New Years Rulin's

I came across this somehow - Woody Guthrie's 1943 New Years Resolutions.  I haven't really been one for New Years Resolutions - I feel like any time is fine to make a change.  But this sketch reminded me that we don't need to make grandiose plans - we can make small ones, and thats okay.

I want to write here, and sometimes in 2013 that will be once a month, and sometimes that will be 3 times a week...who knows?

I want to connect with more early childhood educators, be it through commenting or email or Google+ Hangouts or even (gasp!) face to face conversations.  I feel a certain side business and my day job pulling me from thinking about ECE everyday, and that is not my thing.

I want to get back into a job with the under fives set.  The coolest set.

I wish you all the best this year, or any day or year for that matter.  Thanks for reading!

New School Year's Resolutions

1. To document children's explorations in a way that is relevant to teachers, families, and students
2. To find at least one authentic, child-initiated project
3. To use other teachers as resources more
4. To read and write about early childhood education

What are yours? Please share them in the comments or post them on your own page.

New School Year's Resolutions

I am so glad to be in my classroom, getting ready for the start of the school year! I have a class list, and the children begin next Wednesday.

Getting back into my school routine includes reading -- and I've spent some time looking at blogs this week. I'm enjoying my regular favorites and discovering some wonderful new ones! I hope more and more early childhood educators document their teaching by sharing with a blog. There really seems to be a growing online community of educators ready and willing to share, contribute, and collaborate.

That said, I was thinking about my resolutions for the new school year, and getting them ready to share them here. But since this is a community, I want to know the resolutions of other teachers, too! So how about sharing them together?

Brainstorm and jot and think and wonder and reflect and look forward over the course of the next week. Then, next Friday, share your new school year's resolutions -- either in the comments here, or on your own blog. If you are directing a staff, perhaps you want to encourage them to do this, too. And a resolution can really be anything you dream up - from keeping the markers fresher to taking a workshop to cooking more with your students.

Let me know what you think today, and get ready for next Friday! I hope you participate.