Come on 2015! Can't Wait to Meet You!

It’s that time again.  We’re all making resolutions…maybe mine should be to write more since I haven’t written since the summer!  Last year I had my students fill out a resolutions sheet, and I’m doing it again.  However, this time is different.  This time the students are my students, not students I will only have for a short time.  This year I can revisit their goals, or remind them about their goals.  But of course if I’m having my students do it, I need to as well.  Not only is that the easiest way to get them to trust me enough to write their goals, but this year I am teaching ESl-I model everything!  Of course my version for my students will probably not be this long so I can fit it on the graphic organizer.  And as much as I am honest with my students, things that are too personal don’t need to be shared with them!  So without further ado…

Name: Mrs. McLoud/Miss Shannon/Mom

Favorite food: Chocolate! 

Age:  You seriously didn’t think I would answer this one did you?

Favorite activity: reading/writing

Favorite color: Pink!

Favorite book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows…or maybe The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, or Jane Eyre.  Honestly, this is not a fair question for someone of my nerdy stature!

Highlights of 2014

Greatest lesson learned:  It’s hard to pick just one lesson isn’t it?  Hard work pays off!  I sent out countless resumes, had many interviews, worked my butt off in school-and now I have a position that I LOVE!  It wasn’t easy, but as I sit here typing this, during my two week vacation with my son, I feel rewarded and content.

Hardest thing this year:  All the rejections from the job interviews.  Although the silver lining is that because of those rejections I ended up where I am now-at the time I had no idea things would work out so well!

Favorite memory:  Disney World with my family.  It’s cliché, but it is the happiest place on Earth!  You are forced to be in a family bubble, where it doesn’t matter if your child is a little too loud, or wants to run.  Epcot feeds my British obsession!  And the weather is beautiful!

What I loved about 2014: Finding a great school to work in, with amazing students!  I look forward to every Monday!  I love walking the halls and getting greetings from my students, or when one has a breakthrough.  (The last week of school one of my students blurted out “Miss I need a drink!” and it was the most unsolicited English I have heard from her that I almost hugged her!) 

I also love watching my work go from page to stage.  I staged two shows that I co-wrote in 2014, and co-wrote two movies.  I never in a million years thought I could write for film, and I’m glad I tried it!  I was also published in two anthologies.  I felt like a writer, and even began to refer to myself as one.  It’s a great feeling!

And meeting new people.  Through the last year I’ve met new people that have of course in some way impacted parts of my life. 

Looking forward to 2015: 

Want to learn:  How to be a better teacher!  I will never stop learning about education, and I will never try!  I want to learn more about teaching ESL as well.  I would also like to learn some more Spanish.  My students love teaching me the very little Spanish that I now know, and I love seeing the excitement on their face when I get it right! 

And cook.  I would like to learn how to cook.

Want to get better at:  Time management and organization.  Well this didn’t change from last year!  I tend to have a lot on my plate-and I love that…I just need to manage in more “Shannon time.”  Time for writing, running, and reading!

Goals for 2015:  I looked at last year’s goals…and I hit them!  The power of the written word!  Of course my first two goals from last year aren’t too off from this year…to stage a Spring show with RTC and build our company, to run my THIRD 5K and to make better time doing so, to remember that fitness isn’t a diet- but a lifestyle I shouldn’t drop during stress, to publish my novel, to read more, to write everyday….writing is always a goal-I don’t always achieve it!

So bring it on 2015!  Can’t wait to meet you!  We have a lot to learn, and about 365 opportunities to grow!