Hello there! Welcome to a new year! I posted about my 2019 goals already, but I haven't talked about how things went in 2018. I want to make sure I do this, even if it's just for me. Especially since there are some repeats from last year that I'm still working on.
1. Read More Nonfiction About Race In America.
I have tried to be more intentional about this goal this year. I read these titles that would definitely fit into this category... I also put immigration-related content in with this goal since there is some overlap:
--A Choice of Weapons by Gordon Parks
--So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
--Me, My Hair, and I by Elizabeth Benedict (partially race-related, just a different angle)
--Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris
I also read a number of fiction books that have to do with race too:
--If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
--Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
--Hey Hmong Girl, Wassup? by Leah Rempel
--The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
--The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
--Dear Martin by Nic Stone
--Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
2. Watch 100 Movies.
Completed! I'm not going to list all 100 movies here. But trust me, I watched 100 different movies. I kept track of them in my bullet journal.
3. Read 60 Books.
I didn't read 60 books this year... I read 73. Holy cow. I thought I would reach 60, but I didn't think I would read more than 70. I suppose I do have to credit reaching this goal to including some manga and graphic novels in my reading as well as more poetry than usual. But I did it! If you're curious what all I read this year (since I didn't write about my reading this year... that's different), click HERE to see my GoodReads.
4. Read 20 Books Already On My Shelves.
I did not accomplish this goal, but I came quite close! I believe I read 18 books that were already on my bookshelves. Next year I'm going to extend that to my Kindle because there are a number of unread books on there as well.
5. Participate In And Win NaNoWriMo.
I did it! I have completed NaNoWriMo two years in a row! Honestly, I wasn't sure that this was going to happen. I tell you, it helps to write with other people. If nothing else, you can prove to someone that you can do it despite everything else going on in your life.
6. Write And Edit A Full Story That Could Potentially Be Published.
I realized partway through the year that this was not a realistic goal. It's one thing to write a draft, but editing takes so long. So I let this goal go this year. I think that if I write something that I think has a lot of potential, I should make a goal where I will not participate in NaNoWriMo, but I will sit and edit my work. No writing, just editing. But for 2018, no, I did not meet this goal.
7. Exercise At Least 3 Days A Week.
I started out fairly well for many months and I can't remember when I fell off. I just didn't really pick it up again. For 2019, I have this same goal. I'm proud of myself though because I didn't wait for January 1st to roll around. I decided that I was going to try and reach 3 days a week again and got started. New Years is a good way to re-evaluate and take stock of your life, but it doesn't have to be the time when everything starts (in fact, I don't think it should be). I likely will not be going to the gym until late January at the earliest just to wait out those people who join the gym for New Years and then quit after a couple weeks. But I would like to start utilizing my gym membership at least a little bit. But I also want to find more varied exercises that I can do at home as well.
8. Go Full Vegetarian.
Again, I think this stopped being very important to me, and so I didn't actively pursue it this past year. For me, it's enough to cut down on the amount of meat that I eat. Making some difference is better than making no difference at all.
9. Finish Europe Study Abroad Scrapbook.
I make progress on a February retreat at the beginning of 2018, but then I didn't touch it after that weekend. So guess what I'll be doing this February as well? :) I might even do it on my next long-ish break from school. There's a long weekend coming up in January after grading is done that I may take advantage of.
10. Attend 2 Professional Development Opportunities.
I attended the Minnesota Council for Teachers of English conference in St. Cloud and that was incredible! Other than that, I didn't go to any other conferences, but I did participate in summer committees at my school and helped organize a professional development. I also got to talk about Quizlet and Quizlet Live in a mini-professional development opportunity. I didn't anticipate getting to present
11. Cut Down On Sugar Intake.
I have tried putting some healthier snacks in my fridge, but I need to get past my craving for chocolate... I'll keep you updated on how this goes.
12. Make Self-Care Part Of My Regular Routine.
I think there are small, lasting things that I started doing that made an impact on me this year (for the better). Last year during the school year, I rarely ate lunch. Like, didn't even bring food to school, I just planned to eat at home. And actually, this was something that I did for two years, because I didn't eat lunch while student teaching or while I was subbing. So one big change that I made was I made myself bring lunch to school every day. I didn't let lack of time stop me. I didn't always pack my own lunch. Oftentimes I would go to Trader Joe's and get lunches for the week that were already made. Yes, financially it's not the healthiest thing to do, but that's okay. That'll be something to work up to-- not just bringing my own lunch, but making time to make my own lunch and bring it to school every single day. Perhaps this can be something I try out as I continue to prioritize self-care. So I wouldn't say self-care is part of my regular routine, but I would say that important steps have been made in this area.
13. Finish 1 Dutch and 1 French Book.
This goal stopped being important to me this year, so I did not complete it.
14. Travel 5 Times This Year.
Here's where I traveled this year:
--Scrapbooking weekend away from home
--Boston, MA
--Yellowstone National Park
--Honeymoon in England and the Netherlands
--New Years Eve in WI
So this goal is complete!
15. Write Something Every Day.
This is one I don't think I was clear enough on what I wanted. Yes, I want to write every day and yes I said it couldn't be something related to school. But what kind of writing then? Does my bullet journal count? And if I did mean stories or poems, is there more of an interim step I can take? Are there prompts I can follow or do I need to be making steps on a project every single day? And what happens if I miss a day? If I choose to reattempt this goal someday, I will need to reword it in a way where these questions are answered. I do want to have a writing routine. But maybe I need to approach it in a different way... like not making it a goal of mine at the beginning of the New Year. Maybe I just need to let it happen. I'll have to figure this out.
I think overall, I did pretty well accomplishing the goals that were still important to me throughout the year. There are a few goals I will need to re-evaluate if I would like to try them again some other year. But I think my goals that I set at the beginning of 2018 helps me have a pretty great year.
