#just one word

Did you know that there is JUST ONE WORD that will transform your teaching and cause you to have an even better year ahead?  There is!  Yes it’s that simple!

You see, as teachers we live a scattered life.  We are always scrambling to do the million things each day that must be done.  We juggle a thousand balls at once and try not to drop any of them, and we don’t look like that well-practiced ball juggler we see in a circus who does it so smoothly and effortlessly. Nope!  We look more like someone trying to snatch and catch those balls, and throw others up at the same time in a jerky, higgledy piggledy way.  It’s just a fact of teacher life that we all accept.

Through all of that though, we often become scattered and actually end up doing many things, but not very well…..just kind of mediocre….to get them done and checked off the “to do” list.  And if we are truthful, sometimes when the meetings happen almost every day, the reports are all due, the pile of papers to be taken care of is stacked high,  and the list of parents to contact goes on and on, well….we end up teaching by the seat of our pants or on autopilot. Needless to say, our lessons then become mediocre too.

But JUST ONE WORD can keep you on track, focus you and focus your lessons, and focus and center all that you do throughout the year, so that you and your teaching are purposeful instead of scattered. Even in the craziest, and most busy weeks of the year!

So get on with it then! Just tell me! What is THIS one word you ask?  I can’t tell you.  Nope.  Sorry.  It has to actually come from you!  YOU decide the one word.  If you do, that one word will focus and guide all that you do for the entire year!  IT REALLY WORKS!  There are even books written on the effectiveness of just one word, and a whole “movement” on social media!  There is even a whole line of wildly popular pottery that has just one word on it (think Rae Dunn). So, give it a try! Choose just one word and make it your word for the entire year ahead.  You may even want to choose one word for your teaching life and a different word for your personal life.  I tell you…it is transforming!

 

Don’t know what to choose?  Just be still and ponder for a moment….it will come to you like a lightning bolt, because there is one word that fits you!  You might try "engage" for your teaching life if you want your lessons and students to be more engaging and engaged. You might choose "grace" for your personal life if you want to give yourself and others more "grace" in the year ahead.  Or the word "balance" is great for both your teaching life and your personal life.  If you need some more inspiration, check out the list of possibilities below to get you thinking.  Then post that word everywhere!  Post it in your classroom, on your computer, in your plan book…and everywhere.  It will always be on your mind then and will tie all that you do together for the entire year.  

Another idea? You may want to have your students do this as well.  It works especially well with second graders and up.  In the words of Mikey from that vintage commercial…..”Try it!  You’ll like it!”  And be sure to watch for #justoneword on our Facebook and Instagram pages, too! You'll find us there at 2 Literacy Teachers. 

#just one word idea list for teaching

engage 

focus

balance

active

think

kind

reflect

laugh

#just one word idea list for you

balance

refresh

restore

healthy

move

mindful

serenity

grace

joy

forgive

happy

Happy Teaching!

Kristin