Happy New Year!!!

I’m so excited to enjoy the next six days of our winter break. So much love and laughter to be enjoyed along with morning daughter cuddles, football galore watched with my son, knowing looks shared with my wife when the kids do or say something intentionally or unintentionally hilarious.

There is, however, still work to do.  The pool needs upkeep, trees need trimming, and there is that old corvette that needs an oil change and some drive time. I still need to prepare content for my presentation at TCTELA and dig my old lesson plan template out of the Google Docs mothballs.

Also, some forward looking introspection in order, as so many of us do, in the form of a few New Year’s Resolutions.

• Lose Some Weight

The weight of my feelings about our educational system wears me down. It weighs on my like a heavy coat on a summer day.  More of my attention needs be directed towards variables I control not those controlled by others. Be gone ye negative thoughts.

• Eat Better

Too much of what I consume lately comes from Youtube and Netflix. Instead, more of my content should come from Kittle, Gallagher, Beers and Probst, just to name a few.  My professional library is extensive and 2019 can be a year to dive back into the “classics” and remind myself of all the amazing knowledge and experience sitting on the shelves in my classroom.

• Travel More

So often, I am content to bury myself in my classroom and the work that needs to be done there.  Literacy exploration is quickly becoming my life’s work, but I can’t stay cooped up in my self built museum, curating the practices I’ve mastered and going back to the well over and over.  Brilliant teachers litter my building, my twitter feed, and the conferences I am so lucky to attend.  2019 will be the year I

• Meet Someone

Brilliant teachers litter my building, my twitter feed, and the conferences I am so lucky to attend.  2019 will be the year I reach out more than ever before to make connections with people that can make me a better teacher.

• Get out of Debt

So much of my day is regimented and planned down to the second.  Alarms bleep and bells ring and then the day is over just as quickly as it began.  I always feel like I’m behind on grading, parent contacts, and lesson planning and constantly building debt.  I resolve that 2019 will see me get back to the intricate and intentional lesson planning that lets me bring intricate and intentional lessons to my kids.  I’ll make time to communicate with parents and stay ahead on my grading.

Charles Moore knows that he is terrible at following through on resolutions but he also knows you can’t reach goals that you don’t set.  He’s excited for his second semester of graduate school and his second semester at Clear Creek High School.  He’s so thankful for the caring co-workers who’ve supported him during the recent heath issues that have affected his family. He wishes each and every one of you a successful and prosperous 2019.