In 2019, I discovered the power of taking a small, imperfect step. Knowing that perfectionism can halt my progress, I have stopped pushing for right and started encouraging myself to try for enough.

It’s a tricky prospect at home, where I know my four year old is watching my every move and taking in the lessons I may not have intended to teach him. At school, it’s a whole different challenge, knowing that every move is being evaluated by state tests, formal observations, walk throughs, etc.

My trick? Stop caring about everything all at once.

When I worry about every little thing, I begin to flail. I’m not thriving… I’m barely surviving. The truth of the matter is, I could always be a better teacher. There is always more to learn, and there are always ways to grow. My students deserve the best, and I feel I must give it to them. When I hear myself going to this place, I have to hit the pause button.

It’s all true, but it’s not helpful or productive. My students learn from seeing me handle my failures well. They discover that the process of learning is not filled with endless successes, but actually begins with a series of failures and challenges that eventually lead us to that beautiful light of understanding and mastery.

Choose a focus

I once worked in a school where we were to choose one area to focus on for the year. As a new teacher to the district, I was exempt from the expectation for the first full year. My priority was to find my footing. What a gift!

I spent the year learning best practices in social emotional learning, discovered new techniques to try in all subject areas, and unearthed the power of backwards planning. Other teachers were experts in various subject areas, because they had spent years focusing on an area of interest. They taught short classes after school to share what they had learned with anyone who was interested. I learned more in one year than I had in four years of college. It was an incredible experience.

As we know, not all schools and teachers have this luxury. A few years later, my family moved to a different part of the country, and I found myself overwhelmed by the teaching requirements. Thankfully, I returned to what I had learned about focusing on one thing, and I decided to spend a year learning about guided reading. My students scores soared, nothing suffered as it would if I had tried to do all the things, and the next year, I focused on guided math with equal success.

Decide on what you don’t do

This was so hard for me, but it was also essential. I decided that I don’t do over the top classroom decor. It works for some people (and if that’s you – rock on!), but for me, it’s a huge stressor that ends up distracting from my instruction. If I have great volunteers who have wonderful art skills, I’ll do a classroom transformation that relates to something I’m teaching. If not, I just don’t do it. My classroom is still neat, organized, and inviting. It’s also generally decorated with things the students have created. For me, this just works better (and saves tons of time).

I also don’t stay late more than one afternoon a week once the school year has started. Planning and grading still make their way home at times, but limiting my extra hours keeps me focused, balanced and sane.

The 2020 Challenge

So here’s my challenge for you: Choose 1 thing to focus on for the rest of 2020. If you’re a data person like I am, you might choose something based on your students needs. Maybe you’d rather choose something you’re interested in or something you’d like to work on. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s one super focused thing (so guided reading as opposed to reading instruction). Then, let everything else be the best it can be without going crazy and keep your focus on improving that one area. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!

Happy New Year!

Being the kind of teacher who loves analyzing student data and reflecting on my own practice, I find that goal and intention setting can be really productive and meaningful for me. So here’s a little look into my process and a peek at what I’ve learned this year:

A few clear goals and an intention work well for me.

I am a HUGE fan of Happier (Gretchen Rubin & Elizabeth Craft) and Happier in Hollywood (Liz Craft & Sarah Fain), and I loved setting 18 goals in 2018 and 19 goals in 2019.

However, at the end of 2018, I realized I had no idea what goals I had set at the beginning (despite my beautiful graphic)… I just knew I hadn’t reached my 18 goals! In 2019, I listed my 19 goals somewhere… and started actively working on the only 2 goals I still remember: complete a 5K and read 50 books. And I achieved both!

Inspired by Liz and Sarah, I also set an intention for 2019: Discovering Joy. I realized that I had spent so much time focusing on achieving professional goals and dealing with challenges that I had forgotten to do the things that bring me joy. And after having a little one, I found that outside of being a mom (which I absolutely love), I didn’t actually know what brought me joy anymore. I have learned so very much about myself this year, and I am not surprised to tell you that the journey has also made me a better mom.

Using my daily planner for goal setting and tracking my goals makes a huge difference!

