’s great to be back for another year of inSpiration. I hope our time on Sundays this year is well spent, and I can add a bit of sunshine to get your week started. This year I'd like to use my blog to share some general advice and experiences, as well as narrow some posts to specifically reading topics. I hope this creates a balance for everyone who visits here! 

To start us off, I’d like to share some words of wisdom from Ron Clark that I heard this summer at the Educator Summit. Quick side note; the Educator Summit was amazing with keynotes by Ron Clark and Dave Burgess. The summit also had a lot of great resources for those just starting their journey to learn about the Science of Reading. 

In his keynote address, Ron Clark stated "this year let’s try to think about what’s that 1% that we can do to make a positive impact and change.” That's all we need- 1%! We often think in order to make a difference we need to do a lot of big things right away. This is not true! Think about one thing that’s manageable. For example perhaps you can send home one positive note per week for a few students. Maybe you want to share a quote on social media with others on Mondays, or an article to start conversation. There are many thing we can do to that do not take up a lot of time, but will be a lasting memory for others.

Make this year one where connections count and grow. When we do these small things others notice and feel energized to do the same. As Ron Clark shared in his presentation, it’s the 1% things we do that lead to bigger change. Imagine if we all gave 1% and focused on our future goals. We could all make a big difference by giving a small amount of our time an energy, and inspire others to find their 1%.

For me, my 1% I want to focus on positive communication with families this year. I want to send home more positive notes throughout the week. I also want to continue to implement a 1% for myself; to continue to read and study about how the brain learns to read. I believe when we put in an extra 1% for ourselves, we naturally give back more than 1% to others. 

What will your 1% change for positive impact be this year! Let's share with others to keep the momentum going, inspire others, and support one another! 

Final Thoughts: Keep thinking of the small things that can change the future in a big way. Keep reminding yourself that you only need to add 1% to make a difference. Keep inspiring others to add their 1% so we can all make a big impact by doing small things everyday. 

Have a great year a head!