Trying to Keep Diligent

Ok, another post -- think that makes two this week!

Why I Do What I Do...
There was a recent exchange I saw on Facebook about why teachers leave the profession.  I could sit here and write all the reasons that are commonly cited: pressures, politics, testing, etc.  There are many reasons that a teacher would leave teaching.  There are many nights I come home exhausted and sick of my job.  For those nights, I submit the following reasons why I stay with this insanity:

Those moments that kindergartners come up to you and hug you like you're their favorite teddy bear because you are, according to them "the best teacher".

Looking into a students eyes during a lesson and realizing that they "get it".

Classes that can get into the meat of a book and discuss it on multiple levels.

The feeling of utter exhaustion at the end of a good day when you know you've made a difference.

Colleagues that support you and share their ideas with your to improve your craft.

True professional development where new ideas are shared.

Getting to read great books to share with students.

The moments of pure "un-academic" joy that you get to share with students.

Messages from parents thanking your for getting your child to where they are and being a part of their success.

I could go on with many similar reasons why I love my job.  But for me, it has always and will always go back to the kids.  Teachers are vilified and often made to made the scapegoats for the ills of society.  But I and many other teachers know the truth.  We make a difference.  We are part of helping to change children's lives.  Even if it may not seem it everyday, we change things.

Re-do: Week of Goals

So much for last week's goal... Snow and sickness got in the way....
On to this week: 3 posts?  I hope so!

Today finds me sitting at my dining table (our apartment doesn't have a separate kitchen table - its a one stop shop table) and really taking in the moment.  The kids are watching TV, cup of coffee next to me and one of those rare quiet times.  I've started at least two different posts and thought both were too sappy.  Oh, and that quiet was quickly ended by the tugging on my arm looking for something, although I'm not sure what, from my little one.  But it is in those small, little moments of quiet that I can find just a moment to reflect on how happy I really am.  I've been reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and really meditating on where my own life falls in terms of happiness.  The realization I've come to is that I am happy, but need to do a much better job at expressing that happiness.  A note I made in the pages is that happiness expressed is not happiness.  If I can't share that with others, what is the point?  So my challenge for this week (in addition to writing) is to be more positive in my attitude towards others.  How can you show others you are happy and in terms share it with them?

Nothing like Ironic, Hipster Moments to Kick You Into Gear

I am sitting in Starbucks.  I am drinking from my re-usable cup.  I am working.  I just read a satirical article about hipsters.  And damn it if I don't find the irony in that...

So this week is all about goals for me.  It's a slow work week and I'm giving myself a writing goal -- 3 posts this week: today, Wednesday and Friday.  So here goes.

I think for me, the biggest challenge of this blog has been just the vastness of it: I mean, what do I write about?  I know, I had a post listing things to write about earlier.  But for some strange reason, I've coupled reading and writing as "luxuries" in my life, to be enjoyed in small doses.  I even had to just stop myself to actively think "I am writing now.  I am enjoying this."  I worry so much about taking time for this pleasure in life that I scare myself away from even starting.  

I don't want to be that "mommy blogger" or "fitness blogger" or "life-style blogger".  I don't even like the title of blogger.  I want to be a writer. 

That word to me is much bigger and grander than "blogger".  Writer conjures images of Twain, Dickens, Austen and a time gone by when writing was an art.  Now, the written word is everywhere around us.  For me, there is no more luxurious joy than a book, blanket and cup of coffee.  Instead, the world is filled with books, magazines, newspapers, online content and WORDS!  I want to add to that, but something of meaning, something lasting, something to make someone, ANYONE stop and think and appreciate life for a moment.

I was sick last week and watched Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield.  In it, he quipped, "I watch the movie, I'm in and out in 2 hours."  The English professor corrected him in that in the book we create our own ideas and thoughts are are connected to the world around us.  That image resonated with me -- movies are great.  TV is great.  But books?  Books we can get lost in.  In a book, we decide what Harry Potter looks like.  As we read, we decide what Tom Sawyer sounds like.  In reading non-fiction, we assimilate the ideas into our own world view and broaden our horizons. 

So here's to finally settling into this blog.  It won't be organized, it will come together slowly.  But it will happen and my hope is lead to bigger things.

Here's to the written word!

So Much for Discipline...

I had every intention of writing at least once a week here... You know what they say about good intentions, right?

I am left with what to write about.  The last post was a listing of things to write about, but I don't know if I'm going to go back to that.  I want to wax philosophical on change.  I've spent nearly the last two years working on changing myself --- my body, my attitudes, my behavior, my habits.  Its no small coincidence that this change came after the birth of my daughter, my second child.  I had the same "gung-ho" attitude after my son was born, only to be derailed by a car accident when he was three.  But this time, there is something different.  And I realize that by saying that, I sound naive and hokey.  I'm not sure how to describe it or what has changed this time, but things are sticking better.  There are still a number of things I'm still working towards or even discovering that I'd like to work towards, but this positive trend has got me thinking all about change and how sometimes its for good, sometimes it sticks and sometimes it just goes out the window.