I discovered a love of planners in 2018 and found that Passion Planner is by far my favorite, with Happy Planner being a decent second place at a lower price point (if you get all the coupons etc). Each week this year, I would write my goals, reflect on my progress, and plan out my activities for the week.

Because I wrote Run a 5 K by the end of the year in my planner so often, it became a focus for me. My running was planned out in advance, so I didn’t have to waste time and energy making decisions – I just did it. Decision fatigue is a very real thing, and removing that element and a huge impact on my willingness to get out there and run.

I also tracked my reading habits on Goodreads and loved seeing the number increase with each completed book. My abandoned books rate was significantly higher than I would have expected, and I found some new authors I really enjoyed! This has seriously improved my reading life!

Small steps can lead to big things

Gretchen Rubin says: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This saying has been a game changer for me as a recovering perfectionist. It’s fine to take a small, imperfect step in the right direction. It’s the first few steps that are often the hardest!

Running a 5K has been a lifelong goal of mine for so long that it became to seem inconceivable that I’d actually complete it. I decided this was an excellent, low-stakes way to test out Gretchen’s theory and made this a 2 year goal. That’s basically unheard of for me, since I am generally a let’s just get this done kind of girl.

Breaking this into a 2 year task brought me so much more joy than it would have if I had just pushed through it. In 2019, I planned to simply complete one with some combination of running and walking. My sister, who is an exercise science professional, recommended None to Run, and I found huge success following the program. Although I took several breaks throughout the year, I never felt that typical obsessive pressure to complete the task. Moving my body brought me joy, so I just happily continued on in whatever way worked best at the time.

I now recite Gretchen’s phrase to myself regularly, and it has made all the difference.

I am me

For me, water is better than coffee, napping can mess with my insomnia, and prayer/meditation have significantly improved my life. This isn’t true for everyone, and plenty of people swear by a quick power nap. Many other things that work for others just don’t work for me. That’s ok! Sometimes it’s just as helpful to know what doesn’t work for you (going to bed too early) as it is to know what does (tracking my water in my planner).

Gratitude is a powerful tool

By setting the intention to discover joy this year, I have rediscovered the power of gratitude and found that singing along to the radio, playing tag, and reading books can be just as important and purposeful as crossing that essential task off my to do list. While a daily gratitude journal, photo log, reflection, or other tool may be helpful, I’ve found expressing my gratitude in the moment is key. Whether it’s to thank those responsible for creating the moment or saying a silent prayer, it’s been awesome to see that each time I say thank you, I discover there’s more to be grateful for.

Thanks so much for reading along, chatting with me on Instagram, and checking out my TPT store. I am so grateful for each and every one of you!

Inspired by the amazing Modern Mrs. Darcy (as well as my desire to be a true lifelong learner, making daily discoveries and testing their impact on my life), I thought I’d share a few things I’ve learned. These may or may not be teaching related, and they’ll definitely vary from very simple facts to things I may ponder for months to come. Everything will be something that made me smile or helped me thrive. I hope they do the same for you!

The National Anthem Is Broadcast Daily In Thailand

I was recently taking a workshop with someone in Thailand, and they paused briefly in the middle to apologize for the sound. As it turned out, they live right near the speakers where the national anthem is broadcast each day!

Daily Prayer & Meditation Works For Me!

I am infinitely happier, more grounded, and simply a better version of myself if I start the day with prayer and meditation. For a while now, I’ve been reading the daily Bible verses from YouVersion right when I wake up. I literally hit the button to turn off the alarm, take a few breaths, and click to the Bible verse of the day.

Lately, I’ve added a short prayer/meditation to start my day (nothing fancy – I just pray for as long as it takes the coffee to brew, and/or try to use a meditation from the Calm App). I also try to do a sun salutation or other very brief bit of yoga each day as well, which helps keep me feeling grounded and balanced.

Positive Walkthroughs In Schools

Credit: Dr. Marcus Jackson

Call me crazy, but I LOVE receiving feedback from administrators, fellow teachers, and coaches. It helps me continue to learn things I can immediately apply in my classroom. However, traditional walkthroughs give me serious anxiety, as I know there is a checklist that will track how well I’m doing in that exact moment. (And inevitably, that pressure makes me so nervous I miss forget to use great techniques that are typically part of my daily practices, never mind the new skills I know administrators are hoping I’ll be implementing!)

