I love this idea of One Little Word. Possibly because I've had one for a few years, but more so because I am always looking for new ideas and striving to improve myself personally and professionally. Choosing OLW makes this so intentional (no pun intended). Growth oriented. Reflective and proactive all at the same time. In the past my words have been Simplify, Balance, Maintain, and SELF-improvement (since I tend to take care of everyone but me). My word for this year has been emerging in my classroom over the past few months. This year my word is...
Intentional.
Intentional in every.little.aspect. of my jam.packed.day.
"Our intention creates our reality." - Wayne Dyer
Intentional in planning meaningful, relevant, engaging lessons. Intentional in using every minute of every day wisely and articulating this in our classroom schedule. Intentional in using technology. Intentional in crafting discussion questions to bring our thinking to deeper levels. Intentional in connecting lessons / learning across days, weeks, units, months, etc. Intentional in knowing where we are, where we need to be by the end of the year, and how we are going to get there. Intentional in using gradual release, collaborative learning, and 21st Century Skills. Intentional in shifting my classroom to more flexible seating with limited resources (yikes). Intentional in which anchor charts and classroom activities earn valuable wall space. Intentional in using more formative assessments and recording more observations. Intentional in gathering specific data. Intentional in providing prompt, meaningful feedback to my students. Intentional in providing a variety of rich literacy activities for students during Daily 5 targeting reading, writing, word work, vocabulary development, etc. Intentional in grouping my kids, and intentional in keeping those groups flexible and fluid based on continuous data use. Intentional in improving my running records and analysis. Intentional in text selection for small group reading. I could go on and on...
Do I do all of these things already? Yes. Could I do all of them better? Absolutely. Does this word apply to my personal life as well? Hands down, YES! Am I guilty of always having "so much to do" that I don't take time for myself? Yep! So, clearly INTENTIONAL is the One Little Word I need to keep front and center as I design each day in my classroom and at home. Cheers to 2016!
