#OneWord 2014

After seeing post from other teachers and individuals who were participating in this #oneword campaign, I decided to have my reading classes join in on what looked like to be a fun way to get everyone focused for the New Year.  On our first day back to school, I showed my students this clip from the Today Show that explained what #oneword is.  Then, we went through the process of Looking Inward, Looking Upward (or Forward), and Looking Outward.  After discussion and journal writing, students chose the word that they would want to focus on for the rest of the year.  After choosing their word, they had to write a short paragraph explaining why they picked that word.  Here are some examples of statements from their paragraphs:

"I want to BECOME the best me I can possibly be right now.  I also want to BECOME something great and someone everyone will like."

"HOPE means to me that no matter how depressed or worthless I get, or how worthless everything seems, there is always HOPE and things will get better in the end."

"I chose CONFIDENCE because I need to not be as shy and I need to stop letting people walk all over me.  If I am confident about myself, I will not let my opinion of myself be altered by what other people say."

"I chose BRAVE because I want to stand out and be myself.  I want to be BRAVE in my faith and share more about God and my relationship with him and how much I strive to be like him by caring about others."

"I want to have the STRENGTH to not get mad at people so easily.  I want the STRENGTH to say no to people when needed, and not put everyone first.  I want to have the STRENGTH to do things for ME."

"I am looking to become more AWARE of my actions and how I treat people."

"I am going to STRIVE to be the best I can be in football.  STRIVE to be the best older brother, best son, and the best friend I can be."

"ENCOURAGEMENT can turn someone else's day from sad to happy.  ENCOURAGEMENT can make a person believe in themselves."

"I want to be more HELPFUL.  Not just being HELPFUL, but being HELPFUL without complaining."

"I want to be a DEPENDABLE person that anyone can rely on."

"I chose the word KINDNESS because I want to be nicer to people, because you never really know what they are going through."

"My word is TIME.  I want to be able to spend more TIME with my grandma who is slowly slipping out of my hands."

"I need to not only be STRONG for me, but also for my brother and sister who I need to be a good role model for."

"The word BROTHER means alot to me.  I have three little siblings and I want to set a good example for all of them.  I want them to enjoy being around me and not have to worry about anything."

"I chose COURAGE because I want to become a more dauntless person.  I don't want to be afraid or intimidated.  I want to be strong and determined to get things done."

As I was talking with students, I told them about the word I decided to focus on for 2014...PATIENCE.

I was very impressed with the thought that the students put in to not only their words, but their descriptions of why they picked that word.  In the posts below, are pictures from each of my classes.  I have developed the pictures for the students that they can put somewhere where they can have a reminder of their #one word.  Please enjoy!

3rd Period #oneword Pictures

5th Period #oneword Pictures