Which brings me back to my title for this post: if I truly care about this, shouldn't I be more disciplined in writing here at least once a week if not more?  I know I don't have an audience (yet, but hoping that may change...), but if this is just a glorified diary, why bother.  Moving forward, I need to make the time for this.  I enjoy writing, I enjoy reading and would like to think that somewhere between my two ears I have something worth sharing with the world.  For now, this blog will just have to do.

What is something that you find helps changes "stick"?

What Can Writing Do?

I created this blog as an experiment in writing.  I started it with the intention of practicing this craft of writing.  And a week later, I don't have much to show for it.  I sat with a tutoring student today describing how author's take great pains to choose the right word to convey a theme or tone for their work.  As I was telling her this, I thought about how I don't do that same thing.  I tend to rush through.  I tend to overly-simplify things.  If I'm to do justice with writing, I need to be more careful of choosing my words.  Which leads me to today's post title: What Can Writing Do?  At the end of the day, what does this blog accomplish?  I'm not writing policy for a nation, life-changing novels or some guru guide to life.  But its precisely that prospect that drives me to better my writing and keep doing it.  I may not scribe the English language's next great opus, but I can use words to get thoughts on paper.  I can write stories that may transport a reader to a place of joy.  I can pen my own life and experiences if not for just myself, but maybe for my children one day to read (and hopefully) appreciate.  So, what can writing do?  Writing can change both the author and the reader.  And I've had the pleasure of experiencing both sides of that beautiful relationship.  So, why do you write?

Ideas for Writing

As this blog begins to take shape, I know the inevitable day is coming: the day of writer's block.  The day when I just won't know what to write about.  I was reflecting upon a writing assignment I was given in eighth grade and it struck me as that would be the solution to my problem: a 30 day writing challenge.  The assignment was to write each day for 30 minutes.  It could be poetry, character sketches (which I did many), articles; anything really.  I know I don't have the time to write each day for the next 30 days, but the idea of having 30 things to write sounds like it would be useful thing to have.  So here is my first "list for writing"

1. a letter to my 16 year old self
2. a letter to my daughter when she is 16
3. a letter to my son when he gets married
4. my obituary (I know it sounds morbid, but what do I want to be remembered for?)
5. a news article
6. a poem
7. a character sketch
8. an advertisement
9. a speech
10. a haiku
11. a taxonomy of adjectives
12. a setting
13. a rewrite of a fairy tale
14. a memory
15. a job description
16. a book review
17. review of historical event
18. biography
19. opinion piece
20. product review
21. advice article for parents' magazine
22. teacher tips article for newsletter
23. my story - health
24. my story - education
25. short story
26. children's book (summary/story outline)
27. course description for a college class (children's lit?)
28. letter of thanks
29. interview questions for a role model
30. a wish for the future

Even writing this list was a bit exhausting!  My hope it that I'd like to build my discipline and be sure that I can actually write things people would like to read.  Leave your thoughts below and let me know what you think.  If you had nothing holding you back, what would YOUR book be?

Once Upon a Word...

A word.  A thought.  A single piece of information.  And now it grows, expands and begins to take on a life of its own.
Many people are beginning 2014 with coming up with "a word".  What is your word for 2014?  And as I've been reflecting, I think my word for 2014 is just that: word.
Words are the heart of everything: communication, information, feeling, story, understanding.  Most importantly for me, they are the building blocks of stories.  I've spent a lifetime reading words and sharing words; now I want to create with them.
It's always been a (an un-articulated) dream of mine to be a writer.  In fact, after I was scared away from engineering, that way my second career choice.  I wanted to write for television.  I have a vivid memory of watching the Emmy awards one year and commenting how one day I'd be on that stage accepting an award for my writing.  The reaction I received was scoff.  Do you have any idea how hard that is?  Instantly scared away from that...  Then it was psychologist and eventually I settled into education where I've lived for  over a decade now (not including college, but that would make me sound old!)  And I've been happy.
But that little voice, itch, ambition; call it what you may, has started up again.  There has been this yearning for something more.  For a while, I thought it was move-up in education into a leadership role.  And I've done that too -- heading committees, volunteering and mentoring.  Each of those has been rewarding, but hasn't satisfied that itch.  Then I began my New Year's Tradition of reading Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project (well, completion I should say as I've never quite finished the book...).  I got to her chapter about work and she details how she made the jump from the legal world to the world of writing.  It was scary, she thought she'd fail.  But she did it as is very successful.
It was then that the seed in the back of my mind began to germinate.  It was seed that had been planted all those years ago in school when I wanted to write for television.  But over the years and through the tumbling of experience the seed has changed.  Its less of an "I'm going to win an Emmy," seed and more of a "I want to write" seed.  I'm still tossing around ideas of what I'd like to write.  I have a few ideas that I'm still teasing out, but figured a blog is the best (and cheapest) place to start.  I can test myself here to see if I have the discipline to write on a schedule, ask others for feedback and just get back that joy that I get for writing.  Even if this just turns out to be just for the joy of writing, it'll be well worth it.
Please leave comments, feedback and ideas you might like to read about below (even if we are "real life" friends).  I will do my best to respond to comments here or via email.