My #OneWord2022 ACT

Procrastination is one of the words that comes to mind as I reflect on my previous year, especially as I review my #OneWord2021 post. Being intentional was my focus last year. My intent in many areas of my life may have been good, but procrastination reared it's ugly head and I did not confront it!

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" may sound harsh, but it paints a picture of how intentions must be backed by actions. 

Act: to do something; exert force or energy; be employed or operative; to reach, make, or issue a decision on some matter.

"Actions speak louder than words."  Saying that I am going to be intentional doesn't mean much if it is not followed up by action.  So I am following up last year's #OneWord with the word ACT.  I want my actions to speak for what I believe, for my goals, and for who I am.

My #OneWord2021 #Intentional

Looking over my last blog post, which was a year ago, I am disappointed in myself for not actively blogging this past year.  My desire with my #OneWord2020 was to be very thoughtful and reflective.  There is no evidence that this happened on my blog.

I could give any number of reasons for the lack of posts: a disruption in my normal everyday routines, a disruption in life in general, a decision to renovate a good portion of my house. None of these reasons would be the true.  The truth would be that I did not make it a priority.

I have learned over the years that no matter what is going on in our lives, we tend to carve out time for those things which are important to us. Getting up early to spend time in God's Word, making sure there is enough gas in the car to travel to a conference, scheduling vacation time to go visit family, staying up late and losing sleep to watch a movie or finish a good book.  None of these things happen by accident. You have to be intentional. 

If I really want to be reflective through blogging, I need to set aside time weekly, make an appointment with myself to sit down and write.  Whether with pen and paper or digitally, just write.  

Intentional was one of the words I thought about choosing for 2020.  It is a word I hear often from my director in my home-based business.  She has reminded me many times that a goal without a plan is just a dream.  I need to plan for those things that are important to me, those things that I want to make a priority in my life.  Just wanting them will not guarantee they will happen.

Things I need to be intentional with: my prayer life, exercise, time with my husband & family, reading books, blogging, my home-based business.  Making a plan and putting it into writing is just the beginning of my being intentional.  I also need to share my plan with someone to give myself an accountability partner.  Joy Kirr has often tagged me in reminders to blog and I appreciate her support and encouragement!  This blog post is the start of a new year and a new #oneword for me.  And I intend to be very #Intentional with it! #OneWord2021

Postcards and Photographs

I received a beautiful postcard in the mail the other day.  I have been collecting picture postcards since I was in high school.  I mentioned my collection to a friend a few weeks ago and she sent me one from her state.  It had been awhile since I had even looked at my collection. I keep it in one of two beautiful photo albums on a bookshelf.  I pulled them both out, not remembering which one contained the postcards.  Flipping through each page, I smiled at the photos and messages from friends and family in nearby places such as San Antonio, Eureka Springs, and Santa Fe. States from all corners of the US are represented, too, with Florida, New York, Washington, and Nevada, and several states in between!  Islands are represented in Alcatraz, Hawaii, and Okinawa.  Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, Australia, Jerusalem, and the Ukraine round out my foreign postmarks. I enjoy my collection and the time and thought that was put into each message that was sent through the mail.

Turning to the other photo album, I was curious about the photos it contained. Since the world has gone digital, I have not been as intentional in taking and developing my photos as I used to be.  These photos were taken more than a decade ago.  My boys were still small and delighted in having their pictures taken.  As I looked at the photographs, I was reminded just how much they had grown. My oldest just got married this summer, yet in these pictures he was playing with Hot Wheels, remote control trucks, and Legos.  My youngest just graduated from high school this spring, yet in these pictures he is learning to roller skate, and letting big brother read picture books to him at night. I have pictures of them playing dress up with their dad in a children’s museum, as well as climbing into an Airforce fighter jet at an airplane museum. (My boys could tell you which kind of plane it was, I can’t!) One of my favorites is from a trip we took to Dinosaur Valley State Park.  We walked up and down all kinds of trails with my oldest leading the way.  His younger brother was struggling to keep up and follow in his brother’s footsteps.