Thanks for Reading!
--Jude
1. Read More Nonfiction About Race In America.
I have tried to be more intentional about this goal this year. I read these titles that would definitely fit into this category... I also put immigration-related content in with this goal since there is some overlap:
--A Choice of Weapons by Gordon Parks
--So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
--Me, My Hair, and I by Elizabeth Benedict (partially race-related, just a different angle)
--Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique Morris
I also read a number of fiction books that have to do with race too:
--If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson
--Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
--Hey Hmong Girl, Wassup? by Leah Rempel
--The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
--The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
--Dear Martin by Nic Stone
--Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
2. Watch 100 Movies.
Completed! I'm not going to list all 100 movies here. But trust me, I watched 100 different movies. I kept track of them in my bullet journal.
3. Read 60 Books.
I didn't read 60 books this year... I read 73. Holy cow. I thought I would reach 60, but I didn't think I would read more than 70. I suppose I do have to credit reaching this goal to including some manga and graphic novels in my reading as well as more poetry than usual. But I did it! If you're curious what all I read this year (since I didn't write about my reading this year... that's different), click HERE to see my GoodReads.
4. Read 20 Books Already On My Shelves.
I did not accomplish this goal, but I came quite close! I believe I read 18 books that were already on my bookshelves. Next year I'm going to extend that to my Kindle because there are a number of unread books on there as well.
5. Participate In And Win NaNoWriMo.
I did it! I have completed NaNoWriMo two years in a row! Honestly, I wasn't sure that this was going to happen. I tell you, it helps to write with other people. If nothing else, you can prove to someone that you can do it despite everything else going on in your life.
6. Write And Edit A Full Story That Could Potentially Be Published.
I realized partway through the year that this was not a realistic goal. It's one thing to write a draft, but editing takes so long. So I let this goal go this year. I think that if I write something that I think has a lot of potential, I should make a goal where I will not participate in NaNoWriMo, but I will sit and edit my work. No writing, just editing. But for 2018, no, I did not meet this goal.
7. Exercise At Least 3 Days A Week.
I started out fairly well for many months and I can't remember when I fell off. I just didn't really pick it up again. For 2019, I have this same goal. I'm proud of myself though because I didn't wait for January 1st to roll around. I decided that I was going to try and reach 3 days a week again and got started. New Years is a good way to re-evaluate and take stock of your life, but it doesn't have to be the time when everything starts (in fact, I don't think it should be). I likely will not be going to the gym until late January at the earliest just to wait out those people who join the gym for New Years and then quit after a couple weeks. But I would like to start utilizing my gym membership at least a little bit. But I also want to find more varied exercises that I can do at home as well.
8. Go Full Vegetarian.
Again, I think this stopped being very important to me, and so I didn't actively pursue it this past year. For me, it's enough to cut down on the amount of meat that I eat. Making some difference is better than making no difference at all.
9. Finish Europe Study Abroad Scrapbook.
I make progress on a February retreat at the beginning of 2018, but then I didn't touch it after that weekend. So guess what I'll be doing this February as well? :) I might even do it on my next long-ish break from school. There's a long weekend coming up in January after grading is done that I may take advantage of.
10. Attend 2 Professional Development Opportunities.
I attended the Minnesota Council for Teachers of English conference in St. Cloud and that was incredible! Other than that, I didn't go to any other conferences, but I did participate in summer committees at my school and helped organize a professional development. I also got to talk about Quizlet and Quizlet Live in a mini-professional development opportunity. I didn't anticipate getting to present
11. Cut Down On Sugar Intake.
I have tried putting some healthier snacks in my fridge, but I need to get past my craving for chocolate... I'll keep you updated on how this goes.
12. Make Self-Care Part Of My Regular Routine.
I think there are small, lasting things that I started doing that made an impact on me this year (for the better). Last year during the school year, I rarely ate lunch. Like, didn't even bring food to school, I just planned to eat at home. And actually, this was something that I did for two years, because I didn't eat lunch while student teaching or while I was subbing. So one big change that I made was I made myself bring lunch to school every day. I didn't let lack of time stop me. I didn't always pack my own lunch. Oftentimes I would go to Trader Joe's and get lunches for the week that were already made. Yes, financially it's not the healthiest thing to do, but that's okay. That'll be something to work up to-- not just bringing my own lunch, but making time to make my own lunch and bring it to school every single day. Perhaps this can be something I try out as I continue to prioritize self-care. So I wouldn't say self-care is part of my regular routine, but I would say that important steps have been made in this area.
13. Finish 1 Dutch and 1 French Book.
This goal stopped being important to me this year, so I did not complete it.
14. Travel 5 Times This Year.
Here's where I traveled this year:
--Scrapbooking weekend away from home
--Boston, MA
--Yellowstone National Park
--Honeymoon in England and the Netherlands
--New Years Eve in WI
So this goal is complete!
15. Write Something Every Day.
This is one I don't think I was clear enough on what I wanted. Yes, I want to write every day and yes I said it couldn't be something related to school. But what kind of writing then? Does my bullet journal count? And if I did mean stories or poems, is there more of an interim step I can take? Are there prompts I can follow or do I need to be making steps on a project every single day? And what happens if I miss a day? If I choose to reattempt this goal someday, I will need to reword it in a way where these questions are answered. I do want to have a writing routine. But maybe I need to approach it in a different way... like not making it a goal of mine at the beginning of the New Year. Maybe I just need to let it happen. I'll have to figure this out.
I think overall, I did pretty well accomplishing the goals that were still important to me throughout the year. There are a few goals I will need to re-evaluate if I would like to try them again some other year. But I think my goals that I set at the beginning of 2018 helps me have a pretty great year.
Thanks for Reading!
--Jude
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