I recently read a great idea for positive walkthroughs from Dr. Marcus Jackson. He has a list of things he hopes to see (on a school-wide level) and makes a tally mark each time he sees it. There’s no constructive feedback in it, but I think if I were part of this type of walkthrough, it would inspire me to try increasing the number in that area, rather than creating the fear of making a mistake that often causes me to freeze.

When I return to full-time teaching, I’m planning to try this technique in my classroom. I’ll make a list of things we hope to be doing as a class (writing in full sentences, using vivid verbs, etc), and each time we see each other using that skill, we’ll add a tally mark. We can even try to beat our own records each day!

Water > Coffee

As a teacher/mom, I have kept myself going with coffee more often than I’d like to admit. Starting a daily practice of drinking lot of water and tracking my water intake in my planner have been complete game changers for me. If I drink 8 glasses of water in a day, I am way more awake than if I have an extra coffee (or 3… who do I think I’m kidding here?).

The key for me has been drinking a full glass of water right when I get up. I put a full glass on my nightstand before I go to bed, and I try to drink the whole thing before I consume anything else. It sets a really positive tone for the day!

Asking For Help Is A Strength, Not A Weakness

I made a HUGE mistake this week and overbooked myself completely. We’re in the middle of a move, I’m just starting to tutor online and am loving the classroom connection, and I’ve started coaching soccer. Rather than say no to the extra soccer sessions when a colleague asked me to cover, I accepted, knowing I’d be overwhelmed. This would have been fine… if I had simply let my husband know I’d be overwhelmed and asked for what I knew I needed.

Instead, I said yes to coaching (at a distance, no less), welcomed a family visit, and traded sleep for coffee. By day 5, I was an exhausted mess… certainly not bringing my best to my family or my work.

My lesson? Ask for help. It’s been a good thing every time I’ve done it. When chaos begins to ensue, things go better every time when I look at the choices I’ve made, scale back to something manageable, and ask for help where I need it. I have more fun, accomplish more, and learn so much from those around me.

I’d love to know… What have you learned this month?

I decided to be a Stay at Home Mom just before my son’s third birthday. My part-time job was consuming more than full time hours, and I felt less than present everywhere, all the time. I missed my son, I felt my family deserved more from me, and I hadn’t had a moment to think or breathe or exist as a person in months.

The one thing I knew (possibly the only thing!) was that I absolutely wanted to return to teaching when our family transitioned into school age years. I love teaching and will always have one foot in the field.

I did a brief stint at home before this. It was awesome… until winter came. And then, I had to return to work. After months of hibernating, I started to go a little stir crazy, and I knew my little one wasn’t getting the social experiences he needed and deserved. So, I headed back to work to give us both a little taste of sanity.

On my first day back at home, I told my husband my plan for saving our sanity. “We’ll survive winter!” I boldly declared. He paused, looked me straight in the eye, and said: You deserve more. You should not be surviving anything. You deserve to thrive. Let’s figure out how you will thrive.

And in less than 5 minutes (plus a few months!), this little corner of the internet was born.

Teaching is a lifestyle, as is being a stay at home parent. Both require planning, organization, commitment, and endless creativity and enthusiasm (at least the way we do it!). Frighteningly, my passion for both can steal my joy if I’m not careful to fuel my own tank, work with my systems, and remember that surviving is not thriving. When I’m surviving, so is my family and so are my students. It’s ok, but it’s not really fun. We live, we learn, we’re fine…

But when we’re thriving, we’re unstoppable. We create! We explore! We laugh, sing, dance, and discover everything God has provided, and we celebrate the joy in each moment. That’s not to say it’s perfect – just that we’re thriving and can easily take the setbacks in stride (sometimes with a little giggle over the craziness of it all).

I hope this is a place where you can be refreshed and rejuvenated. My goal is to provide resources that help us all thrive, as well as experience acceptance, love, and grace for the moments when we’re simply surviving.