Both of these albums are full of reminders. Reminders of trips taken and messages sent.  Snapshots of milestone events and wonderful vacations.  I know my boys have grown, but these photos remind me of how far they have come!  Wouldn’t it be great to have these kinds of snapshots of our students throughout the school year? Not necessarily photographs, but some kind of evidence of what students’ strengths and interests are at a particular time during the year.  When we are in the day to day with our students, we often lose sight of how much they are learning and growing unless we periodically stop to look back at where they were to begin with. How much could our students benefit from that kind of reflection?  Such reminders might give us more cause to celebrate the small successes that our students have had that often get lost in focusing on our end of the year goals.  That kind of reflection could also help guide us in our next steps as we make daily decisions that affect our students’ learning.

In the photo taken at Dinosaur Valley State Park I notice that my oldest never looked back while on the trail. At that point in his life, he was very bold in pushing forward in anything he wanted to do or explore. He was not concerned with going off course, or whether we were behind him, he simply wanted to see what was ahead. If he had stayed back with us, he might have seen many interesting things we could have pointed out to him on the way.  What do students miss by not looking back and reflecting on their own learning?  That is a journey that we need to take each of our students on.  Giving them opportunities to stop and look back on what they did well, what didn’t work, and asking themselves what they could do differently next time.  Looking back at things they have written or created over the school year would be one way to help them see their own growth and success.  This could be just the motivation that some students need to be bold in pushing forward in their own learning.

Teachers and students alike can benefit from reflecting on their school year.  I plan on being more intentional in taking more snapshots of student learning this year and using those snapshots to guide the decisions I make about my students.  I also plan on creating opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning in order to help them see themselves as successful learners.  Looking back at those photographs of my boys made me smile.  Some of my #4OCFpln Voxer group have said that reflection is where real learning happens.  I would say that it also is where we are reminded of our Joy. 

Eyes Wide Open

     Glancing out my kitchen window on a hot summer evening, I stared through the approaching dusk at my neighbor's trees, mindlessly enjoying the scene.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw something fleeting.  I turned and looked carefully to try and confirm what I thought I had seen in my peripheral vision.  My heart jumped as I opened my eyes wide trying very hard to see in the increasing darkness.
     After waiting what seemed like minutes, I saw it again, but not where I expected it to be!  If there had been no intervening wall, I probably would have found myself running through the yard to try and follow it, just as I had many years ago as a child.

     If you haven't guessed what I saw, then you probably have never chased fireflies, or "lightning bugs" as we used to call them.  I don't see them as much any more, and when I do, there don't seem to be as many.

     The only other time I remember staring that hard was when my parents took my sisters and me to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.  We walked down to the bottom of the caverns on a tour.  I remember them turning out the lights creating the thickest, blackest darkness I have ever seen.  I was staring hard trying to see anything!   No matter how wide open my eyes were I could not even see my own hand in front of my face.

     When was the last time you looked that hard for something?  Have you ever looked that hard for something in the classroom?  How much time do we actually spend looking for those momentary 'aha' flashes that come from our students?  How many missed opportunities have we had because we haven't had our eyes wide open?
     It is easy to see negative things.  We all have found ourselves correcting students continually throughout the day: "Please get back in line", "Put your chair down", "Please keep your hands to yourself", "Go back and sit down", "Please stop talking".  The list can, and does, go on and on of ways we can find to correct students behavior, choices, and work in the classroom.

     What if we spent just as much, or even more time, and energy, looking for things for which we can praise students?  Looking for those moments of comprehension and understanding that might be just as fleeting as the flash of a firefly.  How powerful would it be if we responded to that flash at just the right moment, in just the right way, to encourage, support, and expand on their learning?

     Paul says in Philippians 4:8 "Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

     Maybe I don't see as many fireflies as I used to because I am not outside looking for them with my eyes wide open.  This year I plan on being intentional in keeping my eyes wide open for my students.  How about you?