One Little Word 2016

Happy New Year 2016!  I hope everyone has had a relaxing break filled with family, friends, and time for yourself.  I've enjoyed my time away at home focusing on things that make us happy and resting.

Instead of creating a New Years Resolution and always wanting to have many I've chosen to participate in the One Little Word project and ideas from scrapbooker/storyteller Ali Edwards.  If you haven't read anything by Ali, I highly recommend you stop by her blog.  The past seven years I have chosen enjoy, aware, discover, change, create, embrace, and nurture.

My word for 2016 has been percolating for the last month and I'm really excited about it.

STORY.

As in I have stories to tell.  
I have stories to capture.  
I have stories to remember.

So, this upcoming year - 

I want to notice stories.  As I thought about the word story I realized much of life is made up of stories.  Sometimes stories involve people, sometimes stories involves the thinking behind an object, event, or action.  

I want to document stories.  I want to document our stories, my stories, their stories.  I want to document things in our family life and in my classroom.  I use to scrapbook regularly a long long long time ago.  I look back at those pages and see stories that fill my heart.  If you know anyone who likes to create/craft we tend to collect things.  I have the tools to document, I just need to do it.  My classroom record keeping is something I have found hard to keep up with and try to remember in my head. My students deserve better documentation of their learning and this can only help me plan and be a better teacher.  I need to share our classroom learning with families better.  I tried to use a new tool this fall and neither I or the parents are thrilled with it so I'm returning to what I love. I also want to document my stories professionally with more consistency.

I want to create stories.  I realized over break when I chose to sew or make things there's a story behind why or how or what I am using.  These are stories to share.  I also want to think create stories by spending time with people and doing things with people by choice not because of an obligation or a to do list.  I want to have stories happen within our home, locally, and hopefully as trips.  When I think about trips though they can be day trips and don't have to be grand.

I want to foster stories.  This one really surprised me as I discovered it.  I have three beautiful teenage daughters.  I want to help them foster stories for themselves and think intentionally about what they do and how they spend their time.  I want to foster stories for my students to rush home and share with their families.  I want to be intentional in fostering my own stories.  As I thought about fostering stories I realized not all stories are pretty or happy and those have a place in our journey.  They help us grow and shouldn't be overlooked or not documented in some way, sometimes.

I want to have story variety.  These are areas in my life I want stories to be present; fitness, food, family, classroom, friends, and surprises.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and hopefully cheering me along the way.  I know I'm enjoying reading other posts and thinking behind One Little Word decisions.