Wow.  Watching the NYC marathon today was very inspiring.  I am a fledgeling runner who has never run further than 3.15 miles.  My best time is 37:00 minutes.  My love for running is almost non-existent.  I do it because it’s healthy, helps me lose weight, and is something I can personally do to reach a goal (no matter how small or goofy; like getting to the next stop sign, or not throwing up at the end of a 5k.).

Today I watched Tatyana McFadden complete the first-ever marathon grand slam.  A grand slam means that she won the London, Boston, Chicago, and NYC marathons this year.  A-MA-ZING.

Tatyana is a MD girl who was born in Russia and left in an orphanage by her birth family.  Her American parents adopted her, brought her to the U.S. and immersed Tatyana in a world of sports.  I can only imagine the training that went into her daily schedule for her to accomplish this feat.  Not to mention the tenacity and self-confidence that’s required to pull this off.  I’m now training for a 10k and I can barely get myself out the door, let alone feel good about it.

This is the kind of perseverance we try to instill in our students on a daily basis.  We are always encouraging our kids to stick to it, keep going; applauding their efforts, no matter how small they may be.  We also push them to be better than they think they can be.  Even as a special educator, I am very hard on my kids and have high expectations.  I had one administrator say that I almost come across as being mean to the kids.  I’m not, and I’m lucky the students know me better.  They know I want their best, I’ll do what I can to get them there, whether it’s tough love, or show tunes.

Handicapping conditions are no reason to expect any less from people than their best.  Physical handicaps, intellectual handicaps, or both, never underestimate someone’s ability.  We don’t know what any of us are capable of until we try.  Be an encourager to all, regardless.  Case in point…

Tatyana was left in that orphanage most likely due to her Spina Bifida.  She is now a Paralympian athlete, completing marathons in a wheelchair.  She’s won 4 marathons in a wheelchair.  That’s 26.2 miles x 4.  I teared up when I watched her cross the line to capture the grand slam title. Then I got off the couch, got dressed, and went for a run.  I am nowhere near marathon level, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give my little run the best.

According to Wikipedia, “National Novel Writing Month, shortened as NaNoWriMo, is an annual internet-based creative writing project that takes place every November. NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel between November 1 and 30. Despite its name, it accepts entries from around the world. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to get people writing, no matter how bad the writing is, through the end of a first draft. The idea is that many people are scared to start writing because it won’t be any good, and if there’s a time to celebrate length, rather than quality, more people will write an entire first draft, which they can then proceed to edit if they wish.”

This is my fourth year doing NaNo (I won last year!), and I’ve never started Day 1 so late in the day.  It’s 1:30 and I’m just writing my first words.  I’m totally pantsing this year, as well as being a rebel, and it’s throwing me off my game.  I also hand write my NaNo attempts, and this year, I’m typing.  I miss my pens and my fancy notebooks.

I started this blog three months ago, and I’m woefully behind on the number of posts I’d planned.  The school year is kicking my butt and I can’t seem to keep up.  I have a blog planning calendar and planning layouts all complete, but I still am floundering.  So, that said, I’m trying to get this blog caught up.  That’s how I’m rebelling.  I really haven’t decided on a goal.  Probably should do that, considering it’s 14 hours into kickoff.  Do I want to do a number of posts a week? Month? Number of words per post?  I’ve never rebelled before so this is a bit unsettling.

I’ve even thought about hand writing all of my posts prior to writing them, just to keep some sort of sameness.  I’m not counting every letter, or word, or line.  It’s just weird, but I couldn’t imagine a November without doing NaNo.

So, I should set a goal.  There are four Tuesdays this month for my #POTW, and if I write a post every other day (OMG) that’s 15 days, bringing me to 19 posts.  As all special education teachers know, OCD and autism are contagious, and I can’t leave it at 19, so I’ll round up to 20.

Oh look!  This post is done!  Only 19 more to go.  🙂

“Don’t post things that you think other people might be interested in.  Post things YOU’RE interested in.  True passion is infectious.” ~Ricky Gervais

I have a blogging calendar that I try to stick to for posts and the Pin of The Week.  So far, the POTW is the only thing that’s been calendar-faithfull.  I’ve fallen short on the posting thing.

