Seven Ideas for 2007
Ways to help you refresh, relax, and enjoy your children and students in the new year
A guide to making this new year the best yet. Ideas for helping you, your children or your students have a happy, healthy, and rewarding year.
Every year, scores of people make New Year's resolutions that are destined to be broken a week into the new year, while an equal number swear to never make another resolution since they don't work, anyway. Perhaps taking a different view of the new year is in order. Instead of making a list of impossible-to-obtain goals that fall by the wayside long before the Groundhog pops up, just make it a point to take each day in stride and focus on the things that are most important to you. Here are some ideas:
- Take time to just be with your children. Too often, days pass in a rush here, do this there blur, and we don't get to spend real time with our families. Take at least a few minutes out of your day to connect with your kids.
- If you are a teacher, take a minute to decide what your most important goal for the remainder of this school year is. Organize your classroom? Revamp your record keeping? Take extra time with your troubled students? Once you've chosen, take a few minutes each week to work on your goal, and you'll be amazed what you will accomplish by June.
- Take care of yourself. Whether you think so or not, you are the most important person in your life and deserve to treat your mind and body well. This is also important to your family and your students! A vast overhaul is not necessary. Just take one small step, such as scheduling an overdue doctor's appointment or adding more of a favorite fruit to your diet.
- Don't be so serious. Really! Make sure to put a little fun in your life every chance you get. Read that book you've been meaning to pick up. Put on warm clothes and go sliding. Play a board game and drink hot chocolate (or lemonade in the summer). Take up something new that always looked fun, like kayaking, knitting, or drawing. The point is to remember to focus on the fun in order to offset life's routines.
- Resist the urge to become stressed and overwhelmed. Feel like you are overloaded and don't know where to begin? Are you stressed over a situation with work, family or health? Break it down into smaller, manageable chunks. Instead of trying to finish a whole project in an unreasonable amount of time, do one small thing, such as making a phone call or writing an outline. Tomorrow, take another small step.
- Keep learning. In any field, and especially those that involve working with children, you can never learn too much. Take a class, sign up for a seminar or conference, or pick up a book on the topic you're interested in. Children are our most important resources, and those of us that work or live with them can always learn new and different ways to help them learn and live better. Plus, you'll add to your own personal knowledge base, making yourself more knowledgeable!
- Relax. The beginning of a new year doesn't mean you need to revamp your whole life. Take a walk, read a book, sit with a cup of coffee--whatever is relaxing to you. Remember every day to take a few moments to relax and you'll be glad you did.
There you have it--some easy ways to make the new year a personal best! Good luck, and Happy New Year!
The copyright of the article Seven Ideas for 2007 in Primary School is owned by Jaime L. Hebert. Permission to republish Seven Ideas for 2007 must be granted by the author in writing.
