Back To School Resolutions

I had a student tell me once, "New Year's Resolutions are like promises you make to yourself and then after a week or so you decide they are dumb and forget about them." Very wise, little man, very wise. In teacher-world, the "new year" isn't so much a countdown to midnight on December 31st, rather, we ring it in via bouts of insomnia and teacher store trips  in August as we gear up for the new school year. My school has us teachers make goals each year and I love that. It's important to acknowledge growth areas and focus yourself on something new to get better. The following are some of my goals (in no particular order):

1. Plan meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and do as much prep as I can on Sundays. It's so much easier to pack lunches and eat healthier when I plan. Sunday prepping just makes the week go smoother and makes it way less tempting to go out when food is all prepped and ready to go at home.

2. Unplug after 8:30...maybe 8:00. When we really stop to be intentional, AJ and I realize how much time we spend on our respective devices in the evening. It's not a terrible habit, but one I want to reduce. It's better to go for an evening walk, watch TV, facetime family, read, or just talk. Insta can wait till the morning.

3. Go from work clothes to work OUT clothes right when I get home. If I reach for the sweats, the chances of me hitting up the gym before dinner reduce dramatically. I want to get my butt in the gym and get my workout done so I can spend the rest of the evening relaxing.

4. Read before bed. I've been good about this during the summer and want to keep it up. It helps me shut down my brain and is helping me trudge through my long "must read" list.

5. Reach out to parents more about POSITIVE things. Parents want to hear their little ones are doing well. Too often teachers (myself included) only make contact when there's an issue...I want some of these parents to know their kids are rock stars more often.

6. Get more comfortable with class group work. Obvi a control freak like me is a big fan of whole group direct instruction (eyes on me and the little angels listening and learning and hand raising? My dream), BUT research says (Warning: ED speak ahead) that kids do well explaining things to their peers and group work allows for more student engagement. This year I want all kids talking (on task) more. Less me, more them.

7. Try some more educational pinterest ideas. I've pinned a lot of great teaching ideas and resources. I want to take some time and see what I can put into practice this year.

8. Be reflective. How do my actions make my day better or worse? This relates to everything from attitude, classroom practices, habits, diet, etc. I want to be the best me I can be (cheesy, but true!) and the key to that, I believe, is reflecting. If something went well, yay, do it again. If not, why? Make a change and move on.

9. Be engaged with my hubby in the evenings with non-school talk. AJ and I love our jobs, but sometimes we can end up talking standards, parent emails, lesson ideas etc. over dinner. This is great and I love having a partner who just "gets" it, ya know? But sometimes it's nice to ditch the ED speak and talk about other stuff....like how we want to decorate our future house, weekend plans, and little people shows (well, that's more my scene but oh well).

10. And this is the goal for pretty much my whole life....be in the now. Life's short. When I'm at school I want to be the best teacher I can be. When I'm at home, I want to be the best wife I can be. When I'm at the gym I want to kick booty the best I can. When I'm with friends and family, I want to be engaged, supportive, and fun. When I'm relaxing, I want to turn off my brain and just BE.
Goal #10 is a biggie, but I'm working on it. I might not tackle this list with complete proficiency (the ED speak just won't stop, people), but if I love and laugh my way through this year, I know it will go exactly according to plan.

We had ham and cheese roll-ups one day this week. I made them into glasses and we laughed and laughed and snorted and laughed until we couldn't breathe. Working on my #10 right there.