It’s been a combination of time, topic, and me trying to be something I’m not:

*Time: Who the hell has time? I see all these awesome teacher websites and Pinterest boards and think, “Do these people sleep?! They must have laundry piled up all over the house.  I suck.”  But while I do think I’m lacking in the teacher-creative area, and maybe even guilty of not at least trying to have a Teachers Pay Teachers store, I can tell you that my laundry is caught up, I made homemade soup this weekend, taught myself how to knit fingerless gloves (OK, really not that difficult-basically just a cylinder), and got an early start to my progress reports.

*Topic: I found this one idea on, where else, Pinterest.  It’s a goal poster for teachers.  I scoped out other websites and lo and behold, other teacher websites had this as well.  OK then.  I’ll add it to mine.  Do you know how many weeks age that was?  JULY.  I keep putting it off, moving it around, ignoring it.  It’s all cutesy and stuff, and lets you know where you are in your teaching life, etc.  I know where I am. Procrastinating writing that goal poster on my blog.  But everyone else is doing it…

*Trying to be something I’m not: I’m just not cutesy.  Have you seen me?  Have you seen this blog?  I don’t do cutesy.  And there’s the problem.  Me trying to make this blog like all the others.  Do what everyone else is doing.  I’ve never fit in; why start now.  I need to remember that quote above, and stick to what I know best.  Me.

Given that this is Bully Prevention Month, we need to remind our kids of this very thing.  They need to know it’s OK to be them; to be who they are.  It’s OK to stand up for themselves and for each other.  It’s perfectly fine to be different from everyone else.

Sixth through eighth grades were the worst three years of my life.  I was picked on daily by both the boys and the girls.  I was called names, laughed at, etc.  I was different from them, and I don’t think they knew why.  Much of it was even mob mentality.  The insecure kids didn’t want to be lumped in with those being picked on, so they joined in the picking.

I adapted and coped.  I thought I was doing OK, until one day my mom told me she’d thought about taking me to Friends Hospital for a visit.  I don’t remember it being that bad, but maybe I was repressing.  Who knows, but what I do know is it got better.

We need to remind our kids of that, too.  It does get better.  Check out this site.  It’s geared toward LGBT teens, but the message is universal.  Or Google “it gets better” and you’ll have a plethora of websites letting kids know it’s OK.

Also, check this post out.  It’s Wil Wheaton (Star Trek TNG) telling a fan’s newborn daughter Why It’s Awesome to be a Nerd.  I wish I’d heard this when I was in middle school.

Always remember to be yourself, and to let your students see you be you.  Let them know it’s OK.  Tell them to be passionate about what they like and not to worry about others.  You should always be you.  Unless you can be Wonder Woman, or Tony Stark.  And if you are Tony Stark, call me.

The Top 7 Blogging Mistakes To Avoid – myHughesNet.com.

As a beginning blogger who’s blog went live a week ago, this article was just in time!  I need to print this out and post it everywhere (or maybe just use it as my desktop wallpaper).

I need to really sit down and focus on my schedule. I hope to have a post every Friday, and I need to create visual calendar so that I have that reminder. I also need to write out my goal (or Mission Statement as my school calls it) and attach that to my calendar.  Essentially, my blog’s purpose is to communicate with other teachers, and to have an outlet for the happenings at school.  You know, a place to share and de-stress.  To help with organizing everything, below is a link to a blog planner from Beckie at Infarrantly Creative that I’ve found to be very useful.  I love that is has a place for Blogger to Encourage!

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2012/02/free-printable-blogplanner.html

I also need to learn how to network.  I have many links on this blog to other terrific teaching blogs, but I feel weird asking people to promote my blog.  I think I’m afraid that I won’t have anything to offer, or that my postings aren’t good enough.  I’ll just have to be brave and tag all my comments with my blog address.  And honestly, as long as I like what I’m doing I should be satisfied.  Right?