Welcome to a new year! Although, this first week back was challenging with snow days,  cold temperatures and illnesses, we were very excited to be back together! We did what we always do, reflect and set goals. This year, we decided to call our resolutions, commitments. It's funny when you've been together since first grade...you're able to remember past resolutions that friends have made and if we were able to keep them. One student asked me, "Did you spend more time with family?" That was my resolution last year. The answer was, yes! I purposely did not take on any jobs this summer so that I could spend time with my grandmother who had been living with my mom. We knew her health was declining and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to be near her and to help my mom. As you know, my grandmother passed on October 3, 2014. 

This year, I want to reconnect with friends and to divide my pie in a more balanced way. It's so easy to get caught up in work when you absolutely LOVE what you do. But I know that my children and students are looking at me and I need to set a good example. The work we do is only part of who we are. How we live our lives, the impact we have on others, and the time we spend taking care of ourselves and others is important too. So, we watched our friend, Kid President give his thoughts on how to make 2015 an AWESOME year. Then we made some commitments of our own. Watch this fun video and see what simple things you could do to make this year better for SOMEBODY ELSE! We had a lot of friends out this week, so we will put our ideas on the blog next week. Check back to see if you share a similar idea or to get some ideas. This year is going to be TOTALLY AWESOME!!