January OLW: Gratitude

My One Little Word for 2013 is gratitude, and just like last year my OLW guides my thinking through out my day. My personal goal is to spread 26 random acts of kindness.  For January, I did 3 random acts that hopefully encouraged people to pass it on. My post for the end of the month was not expected but came about naturally.  I started recording ideas that I was thankful for during the month of January. 

#1 My ELL student left his first WONDER comment. He was so excited as he ran up to me in the hallway that he started speaking Japanese. Politely I listened and then asked him to tell me again in English.

#2 I received numerous letters from past students as a 7th grade writing project that our middle school does every year.  Each student chooses a teacher and writes to tell them what they were thankful for from a specific year.  Overwhelming, past students thanked me for a love of words, sense of wonder, my corny jokes "ketchup not mustard" and of course Starbucks Friday.

#3 Newbery Club is always a highlight of December and January. This year Bill and I averaged 13-20 students reading furiously to see if possible that they just might read the winner.  The rich conversations and the community of students who love books gave me positive energy to continue to push forward.

#4 Walking in the rain by choice - I joined a facebook community of teachers on committing to working out.  It was day 5, and I had to walk to meet my goal.  The boring basement was not calling my name. As I looked outside and saw the rain I was just not going to walk. After some nagging thoughts, I bundled up and headed outside to walk. Once again an unexpected gift awaited me when I arrived home, a beautiful fire in our fireplace to get warm by.

#5 A friend of ours who owns a local restaurant offered a night of pizza and a free book for dining at his place.  How could you go wrong?  

#6 Finally a trip to Marblehead, Lake Erie reminded me how important it is to slow down in life. Take a day and disconnect from my busy life including technology.

Check out other OLW for 2013.
Tracy: create
 Erin:  move