About 5 years ago, I did away with creating New Year Resolutions. (Anyone else struggle to keep the momentum after the hype subsides?!) Around this time, I discovered Jon Gordon's One Word Challenge and this tradition has changed my life! For the last three years, everything has centered around being INTENTIONAL. Before engaging with new schools and training, everything has funneled through being intentional with words and actions so as not to waste time. I wanted to also make sure my personal training & certifications were INTENTIONAL in order to provide the most recent and valuable resources for my favorite people - Educators. The year prior to INTENTIONAL was BE, which might seem confusing at first but as an Administrator and District Reading Specialist, I was locked into a cycle of DO. If I wasn't doing something, then it felt like nothing was being accomplished when upon reflection, the most beneficial moments were when I was just in the moment. Be here. Be there. Be in the discussion, the observation, the reflective conversation. Be with the students and teachers. Just BE.
Today, I'm finally able to let go of INTENTIONAL. It has been the cornerstone of a lot of work over the last 3 years, and I'm grateful for the new friendships that have been made, the new colleagues and mentors to count on in a moment, and the new learning that has built upon the teaching & learning toolbox utilized in my work with schools and pre-service educators. For this year, my goal is to stay INQUISITIVE. I don't want to become stagnant in learning, apathetic towards finding and hearing new ideas, specifically around literacy, explicit instruction, and evidence-based teaching. I want to continue to ask questions around Nell Duke's work The Active View of Reading and continually seek answers for aligning classroom instruction to all we know about the Science of Learning. I want to know more about the Science of Math and how it is changing current classroom instruction.
Stay Inquisitive, Ask More Questions. Do not allow for stagnant thinking, do not rest in the comfortable air-space of "I know it, so I'm done," do not allow for the dust to settle into mediocrity & stillness. One word through which this year's adventures will cycle: INQUISITIVE: given to inquiry, research, or asking questions; eager for knowledge; intellectually curious: an inquisitive mind.
Challenge: What is your one word?
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