One Little Word

For many people, the concept of "One Little Word" is not a new one. Apparently it has been around for many years. I was recently introduced to OLW during a professional development workshop in my school district. From what I understand, you choose a word (or in some cases the word chooses you) that will be your focus for the year. It is a word that you will reflect on and even make a priority throughout the year. For some the word is present in their professional life, some choose a word that is meaningful in their personal life, and for some it bridges both.

The word I chose for 2015 is FAMILY.

In comparison to the people I am surrounded by every day (my teaching colleagues) my children are very young. My three sons are 13, 11, and 6. I often compare myself to my colleagues when it comes to experience, time spent on school-related activities, the ability to attend conferences and workshops both in-town and far away. I frequently have to remind myself that I am not at the same point as them either in my experience in my career, financially, or with my family. As much as I want to be the best teacher I can be, which in my eyes equals time spent preparing and "being" a teacher, I have more important priorities right now. My family.



It seems as if I've blinked and my oldest son has gone from birth to preschool to teenager overnight. I was hit with the reality a few weeks ago that he is going to be in high school next year! I know that the other two are not far behind. I don't want to go to sleep and wake up tomorrow only to realize that I've neglected to enjoy the little things. You never get a second chance at those little things.


So this year, I am going to leave work quickly on Friday for Family Movie Night. I am going to run out and get donuts on Saturday mornings so that they are waiting when the kids wake up. I will attend the boys' middle school musical and cheer them on from the front row. We will plan a beach vacation for the summer. I will encourage Liam as he tries out for his first sport this spring. I will read to Nick and sing his bedtime songs every night when he goes to bed. We will have family game nights. I will listen to each detailed, slowly spoken story that Ben wants to tell me. We will have cookouts, movie marathons, and silly string fights.

When faced with a choice, I will always choose my FAMILY.



View my One Little Word inspiration.      

SOL Day 31: Reflections on the SOL Challenge

Here it is, the final day of the month-long Slice of Life writing challenge. Thanks to the fantastic team at Two Writing Teachers for this terrific event. I thought I would finish out the challenge by reflecting on my experience this month.

This was the first time that I participated in the SOL challenge. Thanks to Cathy Mere and Deb Frazier, my colleagues and friends. Not only did they encourage me to participate, they also supported me by reading and commenting on my posts and giving me ideas for posts when I got stuck.

I also appreciate all the fellow slicers who stopped by my humble little blog and commented on my posts. It was great to build my PLN and make connections with fellow teachers and parents. I really feel blessed to be included in such a great community. We really do understand and support each other.

When I started this challenge, I knew that I could write for a purpose, but I never really considered myself a writer. Through the challenge, I feel like I gained confidence as a writer. I've always found it difficult to teach writing because I didn't identify with the writing process. Now, I feel like I can be a better writing teacher to my students.

This was the first time I attempted to write poetry. During the challenge I wrote two poems. I didn't know if I did it right, but what I realized was there is no right or wrong. I enjoyed the challenge of conveying my thoughts in such a minimalistic way.

I also encouraged my students to participate in the Classroom SOL challenge. I was surprised by some of my students who chose to participate. I didn't have just the students who were the best writers participating, I also had students who struggled with writing who were enthusiastic about it. I was pleased to see them stepping outside of their comfort zone.

The majority of my posts were written at home and my 12-year-old son and I had numerous conversations about the challenge. As we were talking one day, he decided that he wanted to start a blog and participate. When I told him that the month-long challenge was over, he asked about other challenges that he might be able to join. I'm hoping that he decides to join a challenge and continue to hone his skills as a writer.

Overall, I really enjoyed this month of writing and discovery. I don't know how many people read what I wrote, but that's not what is important. Yes, people want to know that someone is out there, interested in what they have to say. But, I learned that when you are a writer, you do it first for yourself. So, even though this challenge is officially over, I am going to continue writing. I hope to see you all for SOL 2015.

SOL 30: Marathons

Throughout the Slice of Life Story Challenge this month, I have written a lot of posts about my family. After all, my family is the center of my universe. Being on Spring Break for the last nine days hasn't hurt the chances that a post will be about them.

This weekend, my family had the latest in a series of marathons. I'm not talking the type of marathon that involves running shoes and long distances. We have movie marathons. My husband and my two oldest sons spend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in our basement "screening room" watching movies on a theme. I spend the time making snacks or running a "concession stand" while catching up on work or watching movies. This weekend I finished watching the show "Veronica Mars" while they were having their marathon of X-Men movies.

My husband goes all out for these marathons. He creates a program, designs a logo that I iron onto t-shirts for everyone, he makes "swag bags" full of goodies and prizes on the theme, and decorates our downstairs rec room. He loves creating a lineup of movies and making "trailer blocks" of all kinds of cartoons and movie trailers.  The boys love it too. It's a chance for them to spend all weekend just goofing on movies and hanging out with their dad. Plus, they have what seems like a never-ending supply of snacks and soda.

Over the last two years or so we have had a marathon of all the James Bond movies, the Superman sequels, Star Trek movies, Predator and Alien movies, movies for which the composer John Williams wrote the scores (Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.), 24-hour Sci Fi and Horror, Harry Potter movies, Monsterthon (classic monster movies), Planet of the Apes, Turkey Day (a bunch of cheesy movies we watched on Thanksgiving weekend), the StuporBowl (more bad movies we watched over Super Bowl weekend). We usually schedule these over holidays or extended weekends.

This is just another example of how we have found a way to have fun and make memories with our family without spending a lot of money.

Liam being "sorted" during the Harry Potter marathon. 

The items in the "swag bag" for the Superman marathon.

Me and the family during the Star Trek marathon.

The decorations in the basement where we have our "screening room" for the marathons.

Some of the snacks setup for the marathons.